Waitrose's annual 'Cooking Report' on the nation's cooking habits has found that the UK is a nation of quietly confident cooks, with more than one-third (35 percent) rating themselves as 'very good' or 'excellent cooks' and a more modest 45 percent rate themselves as 'fairly good cooks'. One-third of UK adults polled would go so far as to say they're better cooks than their parents. Still, despite this high level of confidence, more than one in four UK adults have never boiled an egg and don't know how to, fewer than a fifth (18 percent) have made a salad dressing, and only 45 percent of those surveyed have baked a Victoria sponge cake.
Nearly two-fifths of UK adults wished they could spend more time in the kitchen than they currently do. The greatest motivation for cooking is to be healthy and enjoy tasting new flavours and recipes. The cost of living crisis has added incentive to cook, with one-third of UK adults cooking because it 'helps them stick to a budget and save money'.
Due to financial pressures, one in five say they're entertaining more at home. Four in 10 are happy to choose cheaper cuts of meat and more affordable ingredients to economise when entertaining. One in eight say they're prepared to economise during the week to spend more on their guests, and seven percent are happy to ask friends to bring a dish or course.
Air fryers have become firm fixtures in many kitchens this year, but the humble microwave has emerged top of a list of 24 kitchen gadgets that most adults said they couldn't live without. Nearly three times as many people said they couldn't live without their microwave as feel the same about air fryers (32 percent and 12 percent, respectively);. However, they're both energy-saving appliances compared to traditional ovens.
Searches for 'microwave meals' on waitrose.com are up 71 percent, and sales of microwaves are up 13 percent at John Lewis (compared to the same time last year).
Martyn Lee, Executive Chef for Waitrose, said that food was a daily joy and the cost of living crisis has hastened a change in how we cook.
"For too long, we've been looking down on microwaves. You can do much more in them than heat a cup of coffee. I make a great sponge in mine. I think it's time to remember the enjoyment we get from anticipating their pinging," said Lee.
Lee continued that when reheating a stew or a slice of lasagne in the microwave after the flavours have had time to develop, customers enjoy what's known as the 6th taste sensation, 'kokumi', which is lesser known than the other five tastes, sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.
Lee added that whether customers are a whizz in the kitchen or not, the research found that all cooks sometimes make mistakes."
Nearly half (46 percent) divulged that they often get distracted and let pans boil over, and nearly two-fifths (38 percent) revealed they had burnt something so badly the smoke alarm went off. Over a quarter (27 percent) have put too much salt in something, and 23 percent have undercooked or overcooked a dish, so it's inedible.
Even the most confident cooks are resistant to the odd kitchen slip-up. A quarter of those who rated their skills as 'excellent' admits to having left a bottle of wine or Champagne in their freezer and 'forgotten about it until it exploded', while around a fifth (18 percent) have failed to remember they've cooked something in the microwave and found it the next day.
Mishaps aside, the report revealed customers also like to bend the rules, with 46 percent ignoring the sell-by dates on the packet, 38 percent using the 'five-second rule' for picking up food that has dropped on the floor, choosing to believe that food is less likely to get contaminated and therefore 'safe' to eat. In comparison, 16 percent are happy to scrape the mould off food to 'eat or cook with it'.
For inspiration, consumers are most likely to turn to the internet and the explosion of recipes and technique tutorials available. One-third get their ideas on what to cook from TV programmes, and five percent have turned to Chat GPT for recipe inspiration. The average person owns just eight cookery books, though seven percent own 20 or more.
