Pedros Kitchen

If you’re in the UK there’s every chance you’ve already heard/seen this bit of Masterchef related brilliance as it seems to be getting passed around offices like a tray of chocolate biscuits. For those who’ve missed it, it’s well worth a listen. For those who’ve seen it before, try to resist pressing play.

Switch off the hob, step away from the pots and pans and dance to the (buttery biscuit) bass.

Its one of those things that everyone knows but not everyone follows, when cooking it’s absolutely essential that hygiene rules are followed, as even simple things like leaving jewellery on whilst mixing ingredients can result in some serious food poisoning.

A lot of people have recently been asking for a set of good kitchen rules to abide by so, I thought I would share these basic principles.

1. Clean as you go- When working with raw foods such as meat, fish and veg the chances of cross contamination increase massively. Now the best way to deal with this is to clean up as you go along, you must always wash your hands, utensils and any surfaces that have had contact with the raw foods.

2. Use multiple chopping boards- One of the most effective ways to stop cross contamination is to make sure you use different chopping boards; one for raw meat and others for anything else you’re chopping. (Just to be thorough, if you’re using just one knife clean it well before moving from raw meat to veg etc.)

3.Wash Up- Once your finished, wash everything with soap and hot water, even if they don’t look dirty ( no, just running it under the tap doesn’t count). You should change the water regularly, and rinse everything in nice clean water.

4. Paper Towels- This is one of the rules that shocks people the most, paper towels are the way forward for wiping down surfaces or spillages etc, this is because you only use them once and bin them. Whereas with dishtowels you will find yourself using it throughout the day both for your hands and wiping up, thus when you think your cleaning all your doing is spreading germs already on it.

5. Remove all Jewellery- I touched on this above but it is so important if you’re going to be handling food. Remove any watches, bracelets, rings etc as they can be a huge source of germs no matter how clean you think they are.

As simple as it sounds, buying new pots and pans may seem easy enough, but let’s be honest, that’s because your mind has rather helpfully, totally blocked out the ordeal that was purchasing your last set. Much like dating, if you have been off the market for a while you’re going to be a bit rusty getting back in the swing of things.

The pots and pans market of today can be a bit of a minefield with the quality and price different everywhere you go. So before investing any of your hard earned dosh, we thought that a couple of pointers would serve you well.

One of the main points to consider is the material that the pans are made of:
- At the more expensive end of the market the cookware seems to be made from considerably thicker materials, be it aluminium or stainless steel.
- You don’t necessarily need the thickest but a nice mid weight pan should be able to with stand a few kitchen disasters as opposed to its thinner cousins.

Try not to rush into a purchase as you don’t need them all at once; if you’re serious about investing in quality cookware then you may only be able to purchase one or two pans at a time. But the big difference is that those pans will probably last you 20 years.

Size does matter, there’s no point in purchasing and 8 inch pan when you’re regularly cooking for 4. So when choosing a new pot or pan be sure and pick one to fit your lifestyle.

We all love special features and the pans available today have plenty. One feature I always look for is stack-ability, a must for those of us needing every inch of space. Another couple of features I’ve found to be extremely helpful are interchangeable lids just for ease/laziness and locking lids for safety.

When it comes to the storage of your pots and pans even the most stackable set in the world will still take up considerable space. One way to resolve this is an overhead or wall mounted storage system (I say system usually just pegs) which allows you to keep your cupboards pretty spacious.

And finally, shop around, don’t just jump in at the first fancy pan you see check online, outlets even Ebay and that way you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you got a good deal as well as a good pan.

Anyone looking for inspiration should have a look at www.sterlingfurniture.co.uk, they have a really good kitchen range and more importantly a summer sale happening. Get on it!