How much time do you spending cooking/grilling?

[El Jefe]

Just a spinoff of angelo's favorite meal thread. We have some pretty good chef's on CP and some grill masters also. I love to cook, but just dont have the drive to do it after coming home from work. For those of you who cook or grill frequently how much time does it take you to make a good meal? Im not talking about mac n cheese, or top ramen, im talking about a whole meal. There's a lot of prep time in making a good meal.

[Demonpenz]

get the car adapter for the george forman grill. you can atleast get the chicken sizzling before you arrive open

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by kcchiefsfanGoLJ

Just a spinoff of angelo's favorite meal thread. We have some pretty good chef's on CP and some grill masters also. I love to cook, but just dont have the drive to do it after coming home from work. For those of you who cook or grill frequently how much time does it take you to make a good meal? Im not talking about mac n cheese, or top ramen, im talking about a whole meal. There's a lot of prep time in making a good meal.

Depends on how long the biscuits have to cook on top of my canned beef stew Betty Crocker homestyle bake.

[Dayze]

Get Gordon Ramsey's "Fast Food"

it's great. I bought it about a year ago, and love it. Everything in there is super simple, and actually tastes good. Sure, there are some recipes that call for some stuff I've never heard of lol, but it's great for the 'after work' dinner prep.

I'm in the same boat. Usually I'm cashed after work, but his stuff is very simple/quick. And, healthy.

During the week, I try to keep meal prep etc, to 20-30 min. Weekends I like to experiment with different foods/recipes that are more time consuming. This usually happens after football season when there's nothing else to do.

[Bane]

I have a gas grill and charcoal grill,and I cook at least 3 times a week,well till it snows then not so much.I can do pork steaks,beans,and corn on the cob on the gas grill in less than an hour,but I like to cook slower than that on the charcoal grill.Burgers and dogs in like 30 min or less,it really don't take long on a gas grill.Id much rather fire the charcoal grill up though and let the ribs sit there for 4-5 hours or even smoke some chicken leg quarters for the same time.It all depends on when I get home and how much time I have.

[Fire Me Boy!]

I pretty rarely am too tired to cook. I can wind down by chopping veg and prepping, then cooking.

Start to finish, 30-60 minutes depending on what I make. Obviously, there are some of my meals that take longer and some that take shorter. My go-to meal for if I'm really too tired to do much is stir fry. I can mow through the veg and be ready to cook pretty quick, and then cooking stir fry is pretty fast too - 10-15 minutes total.

[angelo]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I pretty rarely am too tired to cook. I can wind down by chopping veg and prepping, then cooking.

Start to finish, 30-60 minutes depending on what I make. Obviously, there are some of my meals that take longer and some that take shorter. My go-to meal for if I'm really too tired to do much is stir fry. I can mow through the veg and be ready to cook pretty quick, and then cooking stir fry is pretty fast too - 10-15 minutes total.

This.

I will do the bulk of my prep work one day for meals the rest of the week.

Ang

[tooge]

Really depends on the meal. I can throw together some darn good eats in about 45 minutes if I keep it simple. For example, if you want to make some stir fried garlic and ginger chicken or steak with veggies, you can make up a nice peanut sauce in about 8 or 9 minutes while stir frying the meat and veggies. Let the rice cooker do the rice, and you have a pretty simple but great asian meal in less than 45 min. Same goes with really any type of food other that cuts of meat that MUST be slow cooked in order to be good, like roasts. A meal like the one I mentioned is fairly inexpensive too.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by tooge

Really depends on the meal. I can throw together some darn good eats in about 45 minutes if I keep it simple. For example, if you want to make some stir fried garlic and ginger chicken or steak with veggies, you can make up a nice peanut sauce in about 8 or 9 minutes while stir frying the meat and veggies. Let the rice cooker do the rice, and you have a pretty simple but great asian meal in less than 45 min. Same goes with really any type of food other that cuts of meat that MUST be slow cooked in order to be good, like roasts. A meal like the one I mentioned is fairly inexpensive too.

I usually keep some cooked rice in the fridge so I don't have to wait on the rice cooker.

[tooge]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I usually keep some cooked rice in the fridge so I don't have to wait on the rice cooker.

isnt it hard to get the fresh cooked consistency of it once you chill it? What do you do?

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by tooge

isnt it hard to get the fresh cooked consistency of it once you chill it? What do you do?

The fridge usually re=dries it to some extent, but this works for me: Put some water in the bottom of a bowl, cover with Saran Wrap and re-steam in the microwave. I've had pretty good luck with it.

[RJ]

Originally Posted by tooge

isnt it hard to get the fresh cooked consistency of it once you chill it? What do you do?

For fried rice, cold is mo' better.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by RJ

For fried rice, cold is mo' better.

And that's what I do.

I steam in the microwave a bit, then pop it in the wok for my sauce to completely re-hydrate.

[sedated]

I cook an average of 3 weeknights. It’s a hobby, so I’m not usually “too tired”, unless I’m really hungover or something.

I get a meal done in an hour or an hour and a half. But I usually go pretty slow, since its an enjoyable time rather than a chore.

[kstater]

The vast majority of the meals in my rotation can be done in less than 45 minutes.