For us, a timer is as indispensable to cooking as knives and measuring spoons. We use ours for everything from timing hard boiled eggs to the final rise of our bread dough.
Are you the same way, or do you tend to go by instinct?
We received the Polder timer pictured above as a present. It has count up and count down features, and the keypad makes it easy to input cooking times. Plus, it has magnet on the back so we can secure it where it's out of the way yet still handy.
However, we're just as likely to use our oven's timer, particularly for timing longer things like braises and roasts. Using both the oven time and our portable timer is convenient when we're cooking multiple things at once.
(Or there's always the Polder triple timer for the ultimate multi-tasker!)
We've also seen friends use the count down or alarm clock features on their cell phones to remind themselves of cooking times. Maybe there are special kitchen management apps for the iPhone soon to come?!
How do you keep tabs on your kitchen projects?
• Buy the Polder timer for $15.00 on Amazon.
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I have ordered the one that has 3 count downers. If i don't set a timer i get busy and forget. I had some muffins in the oven the other day and forgot them till my kitchen was full of smoke and it stank horribly.
www.organicandnaturalmom.blogspot.com
I use the timer on my microwave. I can't rely on my internal clock because it is so easily confused by distractions, wishful thinking (Feed me!), and general absentmindedness.
no timer. and i have yet to burn/overcook anything - guess i have a good internal clock. i also wake up everyday 2 minutes before the alarm clock goes off.
I don't use a timer for things under 30 minutes, but for longer things, like long braises or baking, I set a timer, so I can leave the room and not worry about forgetting what's in the oven.
I have a digital timer plus the one on my digital meat thermometer if I need a second. If I need a third well its usually for a short time so I look at one of the the other two timers until the 2-3 minutes have gone by.
i think i use my oven timer for every meal i cook.
I don't use a timer - not because I don't want to. I just don't have one. I would love to find a nice kitchen timer. I guess they're not too hard to find, I just never think of looking. This one looks pretty nice.
I use my iphone :)
My stove doesn't have a clock on it, so I use the one in our hallway to approximate. I'm usually pretty good for baking times. We don't even have a microwave to set, so I just keep my eye on the clock.
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Oddly, it's tasks like laundry that I use it for most. These days, when I cook it's either something I'm watching the whole time (30 insane minutes of chopping, stirring, tasting and seasoning! My favorite kind of recipe!) or it's something that can sit on the stove for hours and still be fine.
Baking always calls for a timer, though. I'll forget about it otherwise. Too easily distracted.
I have a williams-sonoma digital timer that I love. it is stainless steel and has a big magnet on the back so it sticks on my fridge, it has three timers on it and a clock. my apartment stove doesn't have a timer on it.
I use my laptop as a cookbook frequently, looking up recipes on my blog and elsewhere on the internet, so it's fitting that I use a software timer - I use "Minuteur", a free Mac application: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19356
I rarely cook anything that needs a timer, but I do keep one on my fridge just in case. I actually got it free some time ago. To be honest, I mostly use it to remind me when my laundry is done!
I have an older Polder, no count down and the magnet fell off early in its life. But I use it daily, mostly for timing tea and coffee brewing times. I also use it for anything that needs to cook for more than 5 minutes; I get distracted easily and tend to burn things if I am able to walk away.
we have one that has a suction cup on it. I stick it to the hood when I'm cooking or baking.
I got one which has three count down timers, it can also count up. I find it very useful and it has helped me avoid disasters quite a few times. Although I love to freestyle there are some tasks where you need to be exact, and I couldn't do it without my timer.
// Mike
http://freestylecookery.blogspot.com