How many injuries have you sustained whilst cooking?
Britain is a nation of Disaster Chefs - with over a third of home cooks suffering from oven burns when cooking, and one in seven chopping their fingers when preparing food, according to new research from Kenwood.
The research, commissioned to launch the search for the UK’s worst home cook, also reveals that women are more accident prone than men. Over 40 per cent of women are likely to burn themselves in the kitchen compared to only a quarter of men - and women are twice as likely as men to cut themselves with knives when preparing food at home.
And if burning arms or slicing fingers isn’t bad enough, the Kenwood study highlights that 51 per cent of Brits waste money every month having to bin disastrous cooking attempts. Men are the worst culprits with one in ten regularly forced to throw away failed cooking attempts - the numbers add up to a national waste of over £3billion per year because Brits can’t cook.
Actress Emilia Fox, self-confessed ‘Disaster Chef’ and star of BBC TV crime drama Silent Witness, is spearheading the search and hopes to improve her own cooking too. She added: “Cooking has never been my forte and it’s reassuring to know that I’m not alone. I’m really looking forward to being part of the Disaster Chef competition and getting some pointers from Kenwood to boost my culinary skills and confidence.”
In fact one in eight Brits are so bad in the kitchen that friends and family regularly have to order food in so they don’t go hungry - while a third of those quizzed can barely tolerate their partners cooking with 35 per cent learning to cook themselves instead.
The Top Five most common home cooking disasters are:
1. Overcooked food
2. Burns from the oven or hob
3. Making lumpy gravy or sauces
4. Not reading recipes properly
5. Undercooked food
But while so many Brits seem to struggle in the kitchen, they’re bowled over someone who has culinary skills; the ability to cook a three course meal beats being able to speak a foreign language, play a musical instrument or even being able to sing in the impressive stakes. Some Brits even go so far as being put off a prospective partner if they can’t cook - with men more likely to dump than date over failures in the kitchen. It seems the way to a man’s heart really is through his stomach.
Mark Swift, Director of Marketing Kenwood, says: “Our research shows that so many Brits really do struggle with cooking and we want to help people sizzle rather than simmer in the kitchen. Our search will find the nation’s 12 worst kitchen offenders and, with some Kenwood help and guidance, turn them into confident, successful cooks.”
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