The Kitchen Storage Trick That Pro Cooks Swear By (It’s Brilliant!)

After marathon-watching the latest season of The Bear over the weekend, I’ve been inspired to spend more time whipping up new recipes in my kitchen (with none of the drama of Carmy and the others). While home cooks might only dream of re-creating some of the culinary creations shown in the series, even amateurs can replicate a pro-level kitchen storage setup that’ll have you saying, “yes, chef” every time you reach for your favorite knife or cooking utensils.

Your kitchen can quickly become a hectic, fast-moving space, even if you’re not dealing with a lineup of sous-chefs and line cooks. The TikTok account @friends_and_neighbors spilled the organization secrets behind a professional cook’s home kitchen in a new video — and it’s a game-changer for your cooking routine.

While walking through their pro-level at-home kitchen setup, the creator emphasized making sure the items you use most are visible and easily accessible to make your life so much easier. For instance, most-used items live on the stove, such as your kettle or nonstick pan, and pantry items you need to “use first” are out in the open. When it came to cooking tools, the video showed that all the tools are kept directly to the right of the stove because everyone there is right-handed. A steel Bain Marie setup houses all their kitchen shears, chef knives, and cooking utensils in holders for easy access.

“‘Handedness’ in the kitchen matters. Ergonomics matters,” they explained in the video. If you’re like me and your countertop is on the opposite side of your main hand, they also offered an easy fix. “If you’re left-handed, put a 1/8 sheet tray on the leftmost eye of your stove with a Bain Marie of tools, so they’re more readily available.”

The video showed even more pro cook-approved kitchen hacks to make your space and setup work better for your cooking, including storing your butter, salt, and sugar right next to your cooktop in a covered hotel pan and making the ingredients you need to use up visible so you’re more likely to use them for a new recipe. They also suggested storing smaller portions of bigger pantry staple items, such as rice or pasta, closer to the stove for easy access.

If you don’t have a lot of drawers, keep all your cooking utensils and knives front and center using magnetic strips on your kitchen backsplash. It’s also a renter-friendly organizing hack.

If you have a metal cooking hood, you can also install magnetic hooks underneath it to hang different cooking instruments in easy view. In the same vein, they also hung up magnetic wire baskets to store onions (you could also do this for potatoes) as well as extra aprons and paper towels.

Whether or not you’re cooking up a Chef Carmy-level meal for your friends or family, these simple swaps can make the prep and cooking process go by a little easier while also creating a home for everything that’s easy to find.