People often talk about the best cooking practices but sometimes, the tastiest dishes on the tables come from the most creative kitchens.
So, interested in switching things up, Redditor u/Suspicious-Account-9 asked other platform users, "What is one cooking 'rule' that you choose to always ignore?"
From measuring spices to crowding the pan, turns out, many home chefs have developed their own ways of going about the stove.
However, I think it's worth mentioning that this thread isn't meant to teach anyone as much as it serves as a reminder to never stop questioning what and how you are preparing. Experimentation is part of the game and what works for others won't automatically fit your taste buds as well.
With that said, continue scrolling to check out the most popular replies to u/Suspicious-Account-9's question!
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I make the food how I like it rather than how it's "supposed to be made". I also don't care how another person eats food. If my pal is over and wants a steak charred to a crisp, then enjoy that brick, my friend. Want to slather it in ketchup? Who am I to tell you no? Eat food how you like it rather than how others tell you to eat it.
Yes, I agree, but sometimes I'd like to be the one to introduce someone to a whole new flavor experience that they may not realize the potential of LOVING it because they may *think* they wouldn't like it. That's the frustrating part about people with picky eating habits, they just might not realize it could be their new favorite!
Measuring basically anything not associated with baking. I juust keep seasoning until the spirit of my great grandmother says "Enough, child."
Made a successful career of it!
I eat raw cookie dough, cake batter, etc., because while I understand that salmonella is a risk, it's a pretty small one and I am willing to live dangerously when cookie dough is involved.
‘Soften onions for five minutes’ man they always need longer if u want them browned and soft- also add garlic much later than they suggest.
Unsalted butter for baking. I’m not buying 2 different kinds of butter, salted in everything
Not really a rule, but almost every damn recipe that calls for caramelizing onions lists the time necessary to perform that at like 5-10 min. Either these people don’t know what caramelizing means or they’re intentionally lying to people to make the recipe seem like it takes less time than it actually does.
When I want caramelized onions, I set aside at least 45 minutes. I want them mostly tender with crispy browned bits.
I don't throw pasta at a wall to see if it sticks. Seems like a waste to me. I just eat it to see of its ready.
I've done this once to test if it works. It does. It also makes a mess. Agree with op, you want to know if it's "bite-ready"? Guess what I'm gonna say now 😁
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I suspect someone started that as a joke, and, well, some people are gullible.
My French grandfather tossed a noodle at the wall before dinner. My Italian aunt lost her mind. My Korean lost my s**t XD
Cooking for a fair sized group, the older folks kept telling me that I had to test the spaghetti by doing this.
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I dont throw it at walls... I throw it at my kids and see if they like it
Cut in half,, if there is a white dot it's still al dente. If it's yellow all the way, it's COOKED. STOP immediately or it will turn to mush
YES!! I like my pasta SUPER chewy. It's a balance.
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You’re actually supposed to do that with underwear, to see if it needs to be changed.
I can tell when my pasta is ready the way I like it when I stir it, I don't even have to try it.
If you don't want to eat it, another way to test is to break it and look at the inside. It's easy to do with spaghetti, it'll "pop" when you pull it apart. You can see how much of the center is still not fully cooked.
Americans overcook their pasta. Which leads to gas and bloating because humans can't really digest it in that state meaning we don't actually get nutritional value from it. Going al'dente (toothsome/ slightly undercooked) prevents that issue
When my kids were little I used to do that because they thought it was funny. One time I threw a piece of spaghetti on the ceiling. It stayed up there for years!!
Taste it. Don’t be silly because you saw that on tv or an idiot influencer do that. 2. Trow food at wall? Why not sauce or hot oil?
Or you can just take a bite and then look at it. The uncooked part is a different shade. Some pasta I can tell by touch, others I have to bite a small piece off.
I learned the trick that I have used for macaroni spaghetti any kind of pasta boil the water throw it in bring it back to a boil turn your burner off keep it covered for 10-15 minutes and voila El Dente pasta
There's a little problem with this: Different pastas need different times 1. Alkaline noodles want only about 1 minute 50 sec of cooking 2. Tortellini want something like 4 minutes 3. Penne probably wants more than 10 minutes. I think this might l - I mean _might_ - work for some thicker rice vermicelli
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When I first moved into my first apartment I did that just to see if it would work and also because I could. It...stayed there for two years.
There actually was a TV commercial (pasta or sauce don't remember) over here, where that was a thing.
"one clove of garlic"
I defrost my chicken on the counter instead of the fridge, 30 years I've been doing this, still fine
I don't leave my scrambled eggs wet. I mean, I don't cook them until they are rubber or anything, but I want them dry not wet.
spices that are "old". Not so much regular spices, but some blends I had acquired. When I feel they aren't as fresh, rather than throw them away I use them as additives to a salad dressing.
Upvote this to the max! What rubbish that spices need to be discarded after 6 months. I’ve got some big spice containers that are years old. Yeah, maybe I have to use 2 tablespoons instead of 1 - but no way am I going to waste the product or the packaging. No loss of flavor in my dishes.
I rinse mushrooms. That whole "wipe them gently with a paper towel" bulls**t is bulls**t. Take 2-3 mushrooms, hold them under lukewarm running water and roll them around between your hands, then set them on a rack to drain off any water. They scrub themselves.
It depends. If you use them right after washing, it's okay. But if you plan to store them for a few days, don't wash just before the use, otherwise will go bad in one day. Although the most commonly used mushrooms, champignons doesn't really need to be washed. And of course, there is an exception:chanterelle. They always has to be washed, because sand is edible, but not really tasty, and they are growing on sandy ground.
1 garlic clove means one head of garlic! Don't tell me how to garlic!
I always double the spices when using a recipe. They don’t know me!
That whole “how to properly cut an onion” business. I get that in a restaurant kitchen it minimizes waste but I’m just gonna lop off both ends and remove like 1 layer.
Minced garlic (the stuff in jars) is NOT blasphemy! It's handy and tasty when used properly.
Lots of great take-out places use minced garlic in their dishes, so if you're trying to recreate a favourite dish, it could be the secret ingredient you're missing.
I still use fresh garlic often, but I've gotten off my high horse about the other stuff.
Beer/wine pairings. I know them, I understand them and I get it. However, at home, I believe that regardless of what the world says, to me, the very best beer/wine to go with meal X is whatever my personal favorite beer/wine happens to be. Does this drink "go" with this meal? Who cares? It's my favorite, of course, it does!!!
Cooking with olive oil.
I really don't see the point. It cost a lot more and it has such a low smoke point, it's way too easy to burn your oil and then everything tastes weird.
I use vegetable oil for cooking. I keep a bottle of very nice olive oil to drizzle on top of things to finish them after they are cooked or to make the marinade, but i don't cook with it.
Why do I ALWAYS have to write this one down. Olive oil comes in three types. Refined for frying, Refined and Virgin (and the extra virgin variant marketing thing). Refined olive oil has one of the highest smoking points because the pulp that'd give it taste and lower the smoking point is not in it. That also means it's taste neutral.
Not mine, but my wife's…
Adding salt to a finished plated dish without tasting it first. Cringe every time.
In some countries, like Japan, it's considered bad manners to put anything on your food without tasting it first. It means you don't trust the chef.
Still flabbers my gasts that people rinse off the chicken.
Steak must be undercooked, so says all the hype…. I will eat mine how I like. Sometimes pink in the middle, sometimes cooked right through but never raw/rare.
Frozen pizza:
Preheat the oven...
If I'm eating frozen pizza it's because I'm too busy/lazy to eat real food that evening.
Turn on the oven, unwrap the pizza, "OK google set timer for (recommended time +4 minutes)"
Whenever I made frozen pizza directly from freezer to oven, the middle was still cold and outside would get burnt. Now I defrost it in the fridge and once it is soft in the middle, off it goes. Never failed me! (Dr. Oetker pizzas are delicious.)
I know risotto looks better when made with white wine but try a mushroom risotto with red wine and elevate it to something richer and more satisfying
I never bother to sift flour. I haven’t had a sifter in over 40 years.
“Add a 1/8 teaspoon.” I’m sorry but a 1/8 tsp isn’t going to do anything.
Use grams for pete's sake. It's so much easier than parts of teaspoons of the content of an 18th century midwife's snuffbox.
Searing meat when I make pot roast in an instant pot/crockpot.
I have done it and not done it enough times and it’s not a noticeable enough flavor for me to bother with anymore. I’m content with how it tastes.
Searing colours/caramelises the meat so the sauce ends up looking a nicer, darker brown. But if that is not an issue, don't bother
I never rinse canned beans
Note: this post originally had 79 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Title was terrible, almost all of these cooking tips were not "to be avoided at any cost" but ones that people feel are unnecessary and are free to ignore.
Simple tip: Cook with your nose. Use your sense of smell to guide you. (In baking, use a recipe and experiment *carefully*, but again, your nose knows!)
Nope. I have almost no sense of smell. If I cook to smell, I can't even eat it.
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There are so many repeating tooics in this list. BP should edit them all together.
The only tip I have a problem with is cooking with "vegetable oil" while treating olive oil as a condiment. What is even meant by vegetable oil? There are literally dozens of plant based culinary oils that could be used instead of olive oil as could animal products like butter, ghee, and lard. They all have different tastes and properties, but none of them are directly comparable to olive oil. Also, although olive oil has a relatively low smoke point, most foods taste better when cooked low and slow. Furthermore, most residential ranges don't produce enough BTUs for extremely high temps anyway so there is no reason to reject olive oil based on it's supposed low smoke point. I think there are two reasons that olive oil has a reputation for scorching. One is not using enough oil. If your food isn't well enough coated with oil, the drier parts will burn before the food is evenly cooked. The other is adding garlic at the same time as onions. Garlic will scorch way before the onions are soft.
Time to start a fight! Charcoal BBQs. I have an electric hot plate and I can’t taste the difference when I cook food for a BBQ. I understand if you are adding wood chips for flavour but mines instant, easier to control the heat and easier to clean. I prefer my burgers cooked, not engulfed in uncontrollable fire.
I've never noticed any flavor difference with wood chips. I like charcoal though cause you've got nothing to do but drink beer until the coals are hot enough.
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would have been nice to know what the ignored 'rules' are. All I see are pictures that don't represent any rules to me. For example is the 'rule' don't pour white wine beside your food?
So, according to title, preheating oven before putting frozen pizza in it, is "bad cooking tip". Aha.
I don't know if this was on there (I clocked out around number 40, this list is massive), but I hate the trend of adding pasta water to your sauce. Over on BF, when I said I tried this and found it made absolutely no difference, someone even told me "just make your sauce thicker than you want it and then add pasta water". WHY. Why would I make my sauce wrong just to have to correct it in some half-assed way?
I do that solely when the pasta will be finished IN the dish and the sauce is too thin so the starch will help thicken it.
Load More Replies... Title was terrible, almost all of these cooking tips were not "to be avoided at any cost" but ones that people feel are unnecessary and are free to ignore.
Simple tip: Cook with your nose. Use your sense of smell to guide you. (In baking, use a recipe and experiment *carefully*, but again, your nose knows!)
Nope. I have almost no sense of smell. If I cook to smell, I can't even eat it.
Load More Replies... There are so many repeating tooics in this list. BP should edit them all together.
The only tip I have a problem with is cooking with "vegetable oil" while treating olive oil as a condiment. What is even meant by vegetable oil? There are literally dozens of plant based culinary oils that could be used instead of olive oil as could animal products like butter, ghee, and lard. They all have different tastes and properties, but none of them are directly comparable to olive oil. Also, although olive oil has a relatively low smoke point, most foods taste better when cooked low and slow. Furthermore, most residential ranges don't produce enough BTUs for extremely high temps anyway so there is no reason to reject olive oil based on it's supposed low smoke point. I think there are two reasons that olive oil has a reputation for scorching. One is not using enough oil. If your food isn't well enough coated with oil, the drier parts will burn before the food is evenly cooked. The other is adding garlic at the same time as onions. Garlic will scorch way before the onions are soft.
Time to start a fight! Charcoal BBQs. I have an electric hot plate and I can’t taste the difference when I cook food for a BBQ. I understand if you are adding wood chips for flavour but mines instant, easier to control the heat and easier to clean. I prefer my burgers cooked, not engulfed in uncontrollable fire.
I've never noticed any flavor difference with wood chips. I like charcoal though cause you've got nothing to do but drink beer until the coals are hot enough.
Load More Replies... would have been nice to know what the ignored 'rules' are. All I see are pictures that don't represent any rules to me. For example is the 'rule' don't pour white wine beside your food?
So, according to title, preheating oven before putting frozen pizza in it, is "bad cooking tip". Aha.
I don't know if this was on there (I clocked out around number 40, this list is massive), but I hate the trend of adding pasta water to your sauce. Over on BF, when I said I tried this and found it made absolutely no difference, someone even told me "just make your sauce thicker than you want it and then add pasta water". WHY. Why would I make my sauce wrong just to have to correct it in some half-assed way?
I do that solely when the pasta will be finished IN the dish and the sauce is too thin so the starch will help thicken it.
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