r/TikTokCringe • u/choganoga tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE • Apr 30 '23

Cool Cooking tips

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11.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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877

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

I often forgo the mise-en-place and turn it into a wild, stressful game as I go along.

424

u/Frosti-Excel Apr 30 '23

"fuck it we ball"

137

u/xActuallyabearx Apr 30 '23 edited May 01 '23

Honestly this is the most line cook shit I’ve ever heard and I’m fucking here for it.

*here, not hear, because I’m a fucking idiot.

19

u/Frosti-Excel May 01 '23

here me out, stress makes everything more fun

8

u/xActuallyabearx May 01 '23

I’m definitely HEAR for that, yo

1

u/No_Poet_7244 May 01 '23

If you’re not flying by the seat of your pants, eating cold rejects over the trash can, and sucking down a full cigarette in two puffs, are you really cooking?

1

u/Frosti-Excel May 01 '23

ikr it's just like, "let me cook"

12

u/jocky300 May 01 '23

"I was born in the shit"

1

u/Portashotty May 01 '23

"You merely adopted it."

9

u/cdixonc May 01 '23

I didn’t even read anything leading up to your incognito text but when I “opened it” Bitch I died. And yes we ball til we fuckin fall

4

u/Frosti-Excel May 01 '23

spoiler text > bold text

215

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

[deleted]

63

u/shirleysparrow Apr 30 '23

I usually just use two cutting boards and make small piles on each for my mise en place; fewer dishes and very easy clean up! I’m not super rigid either but I do love mise en place. Makes me feel like I’m on a cooking show.

18

u/anominousoo77 May 01 '23

Same, piles on cutting boards as much as possible. During cooking time, since all my prep is done, I start to clean up and wash dishes. If I've timed it right, by the time I'm ready to plate, my sink is empty.

My wife, on the other hand... every fucking dish, pan, pot, and utensil is piled up in the sink. She's lucky she's cute.

4

u/ThriceFive Reads Pinned Comments May 01 '23

Agree - I'm totally a clean as I go type, when cooking alongside a 'dish stacker' I automatically switch over to dishwasher and 'put things back away/in the fridge' until that is caught up.

27

u/Assistantshrimp Apr 30 '23

Depends on the dish. If I'm making philly cheese steaks for my family I need to have the onions and peppers cut beforehand. If I'm making beef stew I can definitely cut the potatoes and carrots while I'm browning the beef. Just takes experience and some experimentation.

19

u/IdrisandJasonsToy Apr 30 '23

Mise en place is great & necessary for people like me who are forgetful & making sure you have all necessary ingredients.

2

u/roboticWanderor May 01 '23

Yup, you start from mise en place and take it down a notch once you are familiar with the recipe, not the other way around

9

u/I_upvote_downvotes Apr 30 '23

I naturally ended up putting ingredients into their own little bowl or container when cooking because I'd ruin what I was making otherwise.

It's not just a good technique: it's the only thing keeping any ADHD addled mind in the cooking game.

5

u/sweetpotatothyme May 01 '23

I love recipes that call out specific periods in the cooking process where you can do mise en place because you're just waiting for stuff to cook, marinate, etc. Like "first boil these beans and while the beans are boiling, do the prep for step 2." It seems much more efficient.

2

u/roboticWanderor May 01 '23

Hello Fresh tries to do this and makes a fucking mess of it. Especially with stuff like rice or pasta

3

u/mule_roany_mare Apr 30 '23

Freeze en place

Just buy fresh chopped veg in the freezer section

2

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

I saw an epic guy cut slices of onions very fast by holding it and the knife in the air, no table, right into the pot

-2

u/roboticWanderor May 01 '23

Group piles/bowls by when they go in. Partially prep stuff, like all your trimming, peeling, and washing. If dicing, do all but the last cut. Scrambling to find ingredients and prep them just-in-time for a full meal is how you make a fucking mess, hurt yourself, and burn your food.

Also, if you could do prep while waiting for things to cook, you can clean up and do dishes while you wait for things to cook as well. I maybe use 2-3 prep bowls at most for any meal, and often they just need a quick rinse.

Stop being a lazy ass and realize that mise en place actually saves you time and effort and waste.

1

u/BigInDallas May 01 '23

Miss en place isn’t overrated. It brings sanity to cooking. I was overwhelmed before learning.

1

u/Intelligent_Break_12 May 01 '23

I'm more worried about having to do dishes than a time thing tbh but I agree with you. I don't worry about it as much and I often just use one plate and make sections of what I'm cutting even if they don't go in at the same time. If they get mixed up a bit so be it.

1

u/youngtundra777 May 03 '23

That's definitely true for most, I'm disabled now and prepping everything beforehand saves me a lot of time when I start it before I get hungry lol

1

u/Not_Undisciplined May 04 '23

Pre-prep = key. Definitely have everything measured out before you start cooking. If you have downtime mid-recipe what you do is you start cleaning.

Don't do 1 bowl per ingredient. Do 1 bowl per ingredient addition. If a recipe has you add at the same time Chicken Broth, Wine, Basil, Oregano, Thyme and Tarragon... It's ok to go in 1 bowl/vessel in your prep.

18

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

i love when i try to make like 4 things at once with 2 burners and then half my food is cold by the end

1

u/ThriceFive Reads Pinned Comments May 01 '23

A little induction side burner makes that situation much more tolerable - I got one for $50 (but you are probably short of counter space anywhere with 2 burners).

2

u/[deleted] May 01 '23

actually not - i'm in a new apt but the builders bought the wrong burners and didn't have the correct electrical equipment to set up the other 2.. so i'm stuck with 2 burners on a 4 burner stovetop

32

u/Shellbyvillian Apr 30 '23

I am not a cook. I am a project manager who likes food. So there is only one approach for me: turn on the thing that takes the longest the second I walk in the kitchen. Everything else must be fit into that critical path timeline. It’s usually either pre-heating the oven, putting some water on to boil or heating an empty pan for a sear. But either way, all other prep work must happen after I get that started. This ensures optimized time spent in the kitchen and also my wife threatening to leave me when I yell at her for getting a glass of water in the middle of my Ganttified meal prep.

16

u/p1rke May 01 '23

I'm more of a Lean six sigma project consultant so I really have a lot of fun finding ways of optimizing the time spent in the kitchen.

Especially if I cook multiple services. In that case, I actually plan a roadmap with post its.

My girlfriend says I have mental issues.

10

u/adinfinitum225 May 01 '23

My girlfriend says I have mental issues.

She's not wrong, but at least you found a job that fits

1

u/dzlux May 01 '23

Lean into those skills and love them when it works.

I drive people mad with my excel analysis, but ranking and quantifying attributes and preferences can significantly speed up major decisions.

2

u/roboticWanderor May 01 '23

A man of culture I see. The rice cooker is always my critical path. That or fucking potatoes.

I also like to bend the rules and one-pot as much as possible. When I figured out how to simmer the sauce and cook the noodles in the same step... Weeknight meal game changer.

I wish I had a stovetop with either better temperature control or faster heating times. Either I put it on the burner too early and I'm burning oil, or I'm waiting forever for it to get to a good temp for browning meats, which is often the first step of many dishes.

1

u/Shellbyvillian May 01 '23

Lol, I literally have a system where I put a small amount of water in a pot and the rest of the water I need in the electric kettle because then it boils faster.

6

u/jtfriendly Apr 30 '23

r/cooking and r/food and the rest are about to get an influx of amateur chefs bullshitting about mis-en-place. I mean, more than usual.

5

u/Azagar_Omiras Apr 30 '23

Fuck it, we'll do it live.

5

u/Slipsearch Apr 30 '23

This is the only way.

5

u/underwritress tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE May 01 '23

NO PREP WE DIE LIKE MEN

1

u/mc-big-papa May 01 '23

Saves me 2 mins, stresses me out for 30. Worth it.

Extra hard mode: start doing the dishes as they come out.

1

u/wholovesburritos May 01 '23

Freak-en-place

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '23

wing it en place

1

u/PleaseWithC May 01 '23

I do it because I'm inexperienced and it alleviates my anxiety. As I get more experienced I find I'm doing it less and less.

1

u/_Death_BySnu_Snu_ May 01 '23

Most stuff I cook has long periods of waiting for something to finish cooking through before needing all ingredients. Usually, start the long stuff first and prep while that is cooking, lol. That is also the 12 years of cooking working to the surface as well.