Every time this is posted I am going to point out that if you take 2 hours for cooking every time, you are doing something wrong. 1 hour is maybe more realistic but for a lot of meals I make I don't need more than 30-40 minutes.

Also, if you finish your meal in 10 minutes there is also an opportunity to slow down your eating a bit.

[–] obinice@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I don't understand recipes that are like "yo this will take 30 minutes to prepare".

I'm not the Steve mcqueen of chopping things, haha. It might take me 10 minutes just to get all of the stuff I'll need out and ready to begin - pull the onions and potatoes out of the shed, get the meat from the freezer, get the pressure cooker out and plug it in, make sure the workspace and knives are ready to go, grab a bowl for to collect the compost refuse, wash hands, etc.

Then there's all the actual prep. Peel the onions and potatoes, wash the dirt off them, chop them, etc etc, maybe the garlic needs crushing in that little garlic press, maybe the ginger needs grating, maybe the spices need measuring out, etc etc, and while I don't feel slow, my chopping and such isn't at restaurant chef lightning speeds.

I also just generally don't rush - rushing leads to mistakes which, when cooking, can lead to injury or wasted food. I go at a comfortable pace, not slow, but not rushing.

If a recipe says 30 minute prep I'll assume it'll take me more like a hour. If it's a recipe I've made many times and I don't have to check the recipe and try to follow it properly, then yeah, more like 45 minutes.

But I swear, all those recipe times are assuming you've got all your ingredients and tools and everything sat in front of you already washed, maybe even peeled, and ready to go, haha.

[–] Dyskolos@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 days ago

True. Your comment alone made me nervous already 😁 Don't forget all those imprecise steps like "add a bit", "stir a Lil", "cook some minutes" etc. And when i cut stuff, I prefer to cut very thin and equal. Takes some extra time...ugh

[–] verity_kindle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

This! Cookbooks used to leave me feeling so guilty about this exact thing. UNTIL I figured this out.

[–] ExplosiveLynx@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

I wish I had time to slow down my eating. Gotta get to one of my two jobs 🙃