7 Hacks for Working Faster in Your Home Kitchen

Working happy equals working fast with flow and efficiency. Over the years of working with clients and trying to get dinner on the table myself as a working mom, I have developed a few tips to get meal on the table faster.

 

Hack #1: Cutting Board Stays Out on Counter.

Buy the biggest and heaviest wooden cutting board you can afford and assign it a permanent place on your counter in the kitchen. This is the single most important step to working faster in your kitchen because it eliminates a step: getting the cutting board out from a cabinet.

Back in the 90s, I rented a cute apartment and the previous tenant left behind their big wooden cutting board. Score! I washed and sanitized it and put it away.

 

Every time I cooked, I dragged it out. I cleaned it and put it away. One day I dropped it on my big toe and almost broke it (the toe, not the cutting board). That was it. After the toe incident I left the cutting board out on the counter.

And then a funny thing happened. I started eating more foods, like fruits and vegetables, that needed to be cut. I was wasting less produce because it was eaten. I have been leaving the cutting board out on the counter ever since.

Wood is the best material for a cutting board. If you can, buy a wooden board that is heavy and as large as your space will accommodate. Glass cutting boards are not great because and they dull any knife blade. Plastic is fine and I use plastic when I am cutting raw meats. But wood is the superior and safest material for a cutting board.

Did I say it should be big? It should be BIG. As big as the designated space will allow. It should be heavy and not move around while you are cutting on it. If it does move around place a kitchen towel under to anchor it.

Clean it with warm, soapy water and if it starts to stink like onions that’s okay. Simply take some coffee grounds and smear them on the surface of the board for about a day. The coffee grounds will lift up the odors.

Trust me on this one. It’s a game changer.
 

Hack #2: Create Flow with Wash/Chop/Cook Order

For years we designed kitchens with the triangle idea that the three work functions of sourcing from a refrigerator, washing at the sink and cooking at the stove should be arranged into a triangle.

I prefer to design kitchens in a flow with the work stations designated as wash/chop/cook in a straight line. This way the cook in moving fast and efficiently “down the line” with minimal footsteps and no backtracking.

 Take a look at your kitchen and try to imagine it in three stations that are designated by the type performed there. Try, if at all possible, to place your cutting board between the sink and the cooktop. If that is not possible, try placing your cutting board next to your sink or your cooktop.

Hack #3. Be Well-Stocked.

Load your pantry, refrigerator and freezer with a complete staple list. I keep an updated starter version on my website and I’m often updating it. I have offered my latest starter version below.

My stapes list will be different from yours which will be different from your neighbor’s because we have different tastes. As you cook more and your confidence in cooking grows, you will understand why staples are the backbone to home cooking.

Never let the fact that you have no rice in the pantry prevent you from cooking at home. With several clients I have forced them (gently) to cook from only what is in the kitchen at the current time.. Each client was wavering on home cooking with one stating she was having cereal for dinner (nothing wrong with that) and the other out right revolting.

In each instance I asked them to not go to the store but to take an inventory of what is in the kitchen in that moment. I asked them to list what they had and in each case they came up with a dish. I made them promise they would cook that meal at a later time to which they complied.

This gentle push is an exercise in the avoidance of perfection paralysis which is something I talk about constantly in my counseling practice. This is such an important concept that I have devoted an entire chapter to it, and I may write an entire book on the subject as it pertains to cooking, health and nutrition.

Almost every client with whom I work deals “all or nothing thinking” and it prevents them from attaining their goals.

Cooking at home is a muscle and pantry, refrigerator and freezer staples are the gym equipment. Check out a starter staple list below and the evolving one on my website here:

https://wendywesleynutrition.com/articles/2019/12/21/kitchen-staples-a-starter-list-for-the-home-cook


LIST OF KITCHEN STAPLES
Each time you go to the store try to purchase one or two of these staple items to slowly build up your staples. To purchase them all at once may be cost-prohibitive.

Fresh Vegetables
Onions
Green/red/yellow peppers
Garlic
Tomatoes
Salad greens/spinach
Cucumbers
Potatoes/Carrots/Radishes and other roots

Fresh Fruits
Buy what’s in season and affordable.
Buy what you will eat.
Keep it out on the counter. Only fruits are allowed space on the countertop.
Try a new fruit. Experiment. Choose a variety of color.

Refrigerated
Milk: dairy or non-dairy or powdered
Eggs (most recipes call for large)
Butter
Plain Yogurt or Sour Cream
Shredded or Block Cheese (can be kept in the freezer for long term storage)

Pantry
Flour: all-purpose, whole wheat
Sugar: white, brown, confectioners (powdered)
Oats
Rice: long-grain white, brown, basmati or jasmine
Cornmeal – to line pans or for cornbread
Baking Powder and Baking Soda
Cornstarch - thickener
Cocoa Powder
Dry Beans: black, white, cannellini, navy, kidney, garbanzo
Pasta – flour or rice noodles (long shapes, small shapes, couscous)
Peanut Butter
Breadcrumbs
Nuts and seeds for snacking, baking and salads

Cooking
Oils: vegetable or canola, extra virgin olive oil, toasted sesame oil, non-stick spray
Vinegar: apple cider, red wine, rice
Soy Sauce
Ketchup
Worcestershire Sauce
Honey
Mustard: yellow, Dijon
Mayonnaise
Stocks/Broths

Herbs/spices
Salt – kosher or iodized
Whole Peppercorns (with grinder) or ground
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Cumin
Crushed Red Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Cinnamon
Curry Powder or Paste
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Vanilla Extract
Turmeric/Curry Powder

Frozen
Spinach
Broccoli Florets
Peas
Mixed vegetables (carrots, peas)
Cauliflower
Fruit: blueberries, strawberries, peaches
Meats and seafood

Canned
Beans (black, pinto, Cannelini, navy, red, garbanzo, filed peas, black-eyed peas, lentils, etc.)
Tomatoes (paste, diced, sauce/puréed, whole)
Tomato sauce (omit if on low sodium diet)
Pineapple
Coconut Milk (if curry is in your rotation)
Raisins

Hack # 4: Cheap Sharp Knives

Knives are the single most important piece of kitchen equipment along with your cutting board. Period.

That said, don’t let the price tag of expensive carbon-steel knives prevent you from doing some fast and expert prop work.

I’ve have many friends an clients tell me they don’t have sharp knives because they can’t afford them or don’t know where to buy them. So they rely on a small pairing knife or a serrated steak knife to do the work that is best done by an 8-in chef’s knife.

My favorite knife cost me $13.98 at a kitchen supply store formerly called Smart and Final and now call GFS or Gordon Food Service. Why is it my favorite? I’m sure. I like the weight, the way it feels in my hand or maybe it’s the memories attached to it. Point is, knives don’t have to be expensive but they have to be sharp.

Back in the 90s I worked on a tourist fishing boat out of Madeira Beach, Florida the summer I graduated from college. One of my jobs was to fillet the fish the customers caught into pieces that could be fried or baked.

The fish we typically caught were called “Key West Grunts” because the sound they emitted when squeezed. Filleting hundreds of them after a day of fishing would dull a knife rapidly and the captain and other mates taught me how to keep my knife sharp: the wet stone.

That summer I bought a filet knife and a stone from the bait shop and I still have them and use them today. The total purchase cost under $25 I think. I was on my way to culinary excellence!

I also keep a steel at my home work station and at the cooking school. I use the steel before I begin work often giving my knife a quick pass. The steel is to “hone” the blade or to force the tip back to center. It only takes a few passes on the steel to hone it and I highly recommend getting this practice into your rotation.

The difference between honing and sharpening is this: Sharpening removes material from the blade creating a new, sharp edge. I sue the stone for this and I perform is quarterly. Honing is maintaining an edge that is already sharp using a steel. I perform this every time I use my knife.

If you can afford expensive carbon-steel knives, I highly recommend that. The knives we are using in the cooking school are not expensive or high quality but they are sharp through the use of a stone and steel. Before each class I provide a knife honing and sharpening lesson.

Don’t skip this step. Sharp knives are the difference between misery and joy while cooking.

Hack # 5: Purge Tools, Gadgets, Pots and Pans

Here’s an exercise. Take the contents of an entire kitchen drawer and dump it in a box. Put that box far away from the kitchen in a closet or in the garage. Every time you need to an item from that drawer go find it in the box. If you used it, you are allowed to put in back in the drawer. After the course of a year, whatever is left in the box gets donated to the thrift store or thrown in the trash.

Do this with gadgets, large appliances (bread maker), small appliances (pasta maker), trinkets, towels, potholders, trivets, pots, pans, lids, sheets, bowls, plastic containers, etc. Challenge everything that is not nailed down.

A 2016 study out of Cornell University explored how a noisy, disruptive and disorganized environment influences how much women eat. Researchers found the combination of stress and a messy environment lead to more snacking and an increase in the number of calories consumed.

A cluttered kitchen can also be a hindrance to cooking. If the environment feels chaotic or stressful it can make you not even want to start.

I’ve cooked in some cluttered home kitchens and I found it difficult to get started. Designating the cutting board as “sacred space” is also a wise strategy. It’s a place to start as you move toward keeping your kitchen environment uncluttered and cooking more at home.

Most nutrient-dense meals start with chopping some kind of aromatics like onion, garlic and peppers. When the cutting board is out and ready for use, the entire project of cooking feels more manageable.

In the kitchen less is more when it comes to pots, pans and lids. Every cook needs a few essential pans for basic cooking. Like the trick of taking the gadgets to the garage, do the same with pots, pans and lids.

A few will come back into the house immediately like your 3-quart saucepan that boils pasta, your 1-quart rice pan, your 6-inch sauté pan for grilled cheese and a smaller non-stick pan for eggs.

Over the holidays, your turkey roasters, cookie sheets, loaf pans and muffin tins will make an appearance and they, of course, get to stay.

For me, here’s what did not make it back in the house:

- Multiple, duplicate 3 and 4-quart saucepans. Why do I have three?

- A large 30-inch braising pan with a large metal domed lid. It’s a beautiful pan but it hardly gets used because my 24-inch higher-sided sauté meets my needs every time for chicken cacciatore and oven-baked chicken thighs finished with a sauce or gravy on the cooktop.

- A non-stick sauce pan. Completely unnecessary

- A Zyliss mandolin. This a knuckle-shredding gadget that I received as a wedding present and I only used once out of total obligation as the gift giver was a guest for dinner. I lost skin and fingernails (maybe into the food, don’t tell anyone). The gadget went back into the back of the cupboard and eventually was sold at a yard sale. For the professional kitchen with large outputs and a need for uniform precision, a mandolin is an essential piece of equipment. For the home cook an 8-inch chef knife will do just fine.

- a 12-quart stock pan. It’s just too big for the scale of the home cook and I never used it because I don’t cook soup or beans for 20 people in my home. I’m not the Army.

- Duplicate sets of tongs, shredders, large serving spoons, multiple wooden spoons and spatulas.

In a effort to purge pots and pans (and free up storage) consider a pot rack. Mine is hung in the middle of the kitchen over a prep table but if you don’t have that kind of head-space in a kitchen, install one over a window, the stove or over the sink. I’ve even seen them in pantries and closets.

When thinking about what to cook, I look up at my pans and they talk to me. I know that sounds really woo-woo but it works. I am reminded of things I cooked in them and that inspires me to get started.

Also, imagine the joy of reaching up and grabbing a pan, placing it on the stove and turning on the heat in one movement. Imagine not squatting down to look in a dark cabinet for a saucepan.

Hack #6 – Spice Rack or Basket, Salt, Pepper, Oil and Tools Within Where You Cook

Hack #7 - Countertops are Precious Spaces
Only F and V displayed.

No paper, mail, magazines to distract your cooking.


Store seldom-used appliances away. Only workhorse appliances get to live on the counter.

The kitchen is for WORK and only items that WORK are allowed to stay.