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In this article, the author defines mise en place as having all of your ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start cooking. If you were to directly translate mise en place from French to English, it simply means "to put in place". The article goes on to highlight the importance of utilizing mise en place both in professional and home kitchens as this organizational technique allows for a more streamlined cooking experience, helping to prevent any accidental overlooking of ingredients and recipe steps. No matter the level of cooking, reading through the recipe and collecting all the required ingredients and tools prior to beginning will save time and reduce the opportunity for mistakes to be made, resulting in a better cooking and dining experience for everyone involved. The author of this article states that professional cooks' usage of mise en place is what allows restaurants to generate and serve the large number of dishes they do in a relatively short period of time.  This makes sense as utilizing mise en place cuts down on the time required to search for ingredients and tools, allowing dishes to be produced as promptly as possible. The article quotes that mise en place is truly a state of mind that grants the power of keeping and prioritizing several tasks in mind concurrently, essentially suggesting that mise en place is a tool that can be used in all areas in life and not just in the kitchen. For example, mise en place could be applied during a study session in terms of ensuring you have all your required materials before beginning, like your computer, notes, pencil, and a glass of water. Checking to make sure you have all of your necessary supplies with you before starting to work would ensure your study session and train of thought are not interrupted by having to leave your work space to grab something. To conclude, the article provides a couple helpful analogies to link the concept of mise en place to real-world cooking experiences, like making a sandwich or putting together a stir-fry, linking this potentially formally unfamiliar term to relatable everyday kitchen experiences.

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The Importance of Mise en Place

I know what you are thinking," I thought this was a culinary guide for novice cooks and now you are throwing some fancy French terminology at us."

All mise en place, pronounced (MEEZ ahn plahs) or (mi zɑ̃ ˈplas), means is to have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start cooking. Translated, " to put in place."

It's kind of like when you go on a trip, first you make sure you have everything you need and are not forgetting anything, then fold everything nice and neatly so it fits into your bags.

Or how about when you are changing the oil in your car. Wait a minute, who changes their oil anymore?

How about balancing your checkbook?

You get all your cancelled checks and deposit slips in order by arranging them by date or number before you start reconciling your statement. If you don't, you know you will be going back and starting all over from the beginning.

What Most Home Cooks Do

If you are like many home cooks, me included more times than I want to admit, you jump right into a recipe with little or no prep figuring you can chop the garlic while the onions are sautéing. You get 4 steps into the recipe and find you needed to reduce some balsamic vinegar before adding it to the dish and now you are scurrying around trying to get it done before the onions and garlic overcook and your timing is completely thrown off.

I'm not sure why it is so difficult to get novice cooks to accept this idea but it's similar to asking someone to preheat their grill or sauté pan before starting to cook. How many of us just go out to the gas grill, turn it on for a couple of minutes, throw a chunk of meat on it and start grilling? It's the same with searing or sautéing on your stove top.

Let those pans heat up some before you start cooking. If you are cooking with oil, it should just about be smoking before you add your main ingredients.

Before You Start

Now before you can even start preparing the ingredients for cooking, you want to make sure you have all the ingredients. This is the ultimate Mise en Place! I don't think the great French chefs had this in mind when they came up with the term, but how many of you have started a recipe only to find out you were missing one or two of the key ingredients.

So you jump in the car or call a neighbor and plead for some Port wine that the Beef Tenderloin in a Port wine reduction calls for. I've been there.

Here's where my wife and I approach cooking from different points of view. She is so much more organized than I am and therefore never finds herself running out to the store at the last minute.

She discovers a delicious looking recipe in one of my many cooking magazines, makes a LIST of ingredients that she will need, goes to the store and buys all the ingredients on her LIST, and then comes home to start prepping all the ingredients on her LIST. This is the way to do it. Forget about trying to wing it like I often do and think, "Oh, if I don't have what I need I will just find a great substitute for it."

No way. Doesn't work. Maybe if you are a trained professional you could get away with it but it is not a great way for a beginner home cook to learn. And if you ever have the opportunity to meet a professional chef sometime, ask them how much time they put into mise en place everyday.

Watching the Pros

If you ever have the occasion to dine in a restaurant with an open kitchen that has a counter you can sit at and watch the chefs do their work, give it a go. These types of restaurants are especially great if you are dining alone.

Just before I left Park City and moved to Philadelphia, I had dinner alone at one of my favorite local restaurants, Sage Grill, which has an open kitchen and observation counter. It is a great way to watch the professionals do their thing and when it gets really busy, there's more action than a roller derby.

What amazes me is how they can get out so many appetizers, salads, entrees, & desserts with relative ease. Sure they have a crew of three or four, but think about how much work goes into cooking a gourmet dinner for six in your own home. These guys are putting out a hundred plus dinners per night.

What you notice is their mise en place. Each station is fully prepped with all the ingredients necessary to make a particular dish.

All the meats, chicken, and fish are cut and de boned, the fresh herbs for seasoning sauces are washed, cut, and separated into small bowls, the vegetables are sliced, diced, or julienned to the correct size, everything ready to go because when the show gets going, there is no time to go back and dice up some carrots. The show must go on.

What we don't see are the hours spent during the day when prep chefs are working hard to get everything ready for the evening event. I would guess as many hours going into prepping for a typical night in a good restaurant as there are for actual cooking.

According to The New Professional Chef, mise en place:
"means far more than simply assembling all the ingredients, pots and pans, plates, and serving pieces needed for a particular period. Mise en place is also a state of mind. Someone who has truly grasped the concept is able to keep many tasks in mind simultaneously, weighing and assigning each its proper value and priority. This assures that the chef has anticipated and prepared for every situation that could logically occur during a service period."
Wow! Looks like a little mise en place could work in all our personal and professional lives too.

Example of Mis En Place

A good example of using this technique that we all seem to understand is making a simple sandwich. Think about it. You gather up all the ingredients you need and get them ready for assembly.

You may have to make the tuna salad, slice the tomatoes, or grill the chicken, but you have all the makings before you even think of putting the sandwich together.

Make sense? So why not apply the same technique to all your cooking.

Another good example of using this technique is when you stir-fry. Because everything gets cooked so quickly, you must have all your ingredients ready to go.

Check out my Cooking Primer on Stir-Fry at and then try it out on a recipe for Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry.

I promise if you practice this one skill and "put everything in place" before you get started, your dishes will come out better and you will enjoy the act of cooking more than ever.

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What Is Mise En Place and Why Is It So Important To Professional Chefs

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I know what you are thinking," I thought this was a culinary guide for novice cooks and now you are throwing some fancy French terminology at us." All mise en place, pronounced (MEEZ ahn plahs) or (mi zɑ̃ ˈplas), means is to have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start cooking.

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This article very effectively breaks down the seemingly obvious steps that go into following a recipe, highlighting the potential negative outcomes that may arise should one fail to regard these supposedly insignificant processes and details. The article is separated into five sections, three of which pertain to reading and following recipes, that all discuss different aspects pertaining to reading and understanding a recipe. The first section describes why It is so important to read a recipe all the way through before starting to cook. The article states that reading the whole recipe allows for the identification of any hidden ingredients as well as noting any ingredients that are used in two places throughout the recipe (ex. an egg being used for batter and in egg wash). The ultimate conclusion that can be drawn from reading the recipe all the way through is that it saves time in all aspects of the cooking experience which is very beneficial especially in our busy day and age that often prevents people from making their own food entirely. The article also highlights why it is so important to respect the order of the recipe's ingredients as they are oftentimes listed in order of use. By understanding the order of the ingredients list, people can easily set up mise en place, allowing for a more efficient cooking experience (refer to "How to be Efficient in the Kitchen). Finally, the third section discusses how the placement of commas in the ingredients list can be very telling in terms of how much of an ingredient should be added into the recipe. For example, "1 cup of chopped walnuts" means to measure the walnuts after they have been chopped, however, "1 cup of walnuts, chopped" means to measure the walnuts whole and then chop them up. This is an important, potentially unknown, tip that can help people better interpret a recipe, ultimately ensuring the best results possible.

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I don't know how to break this to you, but... we're hurtling towards the holiday season. If that's too much for you to take (and I totally understand), then maybe I could just tell you that we're hurtling towards the turn-your-oven-on-and-bake-things season.

Because we're going to bake it up for the next few months, I've come to offer you a toolbox. You know, some tips and tricks about flour and butter that maybe you don't already know. Every week for the next few months, we're going to talk about why we do the things we do in the kitchen. Do you really need to sift that flour? Maybe not. What do you mean by 'cream butter and sugar'? We'll discuss.

Today, we're going to start at the very beginning.... with the recipe. It's the map and we need to know how to read it!

It starts with a grumble in the stomach. It starts with a craving. It starts with a simple desire to stir together chocolate and walnuts. Wherever it starts, we always find ourselves flipping through cookbooks looking for it. Our search always ends in a recipe: the baking guide.

There's a trick to successfully and correctly read a recipe. The recipe is rooting for us. The recipe wants our brownies to be perfect... but it's written in a specific language. Let's go step-by-step.

1. Read the Dang Recipe.

Believe it or not, reading a recipe from beginning to end is a big deal. First, review the ingredients list and read through the instructions. The instructions may have some hidden ingredients (like water), or split the ingredient list in an expected way (like using one egg for a batter and one egg for an egg-wash). You want to know the lay of the land. Read the dang recipe. Trust me.

2. Respect the Order.

Did you know that a recipe's ingredient list is usually set up by order of use? Yea. Success!

Here's the ingredient list to my favorite brownie recipe from Dorie Greenspan.
Classic Brownies 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup sugar 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional, but really good) 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt (according to taste) 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup chopped walnuts
In this arrangement, the recipe wants us to know that we'll first be incorporating butter and two types of chocolate. Next up will be sugar, eggs, and vanilla, followed by our dry ingredients, and classy extras (walnuts). The recipe list is built to help us, help ourselves.

3. The Comma.

The comma is everything when it comes to baking measurements. Every cut, chop, or dice instruction after a comma in an ingredient list is to be done after the ingredient is measured.

For example, 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped.

In longhand, this means... go to the store and buy one of those four ounce bars of chocolate, probably that fancy bar of Ghirardelli that's next to the chocolate chips in the baking aisle. Buy it. Take it home. Unwrap it. Try not to take a bite because you're using it for brownies. Put it on the counter. Chop it. Don't sneak any bites. We know it's hard. Place it in the bowl with the butter and follow the rest of the dang instructions.

These recipe list does not mean chop a bunch of chocolate and measure out 4 ounces and snack on the rest.

But wait.... aren't ounces the same before and after? Where this gets tricky is here: 1 cup sifted flour vs. 1 cup flour, sifted.

Just... respect the comma.

The absence of a comma is also revealing.

For example, 1 cup chopped walnuts.

In longhand, this means... go to the store. Splurge on walnuts. Take them home. Chop them with the same knife you chopped the chocolate with (because why would you dirty another knife?). Measure the chopped walnuts in a 1-cup measuring cup and add them to the brownie batter like a boss.

One cup of chopped walnuts is very different that one cup of walnuts, chopped. Ya heard?

4. Pack, Soften and Preheat.

Recipe lists often request that brown sugar be 'packed'. Take the back of a spoon and firmly (but not totally Hulk -style) press the sugar into the measuring cup. Add more sugar and pack until sugar is flush with the top of the measuring cup. Boom!

Soften butter by allowing it to rest at room temperature for about 1 hour. Don't cheat yourself or the butter by not allowing the butter to soften before combining it with sugar and eggs. No one wins. We'll talk at length about creaming butter and sugar soon.

Preheat the oven. Biscuits hate a 200 degree F oven. Biscuits love a 400 degree F oven. You love biscuits. Preheat the oven.

5. Is It Done Yet!?

Doneness is recipe instructions are usually described by a time range and visual characteristics.
Bake brownies for 30 to 33 minutes, or until the top is dull and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
You've come this far, now it's up to you to take your treat out of the oven at the right time. The time and description should give you confidence by providing you with as estimated time and appearance. Trust the process and trust yourself... and standby with the pot holders.

Recipe example above from my favorite baking book EVER. Baking: from my home to yours, Dorie Greenspan. I also love this article The Pleasure of Reading Recipes from The New Yorker.

More Baking 101 next week!

Also, if you have any specific baking questions, leave a comment below and I'll address it in a future Baking 101!

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Baking 101: How To Read A Recipe - Joy the Baker

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I don't know how to break this to you, but... we're hurtling towards the holiday season. If that's too much for you to take (and I totally understand), then maybe I could just tell you that we're hurtling towards the turn-your-oven-on-and-bake-things season.

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This article goes through several different areas of kitchen equipment and comprehensively details how one should take care of them to ensure the equipment can perform effectively and last for a long time. The equipment that is highlighted includes: knives, pots and pans, cutting boards, plastic and rubber items, and coffeemakers. The author breaks down the pots and pans section into three subcategories, being all types, stainless steel, and nonstick, and the cutting board category into two subcategories, being wooden cutting boards and plastic cutting boards. By doing so, readers are provided with even more detailed information that they will be better able to apply to their own kitchens depending on the type of equipment they own. This article discusses how often to clean things, such as how coffeemakers should be sanitized once a month, and the various methods that different equipment should be cleaned, such as how all knives should be washed by hand, in great detail. The abundance of beneficial information found in this article on the proper upkeep of a wide range of kitchen tools is very advantageous to readers as practicing the correct care of kitchen equipment will help the tools last as long as possible, saving money as there will be less need to replace things. Also, practicing the preferred maintenance of kitchen tools will help them work to the best of their ability, consequently making the food produced using them higher quality. Finally, following the correct cleaning procedures for these tools and equipment will ensure the kitchen is kept as clean and hygienic as possible which is extremely important when dealing with food in order to prevent things like cross contamination.

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In order to keep utensils and appliances in good working order, it's important to keep them clean. Check out our guide on the proper care for kitchen equipment.

I love to cook, but I'm hopeless in terms of cleaning up as I go. When I've finished preparing dinner most nights, my kitchen is a minefield of messes: several knives covered with the remnants of various minced herbs and diced vegetables, a wet cutting board reeking of garlic, and two or three pots and pans coated with meat drippings and dried-up sauce. Ever since I got a bunch of high-end kitchen equipment as wedding gifts a few years ago, I've felt guilty about my tendency to neglect these implements until long after I've finished making (and eating) my meal. If you find yourself doing the same, read these tips for properly using, cleaning, and preserving your cooking gear-and then steel yourself to work up some serious elbow grease.

Knives
A good set of knives is a must-have for your kitchen arsenal, but taking care of them can feel like a full-time job. Still, you'll be thankful for your diligence when you consider how many hundreds of dollars you're saving by keeping your blades in tip-top shape, rather than having to replace them every couple of years.

Always use knives for their intended purpose-that means not only avoiding slashing things like plastic packaging with your nice cutlery, but also using paring knives for peeling and cutting fruits and vegetables, serrated bread knives for slicing loaves of bread, and butcher or carving knives for handling meat.

Keep your knives sharp at all times. Hone the blades frequently at home using the steel device that comes with most knife sets-position the knife at a twenty-degree angle away from the steel, then pull it toward you with a fluid motion a few times-and take them to a professional sharpener at least once a year (or, better yet, twice).

Wash knives by hand after each use, and never leave them soaking in dishwater (doing so can dull the blades and cause handles made of wood or other organic materials to deteriorate much more quickly). Instead, wipe stainless steel blades with dishwashing liquid and warm water, rinse well, and dry immediately and thoroughly with a paper towel.

Store knives in a safe place where their blades won't come in contact with potentially damaging surfaces. The ideal solution is a wooden knife block, which you can keep on your counter for easy access; look for one with horizontal slits (or insert knives into vertical slits with the sharp edge facing upward). In a pinch, durable sheaths work for knives you need to keep in a drawer.

Pots and Pans
All Types
When cooking with gas, maintain low enough flames to avoid burning the sides of your pots and pans. If your recipe calls for high heat, ensure that the surface area of the base of the pan is large enough to cover powerful flames.

Don't leave dirty pots and pans sitting out overnight; wash them inside and out soon after you use them, but always allow them to cool first. Store them on hooks or a rack, if possible, instead of stacking them on top of one another.

Stainless Steel
Scratching the surface of your brand-new, shiny-as-the-chrome-on-a-1960s-Cadillac cookware is horrifying enough to give a gal night terrors for a month (trust me, I've been there). To avoid this pitfall, never use abrasive cleaners or steel wool-type scouring pads on stainless steel surfaces. Instead, try a nylon-net pad and a mild cleanser.

If you're tackling a particularly tough mess, such as a coating of burnt food, soak the pan in warm, soapy water for one hour, then boil the water for fifteen minutes. After you've let the water cool slightly, use a nylon scrubbing pad to remove residue. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Nonstick
Nonstick pans are excellent for many types of cooking, but they're also fragile. To protect your nonstick cookware's delicate finish, never use metal utensils with it-only wood, silicone, rubber, and plastics. While nonstick pans are dishwasher-safe, you'll increase their longevity if you coat their interiors with a thin layer of vegetable oil after each washing. If you have a stained pan, boil a mixture of one cup of water, one-half cup of liquid bleach, and two tablespoons of baking soda in the pan for five minutes before washing.

Cutting Boards
Wooden Cutting Boards, Butcher Blocks, and Spoons
You wouldn't soak your cherrywood coffee table in a bubble bath, so why would you think a maple stirring spoon or a bamboo cutting board deserves any less TLC? No matter what its size, any wooden kitchen implement that you purchase needs to be oiled regularly to prevent cracking. Mineral oil works well for this purpose; avoid olive and other vegetable-based oils, as they can contaminate your tools' surface over time. Using a soft cloth, rub a thin coating of warm oil into the wood, wait thirty minutes, and then wipe off any excess oil. Repeat once or twice over a twenty-four-hour period if you'd like. If you use wooden items frequently, you'll need to re-oil them approximately every eight weeks; when the wood has become noticeably lighter after regular use, it's ready for another coat.

Use gentle dishwashing soap and warm water to clean all wooden kitchen equipment by hand, but never leave it to soak. Wash each item as soon as you've used it-with each passing minute, more bacteria accumulates on each wooden surface. Then rub a lemon half over it to remove any lingering bacteria, towel-dry completely, and store it in a dry, temperate environment.

Plastic Cutting Boards
Unlike their wooden counterparts, plastic cutting boards are nonporous and therefore resistant to bacteria, a quality that makes them preferable for cutting meat on. But they require equally thorough cleaning with hot, soapy water. While you can generally run them through the dishwasher, make sure your plastic cutting boards can withstand the heat of the water in there before you make a habit of doing so. After washing, pat down the plastic with a dishtowel, and store the board upright (to avoid surface-bacteria retention).

Plastic and Rubber Items
While silicone-rubber cooking implements (spatulas, measuring cups, baking-sheet liners, and so forth) are capable of withstanding high temperatures, ordinary plastic and rubber utensils and containers can melt or crack quickly if they're exposed to intense heat or even sunlight, so keep them at room temperature and away from strong natural light.

Some plastic and rubber cooking tools are dishwasher-safe; consult the manufacturer's instructions to determine whether your specific items are. If not, stick with gentle cleansers and pads, and combat stains with a paste made from baking soda and water and applied with a sponge. To deodorize Tupperware and the like, crumple a piece of newspaper inside the container and seal the container overnight.

Coffeemakers
If you brew your own cup o' joe every morning, you may not realize just how much gunk is accumulating in your coffeemaker. To sanitize it, clean it once a month with a 1:1 mixture of white vinegar and water. Pour the solution into the machine, then run it through one cycle. Afterward, rinse out both your filter holder and your glass coffeepot thoroughly to wash away the lingering scent of vinegar. Repeat the process two more times to make sure you remove every last bit of residue from the machine, then complete one final cycle using 100 percent water, and voilà-ultra-fresh coffee without any traces of icky buildup.

Clean Kitchen, Happy Home
Sure, most cooking enthusiasts would love to have a full set of top-of-the-line kitchen gear provided by the Food Network (à la Ina Garten), but outfitting your home with good-quality equipment costs a small fortune. If you've taken the plunge and invested a good chunk of change in culinary creature comforts, protect your assets by treating them with the same care and respect you'd bestow upon a nice car or a new laptop-wash, dry, protect. Would the Barefoot Contessa leave her dirty Wüsthof knives sitting out on her counter or her Le Creuset Dutch oven encrusted with the burnt remains of a roux? I don't think so.

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Proper Care for Kitchen Equipment - More

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In order to keep utensils and appliances in good working order, it's important to keep them clean. Check out our guide on the proper care for kitchen equipment. I love to cook, but I'm hopeless in terms of cleaning up as I go.

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Cooking Equipment Spotlight: The Right Knife for the Job

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Cooking Equipment Spotlight: The Right Knife for the Job

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This article details several different kinds of knives and their individual uses in order to help people choose the correct knife when working in the kitchen to provide the most straightforward and fast cooking experience possible. Choosing the wrong knife for a job can feel cumbersome, make the task at hand take longer to complete, and may even lead to injury. This article details the chef knife as a multipurpose wonder that can be used for the widest variety of tasks and is especially useful when you have a larger item to cut up. The paring knife is described as the knife used when you want small jobs done well, such as peeling and de-seeding various fruits and vegetables, and the utility knife is characterized as the Goldilocks of these knives in terms of size as its bigger than the paring knife but smaller than the chef's knife. The utility knife is used for tasks such as mincing vegetables and slicing herbs. The article also lists and describes a variety of specialty knives, such as the fillet knife and the cleaver, for more specialized tasks. Finally, the article discusses the importance in keeping knives sharp as sharp knives are safe since you are able to control them more precisely and know exactly where the blade is going whereas dull knives can be unpredictable, making them more dangerous. Ensuring the proper upkeep of knives is a very important safety tip that should not be overlooked to avoid injuries. This article provides a substantial amount of helpful information for those beginning to cook. Knowing the correct knife to use for particular tasks will help save time and limit injuries caused by using a knife not suitable for the job at hand. Once you understand the role that the different types of knives play, you are able to move more efficiently and confidently around the kitchen, making for a much more enjoyable cooking experience.

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As a result, not everyone is aware of how to choose the best cooking equipment for each job.

Having the right knife is one of the most vital choices you can make during food preparation. When you have the right knife, everything is faster and easier. The wrong knife can be unwieldly, and may even lead to injury.

Here's how to know which knife is the right one for the job!

Chef's Knife: A Multi-Purpose Wonder

A chef's knife is a large blade that can be used for a wide variety of tasks. From chopping to dicing to slicing, if you have a larger food item to process the chef's knife is an essential piece of cooking equipment.

Whether you need to julienne, dice, or chop, this knife is excellent. You can use it for a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, and meat. You can even use it for herbs, or to shred cabbage.

Like all knives, a chef's knife needs to be kept sharp and in good condition to do its best work. However, even a knife this versatile needs some specialty help. While a chef's knife may be your first one, it shouldn't be the only one.

Paring Knife: Small Jobs Done Well

The chef knife's first trusty sidekick is a paring knife. This short, 2 - 4 inch blade is perfect for more delicate work that the chef's piece is a bit too large to handle.

Reach for this knife when you need to peel garlic, slice small fruit, or trim mushrooms. You can also use it for peeling and de-seeding. Paring knives can be either straight-bladed or serrated, and you may want one of each. A serrated paring knife can make it much easier to cut tomatoes, for instance, than a chef's knife.

When you have a small cutting job, the paring knife is the perfect cooking equipment!

Utility Knife: It's Just Right

Sometimes, like Goldilocks, you find that a chef's knife is too big but a paring knife is too small. What can you do to find a knife that's just right?

Why, you grab a utility knife! This 6 - 8 inch blade is great for cutting and chopping tasks that the chef's knife is unwieldly for, but the paring knife isn't quite enough.

From mincing to cleaning veggies or slicing herbs, the utility knife can give you that in-between heft and power that's perfect for the job.

Specialty Knives

The truth is, there are dozens of knives beyond these three, and many of the have specific uses. Take a look at what these cooking equipment ninjas can do for you.

Specialty knives include:

Bread Knife: A serrated, long knife that will cut bread smoothly without squashing it

Fillet Knife: A fillet knife helps you create beautiful fillets of meat and fish

Boning Knife: When you need to get bones out of fish or meat quickly, this is the tool to grab

Carving Knife: When it's time to slice up that meat you've carefully prepared, this is the knife you need

Cleaver: Separate meat parts cleanly with a powerful cleaver

Vegetable Knives: These Japanese beauties make quick work of many types of vegetables

Mezzaluna: A crescent-shaped blade, this makes quick work of fresh herbs

Depending on the type of cuisine your kitchen prepares, you may have several of these at hand. Make sure to choose the right one for the job!

Choose the Best Cooking Equipment

Knives are only a small part of the cooking equipment your restaurant needs to be successful. Don't spend time looking everywhere - we have exactly what you need!

From high-quality used kitchen appliances to brand new, beautiful knives , Tipton Equipment is here to help you find the equipment that will make you successful. for more information today!

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Cooking Equipment Spotlight: Which Knife Should I Use?

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Not everyone who's involved in a commercial kitchen has had professional training as a chef. As a result, not everyone is aware of how to choose the best cooking equipment for each job. Having the right knife is one of the most vital choices you can make during food preparation.

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Basic Techniques for Professional Culinary Arts Knife Cuts

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Basic Techniques for Professional Culinary Arts Knife Cuts

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This how-to video can be used as a very valuable tool in terms of learning and mastering a variety of different knife cuts in the kitchen.  While there is no talking in this video, there are written instructions on the screen that go along with the demonstration. This video thoroughly goes through eight of the basic knife cuts, including large dice, julienne, and brunoise, and even provides a visual at the end of all the various knife cuts together, helping viewers to identify the differences between each cut. The benefits of grasping these various knife cuts is very beneficial as it allows your dishes to cook through more evenly and look more presentable. Watching, comprehending, and following along with this video is also an effective way to improve your knife skills, helping you to advance your proficiency in the kitchen so that you can continue to try increasingly complicated recipes while also saving time.

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Whether you are working at being a chef, or simply want to improve your skills in the kitchen, mastering the most common culinary arts knife cuts will bring you one step closer to creating impressive-looking, evenly cooked, delicious meals. Learn what the basic cuts are, such as small dice, batonnet, julienne, brunoise, and more.

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Basic Culinary Arts Knife Cuts and Shapes

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Whether you are working at being a chef, or simply want to improve your skills in the kitchen, mastering the most common culinary arts knife cuts will bring you one step closer to creating impressive-looking, evenly cooked, delicious meals. Learn what the basic cuts are, such as small dice, batonnet, julienne, brunoise, and more.

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Is it Bad to Use Liquid Measuring Cups to Measure Dry Ingredients?

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Is it Bad to Use Liquid Measuring Cups to Measure Dry Ingredients?

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This video details the differences between liquid and dry measuring cups and demonstrates the importance of using both for their respective ingredients. To illustrate why you should use liquid measuring cups to measure liquid ingredients and dry measuring cups to measure dry ingredients, the video uses the opposite measuring cups to measure out a cup of flour and a cup of milk. After weighing the measured ingredients to test the accuracy of the measuring cups, they found using the wrong measuring cup can make you up to 25% off your target amount. This discrepancy in accuracy when measuring dry ingredients in liquid measuring cups is due to there being no way to accurately level the ingredient off and the discrepancy in accuracy when measuring liquid ingredients in dry measuring cups is a result of overflowing caused by the surface tension of the liquid which allows it to sit above the rim of the measuring cup, consequently increasing the volume. Ultimately, the conclusion is drawn that yes, it is important to use the correct measuring cups for their respective ingredients. This video's information is very useful to those in the kitchen, particularly when baking, as using the wrong kind of measuring cup can have a truly drastic impact on the results. This drastic impact is demonstrated in the video by comparing a cake that was made with 25% more liquid than the recipe called for and the same cake that followed the recipe perfectly. The cake made with poorly measured ingredients is much more dense and flat than the cake made with the correct amount of ingredients, effectively portraying the importance of using the right measuring cups for their intended ingredients. Even though using the right measuring cup may seem to be a commonsense practice, it is truly an important step to consider in the kitchen because being as accurate as possible when following a recipe when will ensure the ideal outcome, creating a better cooking and dining experience for all of those involved.

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Is it Bad to Use Liquid Measuring Cups to Measure Dry Ingredients?

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18 Different Cooking Techniques Explained

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18 Different Cooking Techniques Explained

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This source provides a very useful infographic that details 18 different cooking techniques in a very informative and organized manner. This infographic is separated into 18 different boxes for each cooking technique and provides a definition and pictures of the kitchen tools and equipment that should be used with each technique. Some of the cooking techniques detailed in this infographic include pressure cooking, pan roasting, poaching, and boiling. The infographic's simplistic layout, use of pictures, succinct word choice, and comprehensive information makes it a very helpful, practical, and easy to follow visual tool. Since this infographic includes a mix of both simple and more complex, sophisticated cooking techniques, it is perfect for both beginners just starting to cook, those looking to expand their cooking abilities, and those looking for a real challenge. This infographic is a very useful tool for those looking to broaden their recipe rotation as, when trying a new recipe, it is very helpful for navigating any unfamiliar cooking techniques easily. Finally, by providing pictures of the kitchen tools that accompany each technique, this infographic ensures readers know exactly what tools to use to be successful at the various cooking methods. This is beneficial as readers can identify whether they have the equipment needed for the cooking technique at hand and is especially helpful for the more complicated and unfamiliar techniques, such as smoking and sous vide.

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Here's a nice, straightforward infographic from Food Beast, outlining 18 different cooking techniques and exactly what foods they're best suited to.

If you've ever sat there puzzled when someone talks about "blanching and shocking" vegetables first, or serving a duck leg, "confit," then this is the infographic for you. Have you tried "cold oil spherification" and do you know what cooking "sous vide" actually means? Check the explainers below.

Read across the chart from each cooking method and you'll discover which is the best way to cook the juicest steak, for example, or how to keep your vegetables nice and crunchy.

The seasoned cook will know these methods like the back of their hands of course, but as an overview of 18 different cooking techniques this is a useful resource.

You might also want to check out this guide to how to sear anything perfectly, as the searimg method is mentioned below.

With new cooking techniques being invented every day, check out this guide to get your head around which food should be used with which technique.

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18 Different Cooking Techniques Explained

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Here's a nice, straightforward infographic from Food Beast, outlining 18 different cooking techniques and exactly what foods they're best suited to. If you've ever sat there puzzled when someone talks about "blanching and shocking" vegetables first, or serving a duck leg, "confit," then this is the infographic for you.

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This pdf provides a very straightforward and comprehensible look at the three commonly used recipe formats. For each of these recipe formats, being standard, narrative, and active recipe formats, there is a brief description and example. This source also provides some positives and negatives about each of the different recipe formats. By providing an example of each type of recipe format, it is very easy for readers to connect this potentially unfamiliar vocabulary to the recipes they see in their own kitchens and recipe books. Also, by using clear language and being very succinct, this source gets the information across in a very coherent manner. It is important for people to understand the differences between these three common recipe formats for when they are cooking in their own kitchens. Being able to recognize these recipe formats will be beneficial in terms of knowing whether you have to read through the recipe to identify all the ingredients before setting up your mise en place or if you can go ahead with setting up your mise en place right away because the recipe format lists the ingredients at the very beginning. Ultimately, understanding the difference between these recipe formats will make for a smoother experience in the kitchen as you will be better equipped to navigate the reading, understanding, and setup of the recipe and your kitchen space.

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This article thoroughly details how to measure common ingredients, such as flour, sugar, semi-liquid ingredients like peanut butter, and solid fats. Each bullet point discusses how to measure out specific ingredients, going into great detail about the different steps each ingredient must go through in order to be measured correctly, illustrating the great range in variation for measuring ingredients. The bullet point that talks about how to measure solid fats discusses the liquid displacement method which is an effective way to avoid having a difficult mess to clean up after measuring ingredients like shortening and margarine. This article also provides two charts, a dry ingredient equivalents chart and wet ingredient equivalents chart, to help with converting measurements. Finally, the article also stresses that precise measurements are more critical to the success of baking recipes than they are to cooking recipes. Overall, it is essential to know how to correctly measure specific ingredients in order to obtain the desired results in the kitchen. Despite the fact that recipes have to go through successful tolerance testing, being the practice of testing whether or not recipes work out when the ingredient measurements are varied slightly, before being published, the basic measuring rules still have to be followed for preferable results to be achieved. The article even says being able to measure accurately is probably the most important cooking skill in the kitchen, truly highlighting the significance of the information and tips found in this article.

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A Guide On Choosing The Perfect Kitchen Tools For Cooking

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A Guide On Choosing The Perfect Kitchen Tools For Cooking

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This article discusses how to choose the ideal kitchen tools depending on the utensil's material, your personal budget, as well as highlighting the importance of doing extensive research prior to purchasing any equipment. In terms of considering the utensils' material, the article suggests buying pots and pans made of materials that are easy to clean, such as stainless steel, and also notes how its important to buy stirring and cleaning and equipment that will not scratch your pots and pans. By considering the materials of your kitchen tools, you will be better able to effectively clean and care for them, resulting in equipment that lasts longer and a more hygienic kitchen space. In terms of adhering to your budget, this article says that you can still look and buy quality kitchen tools, however, you might have to avoid sets of equipment as they are generally more expensive and probably contain unnecessary additional tools. Also, to save money, the author suggests staying away from nonessential tools, such as pizza cutters, and to instead focus on buying higher quality essential equipment first. Buying high quality essentials will ensure you can complete majority of tasks required by any recipe and will help save money on kitchen equipment by reducing the likelihood you have to purchase new tools due to potential damage. Finally, this article stresses the need to research your kitchen tools prior to purchasing anything. Instead of buying the first piece of equipment you see, conduct research through outlets like cooking shows, magazines, and online sources such as reviews so that you can ensure you are looking at all your options in order to make effective comparisons between quality and price. Failing to conduct adequate research could lead to the purchase of poor quality products that have a very short lifespan, ultimately costing more money to repeatedly replace than it would have to purchase a high quality tool the first time around. On the other hand, failing to conduct adequate research could also lead you to fall for an advertisement scam, causing you to spend way too much on a product that could have been bought for a potentially much cheaper price for the same quality.

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Food is one of the basic needs for human beings. This makes a kitchen an essential room in any house. Buying kitchen tools can be difficult since you have to ensure what you buy will be useful. Moreover, you may be required to buy new kitchen-cooking tools when you are moving into a new place, or when you want to replace the existing ones.
Let us look at a guide for choosing the perfect kitchen tools for cooking.
Have Knowledge of Different Utensils

There exist numerous cooking tools. Their uses vary according to what you are preparing or cooking. Some of them are vital, while others are optional. For instance, spoons, cups, plates, knives, and serving dish are compulsory to purchase. On the other hand, pizza cutter, and can opener can be optional. Make up your mind on whether to purchase utensils individually on in a set. Moreover, purchase utensils like mixers that make work easier while cooking. Consider comparing KitchenAid mixers to get the most effective and useful while cooking.

Consider the Utensils Material

Kitchen cooking tools can be made of wooden, aluminum, Teflon, or stainless steel material. For pots and pans choose a material that is easy to clean. For stirring, spoons and ladles choose materials that will not scratch the pots and pans as you cook. Purchase high-quality utensils that are long lasting and will not require you to go back for replacement every now and then.

Before purchasing cooking tools , consider the cash at hand. Go for what you can afford to avoid financial strains. Do go for very cheap utensils since some of them may not be long-lasting. If you do not have enough money you can purchase single kitchen tools rather than sets since they are cheaper. For easy buying, it is good to budget, save money, and at the same time buy what is essential.

Do Extensive Research

Whenever you want to buy kitchen tools, do not go for anything you find in the market. Instead, take time and research on various tools, their uses, prices, and places to purchase them. Failure to that, you may end up buying cooking tools that you already have or you do not require. Compare different tools to have an exceptional final decision. You can watch cooking shows or read cooking magazines to find out more about various cooking tools. Moreover, you can read reviews before buying products to identify the experience of using different tools. It is also okay to buy a tool that you have been referred to by a friend or family member.

In conclusion, buying the perfect cooking tools can be a complex task. It needs time to do research and budget to avoid making mistakes. Moreover, compare different tools in the market to choose the best. Consider the material of the utensil you want to purchase to avoid stress when using them. In addition, budget before going to shop to avoid straining or overspending. To make good food you need perfect kitchen tools.
Image Source: Unsplash.com

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A Guide On Choosing The Perfect Kitchen Tools For Cooking

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Food is one of the basic needs for human beings. This makes a kitchen an essential room in any house. Buying kitchen tools can be difficult since you have to ensure what you buy will be useful.