How are you cooking?
Mattprop
Posts: 3 Member
As people focused on improving or maintaining a healthy body, we tend to spend a lot of time on ingredients and quantities. We tend not to think about how we cook. The methods, appliances we use are important to maintain the health benefits of our efforts. Eating needs to be enjoyable, rather than bland and tasteless.
So how is everyone cooking?
So how is everyone cooking?
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I use a bit of everything. I have good heavy pots and pans, nonstick pans large and small, air fryer, electric pressure cooker, nonstick wok, glass bakeware, metal bakeware, stoneware baking dishes, microwave, stove top two-tier steamer, in pot steamer tray, big kitchenaid mixer and handheld mixers/beaters.... I use a bit of everything depending on what I'm making and how much time I'm spending on it.
Some days I seem to use everything and some days I just have salads and leftovers not using any of those methods at all. I think other than a deep fat fryer I seem to use everything at one time or another at home. I have my eye on an electric spiralizer instead of continuing to use my manual one.0 -
I've always believed that a good cook can mange to create tasty nutritious meals with one basic pot and pretty much any heat source. I do have a nice array of kitchen gear and love to cook.
I have an old skool gas stove that suits for 98% of my cooking. I make good use of a fridge, large chest freezer and larder - water canning much of my own garden produce. My one nod to the whiz-bang is my food processor... and of course, my digital food scale. 🤣2 -
I make heavy use of my outdoor propane grill...for meats, fish, and vegetables. I can do a whole meal out there.
Inside, just the stovetop and oven. I have a small kitchen, so don't have space and don't want to store any extra cooking appliances. No instapot, no airfryer, etc.0 -
I have kitchen gadgets.
Since getting an air fryer two years ago, I stopped using my oven because it heats faster andis better insulated, thus uses less energy and doesn't warm up the kitchen in summer. The only reason for me to use an oven is to roast a whole Xmas goose or leg of lamb or the occasional tray of cookies or pavlova base when entertaining company. For skin on poultry the air fryer with it's aggressive fan does a better job of rendering off subcutaneous fat than the oven. I should probably start using my oven for kitchen storage.
My other relatively new gadget is the sous wand which makes meal prep easier weeknights. Previously I never wanted a sous vide set up because I assumed it would take too much space to store. The new generation immersion wands clip onto a pasta pot and take up as much space as an immersion blender in a drawer. Also you can use ziplock bags instead of a vacuum sealer. It lets me get good results with cheaper roasts such as eye of round or silverside. I also regularly do homemade salt beef from brisket, and duck confit from legs which in the sous vide bag requires a tablespoon of duck fat instead of a half litre to fully submerge the meat. I also regularly cook tough cuts like shin in commercial curry pastes for several hours at low temperature. I use a bucket to cook huge batches separated into portion sized ziplocks and freeze everything we don't eat on day 1. During the week, roasts and confit are defrosted overnight, dried off and finished for 15 minutes in the air fryer (or under the broiler) to brown. Curries are finished on the stove with the addition of vegetables.
Another useful gadget is the cast iron griddle pan. I use it for grilling fish or tender more expensive cuts of meat indoors as well as charring olive oil tossed veg such as aubergine slices, courgette slices, or halved firm lettuce such as baby gem and romaine.
I am on my second spiralizer after breaking the first one. My second has a manual vertical feed as opposed to the more common horizontal feed. The vertical feed produces less waste (a quarter inch disk as opposed to aa pencil sized core) and is easier to operate due to the help of gravity. If considering an electric one, check whether it is good for both hard and soft produce if you plan to do both.3 -
My other relatively new gadget is the sous wand which makes meal prep easier weeknights. Previously I never wanted a sous vide set up because I assumed it would take too much space to store. The new generation immersion wands clip onto a pasta pot and take up as much space as an immersion blender in a drawer. Also you can use ziplock bags instead of a vacuum sealer. It lets me get good results with cheaper roasts such as eye of round or silverside. I also regularly do homemade salt beef from brisket, and duck confit from legs which in the sous vide bag requires a tablespoon of duck fat instead of a half litre to fully submerge the meat. I also regularly cook tough cuts like shin in commercial curry pastes for several hours at low temperature. I use a bucket to cook huge batches separated into portion sized ziplocks and freeze everything we don't eat on day 1. .
I don't have a sous vide because I always saw larger ones. I didn't know there was a wand version. Can you really use ziploc bags? Tell me more! Now I need to go online and look up this gadget.
I have so many kitchen gadgets that it's crazy.1 -
pamperedlinny wrote: »My other relatively new gadget is the sous wand which makes meal prep easier weeknights. Previously I never wanted a sous vide set up because I assumed it would take too much space to store. The new generation immersion wands clip onto a pasta pot and take up as much space as an immersion blender in a drawer. Also you can use ziplock bags instead of a vacuum sealer. It lets me get good results with cheaper roasts such as eye of round or silverside. I also regularly do homemade salt beef from brisket, and duck confit from legs which in the sous vide bag requires a tablespoon of duck fat instead of a half litre to fully submerge the meat. I also regularly cook tough cuts like shin in commercial curry pastes for several hours at low temperature. I use a bucket to cook huge batches separated into portion sized ziplocks and freeze everything we don't eat on day 1. .
I don't have a sous vide because I always saw larger ones. I didn't know there was a wand version. Can you really use ziploc bags? Tell me more! Now I need to go online and look up this gadget.
I have so many kitchen gadgets that it's crazy.
I use good quality ziplock bags for all my sous vide cooking. Sometimes if I do not need to season meat such as cheap roasting joints or whole hams I will just toss them in the sous vide in the supermarket packaging.
The new generation of sous vide wands are officially called immersion circulators.
https://www.seriouseats.com/best-sous-vide-immersion-circulators
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I have no kitchen gadgets. My only electronics are a hand blender and a wee rice cooker. For grinding I use pestle and mortar. Most important for me are good knives and pots and pans that still work well enough, and a huge selections of herbs and spices as I use those a lot!2
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I find the new generation of non stick pans with ceramic or stone coating are useful. Not to be confused with old school teflon pans that release noxious gases when overheated. I can fry eggs without any oil in mine (I have Stoneline and Smeg and I have friends with good performing pans from Michelangelo and Ozeri). If I add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to crepe batter for four people, I don't need any additional oil to to make crepes either. They can't go in the dishwasher, as the harsh detergents destroy the non stick coating.0
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I mainly just use my air fryer and my microwave. Occasionally I’ll use the stovetop to fry an egg, but that’s pretty rare. Easier and less mess to just put a scramble in the microwave. The oven hold my Tupperware and pretty much only gets turned on at Christmas (after removing the Tupperware, of course!).1
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Pretty much just my microwave and lettuce chopper since I chop my own lettuce now. It's manual and kinda fun
I REALLY don't cook 1 -
As people focused on improving or maintaining a healthy body, we tend to spend a lot of time on ingredients and quantities. We tend not to think about how we cook. The methods, appliances we use are important to maintain the health benefits of our efforts. Eating needs to be enjoyable, rather than bland and tasteless.
So how is everyone cooking?
I use many recipes from AllRecipes.com and always read the reviews. I laugh when reviewers complain that a recipe that calls for "salt and pepper to taste" is bland. To me, that means they didn't add salt and pepper to taste. Well, I guess to be fair, I often add spices that were not called for, such as Italian seasoning, or aromatics such as onions.
I just take mental shortcuts when reading recipes. I always give onions a head start when sautéing with most other things. I use my crock pot a lot and never, ever add onions without sautéing them first.
Speaking of the slow cooker, now that it is colder, many of my meals are started right after lunch time and added to the slow cooker so that it is done at dinner time. I first started doing this when working from home as it worked with my schedule perfectly. Now it is because I am sharing a kitchen and want to get the prep and cleanup done earlier in the day.
I find inspiration from my periodic emails from AllRecipes.
I had too many fails from Milk Street Radio recipes and finally unsubscribed.
Now that I can access the cooking section of the New York Times through my library, I'm going to resubscribe to that. Speaking of the library, I often "try before I buy" cookbooks from my library.1 -
Oh, there's one thing I can't do without: Cookbooks! I like old-fashioned books. Have about 50. I use them in conjunction with a website that catalogues ingredients lists of cookbooks and hence I can search for example for Main Dish containing Mango and Brussel Sprouts and see where I have what recipes.1
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@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.0
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I don't use a lot of gadgets. Don't have a microwave or other gadget-y cooking things. Just a small oven, stove and a small crockpot that gets very little use. I use very old but still very good Revere Ware pans, I have one small ceramic coated saute pan, good sharp knives and l'm pretty good with the spices. But in general I cook not very complicated meals of whole foods. I also love Recipes.com. Great site. You can even just tell it what you have on hand in your kitchen and it will recommend a recipe. Very handy on, "I don't know what I want," days.1
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kshama2001 wrote: »@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
Yeah, air fryers, I'm a bit surprised at all the promotion and people using them lately. Personally I don't get it, but if it encourages people to cook, then that's a good thing.0 -
@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
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I'm a semi retired chef formally trained in French food who also understands most cuisines especially Italian, Indian, Thai and to a lesser degree Chinese, Mexican and African. Don't use nonstick, or most gadgets, conveniences or shortcuts. I use stainless pans and for sautee pans it's generally stainless, carbon steel and copper. Anything that promotes cooking is fine by me. I usually only use whole foods in season and purchased locally, which includes animal proteins.3
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Huh, guess I read the original post differently, in that I wasn't thinking about what devices I use so much as whether I bake, fry in oil, etc. I mostly pan-sear foods with a touch of Pam cooking spray, with baking coming in a close second. During the summer I grill once a week, while I deep fry meals about once or twice a month.1
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Huh, guess I read the original post differently, in that I wasn't thinking about what devices I use so much as whether I bake, fry in oil, etc. I mostly pan-sear foods with a touch of Pam cooking spray, with baking coming in a close second. During the summer I grill once a week, while I deep fry meals about once or twice a month.
The OP mentioned both methods and appliances so you're good. 0 -
Old school.
Sheet pan to oven roast veggies (with slight or no oil) and some proteins (tofu, tempeh) sometimes.
Well-seasoned cast iron frying pans for frying, again little or no added oil; sometimes bake or broil something in these, too. (I have two, one 7-8", the other maybe 10-12". I have stainless or aluminum lids that fit these.)
Stainless steel sauce pans or larger pots with lids to cook pasta, soup, beans, occasionally steam something with one of those fold-up adjustable steam baskets.
Various tempered glass pie plates and casserole dishes (the latter with glass lids) for baking or microwaving. I use 1 & 2 cup ones with plastic lids for freezer/oven stuff and reuseable storage (and a few larger round or rectangular ones). I prefer these to disposable or few-use storage methods.
Some specialty baking pans for rare use (bread, muffins, cakes, etc.).
I love my basement chest freezer. It's full now; has been great for limiting shopping trips during the pandemic, too.
I rarely follow recipes, but skim them to get ideas. Mostly I just cook, mostly so-called whole foods or traditional processed ones (yogurt, tofu, pasta, flours, and that sort of thing).
I accumulated a few specialized appliances over decades - blender, small food processor, deep fryer, ice cream maker, stand mixer, etc. - but don't use them very often now.0 -
neanderthin wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
Yeah, air fryers, I'm a bit surprised at all the promotion and people using them lately. Personally I don't get it, but if it encourages people to cook, then that's a good thing.
Air fryers are lifechanging. You can cook literally everything in them and as long as your foil game is on point....rarely have to do dishes. Mine does everything from toast for breakfast to steak for dinner and nary a pan is dirtied. I doubt I'd bother to cook at all if I didn't have one.1 -
neanderthin wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
Yeah, air fryers, I'm a bit surprised at all the promotion and people using them lately. Personally I don't get it, but if it encourages people to cook, then that's a good thing.
Air fryers are lifechanging. You can cook literally everything in them and as long as your foil game is on point....rarely have to do dishes. Mine does everything from toast for breakfast to steak for dinner and nary a pan is dirtied. I doubt I'd bother to cook at all if I didn't have one.neanderthin wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
Yeah, air fryers, I'm a bit surprised at all the promotion and people using them lately. Personally I don't get it, but if it encourages people to cook, then that's a good thing.
Air fryers are lifechanging. You can cook literally everything in them and as long as your foil game is on point....rarely have to do dishes. Mine does everything from toast for breakfast to steak for dinner and nary a pan is dirtied. I doubt I'd bother to cook at all if I didn't have one.
We use to call them toaster ovens.0 -
neanderthin wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
Yeah, air fryers, I'm a bit surprised at all the promotion and people using them lately. Personally I don't get it, but if it encourages people to cook, then that's a good thing.
Air fryers are lifechanging. You can cook literally everything in them and as long as your foil game is on point....rarely have to do dishes. Mine does everything from toast for breakfast to steak for dinner and nary a pan is dirtied. I doubt I'd bother to cook at all if I didn't have one.neanderthin wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
Yeah, air fryers, I'm a bit surprised at all the promotion and people using them lately. Personally I don't get it, but if it encourages people to cook, then that's a good thing.
Air fryers are lifechanging. You can cook literally everything in them and as long as your foil game is on point....rarely have to do dishes. Mine does everything from toast for breakfast to steak for dinner and nary a pan is dirtied. I doubt I'd bother to cook at all if I didn't have one.
We use to call them toaster ovens.
I used a toaster oven for a lot of my own food way back when I was married and cooking for one. My air fryer is the toaster oven type, but I feel like it gets hotter faster, even without convection. I would never have attempted meat in my toaster oven, but it’s no problem in the air fryer. No idea how “modern” toaster ovens compare, but the air fryer is orders of magnitude better than the classic toaster oven.
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neanderthin wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
Yeah, air fryers, I'm a bit surprised at all the promotion and people using them lately. Personally I don't get it, but if it encourages people to cook, then that's a good thing.
Air fryers are lifechanging. You can cook literally everything in them and as long as your foil game is on point....rarely have to do dishes. Mine does everything from toast for breakfast to steak for dinner and nary a pan is dirtied. I doubt I'd bother to cook at all if I didn't have one.neanderthin wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »@kshama2001 - completely agree with your comments on AllRecipes.com. As I have no kitchen skills, it is a great resource for me. Thinking about picking up an Air Fryer after looking at some of their recipes for that appliance.
I recommend seeing if your library has America's Test Kitchen's Air Fryer book. Here it is on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Air-Fryer-Perfection-Perfect-Vegetables/dp/1945256753/
I don't have the book myself, but others from them, and before I invest in an air fryer I'd check it out.
Yeah, air fryers, I'm a bit surprised at all the promotion and people using them lately. Personally I don't get it, but if it encourages people to cook, then that's a good thing.
Air fryers are lifechanging. You can cook literally everything in them and as long as your foil game is on point....rarely have to do dishes. Mine does everything from toast for breakfast to steak for dinner and nary a pan is dirtied. I doubt I'd bother to cook at all if I didn't have one.
We use to call them toaster ovens.
I used a toaster oven for a lot of my own food way back when I was married and cooking for one. My air fryer is the toaster oven type, but I feel like it gets hotter faster, even without convection. I would never have attempted meat in my toaster oven, but it’s no problem in the air fryer. No idea how “modern” toaster ovens compare, but the air fryer is orders of magnitude better than the classic toaster oven.
I'm sure your right and if people cook more that's a big plus. Of course, toaster ovens range from very inexpensive into the thousands of dollars and they do cook meat very efficiently but at a cost and I suspect the bang for the buck, is in the air fryer plus they can disappear into a cupboard when not using.0 -
No, I don't get airfryers either. But then I cook lots of food involving frying aromatics like onion, garlic and chili first, then adding spices at a lower temperature, then adding other stuff at higher temperature, then even more stuff, then other spices, etc and 20 minutes later my dinner is done. I don't see how an airfryer would help me there.1
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No, I don't get airfryers either. But then I cook lots of food involving frying aromatics like onion, garlic and chili first, then adding spices at a lower temperature, then adding other stuff at higher temperature, then even more stuff, then other spices, etc and 20 minutes later my dinner is done. I don't see how an airfryer would help me there.
Ah, yes, your describing cooking. Cheers. If I want something deep fried, I will deep fry. When I actually use an oven it's mostly for braises or baking and quite a bit of my oven use is at lower temps and the times I've needed a little oven with a fan is 0. But again, if it's displacing the consumption of ultra processed food in someone's diet, I'm all for it.0 -
neanderthin wrote: »No, I don't get airfryers either. But then I cook lots of food involving frying aromatics like onion, garlic and chili first, then adding spices at a lower temperature, then adding other stuff at higher temperature, then even more stuff, then other spices, etc and 20 minutes later my dinner is done. I don't see how an airfryer would help me there.
Ah, yes, your describing cooking. Cheers. If I want something deep fried, I will deep fry. When I actually use an oven it's mostly for braises or baking and quite a bit of my oven use is at lower temps and the times I've needed a little oven with a fan is 0. But again, if it's displacing the consumption of ultra processed food in someone's diet, I'm all for it.
totally! Each their own. My eating would be a lot less enjoyable, but I guess such a thing really helps a lot of people. 0 -
I do a lot of roasting at high temperature for roast beef, roast potatoes, roast vegetables, skin on poultry and fish. The air fryer is great for this, and uses less energy and is quicker than the oven being smaller and better insulated. The aggressive fan is great for crisping up skin on duck, chicken and fish. If you look at the skin of the wings below, you will see it is paper thin. If you know how to get this texture of chicken skin in a conventional oven without overcooking the meat, please tell me.
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Those look delicious! I have friends who love their AFs and cook with them almost daily. Not opposed to great tech that gets the job done, but my desire for the occasional fast crispy thing isn't quite great enough to justify One More Gadget.1
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Those look delicious! I have friends who love their AFs and cook with them almost daily. Not opposed to great tech that gets the job done, but my desire for the occasional fast crispy thing isn't quite great enough to justify One More Gadget.
Broiler setting in most ovens will do the job of crisping up. Chicken wings for example I like to slow roast first, then pop under the broiler to crisp up if I'm not deep frying them, which would be my first choice.0
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