Time Saving Kitchen Tips and Tricks

When you work in the fast pace of a commercial kitchen, you learn very quickly that it only takes one person slowing down to create a domino effect that ultimately can shut down the whole kitchen.

The environment is one of sweltering heat, screaming chefs, complaining wait staff and a language all its own. In order to survive in a restaurant kitchen, you must learn how to work quickly and efficiently. Here are a few tips I've learned over my career that can be used in your own kitchen.

1. Always start by  preparing the part of the meal that requires the longest cooking time. This sounds like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised how many meals are ruined by veggies turning into a cold, soggy mess because they were started too soon before the meat was done. Cooking is a great exercise in time management.
2. An organized kitchen is able to put out meals faster. Look at your kitchen now. Do you have your whisks, large spoons, spatulas and other cooking utensils near your cooktop? Or do you have them at the other end of the kitchen? If you have to keep runnng back and forth everytime you need something, what's going to happen to that delicate piece of fish in your pan? Most likely it will over cook or burn because you had to keep leaving your "station" to run for items that should have been near your stove.
3. Mise en place! This is a French term which translates to: "putting in place" and is used to refer to the ingredients needed to create your meals. If you take out all the items you need for your recipe prior to starting, you'll quickly find out if you're missing critical ingredients. Chop items such as onions, celery and peppers prior to starting your cooking. This way there will be no delays while you have to stop and chop items in the middle of your cooking time.
4. How many times have you gone to use you brown sugar only to find a solid brick of sugar? Here's an easy way to prevent that from ever happening again. Just put a couple of marshmallows in with your sugar and seal it tightly in your storage container or zip lock bag . The marshmallows will absorb any moisture, leaving your brown sugar flowing freely.
5. The next time you throw a party, instead of putting the ice in an ice bucket or bowl, try this. Put a colorful colander over a bowl and place your ice in the colander. As the ice melts, it will drip into the bowl leaving only the  solid cubes in the colander instead of an ice bucket full of water.

Find your kitchen gear at a discount at  in Largo Mall or . Have suggestions on places to stock up on kitchen supplies, let us know in the comments. 

We'd love to hear from you with any tips you have for making your life easier in the kitchen. Leave a comment and share your kitchen tips with our readers.