A lot of novice cooks believe the key to cooking lies in recipes and ingredients. Really, it’s all about workflow. Workflow is the process by which you’re able to plan, prepare, cook and finish a meal efficiently. If your workflow is organized, the process of cooking is easier, faster, safer, and less stressful. If it’s disorganized, it makes even simple dishes a nightmare.
Proper workflow decreases errors, prevents overcooking and burning, makes cleanup easier, and enables you to multitask. While it’s crucial in restaurant environments, the same concepts apply to home cooking. You don’t need a big kitchen or fancy gadgets; all you need is a clear workflow and daily practice.
Work flow is planning ahead, prepping correctly, and cooking in a logical manner, not scrambling at the last minute.
Prior to actual cooking:
Good workflow starts long before your hands meet the blade or your stove. Being prepared and planning ahead are what allow you to be your best. Poor choices that lead to poor food are often made under time pressure.
First, read the recipe or cooking process all the way through. Take note of prep work, cook time, rest time, and finishing tasks. Note any steps that can be done ahead, like chopping, measuring ingredients or preheating items.
Mentally (or literally) create a task list. E.g. wash veggies, dice veggies, pour liquids, heat pan, cook meat, chop fresh herbs. Helps avoid confusion mid-cooking.
Also verify that you have all ingredients and tools available. Having to search for something while in the middle of a recipe disrupts your flow and can cause timing issues.
Having a mindset of preparation makes cooking less of a reaction and more of an intentional act.
Your Working Environment
Your workspace should also be highly efficient, meaning that you should be able to do all the tasks you need to perform with a minimal amount of movement and with minimal distractions. All the tools and materials you need should be right at hand, well-organized and well-placed.
This means moving anything that isn’t involved with your prep work off the counter. Placing your knife to the right (if you’re right-handed). Having a cutting board with a damp towel underneath it so it doesn’t move around. Having a bowl or bin to the side for things you’re discarding. Setting ingredients out in the order you will be using them.
Break it down into the preparation zone, cooking zone, and plating zone. Prepare on the counter, cook at the stove/oven, and plate in a clear finishing zone. Don’t cross zones if you don’t have to.
Proper setup prevents cross contamination, minimizes mess, and saves time in the long run.
Mise en Place and Why It Matters
Mise en place is the term for all of the preparation and organization of ingredients prior to the commencement of cooking. This includes all chopping, measuring, and laying out.
It’s just one habit but for a novice it really enhances performance. It means you can heat and time your cooking without needing to prep ingredients, so there’s less stress.
Put the prepared ingredients into little cups or ramekins, if needed, label them. Line them up in the order you use them. Liquids can be measured out. Spices can be mixed together if they’re going into the pot together.
But more than anything else, mise en place helps us build a path to a completed dish: it gives us the tools to assemble something, as opposed to suddenly creating it from thin air.
Order and Scheduling of Tasks
This is where workflow comes in. You need to make sure the right tasks are being done in the right order. Some things need to happen before others, and some things can be done at the same time.
What takes the longest? Start with those things first. If you are marinating, soaking, or slow cooking something, get that out of the way. Then do all the prep work. Finally, cook whatever needs to cook as quickly as possible so it’s hot and fresh for the table.
Multitask. You can chop while the water boils. You can make a sauce while you’re roasting. You can clean while you’re letting something rest.
Try to avoid having too many steps in a recipe that involve doing something. If you are new to cooking, this should be kept to one or two until you have a feel for how long everything takes.
The sequence makes the music of a kitchen.
Clean As You Go Approach
Cleaning while you cook is one of the most important skills you can develop. It saves you from cluttering up, and helps you to maintain a working environment.
Clean tools when moving from one step to another if you don’t plan to use them again right away. Clean off surfaces after any messy steps. Clean off scraps from a step as soon as possible. Put away ingredients that aren’t being used.
This lessens the amount of time spent at the end cleaning and reduces the risk of contamination. Plus, a cluttered workspace is a cluttered mind, and a cluttered mind is a stressed mind.
Cleanliness is essential in professional kitchens for a reason — it makes cooking easier and faster and also prevents injuries. The same applies to home kitchens.
Efficiency of Tool Placement and Transfer
Every footstep and every reach wastes a second and takes your mind off the task at hand. A streamlined process eliminates wasted movement.
Keep frequently used items in the same locations. I like my knives, spoons, and spatulas to be where my hand knows to reach for them. I like hot pads to be near where I’m using them. I like plates to be near where I’m plating.
Avoid travelling from the raw to cooked food area whenever possible. Travel in a straight line through the task, rather than going back and forth.
Efficient motion conserves energy and decreases errors.
Cooking Several Things Simultaneously
Cooking multiple things together is a little tricky. It’s a matter of attention and timing.
What’s the dish that demands the most hands-on time? Use that as your anchor. Then you can schedule around it with passive cooking time (like simmering or baking).
Timer for everything. Don’t use your memory. Label timers if necessary.
Get your garnishes and finishing elements prepped ahead of time to make plating a breeze. You want everything to finish around the same time so you’re not scrambling at the last minute.
Don’t misunderstand multi-dish workflow as implying absolute randomness.
Mistakes to Avoid in Your Workflow
A lot of issues that newbies run into are really just scripting workflow mistakes.
If you start cooking before you’re finished with your prep, you’ll burn things or cook things unevenly. If you work off a cluttered board, everything takes longer. If you try to find a tool in the middle of a recipe, you’ll lose your place. If you don’t adjust for differences in cooking times, your final dish will be tough or mushy.
Crowding your pans and work surfaces is a second common error. Overcrowding decreases control and increases danger. Allow yourself room to work.
Most workflow errors are not errors of ability; they are errors of flow and preparation.