That's literally why everyone uses a timer. If you could remember, you would just look at a clock to know how long it's been in. The timer is there to remind you.
Thereโs a difference between overcooking your food by a few minutes making it less palatable and forgetting it the oven making it a crisp 3 hours later when youโre hungry and go looking for food.
Yeah, but there's a difference between forgetting to look at a clock and forgetting that you have a kitchen.
I never put anything in the oven without having the timer set and ready to start at the push of a button, because I have to, but I have accidentally preheated my oven for several hours many times.
Who hasn't preheated their oven for (well over) 4 hours though?...because I was almost done defrosting. Shit, I preheated the oven to cook some chicken we had, and then went shopping cause I forgot I already had a plan of action.
Then the question is, "Am I still cooking this chicken or these porkchops (that i just went through the trouble of procuring?). I can do both, I guess... fuck it, I'm eating sandwiches and I'll cook tomorrow
So true, even if I realise I'm hungry and have enough impulse control to put something in the oven instead of ordering in or resorting to a protein shake for dinner, there is an 80% chance that I will both forget that I'm hungry and completely forget I haven't eaten, in the time it takes the food to cook.
40 minutes later I'm sitting at my desk thinking "why have I got such a bad headache? why do I feel so groggy and cranky? Wait, do I need a nap!? I probably need a nap... Hang on, Why can I smell smoke?"
Why do I always assume I need a nap, even if I haven't eaten all day!? I have to basically run through a flow chart to figure out why my head hurts. Food, water, full bladder, sleep, eye strain? Why do I feel bad? Who knows?
It's a mystery only neurotypical people can solve!
My partner bought me one of those all in one cookers (instant pot style thing) because it will automatically shut off when it's done cooking..
It has saved our relationship with our neighbours because I'm no longer setting off smoke alarms every other night.
Case in point, while typing this I just heard it beep and it scared the shit out of me because I completely forgot I put some squishy old pears (that were always destined to rot in my fridge) in it to stew when I got home... like 2 hours ago.
It feels like past me has left a suprise gift for present me, because I have stewed pears for dessert now!
I need a timer to remind me that I have the oven pre-heating. The oven itself beeps when it's at temp, but it's super fuckin' quiet and I sometimes don't even hear it while reading at the kitchen table. The other day, I left the apartment while the oven was on because of this.
Yeah, my oven doesn't even beep at all! All I get to indicate is a small light that's hard to distinguish the on-off status of in most conditions going off with the faintest of clicks so I'm DEFINITELY Team Preheat Timer too ๐
This is why I just donโt preheat my oven for most stuff anymore.
I turn it on while Iโm doing whatever needs to be done for the food and then throw it in whatever the temp. Add an extra 3-5 minutes to the timer, and call it good.
Iโve noticed some features I laughed at actually kinda have a legit use. My oven has some โassisted cookingโ options to cook food without a preheat. Itโs supposed to automatically adjust the preheat temp and cooking time. You can select from like frozen lasagna, frozen pizza, frozen nuggets.
A while ago a found a hot pocket in the microwave that I had forgotten about 3 days prior. I've also left the oven on more than once. Sometimes a single alert isnt enough.
Cold fresh baked lasagna, cut into servings, and reheated in the oven to get that melty crispy cheese on every side is one of the best things in the world. It's not an accident if the end result is better.
With spaghetti I do a bake after the initial cook with layers of ricotta cheese and some garlicy bread crumbs on top and that turns out pretty good. Especially with some chunks of chicken in there.
Basically a lasagna with spaghetti noodles and a way bigger margin for error lol
I don't like having assistant always listening on my phone. I tried it for awhile but it bothered me having an always listening device right there waiting. (I've become a lot more privacy oriented with my personal data over the years)
One thing I did partially setup was having NFC tags in various places so all I had to do was unlock my phone and hold it to a specific tag for a timer to start (like my washer, dryer, food cool down, etc). But unfortunately due to an update making scanning NFC tags while your phone is locked not a thing anymore (combined with the death of Smart Unlock) that fun little project basically died in the cradle.
One little project I've been floating is setting up a couple micro controllers (1 in my laundry room and another in the kitchen) with some buttons I can just press to send me a notification on my phone (via contacting my home server) in X time when a timer expires. I've been in the planning stage of that one for awhile now but it had to get shelved until my server rebuild happens. (Hopefully soon)
So the stop gap right now is practicing a skill I'm perpetually shitty at: resisting the allure of memes and shit posts.