Hotplates- another cooking appliance

Since time immemorial food has been an important part of human activity. Food is an integral part of any celebration, occasion which is associated with joy and merriment. Food can bring life to any dull moment, is related to have therapeutic effects and turn on the dullest moods. To get the best of food, any meal it has to be properly cooked and prepared for flavors and for nutrition.

For the preparation of food to bring out best flavors, cooking appliance is needed and a fuel on which the appliance works. The evolution of mankind from prehistoric times to modern age has been in stages; nomadic life turned in to settlements the discovery of fire, development of agricultural practices, and invention of metals and thus use of tools for occupation, protection. As use of metals became widespread, it led to learning more skills and thus varied occupations. This led to classification of the society on the basis of occupations which made the society and lives of people rich.

The industrial revolution in Europe in the 16^th century led to establishment of small and medium size industries, which gave employment to a large population for operating machines. As industries grew, machines were used to create products which could further automate processes or could bring efficiency, productivity in everyday lives. Automobiles, air-crafts or other modes of transport are a perfect example to demonstrate how industrial revolution has been beneficial to our lives.

In any industry, the machinery has to be supplied with energy to operate. The earliest form of supplying energy was coal, wood which gave the thrust to operate engines, assembly for the machinery. The use of these traditional fuels needed extremely large amounts of the fuel and manpower to operate the machines. The main use of traditional fuels such as hydrocarbons has been for generating electricity which is essential for any industry. The assembly unit for any process or production needs energy which is usually in the form of electricity to operate the machinery.

The industrial revolution led to the development, production of commodities for consumer use. It included consumer goods for everyday use which increased efficiency in everyday processes. One of the reasons for advancement of society was use of electricity and electrical appliances which made processes faster and increased productivity. The use of electricity led to the development of electrical appliances the earliest being transistors, iron and other products of domestic use.

The cooking appliance which was powered by electricity was also a development of the industrial age. One of the earliest means of cooking was stoves made of mud, clay which used wood or charcoal for fuel. Since use of wood, charcoal caused pollution and was not energy efficient it led to the use of electricity and cooking gas as fuels. The use of electricity and gas needed special equipment on which these fuels could burn. One of the earliest stoves, cooking appliance was the hot plates which used either gas or electricity as fuel.

A hot plate is usually a table top appliance, which has either one or more gas burners or electric heating elements. The hot plate can either be a standalone device, or sometimes comes in place of a gas burner in a cooking range or a stove top. Hotplates are most used in place where a full cooking range is not possible, as hotplates are handy enough to be moved around. Most of the hotplates that are used in current times are powered by electricity, but the earliest used in 19^th and 20^th century were usually powered by gas

Are you using your Kadai, Sauce Pan and Fry Pan properly?

It is definitely easy to dream of a perfect kitchen but very difficult to keep it maintained and “dreamy” as you imagined it to be!  Once you have surpassed the purchase phase; when you picked up the best fit utensils and kitchen ware for your kitchen. The following phase includes; Proper use of utensils and kitchenware – if you use them properly nothing can ever go wrong in your dream kitchen! Proper use of the Karahi/Kadai, Sauce Pan and the Frying Pan that are regularly used in an Indian Kitchen is as mandatory as use of onions and garlic in Indian recipe!

Let’s start,

Proper use of Kadai

If your utensil is new and has not been used before, I recommend “curing procedure” before, to do so clean the utensil with dish washing powder, in case there is rust on your cast iron kadai use a steel scrubber. Remember never to use lemon or any such acidic substance to clean. Following that apply some vegetable oil and heat it until it dries. Your kadai (iron) is ready for cooking.

While cooking certain things should be kept in mind: low flame cooking is suggested while using a big size burners, kadai’s are best used in frying and making spicy food items, even though an iron kadai does not add to the flavor of the food, it definitely changes a bit of the color. So remember to transfer food immediately after cooking to avoid discoloring. (I somehow, like to leave it in, especially after cooking mutton-masala!) Post cooking, wash off the oil with water followed by dishwashing powder. To maintain your Kadai, apply vegetable oil, place a napkin over and store till next use.

Proper use of Saucepan:

A Saucepan is a two-quartered utensil used to prepare sauces, soups and even rice. The best saucepan is of cooper material, which helps you cook faster and clean easier. For all those bakers out there, a copper saucepan is the best way to melt your sugar or chocolate, as it reacts to temperature changes rapidly. It is advisable to buy set of three saucepans available in the market that includes milk pan for sauces, medium for reheating and boiling and large ones for rice or curry for whole family.  Stainless Steel sauce pans are easily available in the market at reasonable prices. Remember to cook at low flames while using a stainless steel utensil as it might result in burning the utensil which later becomes difficult to clean.

Proper use of Frying Pan:

A Frying pan is the “it” thing in the modern kitchen today. Health conscious eaters and chefs are able to cook with minimal fat or oil and less ingredient too, making food a bit healthier than it normally can be. It is a skillet with higher sides, used as all purpose pans. The best pans are metal like stainless steel, copper or aluminum. Non-stick pan are recommended. (My personal favorite would be Soyer – www.soyerappliances.com). Use moderate or low heat as high heat damages the non-stick coating that prevents food being heated equally resulting in partially cooked food. Remember never to use steel scrubber. Use only sponge with dishwashing powder to maintain coating of the Frying pan.

The main thing to remember is not to use these three different pans to substitute each other. The Kadai, Saucepan and Frying pan have different functions and cook in different manner. Take care to keep your pans exclusive. Clean immediately with water to prevent oil from settling down and wash with dish washing powder after they cool off.

Stay Smart Cook Healthy!