Most of you have 4 burners on your cooking range. Usually a large, medium, and two small or some combination like that. It doesn’t matter if you have gas or electric. There are even some of you with 5 burners (it’s on my wish list).
Why am I bringing this up? There have been many times while entertaining, someone comes into the kitchen, quickly runs out, and tells my wife that I’m using all 4 burners. Now we all grew up with grandparents or even parents that believed in one pot cooking. I’ll go into one pot cooking in another post in the future. It’s an important skill…when camping and makes for a savory dish. Going back to the burners. Yes, there are 4 of them.
Most of us can easily use 2 of them at a time. I was taught the same…cook your main, then cook your sides after the main is done. What I want you to get from this is to stretch your limits and try for the 3rd burner and then make it to the 4th. You’ll find yourself saving time and soon enough you’ll be making 20-minute meals.
I usually do this: main burner takes care of the main dish; the medium burner handles a side dish like veggies; the smaller burners are for sauces and/or mini sides like caramelized onions.
Words of Caution
It’s all about timing. Make sure you time out your meal and prep your ingredients. If your ingredients aren’t ready, you might end up with burned oil (yes, oil burns, I’ll go into that later). In the beginning, don’t use high heat. Gradually increase the heat as you feel comfortable.
Enjoy!
Some people just aren’t built for efficiency. Next you’re going to tell us that you can BBQ while you have 4 things on the stove!