Kitchen jobs you hate beyond reason

[cfm]

Sausages for tea. I just hate cutting the links. Tonight they were those butchers sausages where they had twisted the links around each other in bunches like bananas (if bananas joined at both ends) which just makes it doubly tiresome. They sell rindless bacon, why can't they sell separated sausages?

I have a theory that everyone without exception has a food fad, so perhaps everyone has an insupportable hatred of some trivial kitchen task? My mother hated putting clean cutlery into the individual knife/fork/spoon drawer dividers so much that she just dumped the whole lot on the top. But I think she may have got over this - will I ever relax around sausage links?

Catherine

[&roid]

Peeling shallots. Can't stand it.

Also, anything using a food processor - any joy at the efficiency of it is swallowed up by the mess of cleaning the damn thing afterwards.

[ElsieD]

I detest cleaning the fridge and chopping onions.

[cfm]

I detest cleaning the fridge and chopping onions.

Now cleaning the fridge is objectively quite a bad job, no?

C

[Darienne]

My DH is dictating this as I type.

My husband, who is a disorganized slob in every other part of his life, cleans up as he cooks, while I end up in the most awful mess you can imagine, cleaning nothing as I go along. So he says I hate it.

I don't hate it: I just am incapable of doing it.

[CKatCook]

Oh I am with you on cleaning the fridge.

The dishes. I hate beyond all reasoning to do the dishes. So much so that my hubby and I have a deal worked out that I will do yard work if he does the dishes. No joke!

[Dakki]

Cleanup in general. I'm also unreasonable about doing it "right" so it's not like I can let someone else do it for me, either.

[Crouton]

Opening that square box of Kosher Salt... I always manage to get the metal pour spout jammed up under finger nail while trying to pry it open. Ouch.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Crouton (log)

[Rico]

Here's a second for chopping onions. And, though I don't typically use it for sympathy as I think it's a cheap way to get it, I'll use it here as my morals have been loosened by my good buddy Jack Daniels: I don't have a right hand, so when I try to chop the onion in that oh-so-efficient way that most chefs (I think) and Alton Brown espouse, it just ... well, it doesn't work well. I hate chopping onions. But I freaking love onions in everything. It's a most unfortunate situation.

[catdaddy]

More than one shift in a row washing pots.

[haresfur]

I hate chopping parsley beyond reason. The curly stuff grabs my fingers in a desperate attempt to escape the knife. Creepy. Italian parsley is better but tries to paste itself to the board so you don't get a clean cut.

[JAZ]

I always put off emptying the dishwasher. I don't mind filling it up or running it, but for some reason I don't like to unload it. Even more than that, though, I hate to wash dishes by hand, so I tend to put everything possible into the dishwasher, which then means I have to unload it more often.

[weinoo]

I don't hate any kitchen jobs. Unless you count the annual cleaning of the muck off the walls, ceiling, light fixtures, etc.

[OliverB]

I could chop stuff all day, I'm not a fan of super cleaning. Wiping things off yes, but going behind and under things, no. And I'm not good at putting stuff away at times...

And yes, unloading the dishwasher. If I'd live alone I'd probably never do so, just leave everything in there and run it after each dinner. Saves cupboard space too, so I could stuff more things I 'need right now' in there!

[Lilija]

Opening and draining cans. Tuna, beans, whatever. I really hate doing it.

Dealing with raw chicken. I had a serious aversion to the stuff when I was pregnant, the scent of it would make me vomit every single time. I'm still not totally ok with it. If I must, I handle raw poultry with gloves, and leaning way back, so I don't get a whiff.

Tedious repetitive tasks. I have ADD like nobody's business. Only folding the first two won tons of a batch is fun. The rest is pure unadulterated torture. Luckily, my husband thrives on this sort of mundane stuff, and he's always willing to make a million little sates, fold nine thousand pirogies, or whatever, after I inevitably lose interest and wander off.

[TeakettleSlim]

1. Sorting silverware upon unloading the dishwasher. I prefer to sort as it goes in, which I try to do as it's generated, so I don't have to sort more than a few pieces at a time. Then when it's all done, I can just grab a handful out of each section of the basket and stick it in the right place without further fussery. Of course, I'm the only one in the house who does this, so one well-meaning dishwasher-loading helper can screw up my whole system. I don't want to discourage anyone from loading the dishwasher, though, so I keep my mouth shut about it.

2. Emptying the little drain basket/stopper thing in the side of the sink that doesn't have the disposal. Eew, eew, eew.

[ScoopKW]

Using a meat slicer.

I don't really hate using it, I hate the fact that I use the slicer for five minutes, and then need to clean it for 30.

Actually, I spend 15 cleaning the last slobbos tomato seeds, slicing ham, and then recleaning the slicer.

[Kat Tanaka Okopnik]

Opening that square box of Kosher Salt... I always manage to get the metal pour spout jammed up under finger nail while trying to pry it open. Ouch.

Butter knife. (My problem is when they're not anchored well, and come out, no matter how gently I do it. AARGH.)

I'm weird, and don't mind cleaning the deep gunk. It's oddly satisfying. What I hate is gathing up the staticky wisps of paper onion peel.

[Big Mike]

Peeling any sort of squash. It slimy and slippery, then when it dries on your fingers it leaves a nasty crusty residue I can never get off no matter how much soap. Wearing gloves helps but I hate chopping anything wearing gloves.

[GwennP]

Right there with the shallots and squash, but I also hate washing and spining herbs dry. Also, I just remodeled my kitchen and love it but the sink we had to get is deep but small. I get very wet when I have to wash my all-clads by hand and I hate it. I'm thinking they may have to learn to like the dishwasher.

[Doodad]

Shrimp. I am good at it and fast since I grew up getting tons at the beach and such. But I hate the tedium. I would almost rather make a shrimp boil because of it.

[Rover]

Peeling & chopping onions is one for me and handling butter. I use butter in cooking and baking all the time, but I don't even like the smell. My way of dealing with tasks I don't care for is to do them immediately and get them out of the way.

I've never really understood why so many people hate cleaning the food processor - just a quick rinse and it goes into the dishwasher on the top shelf. Or, if it's needed for multiple separate tasks, speedily wash with a dishbrush and it's ready. I use mine constantly, especially for the above-mentioned onions.

[cfm]

1. Sorting silverware upon unloading the dishwasher. I prefer to sort as it goes in, which I try to do as it's generated, so I don't have to sort more than a few pieces at a time. Then when it's all done, I can just grab a handful out of each section of the basket and stick it in the right place without further fussery. Of course, I'm the only one in the house who does this, so one well-meaning dishwasher-loading helper can screw up my whole system. I don't want to discourage anyone from loading the dishwasher, though, so I keep my mouth shut about it.

Are you in fact my mother? (See my post opening the topic.)

I'm loving these. Makes me feel so much better about the sausages. Chopping curly parsley has to be my favourite. I'll count my blessings every time I do it from now on - at least I'm not creeped out by this parsley, I'll say.

C

[ben_husband]

Chopping parsley down to what my chefs call "sprinkle". We aren't allowed to use a food processor and the parsley needs to be the consistency of ground pepper.

[baroness]

2. Emptying the little drain basket/stopper thing in the side of the sink that doesn't have the disposal. Eew, eew, eew.

I second that! But -- I have two (no disposal)!