Whenever you cook, whether professionally in one of our BLT Kitchens commercial shared kitchen rentals or personally in your much smaller at home kitchen, excessive smoke can be the bane of your existence. Causing that annoying smoke detector to start its incessant blaring and leaving a scent that lingers long after the meal has been consumed, the smoke is something we all wish we could eliminate, and so we have created this guide to the top five ways you can reduce smoke during your commercial shared kitchen rentals experiences—and many will work at home as well!
Keep the Oven Clean
We do hire professional cleaning services, but when you are in the midst of preparing that giant lasagna for the Italian business community meeting, you can reduce any smoke occurrences simply by placing a pan (or foil) under each of your pasta pans. Catching any cheese or sauce that may bubble over, you simply remove the pan and wash it or throw the foil away and continue your next round of oven adventures without any smoke.
Heat the Pan Before You Add the Oil
This basic tip is probably one you learned at your mother’s knee, but we very busy chefs and at-home cooks, often skip this step. The best way to ensure that the pan is already heated is to simply place it in a high temperature oven first, around 500 degrees. As you are heating your pan, you can be gathering the ingredients for the meal you are preparing, chopping vegetables, or seasoning the meats. Once it is hot, you can add oil and begin the meal.
Choose an Oil with a Higher Smoke Point
When cooking on the stove top, the oil you use can make the biggest difference in the output of smoke. The benefits of olive oil has made it the most commonly used oil in the kitchens, but did you know it has one of the lowest smoke points? If you still want healthy, avocado oil is the newest health oil and it has a much higher smoke point than olive oil, or you can also use canola, safflower, or peanut oil for the same reasons, as they all have higher smoke points.
Season Your Cast Iron Cookware
The flavors that happen when you cook with cast iron add happiness to the diner’s life, but cast iron cooking can cause the most amount of smoke in the kitchen. Not seasoning the pans enough is often the number one culprit and is easily resolved in a few simple steps. Wash and dry the pan, rub it with oil and buff the pan, heat it in the oven, and repeat these three steps three to four times. If you have had the pans for a while you won’t need to repeat the steps.
Looking for some cookware options that might help boost your prep? Check out our guide to cookware!
Cook at a Lower Heat
Like the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady is the way to go, lessening the amount of smoke that accompanies your meal preparations. Keep the temperatures low and cook for a longer period of time and discover how the flavors intensify as well!
Welcome to the BLT Kitchen Commercial shared kitchen rentals!
These tips are just another benefit included with the use of our kitchens. If you haven’t joined us yet, sign up today and watch your food industry business expand!