What do you like about it, and do you think any of your methods could help the class?
What do you wish could be improved about your kitchen, or what would you change if you could?
I built floating shelves in the kitchen where I stock all of my herbs and spices. I also bought like 50+ glass jars with labels so that all of my spices look consistent across the board. I then alphabetized everything, and placed the jars inside of a sideways, upright old wooden coke crate - turns out they are just barely bigger than the spice jars and the entire thing looks sooooo good…you get the rustic antique that’s super functional. Nice thing is you can find like half a dozen of these carts at almost every single antique store you go to.
To organize while I’m cooking I have about a dozen stainless steel bowls and 1/4 pans that I use to prep and store ingredients. I can see everything, and get it prepped before the actual meal so I don’t have to juggle prep and cooking at the same time.
One thing I wish I could improve would be to figure out a way to organize about 15 different sized prices of cookware in my cabinet below. I have to disassemble a damn enameled cookware tower just to get to the frying pan on top, and you can’t stack the pan on top without it becoming a possible danger/hazard if the tower collapses.
placed the jars inside of a sideways, upright old wooden coke crate
Sounds very interesting - would you provide a photo please?
Excellent! Looks perfect, thanks for sharing.
A set of 4 medium-ish sized one piece rubber spatulas. Great for stirring, cooking, eating yogurt with, cleaning a bowl, get the last few drops of sauce out of a pan.
Im in the UK. A set of measuring spoons in tsp/tbsp/ml and a set of measuring spoons/vessels in the funny American sizing of cups :)
A good 8” chefs knife, sharpening steel and stone (and learn how to use it. Its not that hard)
I like this video, it’s title says stuff to avoid but he really goes through his solutions and best tips as well.
Less tools and dishes in favor of better tools and dishes - at least, better for what you cook. Less stuff means less clutter per cabinet means easier to keep organized and easier to grab something when you need it. Knives and spoons/spatulas are a big one - there just isn’t a time that I need three sizes of large spoons or a 12 piece knife set. I have 2 metal spatulas, one flexible one stiff. Three knives, small medium large (and could reduce this to two). How many mixing bowls do you really need? Minimal dishes - I keep some extras out of the kitchen in case of guests but a dozen place settings day to day is too many. Anyway, if you have more than one of something really think about the use case and if you have items that you haven’t used in months/years just get rid of them or store them in an overflow cabinet so you can get them out for the one holiday. This also reduces the amount of things that can end up dirty at one time.
No stacking (except identical items or small things like measuring cups). Ideally I can grab anything I need with one hand. Because I have less stuff than I could fit I have room for a shelf of unstacked mixing bowls (two sizes) - when I need one (or need to put one away) I don’t have to deal with unstacking/sorting them. Same for large measuring cups, dishes, glasses, pots and pans, etc. Exceptions for me are baking dishes (only have so much room and I use these less) and some other specialty rare use items.
Urgent needs go closer to the prep areas and stove. When I need a spatula or something right this second to keep something from burning those are close by. Baking supplies are far away because if I need those I’ll get them all out at the same time before I start. This is really specific to you. Pay attention to what you really use and how and sort accordingly.
Don’t worry about perfect organization. I have a drawer by the stove/prep area with my spatulas, tongs, spoons, food scissors, etc. It has dividers in it but nothing has a ‘place’. The dividers at least keep everything pointing the same way but it’s a sparse junk drawer - I can see everything so it doesn’t matter if it’s jumbled a bit. Same for most of my cabinets - if I can see it and get it with one hand that’s good enough.
If at all possible the triangle of stove/fridge/sink with prep area next to all of those is ideal.
Overall my current kitchen is pretty good. I have some cabinets I’d swap for drawers if I had a bit more room. I’d like to reduce a few things but it is fun to have some extras for special things (specific ramen bowls, unique coffee mugs to rotate through, a waffle maker). Extra storage (maybe in the pantry) would be good for larger less used things but I don’t have that…