When learning how to cook, or attempting to prepare a new dish, you immediately look at the recipe. You want to get it right and have a sumptuous meal. Before you even think about the recipe, you should consider safety. You became too focused on what to cook and forget the need to prioritize safety. Using clean water is the first safety tip. You need it when boiling ingredients and preparing soup. You should have the Berkey water filter to ensure that you’re using clean water.
Tap water might contain tons of pathogens. If you use it directly on whatever you’re preparing, it could be risky. You would rather use the water filter and ensure cleanliness. Apart from having clean water, these are the other safety tips to consider.
Wear appropriate clothing
Make sure you use the right clothes to feel comfortable. Cooking is fun, but it can also be exhausting. Don’t use loose clothes since they might catch fire without you knowing it. Wear an apron to protect your clothes from stain and odor. You should tie your hair if it’s long and wear a hair net to prevent it from going into what you’re preparing. You must also wear gloves if you’re going to touch the ingredients or mix them directly in the container.
Remove your jewelry
Take your jewelry off since it could mix with what you’re preparing. You also don’t want to drop it off accidentally, and it gets lost. Add to that the possibility that the jewelry would fade or lose its value. The interaction with heat and other ingredients isn’t ideal. Acidic items could have a terrible effect on some pieces of jewelry.
Handle sharp objects carefully
Make sure you store knives and other sharp objects when not needed. You can use a knife holder to stop the sharp edge from showing. Slice the ingredients carefully, and don’t rush the process. Choose the right knife to slice specific ingredients. There are knives for vegetables, meat, bread, and many others. You might hurt yourself if you force a smaller knife into thick meat.
Your children shouldn’t be around
If your children are too young, they shouldn’t be around while you cook. It’s too dangerous. When frying, the cooking oil might hit them. The boiling water could also be accidentally spilled to them. Children are always curious, and they tend to move around. You don’t want them to disturb you, and it would be difficult to focus when they’re around. If you’re going to teach them how to cook, you should set a different time to do it. Prepare more straightforward dishes and avoid using a hit. They can start by learning how to mix ingredients or measuring stuff.
Always use potholders
There are times when you forget that the pot you use for cooking can transmit heat. If you touch the surface directly, it could cause burns. Therefore, you need to use potholders all the time. Please make sure they’re close by. Keep them clean, too, to avoid contamination.
Cover meals you already finished
Always cover whatever dish you already finished preparing. If possible, don’t take it out of the pot where you cooked it. However, if you need to use the pot for another dish, you have to transfer the food to a different container. You can reheat it later if it’s time to eat. You also don’t want to spill it while you rush the process.
Label the containers
If you have time, you need to label all your containers. You don’t want to mix things up. Some of the ingredients look alike. Refined sugar and iodized salt look the same. The dish might not turn out the way you expect if you used the wrong ingredient. You can even include the expiry date on some containers to ensure that you won’t use them if past the expiry.
Don’t prepare several meals at once
Unless you’re already an expert and you’ve tried preparing several meals at the same time before, it’s best to avoid doing it. It can be confusing. You will end up putting the wrong ingredient, and you have to start over. You can also prepare the ingredients before cooking so that you just need to mix them up later. It hastens the process and prevents confusion.
Don’t leave the fire open
You might be tempted to do other chores while cooking. If you open the fire while cooking, you shouldn’t leave it alone. You can either turn it off first before doing other tasks or finish the other chore once you’re done cooking. Another tip to prevent fire is to keep all flammable items away. If you store them in the cabinet, make sure that they are not close to the stove. Bring your phone with you so that if there’s an uncontrollable fire, you can immediately call the fire department.
Don’t talk to someone while cooking
To prevent confusion, you shouldn’t talk to another person while cooking. Even if you use a hands-free device, it’s still best not to talk to someone. It’s difficult to multitask when you cook. Even following a video tutorial of a recipe should be avoided. If you want to learn how to do it, you should watch the video before cooking. Please write down the steps and look at them as you prepare the dish.
Keep the floor dry
You might slip while cooking because of the wet floor. If you spilled something, you should clean it up right away. You can also place a warning device so that no one goes into that area unless you finished cleaning it up.
Safety should be a priority when cooking. Sure, you want to have the best dish. However, it shouldn’t sacrifice everyone’s safety. If you’re going to use a new appliance, you need to practice using it first. Check the manual so you won’t panic if things didn’t go as planned. If you are preparing a dish that requires help from another person, you shouldn’t do it alone. Cooking can be fun, but it can also be a risk if you don’t have service safety procedures.
