In every kitchen it is crucial to understand the key elements of what makes it run, kitchen essentials. Kitchen essentials includes topics such as pantry ingredient suggestions, food storage ideas, food storage guidelines, how to read a recipe, kitchen measurements, how to plan menus and knife skills.
If you are new to the kitchen lets compare it to something everyone does daily like bathing. When you work through your routines such as bathing you have a steps that you work through. You have supplies that you use, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, brushes, mouthwash etc. You bathe, brush your hair, teeth, shave, and hopefully come out smelling nice and looking the way you want. Just as you perform these daily functions, kitchen essentials are activities that you attend to that will give you the results you want based on your best efforts.
The pantry is a general term in the kitchen used for an area that you store food, dry goods typically, pans and dishes. Have you ever wanted to make something and not had the ingredients to do anything. A well stock pantry may not keep you out of the store for everything but will likely help you avoid being frustrated when you want to make or do certain standard recipes and or procedures. In our pantry list you will be provided with suggestions of common items that you will want to keep on hand.
When storing food there are guidelines to aid you in both the ideal preservation methods of food storage and keeping the foods as safe as possible. These guidelines, placed in action, result in practices that will help you maintain best food handling practices . These practices do two things, they not only aid in preventing food borne illness but they assist in maintaining food quality. Food quality is the integrity or the character of the foods nutrition, flavors, and content before it is altered through storage, time and temperature exposure. Good food storage habits ensures the best qualities of the foods are maintained in the environment that the food is best suited in.
Reading a Recipe
How to read a recipe is another tool you should have in your arsenal. When you understand the lingo of measurements, have the know how of kitchen fundamentals you will become more confident in your cooking. If you are doing something new or out of your comfort zone you will likely follow some recipe. When you get stumped on something you should look for recipes that get the desired results and follow the new techniques or procedures. There are numbers and words and all these instructions that probably have an importance to the overall outcome of the title of this “Recipe.” How to read a recipe is very important to success in the kitchen.
How to plan a menu is a topic ,simplistic in nature, vital to a successful food event . Menu planning truly is at the heart of a chefs life. The challenge lies in the audience and their expectations. The closer the two ideals line up the easier the task at hand. When you understand what your audiences wants and likes, the planning becomes facilitated. When you understand the preferences of your audience or what you perceive they would like best, this is makes your menu. When you are planning for a week the challenges are reduced when you know all the parameters or guidelines set forth by, Usually people, budgets and availability of both the products and the guest. Planning for a longer period has its challenges, the details don't change, Often life happens and you have variables Planning a menu for a month, requires more thought of the activities involved that are going on for an extended period of time
Kitchen Knife skills come in to conversation as part of our kitchen essentials conversation. Kitchen knife skills are a function that needs to happen in order to be able to prepare foods for cooking. The detail that you learn the best practices will give you culinary definition. A proficient knife handler gets certain results, consistency and efficiency. Even cuts achieve uniformity and will have similar cooking times with like items, which gives you levels of quality and consistency. To have a higher level of achievement learning these skills will reduce time of preparation in the kitchen.