When I worked in the corporate world, I taught among other things the importance of planning ahead and just in time manufacturing planning. JITM in manufacturing means to have the materials you will need to make something available when you need them. I never would of thought that the idea would apply to cooking.

Studying the different techniques made me realize that cooking is basically a chemistry and value-added manufacturing process.

You need the right tools, supplies, technique and a plan. The plan is the recipe. Supplies are the ingredients to be used in the plan. The best tools are not necessarily the most expensive.

My best almost all purpose tool is the second hand wok that I purchased at a local thrift store. The wrought iron frying pan I use was inherited from my mother, I have no idea how old it is. A good used one can be picked up at thrift stores and garage sales. Never mind if they appear to be rusted, a little bit of correct care and they can be rejuvenated and made like new but they are definitely a must have in the kitchen.

Knives should be of a good grade. Purchase these separately with the job they are intended for in mind. A beautiful set will cost more than they are really worth. A good knife can sometimes cost more than all your kitchen utensils combined. But consider the fact that like my mother’s wrought iron skillet you can hand it down to your descendants. 

I have a hand wrought meat cleaver that is well over a 150 years old, it will still chop through a ham bone or a split kindling wood if needed. The point here is make sure you get the best knives that you can afford and choose them for what they will be used for.

Prep work is the most time consuming of the whole process. But once that is done, the rest is easy and goes quickly. The cool thing is that prep work can be done ahead of time, so you can enjoy a glass of wine or set the table. The actual cooking time is short.

If the recipe has lots of ingredients, I pre-measure them and place them in the order that they will be used next to the stove. Usually this means the aromatics (garlic, onions and other spices) are placed first.

When I first started cooking I used to dump everything in at once. Since occasionally wisdom come with age I have learned that is usually not the best way. Everything has its time to be added. If you are breading meats like chicken for frying, give the chicken time to rest and let the breading adhere to the meat after dredging.

Then wait until the oil you will be frying in is hot enough to bond the breading to the chicken when it first goes in the pan. Also this insures that the chicken will brown and crisp up without soaking up the grease. The hot oil sears it and prevent the meat from soaking up all the grease.