The average American spends more than four hours each week preparing, cooking, and cleaning up after meals. However, despite the long hours we log in the kitchen, many of us are still making countless mistakes that cost us time and money every time we tie our aprons on.\n

Unfortunately, these seemingly-minor mistakes can lead to serious consequences, from the minor to the potentially deadly. But the good news is you needn’t be a professional chef to improve your kitchen skills in a hurry. We’ve rounded up 17 ways you’re using your kitchen wrong, making it easy to improve your culinary game, keep your appliances working, and maintain your safety in the process. And when you want to know what really goes on behind the scenes in a professional kitchen\n

Failing to preheat your oven\n
If you’re not preheating your oven before putting your food in, you’re doing yourself a disservice. According to research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, not preheating ovens added unaccounted for extra cooking time to recipes, which can prove tricky for novice chefs, and may lead to either overcooked or undercooked food. For the best results, preheat your oven and adhere to the recommended baking times at first, adjusting slightly as you get more confident in the kitchen.\n
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Pouring grease into your sink\n
If you find yourself dealing with clogged sinks on a regular basis, a build-up of grease could be the problem. Grease that goes down your drain, whether it’s a tiny plate’s worth or a whole pan’s worth, can solidify when it cools. This can cause a hard-to-dislodge buildup inside your pipes, and may lead to expensive repairs in the long run. Instead, wipe small amounts of grease off your plate and into a trash can or collect larger amounts in a jar to use for future recipes.\n
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Preparing cooked and uncooked food next to each other\n
Slapping a slab of steak in a pan next to your almost-prepared veggies could put your health at risk. When you have cooked and uncooked food in close proximity to one another, you run the risk of cross-contamination that can make you sick. This is particularly true with meat, which can expose you to everything from salmonella to campylobacter jejuni.\n
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Storing your knives in a drawer\n
Storing your sharp knives in a typical kitchen drawer is as perilous for you as it is for your utensils. Not only does putting your sharp knives in a drawer mean that you’re likely to accidentally cut yourself when you go to grab one, it also makes them less useful. When knifes are left to bang around in a drawer, they quickly become dull; instead, hang them from a magnetic rack and keep them sharp and usable for longer.\n
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Cleaning your blender by hand\n\n\n\n\n
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While cleaning your blender by hand may seem like the best way to get it spotless, it’s a more perilous activity than you might imagine. First, there’s the potential to completely eviscerate your kitchen gloves and fingers in the process. Second, there’s a better way. Simply put a few drops of dish soap and some water in your blender and pulse it for a minute or so to get off any gunk that can’t be simply rinsed away. Afterward, pop it in your dishwasher and your blender will emerge looking brand new.\n
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Running hot water in your garbage disposal\n\n
Hot may be your temperature of choice for cleaning dishes, but when it comes to moving food through your garbage disposal, you’re better off keeping things cool. Hot water has a tendency to melt or loosen solid food, creating a paste that can eventually clog your disposal. If you need a little help moving food through your disposal, opt for cold water instead.\n
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Not scraping your plates before loading the dishwasher\n\n
If you’re putting dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher, you’re only adding work to your metaphorical plate. Scraping your plates first will help keep pieces of food from landing on your dishes during the wash cycle and keep them from clogging your filters and hoses, as well. However, that doesn’t mean you need to rinse your plates before they get washed\u2014in fact, all pre-rinsing really does is waste water\n
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Opening your oven door while preparing meals\n\n
It may be tempting to check on your food throughout the cooking process, but doing so by opening the oven is only making things take longer. In fact, opening your oven to check on your food\u2014particularly if you leave the door open as you check it\u2014can result in a heat loss of up to 100 degrees. This means that not only will your food take longer to cook, it may even cook less evenly than if you’d left the door closed. If you can’t wait, turn on the light in your oven and check your food’s progress through the door.\n
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