How much do you know about cooking? Can you poach the perfect egg? Could you craft a beautifully puffed soufflé? Or are you subsisting on more of a “cereal and frozen foods” diet?
Regardless of whether you came into this world holding a whisk or if you manage to burn your eggs every morning, unless you’re actually a professional, we could all stand to elevate our cooking skills. That’s why we’ve gone through some of the best tips chefs have shared on two Reddit threads of things amateurs keep doing wrong in the kitchen and the easiest ways to avoid common mistakes, so we can all impress our friends and family at our next dinner party. So tie on your aprons, preheat your ovens and take a bite out of this list of recommendations from the experts. Be sure to upvote your favorite culinary pointers, and then if you’re inspired to learn even more about cooking, check out Bored Panda’s last publication on the same topic right here.
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All that brown stuff on your pan after you brown some meat or veggies? Use it! That's called fond - it's f*****g amazing and will make your sauces have way more depth. You can easily get it off the bottom of the pan with a little wine, which is called "deglazing."
Everyone has a different relationship with cooking. Some view it as an artistic hobby or a way to connect with their heritage, while others see it as the bane of their existence. Learning how to cook can be a life-long journey for those who are passionate, but if you’re looking to just pick up the basics, you can start small and practice with the tips from this list. Even if being in the kitchen scares you and your fridge currently only holds takeout boxes, you have to admit that you enjoy eating delicious meals. So why not figure out how to make them yourself?
There are plenty of reasons to learn cooking basics, one of them being that safety is actually a concern in the kitchen. Boiling water, hot oil and sharp tools can lead to a host of injuries, so it’s important to understand exactly what you’re doing. It may seem like a no brainer, but learning how to properly use your knives (and knowing the purpose of each knife) can help you avoid turning a lovely dinner into a trip to the emergency room. It's actually safer to have freshly sharpened knives too, as you're more likely to cut yourself with a dull blade.
Sharpen your knives. It's easier and actually safer. You are more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife than a sharp one. Learn how to properly and safely use your knives, and what each knife is even used for. It's game changing
And don't put your good cutting knives in the dishwasher. That dulls the edge as well supposedly.
If I see one more person press down on a burger while it's on the grill, I'm flipping that grill over.
EDIT: To everyone saying "Smashburger", you know what kind of person I am talking about. The self-proclaimed BBQ grill king who loves to squish the burger and asks your temp but everyone gets a hockey puck. It happened this weekend and every single time, I want to flip their grill over.
EDIT 2: Since I'm getting criticism about the well done burger... changed "well done burger" to "hockey punk" to further emphasize my example.
There are various tips on this list about how to safely slice and dice your foods without losing a finger, but certain foods pose more risks than others. You're likely to be cautious when dicing an onion, but don't throw caution to the wind when you're making guacamole either. According to OSF HealthCare, avocado-related incidents send nearly 9,000 people to the hospital every year. This is because many of us hold the avocado in our palms when plunging the knife in to get the seed out.
I must admit, I’m guilty of this method of avocado cutting, and I did it almost every morning for years while in the throes of an avocado toast addiction… But Dr. Ramsey Ellis told OSF HealthCare that it’s much safer to set the avocado on a flat surface, like a cutting board, when going to remove the pit. She also notes that, “There are a variety of special tools on the market that are between three and five dollars that allow you to safely cut and then stab the pit of an avocado and remove it, and that can prevent a lot of injury.” Purchasing a specialty tool for this purpose may seem unnecessary, but it would definitely be less expensive (and traumatic) than a trip to the emergency room.
My pro chef and former chemist friend gave me an earful for putting my tomatoes in the fridge.
He explained how the cold temp. changes the chemical composition and makes them taste s**ttier.
I no longer put my tomatoes in the fridge and they are tastier.
If your dish is 'missing something' chances are it is acidity. Now this doesn't apply to everything but I think a lot of people just don't think to add some lemon juice to a sauce or a stew for example and it can make all the difference. I always keep some fresh lemons at home because lemon juice in a bottle is usually just a chemical product.
Hello, I am the chef at a 5 diamond hotel in San Francisco. The biggest thing to learn when just starting to cook, is mise en place. "Everything in its place." This is ultimately to get food timings correct and precise, and for safety and control reasons. The second biggest thing to learn in the kitchen is safety. I once had a cook with 25 years experience get complacent and splashed hot oil on his face. Now we call him twoface. Cooking is a creative release when done outside of a professional kitchen, so take your time and don't hurt yourself. The third biggest thing to learn, and I tell all my cooks this everyday, is taste, season, taste. Taste your food, season it, and taste it again. Most people (whether they believe it or not) have the same taste thresholds, so what tastes good for you will taste good for someone else. Last thing I can add if you want to improve your cooking, is to cook more! Cook everyday, because practice makes perfect. Eat. Eat everywhere and anything.
We tend to be worried about cuts and burns when cooking, but another common mishap that can lead to devastating effects is a kitchen fire. According to the National Fire Protection Agency, between 2014-2018, cooking incidents were the top cause of fires in American households. Most of them were small, limited to the toaster or oven and easily put out, but when they become unmanageable, these kitchen fires can turn fatal. Holidays are the most common times for these fires to happen, with Thanksgiving having 250% more than the average day in 2018, but even on a normal day, nearly 500 cooking fires are reported in the US. To stay safe in your kitchen, or backyard if you’re grilling, it’s important to always turn off equipment immediately when you’ve finished using it and use great caution when cooking with hot oil. Avoiding common cooking mistakes can help you eat more satisfying meals and even save your life.
Pastry Chef here. USE GODDAMN SCALES.
It's sO much easier and you won't lose count of how many cups of flour you've added
Plus measuring by volume with dry ingredients can be so inconsistent due to different scooping styles, a more aerated flour etc
Don't come running to me asking what happened with your baked goods when you've been measuring using cups
I know one mistake I used to make was to buy canned mushrooms and use those for recipes. The first time I used fresh mushrooms for something, I realized the dreadful error of my ways, and I haven't bought canned mushrooms since!
Always use fresh mushrooms, people!
I absolutely LOVE mushrooms, but canned are disgusting.
Load More Replies...Dried mushrooms are completely different from canned ones. Canned ones spend their life soaking in liquid, which changes their texture and flavor, not in a good way. Dried almost return to their original state, if you don't soak them too long. And they taste exactly how they're meant to. I grew up on canned veg (canned peas = 🤢). The only canned foods I use now are tomatoes whole/crushed, beans, and sometimes fruit (good to have on hand for kids). Fresh, frozen, or dried are the way to go. Plus, you get that umami liquid from soaking dried mushrooms!
Load More Replies...There is the price difference, though; and when you buy fresh mushrooms, they will have to be made use of very, very quickly. I have no problem with canned mushrooms - they bring a saltiness and a type of lightness even to the most basic 'spaghetti bolognese' dish, for instance. I love fresh mushrooms, but do not always even have access to them. Please be merciful, commentators.
Agreed. Fresh is good, but sometimes it's easier to have a few cans in stock as well.
Load More Replies...Can't say I've ever noticed canned mushrooms before but they sound disgusting.
My mam bought them once in the 60s and they are disgusting!
Load More Replies...Canned mushrooms, and canned veggies have their place, but they WILL not have the same flavour and texture as fresh. Choose the right flavour and texture for your dish.
Exactly, and the only place I really use canned is on pizza😁
Load More Replies...Canned mushrooms are a good place to find maggots. If there are "over 20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams of drained mushrooms" or "five or more maggots two millimeters or longer per 100 grams," the FDA will pay attention.
I maybe the only person alive that doesn't mind the taste or consistency of canned mushrooms.
The brand may be a factor. The ones I get are not rubbery or slimy as some of the commenters said. I mean, sure, fresh mushrooms tend to have more taste, but the cans I have in stock aren't that bad.
Load More Replies...Pretty sure that canned mushrooms are the reason I thought I hated mushrooms until I was 40
Except for pizza. You want the mushrooms you use on pizza or similar dishes to be marinated. Otherwise they dry out & are as flavorful as paper. That's a circumstance I prefer canned mushrooms over fresh if you don't have the time to marinate your own.
We only had canned growing up. That is just a Horrible thing to do to kids
Canned is perfectly fine in some things. I ALWAYS keep a can in the pantry just for fillers
I will give one exception to "always use fresh mushrooms." You can use dried shiitake and rehydrate them.
canned mushrooms are great! open the can - easy. throw them away - easy-peasy!
And please, if you're going to go the extra step to use fresh mushrooms, please God don't rinse them! "But Jack, that's gross! There's the dirt and" (cuts question off) Wipe them off, y'all. Just use a paper towel and wipe off the dirt. Might add 90 seconds to your day. Mushrooms are tiny sponges, so make sure they're soaking up your sauce instead of water.
Use fresh everything, if possible. Even seasonings, if you can get them.
.... and if y ou want mushrooms to taste even more MUSHROOM! - add a bit of dark soy sauce (not the salty sugar water kind) to the pan / sauce, and you will be amazed...
Always use fresh is true for most vegetables. However, where I live the canned mushrooms are not a bad substitute for the fresh ones so if I can't get fresh I don't mind opening one of my cans instead.
for some recipes I used fresh mushrooms... but for soups and sauces I LOOOOOVE to usi dryed mushrooms- we actrually going to forrest to collecting them and then cut them and dry them (or boild and freeze them but I preffer the dryed ones)....
How is this a 'pro' idea? What kind of apathetic dullard thinks tinned vegetables are ever going to hold 1/10th of the flavour or healthiness of fresh?
Never used anything but fresh mushrooms until I was almost 40. Not even frozen. There's no comparison, that's one thing where I will not take the more "practical" approach.
I can eat mushrooms anyway they come. I love the can ones. And I love fresh. Both are must have for me
Also, don't wash fresh mushrooms - they soak up the water and become soggy xcx
Disagree-- when product consistency is your goal, you need to keep it consistent--- so for sauces, I stay to canned-- dried are good too, especially for ones hard to find in local markets
I can't stand mushrooms (they trigger my texture issues) but I'm having a tea party/bbq and some of my friends are vegetarian so I'm gonna get mushrooms to grill on skewers instead of chicken and beef but i don't know anything about them. Anyone have any other tips beside not canned.
When you want a rubbery bit of rubber in your dish, there is no replacement for canned mushrooms.
I always keep a can or jar in the pantry. Often have to toss them when they get too old. (Which is a long time!) Fresh is best but once in a great while life is too crazy and chaotic and I do not have fresh mushrooms!
Yeah, canned ones don't taste and feel much like mushrooms, except for straw mushrooms. Those are great.
In my area, sometimes canned mushrooms are cheaper than fresh. If I HAVE to use canned, I drain, save 1 - 2 tablespoons of liquid (if low/no sodium) then rinse, toss them into my food processor to blend, add in the saved tablespoons. I can portion them out in ice cube trays and freeze to add to food later as a puree. It's not the best solution by far, but if you're in a pinch, it works. Can thaw and add to meat, sauces, etc.
Canned mushrooms are a different ingredient. Just like fresh vs. canned tomatoes, or pineapple, or... Anything really.
Aside from keeping you safe, improving your culinary skills can turn into a fun hobby. If you’re stuck in a rut making the same meals over and over again, as many of us are, branching out and trying a new recipe can be something to look forward to. Expanding your palette can also be exciting, as you may not be as familiar with the cuisines of other cultures. Do you know how to make authentic Mexican chilaquiles? Have you ever prepared Pad Thai from scratch? The more adventurous you become in the kitchen, the more likely you are to want to keep experimenting. One tip many chefs share is to learn techniques first, and then you’ll be well equipped to prepare any recipe. So to master some of the culinary basics, we consulted Oxo’s list of Basics of Home Cooking 101: 12 Skills and Techniques for Beginners.
Keep your fingertips behind your knuckles, your knife in front of your knuckles, and keep your blade on the cutting board. Your fingers will thank you.
Plus cut slowly until your skill at cutting everything BUT your fingers improves.
Not a pro, but wash your damn rice! It's easy and it makes the rice so much better.
Any spices you have, do not store them in sunlight or over top of your goddamn stove. Heat and moisture are bad to just about anything. This kills the flavour.
Try grinding your own from scratch. I make up small batches for biscuits or for my curries.
Basic knife skills are expected for any chef to know like the back of their hand, but they’re great for amateurs to understand as well so we can properly follow a recipe. When the instructions use lingo like “chiffonade”, don’t run away out of fear. Simply memorize what these terms mean (or Google them every time, we don’t judge!), so you can confidently prepare your meals without any added stress. Slicing calls for thin, flat pieces, while dicing requires small squares that resemble dice. Mincing is cutting foods even smaller than diced pieces, think minced garlic, and chopping is for larger chunks of foods like potatoes and carrots in a stew. Julienned vegetables are in long, thin strips, and to chiffonade is to “finely cut herbs or leafy vegetables”.
Read the whole recipe before you touch anything including the directions. Then get all the ingredients together and measured before anything touches heat. Chop vegetables slice meat mix spices. Cooking is so much easier when you do the prep first and then just worry about what's in the pan when the heat is on. What do you think the kitchen does all afternoon between lunch and dinner service, get things together so the actual cooking is way faster and easier.
When baking - make sure your butter and eggs are all room temperature.
I think this should be clarified to say baking cakes. Pastry should always use chilled ingredients
After you are done working with garlic, rub your hands along your stainless steel sink vigorously. This will remove to odour for the most part. Finish by washing hands you filthy animal.
Call me a barbaric if you want but I love smelling garlic on my fingers even after I thoroughly washed my hands after cooking! It means good and hard work done! ;-)
While you’re at it memorizing cooking jargon, you might want to learn some terminology for your stovetop too. To sear something is to quickly brown the outside of a piece of meat on a high-temperature pan to keep the juices sealed in. Sautéing involves cooking food in a little bit of fat, like oil or butter, on high heat and moving it around the pan frequently. A stir-fry requires a little more fat than a sauté and is done at an even higher temperature. Then we have steaming, which is pretty self-explanatory, as it calls for placing a basket or colander over boiling water to allow only the steam to cook the veggies or seafood.
The vast majority of people think that the terms "icing" and "frosting" are interchangeable. This is not the case. Icing is made with sugar and liquid and is generally (there are a few exceptions, such as fondant) pour-able. Think pound cake and donuts. Frosting is made with sugar and fat, such as butter or shortening, and is generally fluffy and spreadable. Varieties of frosting include buttercream and cream cheese.
The words are used in different ways in different English speaking countries. Over here, 'icing' is the correct term for both, and 'frosting' is the word Americans use.
Reuse the boiled water from a pasta pot. That starchy salty s**t is amazing as a sauce base, or a great sub for any other water needed in the recipe.
Dip out or catch a couple of cups of this water. Put a little bit of the water and the pasta back in the pot. Put some of the sauce on the pasta and heat it, adding this boiled starchy water to thicken. This will imbue the pasta with the sauce flavor.
Lisa Milbrand notes in her list of cooking tips on Oxo that knowing how to properly roast meats and vegetables can be a game changer in the kitchen as well. Roasting can be one of the easiest ways to prepare food, as you get some time to relax once it’s in the oven, and it can provide mouth watering results with the right combinations of oil and spices. Every food will have a slightly different cooking time, as root vegetables take much longer than asparagus for example, but Lisa reassures readers that, “No matter what vegetable you’re roasting, you’ll be able to tell when it’s ready by sticking a knife into the center of a piece. If the knife goes in easily and the edges of the vegetable are a nice golden brown, it’s done.” Personally, I think some nicely roasted and heavily sesasoned cauliflower and sweet potatoes have to be among the most delicious foods in the world.
Not drying your meat before you sear it.*
*Not a professional chef, but this advice is so basic, and so rarely followed, that it bears repeating.
Over sauteed garlic... Don't need to brown it, a minute in the pan with the onions is enough.
Buy a Microplane, it makes the veggies and accent cheeses that you grate both look and feel better. Smaller pieces have less of a focus on texture and more of a focus on flavour. I.E - Grana Padano being grated onto a Caesar salad, or lemon grated into a lemon in salad dressing.
Grains and pasta are also essentials to master when elevating your cooking game. They can be super simple, as the basic idea is boiling them in water, but a few tricks can go a long way. First, remember to rinse your grains like rice and quinoa before cooking them to remove excess starch and ensure they don’t turn too mushy. Always remember to add plenty of salt when boiling grains or pasta as well, and don’t try to squeeze anything into a pot that’s too small. You can also save a cup of your pasta water to use later in your sauce, as it will be full of salt and starch that will add the perfect touch to your final dish.
I would add when your baking follow the recipe exactly. When it says 1 teaspoon, it means 1 teaspoon. Not "ah that looks like a teaspoon." Baking requires exact prep work otherwise your finished product won't be right.
Tossing pizza dough makes it extremely flat on the bottom and typically too much crust. Simply hold it with two hands like a wheel and rotate it :) Enjoy
Put a damp napkin or towel underneath your cutting board to keep it stable. You can wail on whatever you want however hard you want with the peace of mind that your cutting board won't go flying off the counter along with your food and *sharp knife
Lastly, Lisa mentions that stocking your kitchen properly can make a huge difference when you’re cooking as well. The most important knives to have are a chef’s knife, a serrated bread knife and a paring knife, but you don’t need much else for everyday purposes. Be sure you’ve got some decent containers for storing leftovers too, with a variety of sizes, so you can keep your food fresh and safely preserved. Then when it comes to cleaning supplies, do a bit of research on what is appropriate for the specific pans and dishes you own. Depending on the material, certain cleaners and brushes can do more harm than good, and not everything should be tossed in the dishwasher.
The veggies in your sauces and stuff- cook that s**t first. Do not add raw onions to already simmering tomato sauce and expect it to taste good. Also, huge amounts of random spices make food taste bad. Learn what they are and where to use them.
This isn't really a helpful tip. They're basically saying to be a better cook learn more about cooking.
Make sure you have good ingredients. That box of baking soda from 5 years ago is not going to work that well anymore.
Don't cook meat straight out of the refrigerator. It cooks better and tastes better when it starts at room temperature, actually.
And when finished cooking, wrap it up in tinfoil and let it rest for 10 minutes, if necessary in a warming oven set between 50°C and 70°C depending on the type of meat.
While this list may seem overwhelming if you're a novice in the kitchen, even remembering a few of these skills and tips can go a long way. Cooking should be enjoyable and pleasurable, so don't stress yourself out. But I hope this helps you avoid some common errors in the future and inspires you to experiment with a new recipe instead of grabbing your usual takeout this weekend. Enjoy reading the rest of these pointers, and remember to upvote your favorite responses. Then let us know if you have any helpful tips you'd like to share with your fellow pandas in the comments down below. Bon appétit!
Beware of the densities of different types of salt, e.g. table salt is much denser than kosher salt because of how the grains pack together. It's easy to make something way too salty by not accounting for this.
Don't just dump a load of salt and pepper into the mix at the last minute.
Season every single thing, the veg, the meat, the sauce. and if you're unsure of how much to use. just keep adding in small pinches and taste it.
Just being impatient in general.
Not waiting for pans to heat up,water to boil or preheating ovens.
Cutting into things to check if they are cooked after 5mins in the oven. You want to know if your roast is cooked? Get a meat thermometer. Seriously they cost less than $10
Thats my other big peeze... using the wrong equipment for the job. You dont dice chicken with a steak knife. You dont slice tomatoes with a steak knife. Steak knives are for cutting steaks on your plate. thats it. A fork is not a whisk, its a fork. A coffee cup is not a measuring cup. It may be 250ml but dont assume it. Dont drain your pot of pasta by tipping it into the sink holding the wooden spoon over the lip and try to stop pasta falling out. Just use a fricken colander.
Maybe some people don't have the means to buy proper equipment and try their best with what they have. I've often cooked without having the right equipment and everything has turned out lovely. I worked in a small community kitchen for years and if someone was using something I needed then I improvised, fork as a whisk for scrambled eggs no problem, as long as the knife is sharp, ill cut whatever with it, Cant find the colander then gimme the big lid lol. Now big difference when baking then give me all the proper equipment lol
Note: this post originally had 63 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
"s**t, f*****g, goddamn..." these little cooks watched one Gordon Ramsay episode too many. Simmer down... you are just cooks, not brain surgeons.
TIL: If you give someone advice, you absolutely need to use "goddamn".
You've never worked in a kitchen before have you? Most chefs are raging alcoholics and every other word they say is a curse word
Load More Replies...Food Scientist here, DO NOT keep bread in your fridge. Store bread at room temp or freeze it. The starch molecules will crystalize and recrystallize over and over again and ruin the texture. Your fridge is not designed to maintain a perfectly accurate temperature. It cycles up and down across the 35F mark. That's really bad for bread.
This post actually makes me want to keep making mistakes just to p**s these chefs off even more.
That's one thing always left off these lists, know where to spend your money. A fancy expensive wood cutting board is for presentation, not cutting. You don't need it. A colander from dollar general works just fine. The knives my chef's use daily at my old job are $20, and $30. $5 sharpener to keep them in good shape. High end knives were locked up and only came out for events to look pretty Infront of customers/guests. But affordable when learning. It's better to buy cheaper stuff and learn to properly use and care for it then spend truck loads on expensive stuff that needs MORE care and just gets ruined.
Load More Replies...Cursing has been shown to help folks cope with pain maybe something to do with that? My sister’s ex is a chef and also quite foul mouthed and angry.
Load More Replies...You don't have to cuss to try and sound cool. Been doing this 40p plus years and believe me I can out cuss you. impress me with your knowledge and skill, and how you treat your staff
not even gonna read them all...first three or four put me off the bus. tell you what super-chefs... don't tell me how to do my "job"...and i won't say y'all are a bunch of flaming assholes. never had any complaints about any of my food units...and i did it all without a hoity-toity culinary school or a fully equipped 5 star kitchen.
Stop berating common mistakes like this. It's not exactly all common sense, it's stuff people need to learn, and for stars sake, you can teach people without being rude! This is why people give up. This is why people continue to make those mistakes. You can be stern, but don't be rude and insult them like you're Gordon Ramsey in Hell's Kitchen telling them the chicken is so f*****g raw, you can still hear it clucking. Patience is a virtue!
I would recommend trying out different spice blends to find what you or your household likes. There are a lot of spice blend recipes online that help with the cooking. I like making garam masala blend, Montreal chicken blend, ginger stir fry blend, Italian blend, spicy blend, and roasted garlic and onion blend. That way you have a spice jar on hand to use depending on your mood and the dish and u don't need to dig out all the different sized teaspoons and tablespoons for your recipes.
Chop expensive ingredients like meat or mushrooms small. We often judge if we've had enough by numbers, not volume. So if you chop things small, people will think that they are getting more than they are getting if you chop the same amount but in larger chunks. If you serve someone one chicken breast the will be disappointed, but if you chop the same chicken breast into small pieces in a curry or stew, they will rarely eat a whole chicken's breast worth of meat but still be satisfied with the amount of meat they think they've had.
Hey, guess what? People can "cook" how they want to. There is enough unsolicited advice in the world.
I'm not really sure why there is such a thing as a "serrated bread knife". Those things make a mess and leave crumbs everywhere. A good sharp cleaver will go right through the bread without these problems.
"s**t, f*****g, goddamn..." these little cooks watched one Gordon Ramsay episode too many. Simmer down... you are just cooks, not brain surgeons.
TIL: If you give someone advice, you absolutely need to use "goddamn".
You've never worked in a kitchen before have you? Most chefs are raging alcoholics and every other word they say is a curse word
Load More Replies...Food Scientist here, DO NOT keep bread in your fridge. Store bread at room temp or freeze it. The starch molecules will crystalize and recrystallize over and over again and ruin the texture. Your fridge is not designed to maintain a perfectly accurate temperature. It cycles up and down across the 35F mark. That's really bad for bread.
This post actually makes me want to keep making mistakes just to p**s these chefs off even more.
That's one thing always left off these lists, know where to spend your money. A fancy expensive wood cutting board is for presentation, not cutting. You don't need it. A colander from dollar general works just fine. The knives my chef's use daily at my old job are $20, and $30. $5 sharpener to keep them in good shape. High end knives were locked up and only came out for events to look pretty Infront of customers/guests. But affordable when learning. It's better to buy cheaper stuff and learn to properly use and care for it then spend truck loads on expensive stuff that needs MORE care and just gets ruined.
Load More Replies...Cursing has been shown to help folks cope with pain maybe something to do with that? My sister’s ex is a chef and also quite foul mouthed and angry.
Load More Replies...You don't have to cuss to try and sound cool. Been doing this 40p plus years and believe me I can out cuss you. impress me with your knowledge and skill, and how you treat your staff
not even gonna read them all...first three or four put me off the bus. tell you what super-chefs... don't tell me how to do my "job"...and i won't say y'all are a bunch of flaming assholes. never had any complaints about any of my food units...and i did it all without a hoity-toity culinary school or a fully equipped 5 star kitchen.
Stop berating common mistakes like this. It's not exactly all common sense, it's stuff people need to learn, and for stars sake, you can teach people without being rude! This is why people give up. This is why people continue to make those mistakes. You can be stern, but don't be rude and insult them like you're Gordon Ramsey in Hell's Kitchen telling them the chicken is so f*****g raw, you can still hear it clucking. Patience is a virtue!
I would recommend trying out different spice blends to find what you or your household likes. There are a lot of spice blend recipes online that help with the cooking. I like making garam masala blend, Montreal chicken blend, ginger stir fry blend, Italian blend, spicy blend, and roasted garlic and onion blend. That way you have a spice jar on hand to use depending on your mood and the dish and u don't need to dig out all the different sized teaspoons and tablespoons for your recipes.
Chop expensive ingredients like meat or mushrooms small. We often judge if we've had enough by numbers, not volume. So if you chop things small, people will think that they are getting more than they are getting if you chop the same amount but in larger chunks. If you serve someone one chicken breast the will be disappointed, but if you chop the same chicken breast into small pieces in a curry or stew, they will rarely eat a whole chicken's breast worth of meat but still be satisfied with the amount of meat they think they've had.
Hey, guess what? People can "cook" how they want to. There is enough unsolicited advice in the world.
I'm not really sure why there is such a thing as a "serrated bread knife". Those things make a mess and leave crumbs everywhere. A good sharp cleaver will go right through the bread without these problems.