Pro Staff Article - K.I.S.S. When You Are Starting Out

K.I.S.S. when you are starting out

K.I.S.S. when you are starting out

I'm sure most of you out there have heard this saying. Keep it simple stupid (or silly). Thanks again for all those emails I've received. I hope that I've helped on my responses. But I've noticed a trend to all of those who are starting out. Most are just trying to do to much at once. I think alot of people out there see how well some of us who do these cooking events can crank out the food pretty flawlessly (well, it looks like it anyways). Most think that it must be easy and buy a big setup to start with. The number one thing I seem to read is "I just can't seem to make anything turn out right". Seems that most are trying to take on way too much at once. Once you've played with your setup for a bit, you will get the hang of what you can do, and what you can do at the same time. The more proficient you are with your cooking system, the better you can produce your meals. This is where the K.I.S.S. comes into play. If you're going to do cooking for a crowd, start with smaller crowds first. Do a small group of friends and/or family at first. Don't try feeding a crowd of 50+ as your first go with the grills. Also, do NOT try doing something fancy to start off with either. Simple burgers or chicken on a griddle or grill box should be your first steps. As you figure out how the temps range, and how fast foods cook, then move up to fancier foods. Don't try and cook too many variations at once until you have each foods cook time down. That way if you are cooking burgers and chicken at the same time, you know to put the chicken on first since it'll take longer to cook. Toss your hamburgers on towards the end since they have a shorter cooking time. After you've conquered this simple task, move up to bigger crowds with the same items. You'd be surprised on how easily things can get out of hand with simple hamburgers and chicken when you're cooking for a large crowd (and not having enough grill space to do them all). Eventually, you'll get comfortable with the "easy" stuff. Now, go back to square one (small family events) and start with something a little fancier. Some kabobs, shrimp skewers (which are very easy), or some stir fry. Same thing holds true, keep each one simple. Don't try going overboard making it. Some peppers, onions, and precooked chicken (I normally always grill it up in a grillbox before I toss it into my wok or onto my griddle) makes a nice stirfry. Once you've done a few of these for your family, then move up to a bigger event. Just keep at this pace with anything you do (stews, sausage gravies for breakfast, etc). Lastly, preparation is the key. Try to get as much done BEFORE you start that grill up. A big mistake I've seen was buying to much, and preparing to little. The cook had so much to offer foodwise, but with no preparation the meal fell apart. Watched the stir fry burn because they were too busy putting together another dish. Try to get as much done before you start cooking. Pre string up the kabobs and put in the fridge (same with any skewers). Precut anything you need for use on the griddles. Just simply put onto your griddle and cook away. Cooking should be fun. Try to keep it simple. You'll find the more you use your modular cooking system, the more fun it is to use. I'll run multiple stoves now and love every minute of it. Key is to keep yourself organized and know your limits. You'll enjoy yourself more, and you'll find people will enjoy your food more as well. Happy cooking!