Kitchen jobs you hate beyond reason

[BadRabbit]

Stripping thyme sprigs- I don't know why I just hate it.

Cleaning shrimp- As said above- it's just tedious.

Shucking oysters- I ran an oyster bar for 5 years. Nuff said.

[Katie Meadow]

I like emptying out the dishwasher and seeing clean stacks of plates, cabinets of clean glassware, etc.

Things I don't like doing: Cleaning radishes, rinsing and drying lettuce, de-veining shrimp and prepping fresh artichokes. That last one takes lots of time and you have to be vigilant not to get poked and stuck in a variety of ways. Plus all the lemon squeezing that needs to be done by hand to keep the cut pieces from getting brown, to say nothing of having to fish the quarters out of ice water. Thing is, they are so good sauteed up crispy.

[Kouign Aman]

Fresh artichoke prep - I find myself wondering what's to hate, and realizing you must have different method/standards than mine, which is really basic and fast.

Yup, on re-reading, you are quartering and frying. I only had them that way once (at a restaurant of decent reputation) and they were so horrible I never thought to try again.

I steam 'em.

Flush w water to wash out the passengers.

Slice off bottom with honking great knife. Slice of most of the pointed part of the leaves with same knife. Done.

I dont scoop the choke out til after the beast is cooked, and most of the leaves eaten.

Edited May 3, 2011 by Kouign Aman (log)

[rebecca]

Things I don't like doing: Cleaning radishes

Yeah, I forgot that one. Cleaning anything that came from the ground, that is to be cooked without peeling: radishes, potatoes, beets, etc. I get achy hands from scrubbing too hard.

[trinket]

I really, really hate cleaning up after melting chocolate. It seizes the instant water hits it and is impossible to get off bowls, spatulas, me, etc. Cleaning up flour and the bowl after doing piecrust runs a close second.

[ElsieD]

Trinket, hot water takes care of the chocolate and cold water will help you clean starchy things like flour and stuck-on potatoes.

[Darienne]

Trinket, hot water takes care of the chocolate and cold water will help you clean starchy things like flour and stuck-on potatoes.

And for different surfaces...a plastic or a stainless taping knife (which is also called by many other names: trowel, scraper, mudding knife, patching trowel, dry wall spatula, etc). I have little ones and big ones. Stainless for stuff which doesn't scratch and plastic for stuff which does.

[kitchensqueen]

I hate working with carrots. Peeling them, dicing them - hate it. They're unweildy and hard to cut. I love prep otherwise - dicing onions, celery - anything but carrots!

To cut down (no pun intended) on their unweildiness, slice one side of the carrot so it's flat. It'll be easier to handle and slice once it's stable.

I do that when I'm not being lazy, but I still hate it.

[Darienne]

Two more things hit me tonight that I despise doing: emptying out and then cleaning out the kitchen compost bin, and rinsing out and drying plastic bags which go into the plastic bag recycling bin.

The compost thingy must be done and I agree to that. We do share the job although this year I find I am the one doing it most of the time. We eat a LOT of vegetables so it doesn't take all that long to get filled.

As for recycling plastic bags. I hate doing it. I don't mean the large grocery bags...no one uses them any more...no, I mean the ones which contain meat, especially the dogs' meat, and other sticky, gooey or otherwise not dry and solid ingredients. Yuck.

It's HIS (DH) job and he promised I wouldn't have to do it, and then he leaves the bags sitting in the sink, with water in them, and I have to. And I hate it.

End of crab!

[Kouign Aman]

you are nicer than me. If it were his job and it sat long enough to get in my way, they'd go unrinsed into the trash. Or in a bucket outdoors.

I hate waterfilled scungy sinks with dishes or other stuff soaking in them. Urk.

[Darienne]

you are nicer than me. If it were his job and it sat long enough to get in my way, they'd go unrinsed into the trash. Or in a bucket outdoors.

I hate waterfilled scungy sinks with dishes or other stuff soaking in them. Urk.

Ya got me! I guess I 'forgot' to say that sometimes I just take them and jam them into the garbage under some stuff so he won't notice...

[_john]

at work: butchering turtles

at home: washing pots that don't even fit in my tiny sink. dirty water splashes all over the floor and me because the faucet extends more than half the width of the sink.

[Eman57]

I cant stand peeling garlic, i dont mind doing everything else to it but just peeling it is a pain in the butt. I also cant stand picking herbs from the stem, inparticular thyme, the leaves are so tiny and my fingers are so big it makes sooooo hard....

[tmjst]

I usually slice off a corner of the box instead of opening the spout. It's easier, and it's easier to get that annonying last 1/10 of a gram of salt out of the box!

[andiesenji]

I cant stand peeling garlic, i dont mind doing everything else to it but just peeling it is a pain in the butt. I also cant stand picking herbs from the stem, inparticular thyme, the leaves are so tiny and my fingers are so big it makes sooooo hard....

Uhhh. I just hold the tip of the stem and slide the fingers of my other hand backwards down the stem, stripping off all the little leaves.

I've a friend that only has operable fingers on one hand who secures a comb(new of course) over a bowl and drags the stems through the comb. (He was born with one arm shorter than the other and with only little stubs in place of fingers.)

He uses the comb technique on marjoram, oregano and even rosemary but for the latter uses a comb with bigger teeth.

Edited June 17, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[judiu]

I cant stand peeling garlic, i dont mind doing everything else to it but just peeling it is a pain in the butt. I also cant stand picking herbs from the stem, inparticular thyme, the leaves are so tiny and my fingers are so big it makes sooooo hard....

Get one of the garlic peeler tube things. They look like a manicotti noodle, but are made of a soft, rubbery plastic. Put the clove of garlic in tube, roll on counter, and presto, peeled garlic! Loved mine, lost it in a house fire years ago; have not replaced yet. No clue why not! OK, so this one is a sheet, not a 'manicotti'

Click here

[SLB]

I hate washing dishes.  I hate it beyond reason.  Growing up, I was outraged at the extent of the task.

 

Now, in my adult self, everything that could conceivably go in my dishwasher, does.  In my world, this includes a whole lot of stuff that other people do not put in the dishwasher.  For several pandemic months, my dishwasher was broke, and I nearly had a nervous breakdown.  It actually was the thing that returned me to restaurant dining.  

 

Anyway.  I went to wash some pans this morning that had been soaking in the sink for something like two days.  Because I hate doing dishes. 

 

One of them was a Chantal 4qt baking dish, in which I baked some ribs and burnt a whole bunch of rib wondrousness all over what used to be the white enamel, somehow on the outsides too (although, in fairness, that was probably some crud I failed to remove some other time I used the pan, because I hate dishes enough to disgrace my home training by putting them away less than totally clean).  

 

Anyway, I went to wash the pans because I would like to use that sink again soon, like maybe today.  

 

And there is a crack in the bottom of the Chantal 4qt!  A crack!  Through to the bottom of the pan!  

 

Meaning:  I GET TO THROW IT AWAY!!  I DON'T HAVE TO WASH IT!!  

 

People!!!  I feel like celebrating the Birth of Baby Jesus!!  HOSANNA!!!

 

That is all.  

[nonblonde007]

😂 This just made my day, thank you!!!!!!! @SLB

Edited December 26, 2021 by nonblonde007 (log)

[lindag]

26 minutes ago, SLB said:

I hate washing dishes.  I hate it beyond reason.  Growing up, I was outraged at the extent of the task.

 

Now, in my adult self, everything that could conceivably go in my dishwasher, does.  In my world, this includes a whole lot of stuff that other people do not put in the dishwasher.  For several pandemic months, my dishwasher was broke, and I nearly had a nervous breakdown.  It actually was the thing that returned me to restaurant dining.  

 

Anyway.  I went to wash some pans this morning that had been soaking in the sink for something like two days.  Because I hate doing dishes. 

 

One of them was a Chantal 4qt baking dish, in which I baked some ribs and burnt a whole bunch of rib wondrousness all over what used to be the white enamel, somehow on the outsides too (although, in fairness, that was probably some crud I failed to remove some other time I used the pan, because I hate dishes enough to disgrace my home training by putting them away less than totally clean).  

 

Anyway, I went to wash the pans because I would like to use that sink again soon, like maybe today.  

 

And there is a crack in the bottom of the Chantal 4qt!  A crack!  Through to the bottom of the pan!  

 

Meaning:  I GET TO THROW IT AWAY!!  I DON'T HAVE TO WASH IT!!  

 

People!!!  I feel like celebrating the Birth of Baby Jesus!!  HOSANNA!!!

 

That is all.  

I hear you.  I have a friend who will not use anything that cannot be put in the d/w.  And every night she will run the d/w even if there's only one fork and a saucer in it.  To each his own.

[lindag]

2 hours ago, SLB said:

I hate washing dishes.  I hate it beyond reason.  Growing up, I was outraged at the extent of the task.

 

Now, in my adult self, everything that could conceivably go in my dishwasher, does.  In my world, this includes a whole lot of stuff that other people do not put in the dishwasher.  For several pandemic months, my dishwasher was broke, and I nearly had a nervous breakdown.  It actually was the thing that returned me to restaurant dining.  

 

Anyway.  I went to wash some pans this morning that had been soaking in the sink for something like two days.  Because I hate doing dishes. 

 

One of them was a Chantal 4qt baking dish, in which I baked some ribs and burnt a whole bunch of rib wondrousness all over what used to be the white enamel, somehow on the outsides too (although, in fairness, that was probably some crud I failed to remove some other time I used the pan, because I hate dishes enough to disgrace my home training by putting them away less than totally clean).  

 

Anyway, I went to wash the pans because I would like to use that sink again soon, like maybe today.  

 

And there is a crack in the bottom of the Chantal 4qt!  A crack!  Through to the bottom of the pan!  

 

Meaning:  I GET TO THROW IT AWAY!!  I DON'T HAVE TO WASH IT!!  

 

People!!!  I feel like celebrating the Birth of Baby Jesus!!  HOSANNA!!!

 

That is all.  

On the other hand, I have a friend who actually loves washing dishes.  She says hot soapy water feels comforting and soothing.  (Personally, I think she was brainwashed in her youth by her mother).

[BeeZee]

I have a dishwasher and rarely use it, I find hand washing dishes meditative and the noise as it runs for an hour or two just annoys me. As a two person household, we wouldn’t have enough dishes to justify running it most days, I can’t stand the idea of leaving dirty dishes for multiple days…so it generally gets used when we have guests for dinner. Which is to say, rarely these days.

[blue_dolphin]

I don't despise hand-washing dishes as much as @SLB but I've become quite accustomed to the convenience.  When I moved into this house ~ 12 years ago, I installed one of the 2-drawer Fisher-Paykel dishwashers.  I just love it and run it almost every day.  If I do a round of baking or anything involving the big food processor, I can just fill up one of the drawers, turn it on and be done with the mess. More importantly, it uses WAY less water than I do washing and rinsing by hand which is important here in drought-land. 

[dcarch]

I don't consider this off topic. It's completely work related to the kitchen.

 

I hhhattttttttte shopping for food. waste of my time!!!

 

I refuse to pay what I can get cheaper, so I do it even it wastes a lot of my time comparative shopping. All those coupons on-line, coupons on flyers, and digital coupons, "This sale is only for two days, only in NYC"--------------, "Sale! Buy one get one free! (never tell you how much is one" --------, "Sale!!! $10.00 off regular price. One per customer plus if you buy $1,000 other items"

 

dcarch

Edited December 28, 2021 by dcarch (log)

[lindag]

For me, there's no worse job than cleaning the freezer and refrigerator.  I equate it to the hideous job it was to clean the oven before self-cleaning became the norm.

If i could pawn it off on someone else I would.

[Katie Meadow]

I grew up in a pre-war apartment on the upper west side of Manhattan. We had no dishwasher. My brother and I were the assigned dish dryers.  In fact we didn't have a dryer for clothes. My mother used to rig some laundry lines in the kitchen so she could dry our clothes. Doing the dishes sometimes meant having damp laundry flapping around your head.

 

Now I love my dishwasher. The kitchen tasks I don't like are mostly prep work for cooking. The worst ones involve raw protein. I simply detest touching raw chicken. I can't stand cleaning and deveining shrimp. The act of mincing onions is so horrid I have my husband do it. I'm a very good mincer, but my eyes suffer greatly. I also don't like making green leafy salads, especially washing and drying lettuce.  There are numerous other jobs that are simply boring, but I don't even want to think about them. 

 

Some vegetable prep I find pleasant and meditative: cutting cauliflower into florets. Shelling walnuts. Fine slicing cabbage for slaw. Shaving hard cheese into paper thin curls. Peeling and chopping roasted green chiles. Mincing green herbs. Slicing mushrooms. Cutting corn off the cob with a sharp knife. I can do it now without having stray kernels flying off to the far corners.