Prep Work

[Shellyann36]

When you cook do you get everything measured out before you begin mixing it all together? I like to get all of my items measured and in bowls ready to put into the main bowl or pot before I begin to mix it all together. This does make more dishes for me to wash but I feel as if I am speeding along the process while I am cooking. I don't have to stop in the middle of a recipe to measure an ingredient. I have them already complete and ready to go to just pour in.

Do you prep all of your ingredients first or do you just measure as you go?

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

I definitely just measure as I go. I glance over a recipe first usually to see if there is something that will need extra time to prep so that I can do it ahead but usually I just work my way down the list. You obviously work like the cooking shows which have all the ingredients pre-chopped and measured beforehand. It certainly makes it look like less work. I do tend to work in groups - all the dry ingredients done at once or dicing all the vegetables at the same time.

 

[Jade]

I do this for ingredients that I know will take time to prepare, so I don't end up burning my food while it waits for me to finish chopping or slicing, but for other less time consuming ingredients, I usually just measure or prep them as I go along so I don't end up using more dishes than I have to because I dislike cleaning dishes.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I think it depends of the recipe tbh. If I am making scones, then it is a weigh it out as I go option simply because it is not that critical and I can use the same bowl for almost everything. 8oz flour, reset to zero on scales, 2 oz marg, breadcrumb in mixer, reset to zero on the scales, 2oz sugar, mix....

But if I am making something that has veg and the likes in it, with loads of herbs & spices, then everything is chopped/sliced before hand and the herbs & spices measured out into bowl/ramekins and also if 5 spices go in together, they will all be in the same ramekin.

 

[Namischa]

What I always have prepared before starting to cook are vegetables and meat. Sometimes this goes for herbs, mushrooms and garlic as well. Basically everything that needs to be washed, pealed or chopped up. If I would need to cut tomatoes while my onions are in the pan already, it would get too hectic for me. It it less fun the more hectic it is.

Some things can even be prepared hours before it is time to cook dinner. While I do my laundry, I might already boil the rice when I plan to fry it at night or put it in a soup. Another thing I do at times, is preparing vegetables and put them in the fridge until I need them later. This fills free time throughout the day.

When I try a completely new recipe with many different ingredients, I measure them beforehand and put them in bowls. Otherwise I don't really measure things at all, unless I am baking or preparing dough. For these things it is of course important and I measure and add the ingredients as I go, without preparing them.

 

[firelily99]

I do them is sections as I am mixing, maybe three or four items at a time. That keeps me from accidentally skipping ahead too much.