The average person spends two hours per day cooking

[August]

Take that, Cedarchickenbreasts!

I am very very surprised, though. I cook for the whole family and it's about two hours per day (breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner, all from scratch, every fucking day), which even if you only count adults, is half the average time. Plus all the take out and restaurant food means there are some very very enthusiastic cooks out there.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/won ... ?tid=sm_fb

Men and women, collectively, are spending less time at the stove. On average, the two genders spend roughly 110 minutes combined cooking each day, compared to about 140 minutes per day in the 1970s, and closer to 150 minutes per day in the 1960s. The main driver of this trend has been a significant drop-off in the time women spend cooking.

[Cannelle]

That's about right to me, 2-3 hours for me. Although right now it tends to be more like three, and yes I cook everything from scratch, including the baby's food.

We just moved into a new to us house, and I got to thinking yesterday...I have a ten month old. I have no dishwasher, (so I wash everything by hand) no microwave (everything has to be heated in the oven or cooked on the stovetop), and no functioning dryer (I hang everything to dry on two drying racks). Jeez, no wonder I'm exhausted! Take that, fundies who think non fundie housewives don't work hard.

[16strong]

That's about right to me, 2-3 hours for me. Although right now it tends to be more like three, and yes I cook everything from scratch, including the baby's food.

We just moved into a new to us house, and I got to thinking yesterday...I have a ten month old. I have no dishwasher, (so I wash everything by hand) no microwave (everything has to be heated in the oven or cooked on the stovetop), and no functioning dryer (I hang everything to dry on two drying racks). Jeez, no wonder I'm exhausted! Take that, fundies who think non fundie housewives don't work hard.

I really have stop and sympathize with you, as I lived without a dish washer once, too. It was called never again. That and paper everything. Can you tell I HATE doing dishes? :lol:

[Alexa]

Interesting article. Personally I am surprised Americans still cook as much as they do. I would have expected it to be less. I skimmed the article, is the 2 hours including the time it takes for things to cook/bake, not just hands-on time? Teaching children how to cook is a necessary skill that every child should have.

We don't have a dishwasher either, I hate it, absolutely hate it.

[Lissa1481]

We moved in mid august and didn't get a dishwasher until Thanksgiving. Six people use way too many dishes. It drove us nuts.

I don't think I spend that much time cooking and I cook every lunch and dinner and some breakfasts. We don't eat out often. I hate cooking for a long time only to have the ones who eat inhale it before I get to sit down and the ones who don't eat waste it and complain. I'm not a restaurant, so whatever. That's another story for another thread.

[DGayle]

If you count cook-time where I'm not even in the kitchen, you can say I'm cooking 2-3 hours a day. If you count only time I'm in the kitchen, maybe half an hour. I don't count the time the chicken is in the oven while I'm in the shower.

Also I doubt that in the past, the average wife cooked 4+ hours. If the average in the 50's or so is more than that 2 hours, then there are a lot of hours wives have to make up for the husbands who didn't cook.

It isn't surprising more eating now isn't homemade. If you work 1.5 jobs, you may have things to do at home you can't compromise on, so through the drive thru you go so you can spend your precious minutes doing laundry or helping with homework. Having an at-home parent isn't the usual anymore.

[JillyO]

If you read the article, it's a combined number. At least if I understand it correctly, it's worded in a very weird way. But I think they're saying that a husband and wife together spend 110 minutes per day cooking. I honestly have no clue why they're talking just about husbands and wives, when there's so many other household models these days, but here's the passage I'm talking about:

The reasons for the slow death of cooking in this country are many, but a few stand out. For one, women, who traditionally have carried the brunt of the cooking load, are working more, and therefore spending less time at home cooking. In 2008, women spent 66 minutes per day cooking, almost 50 minutes fewer than in the 1960s, when they spent upwards of 112 minutes on average. Men, by comparison, are actually spending a bit more time at the stove, albeit only a meager 8 minutes more. So men have hardly made up the difference.

[OkToBeTakei]

Take that, Cedarchickenbreasts!

I am very very surprised, though. I cook for the whole family and it's about two hours per day (breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner, all from scratch, every fucking day), which even if you only count adults, is half the average time. Plus all the take out and restaurant food means there are some very very enthusiastic cooks out there.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/won ... ?tid=sm_fb

:lol: :lol: August you horror, that reminded me of her and I then went down her rabbit hole this morning :lol:

[melon]

We moved to my house almost a year and a half ago.I have a dishwasher.Love it!

But ,for the first time,33 years,I have a washer AND a dryer!I love that most of all! For 30 years,I hung clothes on a clothesline or had to go dry clothes(sometimes wash them too) at the laundromat.

I don't cook everyday.But when I do I probably spend 2 hours cooking,Have to agree.

[nataraja]

I am single and the thought of spending 2 hours per day with cooking frightens me.

I don't enjoy cooking. It is something I only do if I have to.

[whoviana]

I am single and the thought of spending 2 hours per day with cooking frightens me.

I don't enjoy cooking. It is something I only do if I have to.

I have grown fond of cooking. When I'm in the mood. I love the result. I sure don't like the weekly menu planning which helps cut the food budget to a reasonable amount. The countless hours of grocery shopping at various places. The dirty dishes that pile up while making the food, while eating the food and after the food is gone. I sure enjoy consuming the food and sharing it, but even though my Partner does everything from washing the dishes that have to be used, to peeling potatoes and all that with pleasure and without ever complaining, I think that catering to our need to be fed takes up a large chunk of our lifetime.

[JHeathen]

Well, it's an average...not every single day in the kitchen. So the average person might make a cake or cupcakes once in a while that ups their average. And me, parenting 2 kids with different life-threatening food allergies, also make ALL my own homemade stock, vanilla extract, jam, pickles, baking soda, spice blends, "corn" my own beef, and have to cook and bake from scratch. So even though I can buy (expensive) safe hot dogs or fish sticks for a quick convenience meal once in a while, my average is still going to be way higher than others' because of cooking beyond meals.

edited to add: Also, the survey included food preparation AND clean-up time. So that might up many peoples' averages: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3639863/

[Maggie Mae]

Two hours a day, every day, to cook, with modern appliances, seems like a ridiculous waste of time. What are people doing that's so time consuming? The SO and I spend a lot less time cooking, maybe 3-4 hours a week, and we always have too much food. We don't eat at restaurants often, either. Are they counting actual cook time, or just time on kitchen prep? Or do "average" persons brine and roast turkeys on the regular?

[JHeathen]

Two hours a day, every day, to cook, with modern appliances, seems like a ridiculous waste of time. What are people doing that's so time consuming? The SO and I spend a lot less time cooking, maybe 3-4 hours a week, and we always have too much food. We don't eat at restaurants often, either. Are they counting actual cook time, or just time on kitchen prep? Or do "average" persons brine and roast turkeys on the regular?

It was a survey based on self-reporting time diaries, so the results are a bit suspect to begin with. Also, the actual survey counted food preparation AND time spent on clean-up. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3639863/

[Grimalkin]

We moved in mid august and didn't get a dishwasher until Thanksgiving. Six people use way too many dishes. It drove us nuts.

I don't think I spend that much time cooking and I cook every lunch and dinner and some breakfasts. We don't eat out often. I hate cooking for a long time only to have the ones who eat inhale it before I get to sit down and the ones who don't eat waste it and complain. I'm not a restaurant, so whatever. That's another story for another thread.

I feel so privileged to have always had a dishwasher. There are six of us too and not everything always fits in the dishwasher. I hate cleaning up after I cook more than any other job. My friend went without for a while and I always helped her wash her dished when I visited and we chatted.

My sister in law is very self rightous about NEVER using their dishwasher. They hand wash all of the dishes in their house. Of all the things to be so prideful about. Of course they only have one child, and they chose to put her in daycare from very early on all day SIL doesn't work. That's fine but don't make snide comments about how my house is not perfectly tidy. * Ooops, sorry for mini rant.

[polecat]

Interesting article. Personally I am surprised Americans still cook as much as they do. I would have expected it to be less. I skimmed the article, is the 2 hours including the time it takes for things to cook/bake, not just hands-on time? Teaching children how to cook is a necessary skill that every child should have.

We don't have a dishwasher either, I hate it, absolutely hate it.

I cook from scratch at least two meals a day (sometimes I spend a few hours on the weekend doing prep-work for the kids' lunches and sometimes one of my kids takes the reins to cook). And two hours seems like a lot for everything hands-on, but then again, I don't time myself. If you add in all the actual cook-time though, I can easily see it being two hours a day.

I don't have a dishwasher either. The only thing I really hate about not having one is the fact that I end up with dishes in my sink and it looks a mess. I guess I could run and wash every time someone dirties a cup or spoon, but I'm too lazy for that. I wait until there's a load. :shifty-kitty:

[2xx1xy1JD]

Measuring both food preparation time and cleanup time makes sense - after all, it's all part of the hands-on effort required to cook your own meals.

To me, the take-home lesson is that we really need to focus on quick and easy meals that are still nutritious and tasty. I suspect that a lot of people are convinced that cooking needs to be hard, so they get discouraged from the get-go. I honestly try to avoid any recipe that requires more than 10 min of effort from me, and my preference is a 5 min recipe.

I remember some good local cooking shows here a number of years ago, like What's for Dinner and Fixing Dinner, but I haven't seen recent shows that really demonstrate how to get dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time with basic ingredients. I don't think that Top Chef really makes cooking seem easy to the average person.

[louisa05]

Measuring both food preparation time and cleanup time makes sense - after all, it's all part of the hands-on effort required to cook your own meals.

To me, the take-home lesson is that we really need to focus on quick and easy meals that are still nutritious and tasty. I suspect that a lot of people are convinced that cooking needs to be hard, so they get discouraged from the get-go. I honestly try to avoid any recipe that requires more than 10 min of effort from me, and my preference is a 5 min recipe.

I remember some good local cooking shows here a number of years ago, like What's for Dinner and Fixing Dinner, but I haven't seen recent shows that really demonstrate how to get dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time with basic ingredients. I don't think that Top Chef really makes cooking seem easy to the average person.

I think you are absolutely right about this. And the foodies posting their complicated meals all over social media don't help this problem. I know some people who are convinced that it is just too hard for them because of the gourmet cooking shows and such things. So they rely on take out and prepared/processed foods which are less than healthy most of the time.

I don't think I spend two hours a day on food prep. But if I averaged it out for a week and included simmering/baking/slow cooker time, it might come out to that much. Neither of us mind left overs, so I often make a big batch or two of something and that's the week. I made a big batch of chicken and noodles last weekend and a slow cooker chicken chili on Monday. We alternated those through yesterday which meant about 10-15 minutes of dinner prep for the rest of the week. But that chili was in the crock pot for 6 hours--so the average goes up there.

[polecat]

Measuring both food preparation time and cleanup time makes sense - after all, it's all part of the hands-on effort required to cook your own meals.

To me, the take-home lesson is that we really need to focus on quick and easy meals that are still nutritious and tasty. I suspect that a lot of people are convinced that cooking needs to be hard, so they get discouraged from the get-go. I honestly try to avoid any recipe that requires more than 10 min of effort from me, and my preference is a 5 min recipe.

I remember some good local cooking shows here a number of years ago, like What's for Dinner and Fixing Dinner, but I haven't seen recent shows that really demonstrate how to get dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time with basic ingredients. I don't think that Top Chef really makes cooking seem easy to the average person.

I can only think of a few things I make that take much more than that -- my honey cloverleaf rolls and other yeast-based breads and doughs take more. Maybe when I make ice cream in the summer and have to stand and stir the custard. But for the most part, cutting veggies, seasoning meat, etc. takes just a few quick minutes. Once it's in the pot, slow cooker, pan, whatever, that's that.

[OkToBeTakei]

I think you are absolutely right about this. And the foodies posting their complicated meals all over social media don't help this problem. I know some people who are convinced that it is just too hard for them because of the gourmet cooking shows and such things. So they rely on take out and prepared/processed foods which are less than healthy most of the time.

I don't think I spend two hours a day on food prep. But if I averaged it out for a week and included simmering/baking/slow cooker time, it might come out to that much. Neither of us mind left overs, so I often make a big batch or two of something and that's the week. I made a big batch of chicken and noodles last weekend and a slow cooker chicken chili on Monday. We alternated those through yesterday which meant about 10-15 minutes of dinner prep for the rest of the week. But that chili was in the crock pot for 6 hours--so the average goes up there.

I think it probably evens out. If it takes into account how much time one spends in the kitchen. I seem to never be out of my kitchen for some reason or another. (Mainly cleaning up, after my 12 year old has already attempted to clean up her latest experiment...Please shoot the person who came up with mug cakes please!)

When you take into account the whole process of cooking, from buying and putting away ingredients, cleaning out fridge, veg cupboard, I'm a bit extreme with cleaning granted anyway, why yes I do mop my floor twice a day thank you :lol:

If I look at this week alone, one day I worked and did not cook anything, allowing MrOK to bank up some hours. Another day I spent half an hour preparing a casserole which cooked for three hours in the oven. Two batches of homemade soup, prep time is pretty quick, cooking time longer. I did spend longer than average yesterday as I got a gift of mussels which took ages to prepare. One night we had an Indian take away and another night we ate out. I love to cook though and I think this matters. I have friends who would rather iron. So it is a real chore to them.

I agree some people are frightened of the gourmet foodies and think it is too hard with a ton of exotic ingredients. As has been discussed many, many times on here it is as if the basics of cooking and learning to cook, have been lost. A generation who rely on pre-prepared or processed food because they do not have the basic skills that their grandparents had. I teach my kid, but I'm also grateful she still gets good old Home Eccy at school. Nothing like proudly bringing home your four hours old omelette!!

[louisa05]

I agree some people are frightened of the gourmet foodies and think it is too hard with a ton of exotic ingredients. As has been discussed many, many times on here it is as if the basics of cooking and learning to cook, have been lost. A generation who rely on pre-prepared or processed food because they do not have the basic skills that their grandparents had. I teach my kid, but I'm also grateful she still gets good old Home Eccy at school. Nothing like proudly bringing home your four hours old omelette!!

Last two times I subbed in FCS classes (family consumer science = old home ec), I got depressed.

In a team taught middle school classroom, regular students (not special ed students), practiced heating water in a microwave and pouring cereal in a bowl and adding milk.

In a high school "foods" class, they made cheesy potatoes from a box. There was a student teacher; I asked her if they were learning to make anything from scratch. She said that is too hard and is "unrealistic" for today's families. Furthermore, she said she doesn't know how to make potatoes from scratch. They basically focus on teaching the skills necessary to make convenient processed food.

[Firiel]

It was a survey based on self-reporting time diaries, so the results are a bit suspect to begin with. Also, the actual survey counted food preparation AND time spent on clean-up. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3639863/

That makes more sense. Thank goodness. I was feeling like a total loser all night for apparently being so behind-the-curve cooking-wise! :? It makes much more sense once you include cleanup.

[Firiel]

Last two times I subbed in FCS classes (family consumer science = old home ec), I got depressed.

In a team taught middle school classroom, regular students (not special ed students), practiced heating water in a microwave and pouring cereal in a bowl and adding milk.

In a high school "foods" class, they made cheesy potatoes from a box. There was a student teacher; I asked her if they were learning to make anything from scratch. She said that is too hard and is "unrealistic" for today's families. Furthermore, she said she doesn't know how to make potatoes from scratch. They basically focus on teaching the skills necessary to make convenient processed food.

So... reading? And following instructions?

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Last two times I subbed in FCS classes (family consumer science = old home ec), I got depressed.

In a team taught middle school classroom, regular students (not special ed students), practiced heating water in a microwave and pouring cereal in a bowl and adding milk.

In a high school "foods" class, they made cheesy potatoes from a box. There was a student teacher; I asked her if they were learning to make anything from scratch. She said that is too hard and is "unrealistic" for today's families. Furthermore, she said she doesn't know how to make potatoes from scratch. They basically focus on teaching the skills necessary to make convenient processed food.

Ok, now that's depressing! With Google and YouTube it's easier than ever to learn how to make food. They should focus on health and cost.

[OkToBeTakei]

Last two times I subbed in FCS classes (family consumer science = old home ec), I got depressed.

In a team taught middle school classroom, regular students (not special ed students), practiced heating water in a microwave and pouring cereal in a bowl and adding milk.

In a high school "foods" class, they made cheesy potatoes from a box. There was a student teacher; I asked her if they were learning to make anything from scratch. She said that is too hard and is "unrealistic" for today's families. Furthermore, she said she doesn't know how to make potatoes from scratch. They basically focus on teaching the skills necessary to make convenient processed food.

Oh that's sad :( I won't complain about cold omelette then. She has brought home homemade macaroni cheese (basic white sauce lesson) Scones. Vegetable stir-fry. Good old lentil soup. I think it's good they learn the basics.