Regardless if you are an award-winning chef for celebrities, or an excellent home cook for a family, you will have one thing in common. You will find it far easier to cook and function in a kitchen that is well organized.
A messy kitchen is like having a messy desk at work. If you have a messy desk, you can’t concentrate on sending off important emails. You might miss important tasks because they’re hidden under mounds of paper. You will give off the impression to your colleagues that you aren’t that well organized.
If you have a messy kitchen, how can you concentrate on the cooking or baking task at home? You might miss crucial ingredients for a recipe because it’s hiding in all of the mess. You don’t want to be serving a chili without kidney beans, or a curry without spices, do you? Plus, you are giving off the wrong vibes to your meal eaters about your capabilities!
So, let’s get organized! A great place to start is your kitchen cupboards.
How you organize yourself will depend on how many cupboards you have at your disposal. Maybe it’s just two or three, or maybe it’s 20! Whatever you have, divide them up, so you have dedicated space for each type of food.
Of course, you will keep meat, vegetables, salad items and dairy products like milk and cheese in the fridge. But what about items that don’t need to be kept cold?
In one cupboard, keep your dry foods that you will use as meal accompaniments. So, this should include bread, pasta, noodles and rice, and their alternatives. When you come to cook a meal, you can quickly and easily see what accompaniment you can have. It will make picking quicker and easier, and it will mean that you know when stocks of any are running low.
In another cupboard, keep your condiments and sauces. For many cooks and chefs, this will be the most important cupboard of all! It is in this cupboard that many of the flavor of your dish lie! The basics you will always need to hand are a good quality pepper and salt. Both should be in working grinders, so you don’t end up with big, unpleasant chunks in your food. Cooking oil is also crucial, and you can buy premium blended cooking oil available online. The better quality the oil, the better the food you are cooking in it is going to taste. If you live in Greece like me, olive oil is the best as you know! Next, and onto your spices. Don’t let them get messed up. Invest in a spice rack. Label each jar or container on the side, not the lid. This is because if you open multiple jars at once for a recipe, you may forget which lid belongs to which! Condiments and sauces should also be kept here.
Two other dedicated cupboard spaces it is wise to arrange and then keep tidy are as follows. Number one, a baking cupboard. Keeping all of your baking ingredients together makes sense. This means that when you cook, you can find everything you might need at the same time. Number two is a snacks and treats cupboard. Be warned- if you have kids, you might want to keep this one locked, or up high at least!
That's it! A very short list of things to do to keep your kitchen more organized! Any ideas to add?
