Sometimes there isn’t time to prep before starting, or room to do all the prep, or a ton of other reasons for not doing all the prep ahead of time. Sometimes prepping the other thing you are making while the first thing is cooking is the better use of time. Cleaning isn’t always the best use of time.
Within the context of the original post: if what you’re cooking leaves a huge mess and this is a significant enough problem to complain on the internet about it there was a failure of preparation at several points.
Depends on how many things you are making at the same time and the volume of mess.per item.
Cleaning as you go is the best, but sometimes you can’t stop stirring or chopping or peeling to do it.
Do all your prep first.
Sometimes there isn’t time to prep before starting, or room to do all the prep, or a ton of other reasons for not doing all the prep ahead of time. Sometimes prepping the other thing you are making while the first thing is cooking is the better use of time. Cleaning isn’t always the best use of time.
That’s why I said depends.
Within the context of the original post: if what you’re cooking leaves a huge mess and this is a significant enough problem to complain on the internet about it there was a failure of preparation at several points.
Of course, when you are doing a stir-fry you cannot clean while cooking. But you can clean up your station between prep and actual cooking.