ADVERTISEMENT

Cooking is an art form, and with proper practice, knowledge, and skill, anyone can master it. But whether you’re a true food aficionado who can whip up Michelin-worthy meals at the drop of a hat or a passionate novice with a burning desire (or, more often, burnt pots or pans) to take your game to the next level, your inner chef can always use some tips and tricks that can help elevate your dishes.

Thankfully, friendly 'Ask Reddit' cooks are here to lend a helping hand. They have gathered in one popular thread to assist us, lost souls, looking for ways to make our home-cooked meals better, and instantly offered some of their best kitchen hacks that actually work.

Below, we’ve wrapped up an illuminating collection of advice from people who know what they’re talking about. So continue scrolling to learn all about the cooking know-how, and get ready to create mouth-watering feasts that’ll make everyone squeal in excitement! Be sure to upvote the responses you found particularly useful, and then share your own tips with us in the comments.

Psst! For more pearls of wisdom from experienced cooks, check out Bored Panda’s earlier piece right here.

#1

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen A blunt knife is **the** most dangerous thing in the kitchen.

anon , cottonbro Report

#2

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Something I call laddering.

Cook too much of one thing (eg.rice). Not that's your base for tomorrow's dinner (fried rice, or curry and rice) half as much cooking and you can always freeze any left overs.

Yesterday I cooked twice the chicken so tonight I just had to make a salad and put the chicken on top. Tomorrow I have left over salad and I'll make tacos. The following day I've got left over taco stuff that I'm make huevos with and so on.

Half the cooking, super healthy, and you don't get tired of leftovers.

playmeepmeep , Pille R. Priske Report

Add photo comments
POST
nuguanugua avatar
Jiminy
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Since English is not my native language, can anyone help me out explaining what this is supposed to mean? "Not that's your base for tomorrow's dinner half as much cooking [...]" I don't get it.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#3

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Clean while you cook. Don’t ruin your meal by slaving over it’s remnants on a full stomach.

Preemfunk , Leon Seibert Report

Add photo comments
POST
master_minds9_1 avatar
DennyS (denzoren)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep, clean after you finish a set of steps. Don't wait...it'll be very tiring in the end.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#4

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen There is a cookbook called Sauces. Get it, read it, and use it. A good sauce can take a mediocre dish, to a really nice dinner.

Disclaimer: not all sauces are easy to make.

optimistic_fox , Jonathan Borba Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#5

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Get your pan and oil hot before you put anything in it. The oil just absorbs into the food if it's not hot. People coming out of culinary school make this mistake all the time.

CurtisX10 , RODNAE Productions Report

#6

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Buy quality ingredients. You don't have to buy *the best*. Just aim for somewhere in the middle.

JohnyUtah_ , Kampus Production Report

Add photo comments
POST
ruthhempsey avatar
Ruth Hempsey
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Inflation. Buy the misshapen potatoes etc and save money. They taste just as good as perfectly looking ones.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#7

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Don't overcook stuff, except eggplant. Cook the f**k out of eggplant, then cook it some more.

crpyroads , Kirill Slavetski Report

#8

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Salt your water for boiling pasta or potatoes... And not just a pinch either, it should taste almost (but not quite) as salty as sea water.

Myrdok , cottonbro Report

Add photo comments
POST
indiecognition avatar
indiecognition
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you start boiling potatoes in a pot of cold water, they will cook more evenly (dropping them into a pot that's already boiling will cook the outside of the potatoes faster than the middle)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Fresh cracked black pepper is 100x better than pre-ground. Buy a cheap pepper grinder, they're disposable in the spice aisle, and use that.

amos_burton , Victoria Bowers Report

#10

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Mis en place: everything in its place. Prep, chop, measure out, peel, organize everything before you begin assembly. With a bit of prep the day before I can put a full turkey dinner onto plates in a couple of hours...all from scratch. Because everything is out and measured/weighed.

Anabeer , pexels Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#11

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Try to let your refrigerated ingredients warm up a bit before cooking, if possible. Take them out and leave them on the counter for a little bit.

Also, soups taste soooo much better after they have cooled and had time to rest. Make it on Sunday and eat it the rest of the week.

makemasa , Ello Report

#12

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Every protein gets a sauce. Learn to deglaze the pan.

summercampcounselor , Evan Bench Report

Add photo comments
POST
miked_6 avatar
Mike D
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Deglazing = Towards the end of cooking, or after removing your protein, splashing the hot pan with room temp fluid. The fluid rapidly heats and releases steam, and helps break up the fond (fond = the yummy brown stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan), so you can mix the fond with what you're cooking (either directly in to the dish, or in a sauce for the dish). Example: Any time you've seen a professional cook with a wok, when they toss some fluid in to the wok and make flames jump out of the pan. They're not just entertaining, they're also deglazing. I should warn you though, don't do this with non-stick pans unless you want to kill the nonstick.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#13

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen For the love of God, get your meat from a butcher.

cheshirecatsmiles , Andrés Góngora Report

Add photo comments
POST
kirstin-peter avatar
Minath
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you are a total novice, tell your butcher what you are wanting to cook, they are a mine of information and will be able to give you some really great advice. If you are on a budget they will tell you the best way of cooking cheaper cuts. My butcher is awesome and makes his own rubs and marinades and they are so much better than anything you'll get in a supermarket.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#14

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Don't just fry something in oil. Chop up some onions, a bit of garlic (not too much), and use butter instead of oil. Cook until the onions are golden, then add anything.

ANSWER_NO_ONE_ASKED4 , Katerina Holmes Report

Add photo comments
POST
kirstin-peter avatar
Minath
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you use a bit of oil as well you'll be able to get a higher temperature in your pan without the butter burning.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#15

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Learn to use salt properly. Properly used salt should never make a dish "salty" but should enhance the flavors within the dish and bring them to the surface better. Start by adding a little salt, taste, add a little more, taste. You will quickly learn to tell the difference between something that is over or under salted, and something that is just right. Salt content can make or break any dish, even sweets.

PearsonKnifeWorx , monicore Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#16

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Smell your spices together and see if they smell tasty.

anon , Marta Branco Report

Add photo comments
POST
alexia_1 avatar
Alexia
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also check them from time to time. I was surprised to find my paprika powder infested with some... small brown bugs

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#17

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Be clean. Wash hands, work surface, and knives (and change cutting boards) between working on foods that will be cooked and those that will be served raw. Don't even have them out at the same time. Nothing will turn you away from doing it yourself harder than making yourself (and others) sick.

kittenrice , cottonbro Report

Add photo comments
POST
nuguanugua avatar
Jiminy
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will prepare the veggies for my salad on the same cutting board as the veggies I cook. I cannot find any reasonable explanation for why I should not.

thewildwolfofthor avatar
Mountainslady1
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The person is talking about things like raw meat and ready to eat foods, like fruits and veggies. Cross contamination is something to avoid.

Load More Replies...
davidaustin avatar
Panda Bear
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fill a bowl of hot soapy water before you start cooking to make the constant washing of hands, utensils etc. easier.

hamletstwin avatar
Hamlets twin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you are preparing everything before cooking just start with the ingredients you don't have to worry about. Start with fruit and veggies, go to herbs, then your meat(s). You want to cut fresh herbs as late in the game as you can as they oxidize fairly quickly.

gladyshayessoutherland avatar
Gladys Hayes Southerland
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Veggies won't make you sick. Raw meats will. Do your veggie preps first, then your raw meats. Don't prep raw meats near foods that won't be cooked before serving. That's what they mean by separating.

anti-nazifreedom-fighter avatar
Anti-Nazi Freedom-Fighter
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Have one cutting board strictly for meat & one for vegetables. And don't take chances, wash them between uses, regardless of what you cut on them. That's the safe way to do it.

blkpumpkin avatar
Blk Pumpkin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have cutting boards specifically for red meat, another for chicken, another for fish. Veggies & fruit share. I also clean as I cook. No… not OCD. I have a sensitive tummy & no one will get sick, from food, on my watch.

chris1insight avatar
Chris Allan
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I stopped using wooden cutting boards when I was gifted a set of 4 plastic 18X12 inch cutting mats. Non-porous, easy to clean and easy to store. They're soft enough not to dull a sharp knife and sturdy enough that I've used them for nearly 2 years, and they still look great.

jandunn avatar
Jan Dunn
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or have a separate cutting board ect. for meats and cheeses.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#18

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen The best advice I've gotten was from Roberto Rodriguez's 10 minute Cooking School. (can find on YouTube). He recommends picking just 5 of your favorite dishes and learn to cook those 5 dishes really well. Just keep making them over and over until you can do them perfectly. Then always have those ingredients on hand and if you have someone over you can wow them with your amazing skills.

crowber , pexels Report

Add photo comments
POST
euphonium73 avatar
Appalachian Panda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is my MO exactly. I don't experiment in the kitchen all the time, but when I'm cooking for guests, it'll usually be one of my tried and true recipes, just to be on the safe side!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#19

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Get yourself a meat thermometer. They're hella cheap and it takes the guess work out of cooking meats to the correct temp.

CartoonDogOnJetpack , Kevin Lawver Report

Add photo comments
POST
miked_6 avatar
Mike D
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You can also get thermometers with a long cord on the probe, designed for the probe to be left in the food while it cooks, while the actual electronic part sits on your counter, or magnetizes to your oven. You can go even further, and get that style thermometer, but they also alert you when your food gets to temp, or ones that report directly to your phone, and even ones with a remote probe (no wire) that you just stick in your meat, toss the meat in the oven, and the probe reports directly to your smart device. Get on Amazon, there's some crazy stuff out there.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#20

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen The best and easiest improvements everyone can make are:

Season your food.
Let all meat rest after cooking.

These 2 alone will make a drastic difference.

shalashaska994 , Malidate Van Report

Add photo comments
POST
miked_6 avatar
Mike D
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

FRESH HERBS, I CANNOT SAY IT ENOUGH, FRESH HERBS. You would be shocked how much of a difference they make, how little it takes to make that difference, and how cheap they can be. I get mine pre-chopped, in a small container from the produce section of my local Dillon's/Kroger. It's about $5 for what looks like a small container, but it really goes a long way. Keep the container in the fridge, and they'll be fresh for up to a week, but they start to dry out after that. Good news is you can still use them dry if you forget about them, and they keep dry for several weeks.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#21

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Sharpen your knife. It’ll make a world of difference.

skele-zone , Los Muertos Crew Report

Add photo comments
POST
dengelson56 avatar
Dee Engelson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is actually a honing steel that should be used every time you use a knife. Keeps from having to sharpen (lose knife edge a little each time) very often. I have a set of knives that I've had for 30 years and have never had to have them sharpened. They are really good knives also, which helps.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#22

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Get a crock pot, or better yet a pressure cooker.

Seriously, a digital pressure cooker lets you do all those crock pot recipes in 1/10th of the time. You can basically make the most awesome stews in less time than it would take you to heat up the oven.

Edymnion , wikimedia Report

Add photo comments
POST
kirstin-peter avatar
Minath
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm too scared to get a pressure cooker, I've seen and heard too many disasters. I don't think my landlord would appreciate me embedding a pressure cooker lid in my kitchen ceiling.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#23

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen After years of being a professional chef, my main advice to anyone;

Cookings not about eating, its aboot sharing experiences. No matter how bad you goof it up, its still a good time. Just go for it, cook and eat anything. "Oh whats that weird looking thing!?" yeah, buy that. "Chicken feet for 0.40 a lb" guess we're googling chicken feet.

Put yourself outside those lasagne wednesday routine and you'll be impressing your friends in no time.

Have fun :)

anon , Maarten van den Heuvel Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#24

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Don't crowd your food. One of the major reasons restaurant meals turn out so well and taste so good is the larger pots, pans, cooking surfaces allow the food to saute, bake, broil, etc without steaming/stewing itself to death.

Anabeer , Brett Jordan Report

Add photo comments
POST
artturf avatar
XenoMurph
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't have the room or the pans generally. But I do have 3 frying pans (when I buy a new one I always keep the old ones even though they are not non-stick any more.) for browning meat and veg when making casseroles or soups. all 4 hobs are on and browning carrots onions ,celery, mushrooms, meat. Otherwise it takes too long. and/or they get crowded and never brown properly. Quicker to rinse 3 extra frying pans than wait 30 minutes for the veg to brown in so many small batches.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#25

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Work in a 5 star kitchen, get some olive oil in a pan and cook some garlic (a lot) and rosemary in the oil until its cooked to a point it will melt in your mouth. Strain the oil and you have a cooking oil that has an amazing flavor that will add to whatever you are cooking with it.

Mun0425 , Cassiano Barletta Report

Add photo comments
POST
duosdragon avatar
Mia Jones
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can’t believe this is the one that finally broke me to comment but nine hells, it’s so right but so dangerously vague. What op is going for is a garlic confit, but “cook it with rosemary in a pan”…. Jesus. Submerge peeled cloves of garlic in your preferred fat over LOW and CONSTANT heat. You can do this in a crockpot or a Dutch oven or a saucepan or a roasting pan in the oven. You want to test the cloves periodically until they’re soft enough to spread over toast. Strain the oil and then spread the rest over EVERYTHING YOU OWN. With a pinch of salt.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#26

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Follow recipes, but not to a T. Cooking is an art, not a science (baking, however, is a science). After your first recipe or two, stop measuring out 1/4 teaspoons of stuff, and start eyeballing it.

amos_burton , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Add photo comments
POST
jandunn avatar
Jan Dunn
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The only time I have ever used a recipe is for baking. Sometimes I scan a recipe to see what's in it if I'm not familiar.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#27

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen If your garlic tastes bitter, you're probably adding it too early. It can be easy to burn garlic - try adding it later next time.

Also, if your garlic has a bright green stem in the middle, take that s**t out. That part will ALWAYS be bitter.

exclamationmarks , Cats Coming Report

#28

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen * Buy more produce and meat, less prepackaged food

* If the ingredients list includes sugar, try to avoid buying it

* Always have on hand: garlic, onions, lemons, limes

* Remember to use plenty of salt, and if it still tastes flat, squeeze a little lemon or lime on there

OxidadoGuillermez , Lukas Report

Add photo comments
POST
artturf avatar
XenoMurph
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Miso is great for sauces, even western style gravies. And balsamic is a good tip for dark meats, rather than lemon.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#29

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Use fresh whole spices (not ground spices that's been sitting in your cupboard for years). I use a mortar and pestle to grind up the spices. Learn which spice needs toasting to release the flavor first before grinding. I love The Flavor Bible to see if there are combinations of flavors I have not tried before; it's helpful especially if you are new to cooking. It's by no means an exhaustive list but it's great and does include some exotic ingredients.

sweetkittyriot , Mareefe Report

Add photo comments
POST
cogadh avatar
cogadh
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Obligatory "ain't nobody got time for that!" If my sole job was cooking, sure I could dedicate the time and effort needed to maintain a supply herbs and spices to freshly toast, grind, whatever for all my cooking needs, but reality is people have jobs and lives and that jar of ground mustard is just easier and quicker. Only exception is nutmeg. Freshly ground nutmeg is so much better that the pre-ground stuff, it's worth the time to pull out the rasp and shave some off.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#30

30 Chefs Share Their Best-Kept Cooking Secrets To Help You Level Up In The Kitchen Always start with cold/room temp water when boiling pasta.

sundayfundaybmx , Klaus Nielsen Report

Note: this post originally had 50 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.