The survey found that one in four adults in the UK have never cooked an egg

More than a quarter of adults in the UK have never boiled an egg and don’t know how, less than a fifth have made salad dressing and only 45% have baked Victoria sponge cake, according to a report by Waitrose.

While more than a third of people (35 percent) rate themselves as “very good” or “excellent cooks,” about 27 percent have never boiled an egg, according to the Supermarket’s Annual Cooking Report survey.

Nearly two-fifths (39 per cent) would like to spend more time in the kitchen than they actually do, while a fifth (20 per cent) say they have more fun at home due to the cost of living crisis – although 34 per cent I now think the term “dinner” is old fashioned.

Four in 10 (40 percent) would be happy to choose cheaper cuts of meat and more affordable ingredients to save money while entertaining, and seven percent of friends would ask to bring a dish or side dish.

Meanwhile, despite the growing popularity of air fryers, microwaves top the list of 24 kitchen gadgets most adults said they couldn’t live without.

Nearly three times as many people said they couldn’t live without a microwave than those who said the same about deep fryers, at 32% and 12%, respectively.

Waitrose said searches for “microwave meals” are up 71% on waitrose.com compared to the same period last year, while microwave sales are up 13% on John Lewis.

Martin Lee, Executive Chef of Waitrose, said: “Food is an everyday pleasure, and the cost of living crisis has accelerated the shift in the way we cook.

“For too long, we’ve looked down on microwaves. You can do a lot more with them than warm up a cup of coffee. I make a big sponge in my own. I think it’s time to remember the pleasure we get from anticipating a ping.”

“When you reheat a soup or a slice of lasagna in the microwave after the flavors have developed, you enjoy what’s known as the sixth ‘kokomi’ taste sensation—less familiar than the other five—sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.”

The survey also found that 46% of people ignore expiration dates on packages, 38% use the “five-second rule” to pick up food that’s fallen to the floor, and 16% are happy to scrape off mold. The food you eat or cook with.

A third of them get their ideas on what to cook from TV shows, and five percent turn to GPT Chat for recipe inspiration.

OnePoll surveyed 4,000 adults in the UK between May 10-16 and May 24-30.