nikola
Cooking is an art. It’s interesting how these simple ingredients can be combined to become a delicacy. But many make mistakes during the preparation. Though these mistakes may not seem big but they give disastrous results. For the love of food, check if you have any of these 9 unhealthy kitchen habits and break them immediately.
1. One Cutting Board
Many household kitchens have only one cutting board. Cutting raw meat and fresh fruit on the same cutting board is a fast way for germs to migrate from meat to fruits. The germs on meat get completely killed only after cooking but this is not the case with fruits and salad’s vegetables. So, you must use separate cutting boards for meat and produce. It is ideal to have another (small) chopping board for herbs.
2. Unclean Dish Scrubber
When was the last time you washed your dish scrubber? Probably never! It is quite common to scrub your unclean dishes with the washer (scrubber) and put it back in its rack. The bacteria that it wiped clean from your dishes is now on your scrubber and multiplying. Now, you get how unhealthy that is, don’t you? Adapt yourself to wash your scrubber under running water after doing dishes once a while.
3. Improperly Heating The Pan
This is where pros get distinguished from amateurs. Dropping your ingredients into the pan when it is not properly heated will reduce the crispness of the dish and it gets either over or under-cooked. But this does not mean you should preheat your pan for an hour. 2 or 3 minutes will do.
4. Non-Stick Pans Are Toxic
Though non-stick pans ease up your cooking, they are not to be used for everything, and most importantly not for stir-fries. Non-stick pans prevent your veggies from adhering, which ruins the essence of stir-fried veggies. Also, if you’ve been using the same non-stick pans for almost everything, then it’s time to throw it in the bin.
Non-stick pans are made of Teflon which is toxic. If you don’t believe me, watch this recent Hollywood true story movie “Dark Waters” featuring Mark Ruffalo & Anne Hathaway, which cites exactly the same.
5. Not Washing Your Grocery Bags
Your grocery bags often meet the same fate as your dish scrubber. As the bags carry groceries and supplies from various sources, germs do make a living there. It’s their paradise.
It is safe to wash them regularly and carry your supplies only in a cleaned bag. Learn to toss your reusable bags in the washing machine upon returning from the supermarket.
6. Ignoring Leaky Faucets
As a kitchen faucet is used all-the-time, there are chances of leakage here and then. But leaving your leaky faucet as it is, weakens your walls and the moisture spoils your cupboards. Plus, that dripping sound is hella annoying when you’re working in the kitchen. Don’t ignore that leaky faucet and get it fixed as quickly as you can.
7. Overfilled Pan
It is known that while stir-frying or sauteing, you should not throw in a ton of vegetables into your pan as the result comes out steamed. What you miss out is, overfilling a pan is not appropriate no matter what you are cooking. Too many things in your pan won’t let the seasoning and heat spread evenly. Contents on one side of the pan are cooked excellently and the other side remains raw and bland. If you have to cook in large quantities, pick a large cooking pot or pan.
8. Rinsing Pasta
“Rinse the pasta after boiling it” is practiced as a rule of thumb but noooo. Rinsing your pasta may help it in absorbing the sauce but the flavorful starch in the pasta gets washed away. Instead of rinsing off, try straining. This will help your pasta hold the sauce as well as retain the starch.
9. Cramming Everything Into The Fridge
After coming back from grocery shopping, the first thing you probably do is, put everything in the fridge. This makes a few lose their nutrients and shelf life. Take your time out, sort them and fridge those that need cooler conditions.
It is normal to make mistakes but what matters is how soon you rectify them. Cooking is a daily need and interestingly it also helps in stress relief, as one gets attained to a work. So, follow healthy kitchen and life habits.
