HealthyU Students: Kitchen Tips for Beginners

Cooking is a skill, which once obtained, stays with you for the rest of your life. We look for easy and quick recipes, but they only provide the ingredients and process to prepare a particular dish. There are a number of other aspects of cooking to learn to gain cooking experience. Read them through and try to incorporate them in your kitchen activities.

How to efficiently store foods?

Health Canada recommends safe food handling practices at home as well as at grocery store to prevent food poisoning (Health Canada, 2013). Besides food poisoning, safe and efficient food storage helps to avoid headaches, illness and food waste. Follow four basic steps while handling food:

Clean: First of all, clean your countertops, dishes, utensils, sink and most importantly, hands before preparing food. After preparation, clean up completely before moving to the next recipe.
Separate: Minimize cross contamination by using different chopping boards for meat and produce. When you use tools and cutting board to prepare meats or fish, do not re-contaminate the food afterwards by keeping the on the same unwashed surface.
Cook: Take care when putting food in oil. Moisture presence often causes oil to splatter, with possibility of causing burns. A thermometer can be used to check the desired temperature. But be careful to clean it properly after every use. Do not taste food with cooking utensils or twice with same spoon.
Store: Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, says Health Canada. It would refrain bacteria from growing. Cool leftovers to room temperature first before transferring them into refrigerator. Keep the refrigerator temperature from 40 degrees F or less at all times (The beginners cooking manual, 2012). Defrosted foods should not be frozen again. Try to label stored foods for the “best before” date.

How to keep the kitchen clean?

Use paper towels to wipe kitchen surfaces.
Dishcloths can also be used but they must be washed and dried regularly. Sometimes they are the biggest source of contamination.
Wash your hands before and after handling raw meat, poultry and fish. They might be contaminated with salmonella, E.Coli etcetera.
If utensils have been used for handling raw food, wash them thoroughly before using them for serving cooked food.
Avoid using sponges for cleaning, as they are harder to keep bacteria-free.
Wash and clean the counters with weak bleach periodically in order to sanitize them.
Rinse the utensils while putting them into sink preferably with warm water.

Other important tips:

Give adequate space while heating foods in the oven as overcrowding may ruin the process.
Pre-chop your veggies before you start cooking to prevent overcooking of some and undercooking of other materials.
Keep eggs and dairy for some time at room temperature before cooking them. Do not use them straight out of the fridge.
Learn to roast and bake foods in oven instead of using oil in pan. It makes them healthier.
Be careful not to add ingredients in large quantity. You can always add more but cannot take them out.
Defrost meat completely before cooking. Frozen meat becomes tough or rubbery after cooking.
Use sharp cutting knives to cut veggies with ease. Dull knives make the experience very painful.
Clean up as you go.
Read recipes ahead of time.
And last but the most important: accept failures and never give up!