Ask HN: Hackers who cook

Try out different ways to slice stuff. Different permutations of longitudinal, diagonal or cross cuts yield different shapes. Try getting regular shapes after cutting a big carrot cross, then lengthwise-diagonally. The resulting triangle-wedge shapes are great for dipping (hummus!). If the carrot is thick enough, "bisect" the wedges.

Speaking of carrots, use a potato-peeler.

If you're thinking of getting a knife-set, instead, consider spending your money on a single quality chef's knife. If you later find you need a different type of knife for some particular task, just get a cheap one, but your chef's knife should be proper quality.

Also, I'm going to echo darkarmani's advice (well, it should be a decree), to never ever put your good knives in the dishwasher. Ever. Keep them out of there.

It keeps the cutting board from slipping and moving while you use it.

Thanks for that.

1. Why do you cook? Is it to save cash or is it recreation? Or something else?

I cook as another creative outlet, as a way to relax and a way to put a break between work and personal time. It's a nice ritual to come home and cook a quick dinner, or take the time to make a big meal on a weekend and try something new.

Cooking for myself is also much cheaper most of the time, especially this time of year when we get so many great vegetables in season.

2. Do you plan ahead? Like a weekly meal plan?

I tried to do a weekly plan, but it just didn't work for me. I like to buy groceries for 2 days at a time, at most, and I enjoy the trip to the store to see what's looking good and inspires me.

The only real planning I do is to keep a well organized list of posts and recipes in Evernote that I want to try at some point.

3. What kind of things do you cook usually?

This summer I've been cooking a TON of fish and fresh corn succotash(like a cooked corn salsa). In the cooler months I love making a universal broth for ramen, braising greens ,etc and have it on hand for a couple days. And lots of simple roasts with a primary protein like chicken or pork and a ton of vegetables.

Food52 and Saveur are my go-tos for great recipes and a little inspiration. If you're looking for something simple and jsut starting out, I recommend sidechef.com for great beginner recipes and tips from start to finish.

4. Do you follow any diet? Atkins, Slow Carb etc.

I like the slow carb foods and naturally gravitate towards that without having to follow a real plan. Beans, lentils, proteins and a ton of vegetables are always staples on my plate at home.

5. Do you have any life hacks, tips to be more productive as a cook?

Just like exercise, reading, social time, it's all about how you prioritize. Cooking can be a quick 10 minutes to make a simple frittata, or several hours for something more elaborate on a weekend.

Personally, if I'm working from home, I schedule a break to start cooking dinner in the afternoon. And I usually cook enough to have leftovers to play with for another day or two. It saves time and money to make larger batches.

Other hacks are focusing on one-pot dishes and the slow cooker in the winter. I love putting a bunch of stuff in the slow cooker in the AM and coming home to a done meal at the end of the day with no additional work needed.

1. I cook because it's cheap. Sometimes I cook for the ladies... err, well, actually just the one lady:my gf

2. Sometimes. Depends how fancy we're getting. No weekly meal plan

3. Simple/fast/practical meals, specifically stir fries and salads. We want to get into shakes (we just bought a blender)

4. trying to follow Paleo

5. best life hacks? Get a cook! Or use a service like BigOven, Gobble, AmazonFresh/GoogleShoppingExpress,TheStoneSoup (5ingredients, 10min recipes) or just be disciplined about developing good habits! BigOven, for example let's me find stuff to cook fast. It's on iOS, Windows, Android and it even lets you import from text. Only thing I hate about the service is the fact you're locked in because there's no way to export your data...