Your Neglected Bar Cart Makes For A Perfect Cooking Prep Station
If you love cooking but don't necessarily have a lot of space in your kitchen to prepare all of your elaborate recipes, your neglected bar cart might come in handy, especially when turned into a cooking preparation station or a temporary kitchen island. Since most bar carts have wheels, they can easily shadow you while you cook, staying by your side. But once you're done, they can be stored away in a closet or can even just be moved to the side to not stay in anyone's way — which is ideal, especially when living in an apartment where every inch of space counts.
The most common uses for bar carts seem to be storing alcoholic beverages and glassware or coffee machines and products to prepare your morning cup of joe. Both are great ways to use these aesthetically pleasing pieces of furniture. However, if that doesn't make sense for your lifestyle, there's the possibility of storing various other items in your bar cart. You can, for example, add your largest, sturdiest cutting board on top of the cart so that when you're cooking, you can easily grab your sliced veggies or meat and pop them in the pan. Or, if you're washing vegetables in the sink, you can quickly move them to the board, which will be conveniently placed right next to you.
How to create a makeshift kitchen island
On TikTok, some creators are already rethinking their bar carts and turning them into makeshift kitchen islands, which is a great way to create more counter space and have all of your cooking utensils ready in one place. Depending on how your bar cart is designed and if you have drawers, you can wrap your knives in newspaper to store them, which is a tip by professional chefs to keep knives sharp. If you have shelves or tiers, you can store your everyday pots, pans, and bowls. Don't forget the correct way to store wooden cutting boards so they last way longer – positioning them vertically to ensure water and moisture don't damage the wood. For that reason, you'll want to store your cutting boards on the taller shelves of the bar cart when you're done using them.
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Your prep station or kitchen island should be imagined for you and should contain whatever items and products you use most, therefore, a spice drawer with your favorite seasonings is always a good idea to have in hand, in a place where it can be easily reached. In outfitting your bar cart, try taking a page from chef and content creator Angela Davis (who goes by The Kitchenista) by organizing a section, either at the top of the cart or on a shelf, for all of the oils, vinegars, and unrefrigerated condiments that get the most love in your kitchen.
More ways to use a bar cart to prepare food
When you have a prep station on wheels, you can use it for pretty much any part of your house. For instance, you might like to consider a cooking station for barbecues, which can be stored inside the house and then moved outside whenever you choose to host a barbecue get-together. One TikToker posted a video of their barbecue cart, which is used to store utensils such as knives, spatulas, cooking boards, and other accessories, as well as fuel for the grill like charcoal. The top of the cart can hold boards for cutting meats and veggies, and the cart can be placed right beside the cook so that they have everything easily accessible.
But if cooking really isn't your thing and you're more of a baker, another creator turned their bar cart into storage for their go-to baking ingredients, like all-purpose flour, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder. That way, every single item they use is always in the same place, making whipping up tasty treats that much easier.