Cook with Kre

How to Keep Track of Several Kitchen Timers at Once

Updated

The way to keep track of multiple kitchen timers is to give each one a name, start them at different moments so they don’t all go off together, and keep them somewhere you can see them from the stove. A timer that just beeps tells you something is done; a named timer tells you what.

Name every timer

The most common timer mistake is not forgetting to set one. It is hearing an alarm and not knowing which pot it belongs to. With two anonymous timers running, you have to stop, look, and work out whether the pasta or the roast just finished.

Names fix that. On iPhone, the Clock app lets you label a timer before you start it, so “Pasta” and “Chicken” show up by name rather than as two countdowns. You can also run several timers at once in the Clock app; after you start one, you add more, each with its own label and sound. Apple notes the timer keeps running if you switch to another app or the phone goes to sleep, and when it ends you get a notification whichever app you’re in.

If you use a mechanical or oven timer, name it another way: a strip of masking tape with “rice” written on it, stuck to the timer, does the same job. If you have a kitchen timer with several channels, decide which channel is which before you start and keep that the same every time you cook.

Pick names by dish, not by action. “Rice” is clearer than “simmer”, because by the time the alarm sounds you may be simmering two things.

Stagger the start times

Timers that end within a minute of each other are where things go wrong. You deal with the first, the second goes off while your hands are full, and the third gets silenced without a look.

Spread them out deliberately:

  • Start the longest first. A 45-minute roast should be running long before the 10-minute vegetables go on.
  • Leave a gap at the end. If two dishes would finish together, start one of them two or three minutes later. That small offset gives you time to drain the pasta before the sauce needs you.
  • Separate jobs from alarms. Not every step needs a countdown. A sauce you’re stirring doesn’t; a pot of eggs boiling for exactly nine minutes does. Fewer timers means fewer alarms competing for you.

When you’re working out the start times, think about the end of the meal first. The guide on cooking several dishes at once walks through planning a meal backward from when you eat.

Keep timers where you can see them

An alarm you can’t hear over the extractor fan is no use, and neither is a countdown on a phone face down by the sink.

  • Put the screen in line of sight. A stand at the back of the counter works better than a phone flat on the worktop where splashes reach it.
  • Use the Lock Screen. On iPhone, a running timer appears on the Lock Screen, and you can repeat or stop it from there when it ends.
  • Check the volume. Before you start cooking, make sure the ringer is up and the phone isn’t on silent or in a Focus mode that mutes alerts.
  • Use your oven timer for the oven. If your oven has a built-in timer, give it the dish that is actually in the oven and keep the stovetop timers on your phone.

If you’re reaching for the phone with wet or floury hands, voice helps. Siri can start a timer when you ask, for example “Set the timer for 3 minutes”. There is more on that in how to keep your iPhone screen on while cooking.

Let one plan own the timers

Separate timers solve the counting, but not the question of what to do when each one ends. That still lives in your head: when the rice timer goes, you need to remember to fluff it, cover it, and start the greens.

Cook with Kre is one way to keep timers and plan together. Its running timers show on the Lock Screen as a Live Activity. If you need a moment, say “hold on”, “pause”, “hang on” or “wait a sec”, or tap Quiet for now. Kre stops offering steps, the timers keep running, and time-sensitive reminders still come through. See how Kre cooks with you.

FAQ

How many timers can I run on an iPhone?

The Clock app lets you add several timers after you start the first one, each with its own label. It is practical to run as many as you can keep track of; three or four named timers is a lot for one cook.

What’s the best way to label kitchen timers?

By dish: “Rice”, “Roast”, “Eggs”. Avoid labels like “timer 2” or the cooking action, which stop meaning anything once two dishes are doing the same thing.

Should every step get a timer?

No. Use timers for hands-off steps with a fixed length, such as boiling, baking and resting. Steps you are actively doing, like stirring a sauce, don’t need one.

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