All Posts
- Siddra Afzal
- Jun 8, 2026
Sweet & Smart: Exploring the Delicious World of Low-Sugar Baking
For many, baking brings a sense of comfort and joy. The aroma of warm cookies wafting through the kitchen and the satisfaction of creating something delicious is always a delightful experience. But for those following a low-sugar diet, the fear of missing out on these sweet treats can be disappointing.
The good news is you don't have to ditch ...
- Siddra Afzal
- Jun 8, 2026
Pastry: The Craft, Secrets, and Tools That Make It Work
Pastry is one of the most important foundations in baking. It’s the base for pies, tarts, sausage rolls, and quiches, and it can transform a dish from simple to impressive. Despite its popularity, pastry has a reputation for being difficult. Many people find that their dough turns tough instead of flaky, shrinks away from the tin, or ends up ...
- Siddra Afzal
- May 29, 2026
Get Ready for National Fish & Chip Day 2026
National Fish and Chip Day is one of the best days in the food calendar. It falls on the first Friday of June every year, and in 2026, that means Friday, 5th June. Now in its second decade, it's become the biggest food awareness day. In the UK in 2025 alone, coverage reached over 440 million people.
For chip shops, it's one of the busiest days of ...
- Siddra Afzal
- May 29, 2026
The Complete UK Hard Water & Limescale Guide for Catering Businesses
Hard water is one of those things that quietly costs catering businesses money every year. It affects your coffee machines, dishwashers, glasswashers, kettles, and water boilers, often without anyone making the connection between declining performance and the water coming out of the tap.
The start of a new financial year is a practical time to get ...
- Siddra Afzal
- May 15, 2026
Why Clay Matka Pots Belong in Your Restaurant
If you run an Indian or Pakistani restaurant, a tea house, or a South Asian catering operation, the vessels you serve in are just as important as the food itself. Clay matka pots and cups are among the most effective ways to add authenticity to your table service, and they cost very little.
At Cooksmill, we stock a range of traditional clay matka ...
- Siddra Afzal
- May 11, 2026
How to Make Kulfi: A Guide to Indian Ice Cream
Kulfi is one of the most beloved frozen desserts in South Asian cuisine, richer than ice cream, denser than gelato, and packed with flavour that comes from slow-cooked, reduced milk. Whether you've tasted it at an Indian restaurant or grown up eating it at summer weddings and festivals, learning how to make kulfi is a rewarding home and restaurant ...
- Siddra Afzal
- May 8, 2026
How to Match Your Kitchen Cookware to Your Heat Source
Whether you're kitting out a professional kitchen or upgrading your home setup, one question comes up again and again: Does it matter what metal your cookware is made from? The short answer is yes, it matters a lot. The metal your pan is made from doesn't just affect how it looks or how long it lasts. It determines how heat moves through it, how ...
- Siddra Afzal
- May 1, 2026
Bagasse vs Paper vs Plastic Plates : Which One Should You Be Using?
If you're running a catering operation, whether that's a street food stall, a school canteen, a busy takeaway, or an events catering business, disposable plates are one of those things you probably buy on autopilot. But the options have changed significantly in recent years. Bagasse plates have moved from a niche eco product to a practical, ...
- Siddra Afzal
- Apr 17, 2026
Which Frying Pan Is Best for Indian Restaurants?
If you've ever wondered why a curry from your favourite Indian restaurant tastes so different to the one you made at home, even when you followed the recipe to the letter, the answer is often less about the spices and more about the pan. Professional chefs working in Indian restaurant kitchens tend to be surprisingly particular about their ...
- Siddra Afzal
- Apr 10, 2026
90% Faster Prep: The Robot Coupe Kitchen Guide
If you work in a busy commercial kitchen, you already know that prep is where the most time is spent. Slicing, dicing, grating, blending, it's relentless, it's labour-intensive, and it happens every single day before any plate of food is served. Robot Coupe equipment exists to solve that problem, and as one of the UK's leading catering equipment ...