In the hot summer months, it’s hard to spend time in the kitchen over a hot stove. Every Wednesday on Food Network’s Facebook page, we host “Ask the Editor,” where readers can ask a question on a specific topic. Last week, we received numerous inquiries on how to keep kitchens cool in the summer heat.

So how can you put dinner on the table without driving you and your family into a heat coma?

Top 5 Tips With Recipes

1. Take It Outside: If you have a grill, use it! You can make dinner — from start to finish on the grill — leaving your house cool and your stove clean.
Recipes: Sausage-and-Pepper Skewers, Tuna Burgers with Carrot-Ginger Sauce, Grilled Ratatouille Salad

2. Use Your Slow Cooker: Set it and forget it — it couldn’t be more simple. While we don’t suggest cooking heavy dinners like you would in the winter, there are lighter, more refreshing ways to use this kitchen gadget.
Recipes: Shrimp Creole, Chipotle-Lime Chicken Thighs, Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos

Three more ways to keep the heat down in your kitchen »

Yes, we work here but many of us are true fans as well. We watch the shows, try the recipes and live the life. Crazy…but true.

That said, one new FN show is seemingly creating even more buzz in the halls than usual. CHOPPED, hosted by Ted Allen, premieres tonight, triggering heightened chatter around our fancy, coffee maker-sized watercooler. Frantic sous chefs, insane time constraints, amazing food, flowing tears — all good.

Without giving it away, Rene Lynch (Daily Dish blog on the LA Times) summarized it best…
The format makes for one heck of a nail-biting experience, and it succeeds in placing the viewer in the shoes of the contestants. Who hasn’t raced around their kitchen, staring at the mismatched ingredients in the cupboard, while the clock is ticking?

Ok — enough shamless promotion.
Tune in tonight and let us know what you think…
Watch the promo here.