What's your style in the Kitchen

PanchoHambre

PanchoHambre

New member
everybody has a different MO some people kitchens are like orderly labs some are hectic

Honestly I am a mess.... everything is usually on the verge of burning/boiling over I can never find anything I need...

I rarely have a real recipe or plan just some scrawled notes...

it amazes me but I usually do end up with a good end product... not pretty getting there though.

This made my former roomate crazy as she always planned ahead and did everything in a neat and orderly fashion... a skill just lost on me.

so who are the neatnicks? and fess up you tornados I must have some company here
 
I try to be orderly and clean. I wash my hands maybe 49 thousand times. I cook on-the-fly with no recipe. I could start one recipe, then wind up with something completely different before my prep is half way done.
 
It depends if it is me only cooking everything is neat and orderly including no dishes in the sink. I won't cook unless the kitchen sinks are empty. Now as I cook when I get done with a pot I wash it immediately so once we finish eating all that is left is the plates, flatware and glasses we use during the meal. I also know exactly what I'm making and how before I start. I also have all ingredients setup needed to be sure I have it all, including herbs and spices.

Now if it is my wife it will be the exact opposite which makes for an hour of cleanup after even simple meals. She is a good cook but a mess also in the kitchen when it comes to simply just leaving the pots and pans on the stove till dinner is over. I find this makes it much harder to clean once it has cooled down so I wash my stuff while still hot. Really different styles with the same results other than clean up.
 
yeah Jeeks.. the two things I do are wash my hands alot and use a meat thermometer I am messy but I don't want to kill people
 
Mine is casual. I never get in a rush. I like the theraputics of getting things ready like dicing slicing and prep work before I get it to the pan/pot... I also like to teach my old lady and daughter on what I'm looking for and give them tips on what I have learned. I usually have music playing on the puter set on random.

Before any of the womenz here kills me for using the term old lady, it means the lady I wan't to grow old with and is meant as a term of endearment. (Thats my story...)
 
I'm like Joe in that I know where everything is, do 90% of the prep before I even think about turning on the heat, and clean up immediately. I think that is a habit coming from using so many carbon steel knives.
 
At work, I try my hardest to keep my station NCO (Neat, Clean, and Orderly). I'll prep before I start cooking.

At home, well, try keeping a kitchen NCO with five kids constantly wandering through, asking questions, wanting a nibble, wanting a glass of water, etc. I do the best that I can. I will still prep before I start cooking.

Some things I will use a recipe, especially if there's a seasoning mix of some kind that I need to mix up. Most of the time, I don't use a recipe, as I'm cooking by taste. I know what flavors go well together, and use that as my guide.
 
as my missus says.... "if the kitchen is not messy when you are done cooking then i dont want to eat what you made"...

i "look" at recipes when i cook but done ever follow them exactly...
 
I never follow a recipe but like to have one there to look at...
Clean up as I go as much as poss.
like to have some things prepped and ready
I'm not a fussy cook at all...nothing is fancy or pretty but tastes good and everything is made with love and everyone leaves FULL and HAPPY

and I can't stand dirty dishes in the sink when I wake up in the morning!!! DRIVES me CrAzY!!!! So, everything gets cleaned up after dinner.
 
I'm fairly organized in the kitchen. I try to get all my prep done early in the day like chopping vegetables and making sure I have everything I need. As for cleaning as I go....sometimes it works and sometimes not. I do try to put things away as I use them.

Barb
 
I always start with a clean kitchen - especially no dishes in the sink. I clean along the way, too, so the end clean-up will be minimal. But I have no problem going to sleep with a sink full of dirty dishes.
 
I don't have a long work surface (the kitchen was designed terrible all chopped up) and have to use the kitchen table sometimes for set up if it's a many step process.
But I do have lots of cabinets and 2 walkin pantries.
But I have alot of stuff (as far as I'm concerned, that's what garage/yard sales are for.) So if I'm making a meal, especially something not often made that requires infrequently used pans or pot, I may have to go looking.
I like to have everything clean and put away before I prep. And like to prep first, get the pots or pans I may need, etc.
I cook from the head most often, but use recipes for new things, baking and things I don't often cook.
I wash frequently when handling meat or eggdip type stuff. Even if it was safe not to do so, I would though-I hate the feel of those things on my hands.
I clean, or at least put in the dishwasher as I go because I hate cleaning up afterwards.
I like to relax after the meal, especially if I have guests.
I too find being in the kitchen therapudic.
It's my turf and anyone who knows me knows that.
To that end, I have a small slate/chalkboard sign that says: CALICO'S KITCHEN
Clean it, eat it, or get out of the way.
(but nowhere does it say: Cook It.) LOL!
 
I start out by having my recipe in front of me, gathering everything to my work space, and systematically working through my project. (kind of how Rachael Ray does it, but not with my ars overloaded.:dizzy:) My DW thinks I'm nuts because I'm so organized, but when we sit down to eat the only thing left to cleanup are the plates and utensils from the table. Everything is washed, dried & put away as its use has ended. Food safety is #1 on my list, and cross contamination is never a problem when I'm in charge of the kitchen. You'll not have any "intestinal distress" from one of my meals.

I'm a Type A personality with a 12 year engineering background before starting my own construction business. This makes me somewhat anal retentive, and I consider it a strength, but understand how others would view it as a liability.
 
Some things I use a recipe for and some things I don't. Some times the recipe is more of a check list (Remember to put the salt in the bread) sometimes it's an exact measurement to be measured in a particular manner. Other times close enough is good enough, and over / under / heavy / light is how I feel at that time.

First time I make something I measure as per the recipe Uunless it's a known like flour which I would convert and round up or down), if the recipe is by volume I will then weigh the appropriate ingredients.

This drives Wife Batty. It didn't know battieness was contagious.

I'm also a compulsive note taker. More batty.

When it comes time to doing it ... I'm not a neat person, and I don't have a huge work area. When I need more space I have the island to use as a staging area. Problem is I come in the back door and my glasses and gloves land on the island. The mail and newspaper and magazines land on the island. Kitchen stuff lands up on the island. Then I need more than the designated work area and DAMN, there is all this crap on the island. So I get irritated. So Wife asks why I'm irritated, I say the island is covered with crap. She gives me that particular look, you know that look, I say, I know, it's my crap... EXCEPT FOR THIS PENCIL! YOU SAT IT THERE!!! We growl at each other. Sex. Dinners late again. LMAO! Thank God Wife is my best friend.

Because I'm disorganized I have a 3 shelf unit over the work area. Thats not uncommon except I had to put it over the window. In this unit is most of the daily stuff, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic, etc. Larger daily and less commonly used items are in a lazy Susan to the right. The less common items, large items, and storage is in a pantry around the corner.

We have a large sink which catches utensils after their used. After a session it's not uncommon to need the island to organize the utensils to clear out the sink so it can be used, but more ofter than not the islands covered with crap ....
 
I tend to follow recipes when I am cooking for guests, and wing it when it is just for me or my family. Also my dishes seem to turn out best in huricane like conditions! ;) I am trying to learn to clean as I go....sometimes it works out and other times it makes me forget something important! :shock:
 
use recipe if baking, or new dish. on the fly with old ones, adding or subtracting as the mood strikes. in my youth i was obsessed with cleaning up as i went. now it is a mess. never ever until my old age would i go to sleep with dirty dishes in kitchen. now not so much. the energy just runs out these days.
 
We are going to remodel shortly. Making it bigger and more commercial / modernistic. But no matter what, we keep the place clean, even when my wife does tons of baking for the holidays.

A clean workplace is a happy workplace........
 
There is no method to my madness...Sometimes I'm quite organized and other times it's as though the Tasmanian Devil has come through.

None of it matter a wit if there is no cocktail involved.
 
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