There's actually a lot of stuff you can halfway-heat in the microwave.
Air frying frozen <anything>? Nuke it for 2 min and air-fry for 3 min, instead of air-frying for 12 min.
Ice cream rock solid? Nuke a pint for 15 seconds. It won't melt, just soften.
Cold ketchup in a dipping bowl? Nuke for 5 seconds to bring it to room temperature, so you're not putting cold ketchup on warm food.
But the best? You know how tomatoes get a mealy texture when kept in the fridge, which is why everybody says not to keep in them in the fridge, even though they last so much longer that way? That's only as long as they're chilled. Nuke for 10 seconds to bring back to room temperature. The texture returns 100% to normal.
Use 50% power and check in 10 second increments:
* ATK: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FZCgQp8D2Xw
If you think ahead, put it in the refrigerator 30 minutes before you need it.
Everyone laughed at me.
I'm still pissed off about it.
I always microwave my ice-cream.
People freak out when I tell them I do this.
Another thing people freak out about is when I tell them I sprinkle instant coffee on supermarket bought vanilla ice cream. The (too) sweet ice cream balances with the bitter coffee and it adds a textural element.
Another great thing to sprinkle is a thin layer of cocoa powder on chocolate ice cream -- it's similarly bitter, but it's a blast of extra chocolate rather than coffee. Learned that one in Italy.
Thinking back I probably just put too much of it on the ice cream.
Thinking more it would be interesting to maybe add a little chili powder to the cocoa powder.
I've never understood this. Those things are/were just used to prevent counter-top damage here in the UK (hot pans, things that would stain etc).
We never considered them chopping boards.
Did the USA not get the memo?
Demonstrably false:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/114968917182
Perhaps do a basic internet search before speaking for an entire nation.
And I don’t see what country/location has to do with this, as I imagine plenty of places use bad materials.
This is also one of the central ideas around making computers go really fast.
> Throw away all cutting boards not made of wood or plastic
https://www.johnboos.com/collections/cutting-boards
> Garbage bowl
I have one of those rubbermaid tall/thin trash cans where my kitchen island used to be. Sometimes I will pull my fridge into the middle a little bit so it's easier to get at. That's the kitchen optimization advice that I would offer - The kitchen island is often a productivity & convenience scam. It took me a long time to learn this. From a simple geometric & topological perspective, being able to walk directly between everything without having to always pick a direction around some obstruction will reduce your cortisol levels by a scientifically-quantifiable amount.
Plastic cutting boards will contaminate whatever you are cutting on it with a load of micro and, in many cases macroplastics.
Seriously, give your plastic board some action without food on it and then carefully collect the shavings.
Not using it for anything else though.
This is the classic kitchen work triangle, popularized in the 1950s. It's still true today!
I do a lot of cooking and own quite a few kitchen knives, most of which have bitten me at some point. I understand the idea around sharp knives being safer...but I don't agree.
If a razor sharp 210mm Japanese carbon steel knife touches your finger, it's split open and might need stitches or glue. A less-sharp knife would need more weight behind it to cut effectively which can lead to you completely severing a finger, but simple slices are a much more likely scenario than your finger being completely under the knife to the point where it's effectively a digit-guillotine.
If your knife is sharp enough you will eventually cut the shit out of yourself because it slices so easily. You’re essentially waving around an 8 inch razor blade.
If your knife is dull enough you will eventually cut the shit out of yourself because it takes so much effort to cut that a slip becomes a stab. The amount of effort you have to put in to do basic stuff like cut carrots can be high enough that give up some control of the blade.
A knife at a good level of sharpness will cut with reasonable effort but not be a giant razor blade. I think for most people this is likely the safest level of sharpness.
Also, a dull knife will, 100%, slip more in use than a sharper knife.
It’s been almost 1.5 years since the last cut and I now realize what was going on
Edit: Now that I realize this thread is going sort of sharp-vs-dull. I still use the slide sharpener and regularly sharpen the knives. The factory sharpness was just too much for me. I think a knife sharpened to appropriate level is the way to go. And a dull one is probably as dangerous as a overly sharp one
There was a long thread here where people were arguing about this topic.
My take is that people saying sharp knives are safer don’t understand how average people are using knives.
Totally different than in restaurant setting or ‘self proclaimed chef’ setting where you are going to chop loads of stuff fast or you get angry customers or you take pride in your chopping and slicing skills.
Worst offenders were sharpening knives for other people and then they were surprised that those people would cut themselves with sharp knives… none of the story included a person who was perfectly happy with their dull knife cutting themselves with that dull knife.
Sharp knives are safer.
Bad knife technique is unsafe, regardless of sharpness, but with a dull knife you lack control even with good technique.
> none of the story included a person who was perfectly happy with their dull knife cutting themselves with that dull knife.
People that are perfectly happy with dull knives cut themselves with those dull knives all the time. Sometimes, that's the spur for people learning how to use a knife and becoming unhappy with dull knives.
Just using a claw grip will significantly reduce your chance of injury.
I have seen more injuries from dull knives slipping on vegtable skin than too sharp knives.
That said, the mirror shine finish some enthusiasts go for is indeed over the top.
I googled around and the best I could find was https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/23661/are-sharp... (11 years ago) which could only speculate that sharp knives reduce RSI.
Why?
Mechanically, it's just high-abrasive motorized spinning discs at preset angles. So rather than getting a good edge by taking a few microns of material off by doing it manually, you get an OK edge by taking 0.2mm off at a time. (If 0.2mm doesn't sound like a lot, think about how many mm wide your knife is.)
---
I'm personally 50-50 on this advice: most people don't sharpen their knives at all, and I think people are better off getting 10 OK years out of a knife than 50 terrible years out of it.
I'm also not willing to learn how to use a whetstone, so I landed in the middle on this: https://worksharptools.com/products/precision-adjust-knife-s...
(I say that, but I'm still using knives that mostly range from 25-50 years old, but some didn't get sharpened enough when they belonged to our parents and grandparents.)
Blows my mind when I see people boiling water (huge pots of water!) with no lid on. In many cases, they were waiting around 30 minutes for the water to boil. It surprises them to learn that a lid will speed it up.
I never see anyone trying to bake with the oven door open, but somehow boiling water without a lid is okay?
That's...not true at all.
Energy in - energy out == energy needed to boil.
If energy in per second is really high, and energy needed to boil is relatively small, you'll get there quickly, without energy out having time to have much effect. If the energy needed is very high, reducing the rate at which energy goes out can make a big difference.
No, if “California” was trying, it simply would have done it.
Some California localities have done something like that, though (some of which have subsequently faced adverse rulings in court.)
SF has done it.
I've never used an industrial gas stove, only residential. But comparing apples to apples, residential electric ranges obliterate gas when it comes to power delivery.
Cannot speak for induction as I've never used one, but I'd expect it to be the best of both worlds based on the physics.
But I agree, if I am ever in a position to choose my cooktop technology, it will definitely be induction.
I suspect if you're turning things on "high" on an average kitchen stove-top it won't have such a stark difference, but it should still be measurable.
If you compost, your in-kitchen compost tote works really well to move near where you're trimming veggies.
Or throw away blunt knives and purchase new ones every once in a while. Many people can't be bothered with sharpening their knives, so it's better for them to just get new ones. Or send them to professional sharpeners.
I guess if you prefer nicer knives, you could always buy new ones periodically and give the old ones away on buy nothing to someone who will take care of them.
How about just put the garbage near your workspace while you're working so you can more easily dump stuff into it? I just generally put a bag on the floor near the sink
Use a produce bag for what little is left.
Note that disposers are not common in some countries so I've lived for half my adult live without one. Typically those countries have a basket in the center of the sink to catch stuff and then you empty that basket into a bag. People also find various sink attachments to hold a larger bag for bigger waste while they cook.
When you have to do your own maintenance, your habits change. The disposal isn't for making things go away magically, it's to help keep your drain from clogging.
I don’t see how it’s that different than flushing the toilet.
My wife has got the ultimate solution. She cooks (I really suck at it) but I clean the kitchen. And, well, while she cooks she hardly puts anything in the bin: mostly everything stays on the countertop, which becomes a gigantic mess.
She empties the cutting board on the countertop. Rinse and repeat. Easy. Well, for her at least ; )
* Garbage bowl: allocate a mixing bowl on the counter to collect garbage and drop cuttings and other refuse in there. Saves you from having to go to the trash bin every time.
* Preheat watery vegetables in the microwave. Things like onions, mushrooms, etc. are mostly water, and you can avoid having to wait for them to reduce in a pan by nuking them for 2 minutes in the microwave first.
* When boiling water or cooking almost anything in a pot, cover it with the lid! It will trap the heat inside the pot and boil/cook faster. So many people don’t use the lid just to save themselves from having to wash it. The only time not to use the lid is if you need to reduce the liquid or allow volatiles to escape.
* Cooking bigger batches of food takes essentially the same amount of time as smaller batches. Make portions big enough that you can get at least two or three more meals from it.
* Learn to use your oven! Too many people get enamored with single use gadgets when the oven already does so many things. People complain that it takes too long to heat up but it really doesn’t.
* Keep your knives sharp: Do NOT use an electric sharpener, just a simple drag over a stone every few months is probably all you need. A sharp knife is SAFER than a dull one.
* Throw away all cutting boards not made of wood or plastic (dump the plastic too if you’re concerned about it). Any cutting board made of glass, marble, metal, or any other hard material is destroying your knives.