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Eating is loads of fun, but in order to do that, you’ve got to get off the couch and cook (let’s pretend that ordering pizza isn’t an option). The good news is that cooking can be incredibly enjoyable and it will put your creativity and dexterity to the test. The bad news is, watching Gordon Ramsay shout at amateur cooks for the 100th time on YouTube won’t make you a brilliant chef if you don’t hone your skills like a cuisine samurai.
Luckily, the internet is full of helpful professionals. These cooks are sharing some of their wisdom with amateurs and helping them avoid the most basic, common mistakes that some of us are guilty of. Personally, I overcrowd the pan. No wonder cooking’s harder than it should be.
Bored Panda has collected some of the best bits of cooking advice to improve your (and our) food making skills, so scroll on down and upvote your fave tips. Remember to share your own cooking advice in the comments, Pandas!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Clean as you cook. Most dishes have some downtime while cooking them, use that time to clean up the mess you made.
Ellen Ranks 5 years ago
I do this every time. It is such a joy to have a clear countertop to fill your plates on as opposed to having to move dirty stuff around to even be able to put a plate on there. My kitchen is very small.
Zella Haesche 5 years ago
I’m with you Ellen! I always clean up as I go..
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Wilf 5 years ago
Most annoying thing my wife doesn't do- clean as you cook. By the time she's finished making even a simple meal almost every single utensil in the house has been used. I once saw her make a sandwich and she used FIVE knives. One to cut the bread, one to butter it, one to cut the cheese, one to slice open the meat package and a final one to cut the whole sandwich in half. It drives me mad.
Not Proud British 5 years ago
I thought I was the only person in the world to do this. Now I realise I'm the only person in my family to do it.
Robert Robi Z 5 years ago
I do it. At the time the food is prepared to go into fridge (to be baked the next day) all the dishes are done. I call it 'removing all evidence of crime'
semelina pitrone 5 years ago
I'm fourteen and do this, while i know many adults who don't even cook, much less clean up after themselves!
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
Always have. I hate that feeling of dread when there are a million dishes to do instead of enjoying the meal.
RELATED:
#2
The most dangerous piece of equipment in a kitchen is a dull knife.
Steve Barnett 5 years ago
Get yourself a good whetstone. I use a dual whetstone, one side 2000 the other 6000. The 2000 side is used for when your knife is exceptionally dull and the 6000 (which is finer) I use for refining.
Everybody Say Love! 5 years ago
The misconception that a steel sharpens a blade annoys the heck out of me. Get a whetstone or good sharpener!
Bri Nicole 5 years ago
The two times I've had stitches because of a dull knife have proved this point to me 😆
Zulma Ruiz 5 years ago
my husband bought new stones, and sharpened all my kitchen knives, now I have dozens of small cuts all over my hand, I was already used to using them blunt, which still did her job.
Koalamonster 5 years ago
Knives can cut you either way- but the main issue with dull knives is the extra force that's used when cutting through harder items. So where you have small cuts now, the main concern is putting a lot of force on a dull knife and slipping and your hand taking all that force.
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#3
Taste as you cook. Continually adjust seasoning (salt level) as needed. Acidity is also a very overlooked aspect of seasoning. Tons of dishes light up with a little lemon juice or vinegar.
Nomadus Aureus 5 years ago (edited)
You don't need a fresh spoon every time. Try getting a small cup (like the one you serve ketchup into example), pour whatever you want to taste test into it and drink it from the cup.
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Cindy Goode 5 years ago
Just be sure not to use the same spoon you are cooking with for tasting! I have seen many people taste & then put the spoon back in the food-gross
Vonny Browne 5 years ago
Add a half a teaspoon sugar/one sweetener, into your Bolognese. I also like to add a nice Balsamic vinegar, a good dessertspoonful. Mind you it’s all about proportions, isn’t it.
Pamela24 5 years ago
My boyfriend keeps making this mistake. It drives me nuts - once he made an amazing risotto but put in a parmesan that was rancid. We had to throw it all away...but he still keeps doing it for some reason.
Night Owl 5 years ago
A good advice: check (smell etc) every ingredient if it's still good before using it in a meal
Load More Replies... Some people who are new to cooking might not realize that they can add salt to boiling pasta water instead of sprinkling it over it when it’s cooked. Pro-tip: this works with everything you boil. Rice—check. Broccoli—check. Buckwheat—check.
If you end up over-salting things, don’t worry—be happy (and add more water or decide that everything’s messed up and chuck a bucketload of potatoes and other veggies inside to make a really weird soup). Meanwhile, if you oversalt a soup or a sauce that you’re making, you can always chop up and add more ingredients to balance out the flavors.
#4
SLOW THE F**K DOWN! Just because you saw Gordon Ramsay chopping s**t at a thousand miles a minute on a youtube video doesn't mean that you can do that. Cut first, go slow, and speed will get there.
Roxy Eastland 5 years ago
Always let the knife bite before you press down - especially with onions
Doubleheader 5 years ago
Really properly learn how to use a knife! Always try to cut away from yourself, keep the blade away from your hand. Your non-dominant hand should curl up into the "claw" - this ensures that if the knife slips, it'll most likely hit your knuckles and do less damage to your hand.
Cybele Spanjaard 5 years ago
I prefer to cut veggies more slowly than chefs portray I value my fingers more
fuggnuggins 5 years ago
Do you use proper technique? Curl your fingers, so they are no where near the sharp edge. Gives you a flat surface (back of your fingers) that you can use as a guide for the blade. A little angle on the blade and you'll never cut towards yourself. No chance of cutting yourself then, and you'll have more confidence in a short time (days, maybe weeks, and building). Speed will come. In a kitchen you also have the advantage of competition - you don't want to seem like the slacker. If you're at home and don't need speed, then you don't need speed. But you should still learn proper technique for safety.
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Jillian Martin 5 years ago
Why do we have to do it with speed anyway? Speed won’t make the food taste any better.
fuggnuggins 5 years ago
Professional kitchens need speed. Home cooks generally wouldn't.
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Anne Mitchell 4 years ago
The comment would be just as valid without words that require asterisks. After all there are over 171,000 words in the English language.
Milord Cutter 5 years ago
Also, stop watching Gordon Ramsay. He's half as good as he thinks he is, he's a nasty bully and not even a little bit entertaining.
fuggnuggins 5 years ago
And those competitive cooking shows have been the bane of chefs. Now everyone thinks they're an expert, and too many people were already far too opinionated, demanding, entitled and drunk. And that attitude trains the most abhorrent chefs. I wouldn't be able to work with him without kicking him in the throat.
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Pastry cook here, on the sweet side of things, my biggest piece of advice is to follow the recipe exactly if you don't know exactly what you're doing. Baking is basically science and if you don't calculate substitutions right, it's never going to come out right. Also make sure you have good ingredients. That box of baking soda from 5 years ago is not going to work that well anymore.
Mimi777 5 years ago
I’m a horrible cook so I always have to follow the recipe exactly. I have no idea what I’m doing sometimes.
Marcellus the Third 5 years ago
Then paradoxically you may end up with better cakes than a confident (meat) cook: Pastry requires much more precise measures/times/temperatures than other stuff, you cannot do it a bit shorter on a bit hotter fire and expect similar outcomes. You can roughly divide cooks into "pastry" and "meat" cooks, going by measures (weight, volume, clock, temp) or by feel.
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Misterscooter 5 years ago
Make it at least once with the recipe before trying to experiment. How will you know what to try, otherwise? Although, I will read comments for online recipes for suggestions because those are people who have tried it.
Thomas Ewing 5 years ago
Never use budget substitutions, either. Use the right brands, not just the right ingredients.
Siv Øiesvold 5 years ago
That box of baking soda could be sprinkled on a rug, work it in a little and beat it out (don't vacuum, it ruins the motor) - works as a cleaning agent even if it is 5 years old.
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
When I try a dish for the first time, I always follow the recipe exactly. After that I have a pretty good sense of what it may need additionally, as well as what could be cut back or even eliminated. A curry dish I made once had WAY to much crushed red pepper flakes for my liking, so I knew better the next time.
Patti Renwick Parrish 5 years ago
Curious, How often should you replace your box of baking soda?
#6
Not a professional chef, but if you've put enough salt in your dish and feel that putting anymore would over-season it, but you still feel it's lacking in taste, add some sort of acid. Lemon juice/zest, lime juice/zest, balsamic/red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar - you'll be surprised at how much this lifts the dish! When I was getting interested in cooking, I would skip the acid completely because I honestly couldn't be bothered. I would always chuckle and joke at how much lemon/lime/vinegar chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Alton Brown put in their cooking. Then I tried it once. Now, every dish I make has some sort of acidity in it because it's just not the same without!
Daniel Marsh 5 years ago
Never thought of cooking with acid. The meatloaf tastes great, but it keeps staring at me.
Kirsten Kerkhof 5 years ago
And if, like me, you cannot stand the taste of lemon in your food, just ask for the cook to skip it. Don't be angry because the cook did their best to make it taste better for the vast majority of people.
Robert Robi Z 5 years ago
Hmmm... I tried making a chocolate cake, put some vinegar in it... no good
Cybele Spanjaard 5 years ago
Some add lemon to things that taste dreadful ...but experiment gently!
The Everygirl suggests that when chopping onions, you should keep the root intact to make all the slicing and dicing easier.
Personally, I chop off both ends of the onion and slice it in half to make it easier to peel. I usually end up crying because a) onions make me cry; and b) I realize that I’ve once again forgotten to chill my onions which prevents a) from happening in the first place.
#7
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***tier.
I no longer put my tomatoes in the fridge and they are tastier.
wandile dludlu 5 years ago
Some of us can't afford to buy fresh all the time, we sometimes need to buy in bulk and that means keeping things in the fridge to make them last longer and not go bad
Verena Gitterle 5 years ago
dont you have any other place than the fridge to store your veggies? Tomatoes dont go bad for a week or more.
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Petra Schaap 5 years ago
i buy tomatoes maybe once a week. the fresh ones I use in salads, and if they get reallty soft after a while I just use them for cooking. For me, fridge tomatoes are a waste of money.
Robert Howard 5 years ago
University of Florida actually did a study on this and determined there is no flavor degradation with refrigeration.
okpkpkp 5 years ago
They grow a ton of tomatoes in Florida so they should know. Also, they are scientists so that helps. All the fields around Sacramento (SacraTomato) that grew tomatoes are filled with zillions of houses now since the Campbell Soup Company closed their plant. No more tomato soup, at least from here. Oh, well.
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deanna woods 5 years ago
I did not know this about tomatoes. You learn something new everyday.
Marcellus the Third 5 years ago
Yes, they feel crumbly and taste cardboardy. Even more if you freeze & unfreeze them (where some vegetables are quite fine with that).
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Mandy Delaforce (PC Girl) 5 years ago
Everything goes in the fridge now. Tomatoes especially. Leaving them out, means rotten tomatoes tomorrow.
Ruth Gottesman 5 years ago
Kenji Lopez-Alt tested this out and said you can refrigerate tomatoes as long as they stand on the stem side. We've done that and the tomatoes stay better and taste fine
Saico Hipe 5 years ago
This is only true with vine-ripened tomatoes. For regular, crappy, store-bought ones, it does not matter, a d they will last considerably longer.
Dave P 5 years ago
Actually this depends on the species and variety of Tomato some are that way, most make no difference and some are better chilled. Depends on Tomato species. Most plum tomatoes for instance have no difference, Grape and Cherry Tomatoes usually improve when chilled (cherry tomatoes were created in the 70's with refrigeration in mind by cross breeding several specials of Tomatoes to create a long lasting Tomato that used much less water to grow than other Tomatoes. Very environmentally friendly
#8
One really common mistake people make is putting food on a cold pan. You should let the pan heat up a bit before you put anything on it.
Isabella 5 years ago
Lots of ppl do. And by "cold [an" they do not mean pan that you just grabbed from the shelf. Cold aka not pre-heated. For white meat, fish, veggies, steaks - pan should be scorching hot to the point it smokes. For meats that you will be braising a bit longer - pan still should be preheated - best way to tell is to drop ice cold water on the dry pan - if it immediately starts bouncing - it is preheated well : )
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Sander 5 years ago (edited)
Unless you cook bacon, or duck breast. Those should be placed (skin side down) in a cold pan and heated up slowly to render the fat. I do the same with salmon that has the skin still attached to it. Slowly cook the salmon from a cold pan with low-medium heat, skin side down. Wait until the color of the salmon is changed almost all the way, flip it for 30 second and your done. Serve skin side UP, as otherwise it will loose it's crispiness.
DDmaybeandor 5 years ago
I did not know this. Thanks! I'll be much better at cooking bacon now.
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Christine Zanfino 5 years ago
The only food I put in a cold pan is bacon. I found this helps the bacon not curl up and it seems to cook more evenly.
Mary Dixon 5 years ago
There are times I do not want to add any oil to a skillet when cooking some lean enough meat. If it goes in a cold pan, it has to render what fat there might be so it won't ruin it. Then flip to the uncooked side and sear it enough and flip it again later to keep the juices from coming out too much. Then the juices are still in the meat. This is the way I might do some things with a cold pan.
Chris Grose 4 years ago
Sauteeing a duck breast; score, season, flesh side down in cold pan. Always.
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
I remember Rachael Ray once saying the pan should be waiting for you, not you waiting for the pan.
Grey Balham 5 years ago
Except duck breasts. They should be put skin/fat side down in a cold pan, then brought up to heat. This will make sure they're rendered properly.
#9
Now, this one is a weird one, but everyone is guilty of it, even some professional chefs. Stirring. Everyone has been stirring stuff wrong for generations. If you have a large pot of something like stew, soup, or sauce, you probably stir in a circular motion, usually clockwise or counter-clockwise, right? Perhaps along the edge of the pot, or in a spiral, either going inward or outward?
Well, you're doing it wrong. When stirring, do in one of two manners: First, in small circles, working from the outside and going inward. Similar to how you might draw a cloud or petals on a flower. Or, stir in a figure-8 motion. This is especially useful if stirring in an oval or square-shaped container. Also, stir upwards. How? Angle your spoon so that basically, you're bringing the part of the food that's closest to the heat source, up to the surface, and vice versa. This allows for a quicker and more even heat distribution. Also helps to prevent burning.
What's In Your Head? 5 years ago
HA! I actually do this! I am a s****y cook, so I'm glad I've at least always done this right. :-D
K.Kobayashi 5 years ago
Yeah, obviously. If you just stir it around in a circle, you create a laminar flow which doesn't mix things up at all. You need to create turbulence.
Vonny Browne 5 years ago
I do this when using the microwave. Happy to know I’ve been doing it right. (Hellooooo)🤪
Vicki Perizzolo 5 years ago
I've been doing figure 8's in my jam for years - glad to hear I'm doing it right (the jam's always awesome too)
Meanwhile, Insider suggests that you keep a close eye on the shelf life of the ingredients you use for cooking. From produce to spices, you want everything to be as fresh as possible. Don’t use black pepper that expired 5 years ago just because you don’t want to put on your anti-corona gear and go to the shop. Fresh ingredients make all the difference (and a pandemic is no excuse to eat poorly)!
Oh, and if you want to feel like a Michelin star chef (and know what to avoid doing), check out Bored Panda’s earlier posts about quarantine baking fails here, as well as hilarious cooking fails here and here. Isn’t it great how skilled we suddenly feel?
#10
If the recipe says an ingredient is supposed to be room temperature, make sure it’s room temperature! Eggs are particularly important for this rule — room temperature egg yolks break more easily and incorporate better into whatever you’re mixing. And for something like cheesecake, or anything else with high fat content, cold eggs can actually harden the fat and make your mixture lumpy.
Pamela24 5 years ago
A hack - put your eggs in warm water for a couple of minutes in case you forgot and want to fasten up the process.
Nubmaeme 5 years ago
Long ago, my then-MIL did all the right things with her eggs to make a meringue - let them come to room temp, etc. Her meringue fell flat. I took eggs right out of the frig, whipped up a beautiful stiff meringue in no time. I didn't know it wasn't supposed to work with cold eggs but it did somehow. She never forgave me for that.
Christina Uhlir 5 years ago
I have a recipe for incredibly great tasting vegan cheesecake!!!! No cholesterol, no clogged arteries, healthy you, healthy planet, no pain, no suffering of caged hens.
Andrea Cwhc 5 years ago
As with the tomatoes, same goes for eggs, in the Caribbean, will go bad in the heat.
Kerstin Fransen 5 years ago
Wait, why would your egg not be room tepmerature? Are there people who put eggs in the fridge?
Honu 5 years ago
Here in the US, egg producers are required by law to wash the eggs. That removes their natural protective coating, so they have to go in the fridge.
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Rob Williams 5 years ago
You could just live outside of the USA where you don’t have to keep the eggs in the fridge...
#11
Pressing burgers to make them cook faster. Don't you ever do that again.
Also, sharpen your knives. It makes them safer and way less frustrating to use.
Seriously though don't you ever press that f***ing burger again you bastard.
Saint Thomas 5 years ago
You just drain the meat of its juices, and you end up with a dry burger.
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Olivia Agave 5 years ago
So many cooking and recipe thingies on youtube do the pressing burgers thing, probably why people do it.
jenjie.newt 5 years ago
Oh my gosh burger mashing makes me skin absolutely crawl. Leave it be!
Jessica Nametz 5 years ago
When forming the burgers, use your thumb to place an imprint on both sides. It will help to reduce the burger from puffing up, which is why people press the burger.
cybermerlin2000 5 years ago
I slapped someones hand for pressing the burgers on MY barbecue! Sacrilege!
Steve Barnett 5 years ago
Guilty. I should know better. Next time I cook a burger I'll remember this. If I do press it, I’ll pretend to have Gordon Ramsey swearing at me. I use this technique every time I’m cooking.
Misterscooter 5 years ago
Start with a flatter, wider patty with the same amount of meat if you worry about it shrinking.
Christina Uhlir 5 years ago
Great plant-based burgers no need to press them "you bastard"; again, no cholesterol, no clogged arteries, no heart diseases, no arthritis, no cancers, healthy you, healthy planet, happy cows.
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
I go nuts watching most people at the grill. Leave the meat alone! Men are constantly flipping/turning steaks, burgers, etc. You sit it on the grill and turn it once that side has cooked. It separates from the grill much easier that way (or the pan, for that matter).
Martha Higgins 5 years ago
With burgers, the taste is in the fat, if you press the "juice" out of a burger it won't taste as good. Sharp knives are safer knives.
#12
You take preheating the oven as a suggestion rather than a requirement. it can really affect the texture and appearance, as well as the timings. not preheating can lead to flat/hard cookies and dense/unevenly cooked cakes, among other things.
Vicki Perizzolo 5 years ago
absolutely- if you don't preheat the over for pizza....yuk....crust is MUCH crispier and just better with a well pre-heated oven
Diane Aguilar 4 years ago
This looks to me like a frozen pizza (e.g. DiGiorno) cooking in the oven. According to package directions if you want a crispy crust you cook the pizza directly on the rack. You can do that with that pizza because the crust is thick enough to where it won't jeopardize the integrity of the pizza... oh, and I think it's prebaked a little bit. For pizzas made from scratch you should put them on top of a preheated pizza stone in the oven because the dough will be much more fragile.
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earringnut 5 years ago
Starting with a cold oven is ok for large casseroles and meats. Anything baking related is quite another story.
Kenny Kulbiski 5 years ago
I've also discovered that just because that buzzer goes off doesn't necessarily mean it's preheated.
Raven Greer 4 years ago
I'm fine without preheating, but I also take the time to cook it as a suggestion and start checking on it well before and may let it stay in way after the time if I think it needs it. If you don't have time to keep an eye on it then you do need to preheat.
#13
If you don't have a good feel for how done meat should be, use a thermometer. Ignore any recipe that gives precise cooking times, because they're rarely going to be correct.
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
I found this out the other night. I have tried cooking Scotch fillets a few times following various methods and times but I either under cook it or over cook it. Well I cooked Scotch fillets on Monday following another technique that uses meat temperature and omg the steak was cooked perfectly for us. I have now bookmarked that site on my laptop for future reference.
Koalamonster 5 years ago
Honestly you should have an oven thermometer too. Many ovens aren't quite spot on, and some of them fluctuate on top of that. Getting a lil thermometer that just hangs on the rack gives you the certainty that you're actually cooking things at the temperature you think you are. Our oven will sometimes spike upwards of 50 degrees- we've had it as high as 100 degrees over what it started at- because it's a cheap oven. So much food has been saved by a cheap oven thermometer.
Misterscooter 5 years ago
The time is a guide. When I'm barbecuing, just a slight change in weight of the meat can affect the time it takes a lot.
Christina Uhlir 5 years ago
Don't ignore your health, the health of our planet, and immense pain and suffering of farm animals. The animal protein is a killer, there are delicious plant-based healthy options.
Fran Stateler 5 years ago
A food thermometer goes INTO the thing you are cooking. All this one will do is tell you the oven temperature.
Christine Zanfino 5 years ago
An absolute MUST for cooking, especially at Thanksgiving time. I use the cooking bags for the turkey and the cooking times aren't always correct for what you're cooking. Thermometer is your best tool
#14
You throw all your ingredients together at once and mix them without thinking about their order. If you see butter (or any fat) and sugar listed first in a recipe, it’s a creaming method — which means you mix together the fat and sugar first, until it’s light and kind of airy. When you add the eggs, add them one by one to make sure they mix in well and so that your batter keeps its light texture.
Misterscooter 5 years ago
Read the recipe through completely before starting, too. This will help you understand the order and what's coming next. And maybe why it is in that order.
Valerie G. 5 years ago
My home-ec teacher told us to read a recipe over more than just once before beginning. You may find out half way through that you are missing an ingredient and have to rush to the store.
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Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
I made that mistake the first time I baked peanut butter cookies. They weren't bad, to be honest, but I did learn to always read the recipe through before hand.
#15
Using too much water when making top ramen
Source : Single Male
Banjo Peppers 5 years ago
If only you could just drain some water out before putting the seasoning in.
Riley 5 years ago
My tip is to use a lot of water in the first soak, then drain all out. Add seasoning and the right amount in the second round. You can also use warm water in the second round instead of boiling water, save your mouth from a burn.
earringnut 5 years ago
Soak? Second round? I must really have been making this wrong.
Load More Replies... CelSlade 5 years ago
My son suggested this and it makes such a difference! Drain the noodles before adding the flavouring. The flavour is much more intense.
Thomas Ewing 5 years ago
The only way to make ramen! Drain the water, add flavoring!
Load More Replies... CelSlade 5 years ago (edited)
Another tip for lazy/busy people - ramen makes an excellent quick-cook substitute for pasta. If I am in no mood for cooking and want a super-fast meal I'll boil up a few packets of ramen, drain, add a jar of pasta sauce, and heat in the microwave for a few minutes (top with cheese if you are feeling rich).
Tom Coakley 4 years ago
As a top ramen expert, I also make it with just enough water that the noodles all soften. My wife has enough water to float a small boat.
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
We love Top Ramen! We call it Faux Pho. My husband is usually in charge of this. I put the bowls together (chopped cilantro, sliced green onions, garlic chili paste, cooked shrimp or leftover pork, bean sprouts if I can find them fresh & a lime wedge) while his starts boiling the water & noodles. He puts the spice packet in the bowl, then adds as much (or as little) water and THEN puts in the noodles. He usually makes (frozen) pot stickers as well. This is the extent of my husband's culinary skill.
Cybele Spanjaard 5 years ago
I do not often cook noodles, but agree too much water saturates all of them
Vonny Browne 5 years ago
Yup, it’s the same when cooking Rhubarb. You only need a tiny amount of water. The steam breaks the vegetable down (in the microwave) or in the pot with the lid on. Then it starts to cook in its own juices.
#16
After you mix your cookie dough, REFRIGERATE IT so that the fat hardens and doesn't melt like cookie brittle or brownie bark — unless you like it that way!
Laura Rodrigues 5 years ago
Oh man, I just wanna pick up that beautiful raw nugget of salmonella and well...EAT it😳
Maria Ribaulo 5 years ago
I use a scooper and chill them in balls like above. You can also freeze the balls and take out a few at a time, thaw and cook.
#17
Too much or too little salt. Salt is one of the most magical ingredient known to mankind. It can make all the ingredients of the dish shine like stars. It can also f**k up all your hard work by overpowering the other ingredients. Cooking, like every other thing in the world, is about balance. It is the art of balancing flavors that compliment each other
Chich 5 years ago
Why do some people use so much salt? Do they not have any taste buds left? I have sent food back at restaurants because all I could taste was salt.
Pamela24 5 years ago
The more salt you use the more you think you should use. It's a matter of the level of saltiness that you get used to and you can easily become "addicted" which leads to adding more and more.
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Christina Uhlir 5 years ago
That is "f--k up" right; plus too much salt means too much sodium and , sooner or later, high blood pressure.
Cathelijne van Weelden 5 years ago
Salt can always be added but is very difficult to cover up when you used too much!
Jane Alexander 5 years ago
You can get the salt back out if too much by putting a couple peeled potatoes in the pot. If you don't want potatoes in your chili, for example, just take them out when they're cooked and have done their job and have some chili flavored potato salad another day.
Steve Barnett 5 years ago
You know when you've gone to a good restaurant? You’ve not needed to season your food. The chef knew exactly the right amount of seasoning to use.
Cybele Spanjaard 5 years ago
All commercial foods are so overly salted one can barely taste the flavours of the ingredients. Maybe there is a reason why eh? Same with Take out stuff..overly faty overly salty and some even add more
#18
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.
Misterscooter 5 years ago
Be adventurous. And try to get your kids to be adventurous with food, too. I know, that last one can be tough.
Azziza 5 years ago
It really isn't hard to get kids to eat a wide variety of foods. Expose them early and often. Sometimes psych them out a bit with stuff like "you can't have this, it's just for grown-ups" etc. Guaranteed to beg for it.
Load More Replies... bill marsano 5 years ago
Chef has it exactly right, esp about mise en place. Like reading recipe before starting--but even better--it help you understand the recipe and keeps you from forgetting the odd ingredient. Buy a top-grade 8" chef's knife and learn to to use a steel to keep it sharp. FYI it doesn't have to cost a ton--get advice from experienced folk and shop, shop, shop.
Fran Stateler 5 years ago
That taste thing doesn't work with hot seasoning. One person's hot preference is another's person's taste killer.
Phil Boswell 5 years ago
Not sure that everybody has the same taste threshold when it comes to chili…I'm happy with Carolina Reaper sauce, my wife and daughter think regular Tabasco is hot 🌶
#19
Don't overcrowd the pan
Ellen Ranks 5 years ago
This is a presentation of cooked foods in a pan. No pan EVER looks like this while you're cooking.
Neva Nevičica 5 years ago
....and that purple cabbage is f*****g RAW! :D :D
Load More Replies... Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
Make whatever you're cooking in batches if necessary. Especially if your browning meat! It won't brown if the pan is too crowded, but will steam instead, which ruins the texture.
Vicki Perizzolo 5 years ago
wow that pan looks awesome (except for those nasty brussel sprouts - replace them asap with summer squash1
#20
A recipe is just a suggestion, not the law. If a recipe calls for garlic, and you don't much care for garlic, leave it out. Or, reduce the amount.
Kirsten Kerkhof 5 years ago
"Add two cloves of garlic". Six will have to suffice for now, can't overdo it ...
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K.Kobayashi 5 years ago
This is NOT true for baking, however. Cooking is art, baking is chemistry.
Irina Deneva-Slav 5 years ago
Some recipes may be just suggestions but cake recipes, for instance, are better followed strictly. It's not too hard to see the difference, I'm sure.
Christina Uhlir 5 years ago
The right amount of garlic makes dish more flavorful, just like onion does.
Chris DiFonso 5 years ago
NOT TRUE for baking. Baking is science. If you want to change the recipe, do research on replacements otherwise the results could be disastrous.
Wim Cossement 5 years ago
Yeah, even all TV-cooks say: When baking, always measure everything...
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Carrie Roettger 5 years ago
I always follow a recipe exactly the first time I make it. If we like it and want it again that's when I make changes.
CharliAnn Olney 5 years ago
I am SERIOUSLY allergic to garlic. Like Dead allergic. So, I make a lot of my own food instead of going out and bothering a chef. That way, I can easily leave the garlic out of a recipe.
#21
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!
Corey Smith 5 years ago
Canned tomatoes aren't bad. I agree about the mushrooms, though.
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Azziza 5 years ago
I actually love the taste of canned mushrooms. Sometimes I'll just sautee a can of mushrooms in some butter and have that for my meal. I like fresh ones too, don't get me wrong, but it's a really different animal from canned.
Elizabeth Butler 5 years ago
I use fresh mushrooms mostly but canned ones simmered in butter and chicken broth are a whole different dish.
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Ivo H 5 years ago
This isn't always truth! For most uses, fresh mushrooms are the way to go, but in some cases, I really do like to add canned mushrooms to (for example) my pizza. The taste is way different, but sometimes I just need to use the "inferior" ones. Just know the taste of both and chose what you like :)
Susan Miller 5 years ago
There are wonderful grow your own kits of mushrooms from Fantastic Fungi. I've been growing amazing Lions Mane mushrooms for months. They cost $25 + tax and shipping!
Pangolin Pal 5 years ago
That sounds fun and interesting, thanks for the tip!
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FloC 5 years ago
It is so difficult to find pizzerias where they put fresh mushrooms instead of the canned stuff... what a shame.
Marek Yanchurak 5 years ago
And if they do, they put them on raw, and, since the pizza cooks so quick, they come out essentially raw. This isn't a game breaker, but if they were sauteed just a little bit ahead of time, they would be so much tastier.
Load More Replies... Elizabeth Butler 5 years ago
I have found a few things that are better with canned--otherwise yep fresh is IT.
Stijn Kraft 4 years ago
I actually prefer canned asparagus. Not sure why. As for shrooms; You can buy them precut if you must, so why buy them canned? :D
Barbara Vandewalle 5 years ago
I rinse my vegetables, any thing in a salt water. It helps to reduce the salt flavor and the food flavor is tasted
#22
Start with salt and pepper and get those right first. Seasonings make or break your food, but if you're just throwing s**t in because it sounds good you're gonna have a bad time. Also, keep in mind that you can pretty much always add more later but you can almost never take it back out.
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago (edited)
I very very rarely add salt or pepper to my dishes, I find that things like tomato paste, stock, etc has enough salt. And I am not a huge pepper fan. I see chefs putting sooo much salt in their dishes.
Lisa Shelton 5 years ago
I learned to spice my food going by smell. I thought about what I wanted to make and then I smelled each herb or spice to see if it smelled like it would be in the end result I wanted.
pepper 2015 5 years ago
As an Indian, I disagree. You cannot add more spice if your food is already cooked!!
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
I don't use a lot of salt, but I do use quite a variety of spices - and my husband is a pepper freak! Also - for any dish containing tomatoes or a white sauce, add a few pinches of nutmeg (freshly ground if possible, a microplane is ideal). I throw a little in my spaghetti sauce, scalloped potatoes or mac&cheese. Nobody can ever figure out what that added flavor is, but everyone agrees mine are the best.
DDmaybeandor 5 years ago (edited)
Start with some salt, but not too much. Many seasonings and sauces have salt in them too and can cause trouble quickly. Also, if you're looking to reduce or boil down anything, approach salt with extreme caution. I make lots of stews and boiled green veggies and if I'm going to have trouble, it'll be because things cooked down and left too much salt.
Robert Robi Z 5 years ago
I hate pepper and always leave it out if it is in a recipe. It always comes out great.
#23
You don't weigh your ingredients. I cannot stress enough how important it is to weigh out all of your ingredients (all ahead of time, if you really want to bake like a pastry chef) on a digital scale. One cup of feathers does NOT weigh the same as one cup of pebbles, ya know? It's so easy to find volume to mass conversions online, and your baked goods will not only turn out better, but they will be more consistent.
Misterscooter 5 years ago
I LOVE recipes that give me weights instead of volumes, especially for flour.
Pamela24 5 years ago
Thank you! It's also way easier to scale the recipes down or up and to me, it's also easier in terms of handling stuff - you put the bowl on the scale and tare as you go. No extra cup measurements to be washed later and you're precise and consistent. If you're a beginner it also makes the learning easier - you know that inaccurate measurements weren't the problem so you can think whether you left the cake too long in the oven or if you overmixed it but the base was correct.
Jane Dorothy Warner 5 years ago
My mother was a cook in the WRAF in WW2 and could just throw ingredients together to make cakes. I have not inherited that skill.
Kaiserfranzgirl 5 years ago
We don't usually measure ingredients in cups in the uk. We either use weight or teaspoons and tablespoons for small amounts.
bill marsano 5 years ago
All recipes should give both. If enough people complain to the online recipe sources, thing will change.
Caroline Driver 5 years ago
'One cup of feathers does NOT weigh the same as one cup of pebbles, ya know? ' That's why we weigh things on scales rather than use 'cups'.
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
Yes! I also measure out everything prior (that's what all those adorable little bowls are for!) It makes the process go much smoother, especially if it's something that requires constant stirring while you add the ingredients (lemon meringue pie filling, for example) and you suddenly realize there's an item missing.
Onion rings like to make your breath smelly 5 years ago
my parents know everthing in their mind, they dont read from cookbooks. Their dishes are really good
#24
Underseason your food, taste it, then reseason to what you think tastes good. THEN RETASTE IT AGAIN. There's a reason there aren't salt and pepper shakers on higher end restaurants. The plate put on your table is what it SHOULD taste like.
Mark Brown 5 years ago
Mostly true, but not always. I went to a high-end steak house and ordered a steak with sauteed mushrooms and a side of mashed potatoes. Everything came out unseasoned. NO salt and pepper on anything. Not even on the table. I stopped the waitress and she explained that the chef doesn't believe in seasoning. He wants you to taste the food as nature made it. Then she walked away. The table next to ours had the same issue and had complained bitterly until the wait staff brought them small ramekins of salt and pepper, which they graciously shared with us. And even on cooking competitions on TV, I see so-called "chefs" get dismissed because their food was under seasoned. Sometimes even the pros get it wrong. So don't automatically assume that... "The plate put on your table is what it SHOULD taste like."
Stephen Foley 5 years ago
I don't eat at "High-end Restaurants", partly owing to cost and also as I am paying for the meal, am hungry, and want to enjoy what I will be eating and be able to add salt if I require it. Owing to an accident about 20 years ago I have a very poor sense of smell and that of course affects my sense of taste so I often need to add some salt to an otherwise for me insipid dish. I can't be bothered with Prima Donna Chefs or officious stuck up waiters or waitresses to be honest and they would not get a tip from me if they behaved as the waitress you have mentioned. I do not eat only at Transport Cafés or Roadside Diners or Fast Food places such as Burgerking but also do eat at what I would call Mid Range restaurants where Salt and Pepper Cruets are on every table. Each person's taste differs and some may need more salt than others . Thankfully I have never had such a response and all the places I have dined at have Salt and Pepper available for the customers to use if they require.
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Misterscooter 5 years ago
This is what you see on cooking shows when they are making a new dish. They are constantly tasting and adjusting because they have an idea of what it should be but don't know for sure.
Caroline Driver 5 years ago
'Should' according to their tongue, not mine. If all our taste buds were the same, nobody would ever like or dislike food that others don't, we could all eat every damn thing. Funnily enough, this is not true.
Vonny Browne 5 years ago
Season it and taste. If it doesn’t taste right, let it cook for a bit then taste it again to let the seasoning work it’s way through the food.
#25
So many baking issues are solved by simply knowing what ingredients you need and when you’ll need them. And unless you really know what you’re doing, don’t mess with the recipe! Seemingly small changes — like decreasing the amount of sugar or substituting a different type of flour — can have huge effects on the finished product. I always recommend that the first time you try a recipe, you make it exactly as written. After you’ve done that successfully, THEN and ONLY then can you think about changing it up!
JuJu 5 years ago
I "love" people who ask you for a recipe and then come back bitching. "You must have written down the wrong thing. Your's tasted totally different. I did what you said and just changed the butter for olive oil and yoghurt (that really happend...it was a chocolate cake we call "happy heart attack") and took stevia instead of sugar..."
K.Kobayashi 5 years ago
That's the problem with reader comments on online recipes. "One star. Horrible texture. I didn't have baking powder so I used baking soda."
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M Kate McCulloch 5 years ago
My carrot cake. The first time I followed the recipe exactly and still do for the dry ingredients, sugar and fat - but I used 2.5 x the carrots, more pineapple tidbits than indicated and less drained, subbed black currents for raisins and use twice as much and added ground clove to the cream cheese frosting. It's ridiculous good...
Water Bottle 5 years ago
*flashbacks from when I substituted all of the sugar for molasses in a chocolate cake*
Valerie Page 5 years ago
Unless it's the recipe for casseroled venison (not cheap here) which insisted on a teaspoon of brown sugar in 1 1/2 kg meat. It was SWEET. We don't like sweet main meals :(
Valerie G. 5 years ago
I am so jealous, where did you get that little whisk, that is adorable.
Karen Lyon 5 years ago
For the most part, yes: butter, flour, eggs, leavening (baking soda or baking powder). But not sugar. Lots of recipes were written back in the days when sugar intake wasn't an issue. Now we're more aware of it. Cookies and even cupcakes don't need 1 1/2 cups of sugar to taste good or bake correctly. You can decrease the sugar by a 1/4 cup in a chocolate chip cookie recipe, for example, and it turns out fine. Lots of bakers do this. Sorry, I respectfully disagree.
#26
You frost hot cakes and always end up making a huge mess. Just stop. Be logical — if you apply icing to a hot surface it will melt. The cake should at the very least be room temp or even cold if you are doing more intricate decorating.
Kathryn Baylis 5 years ago
It only takes doing it once—-especially if the cake was going to be for someone else—-for the lesson to be learned.
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
Amen to that! Cut myself too short for making my brother's birthday cake - carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It looked find when I put it in the container, but on the way over to his house, all the frosting slid off. Luckily by the time we got there the cake had cooled & I just refrosted it.
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Christine Zanfino 5 years ago
A nice decorative touch - chocolate curls. Chill a chocolate candy bar in the fridge for 30 mins. and run a potato peeler down the side lengthwise. It's ok if some of the curls are shorter than the others.
Jane Dorothy Warner 5 years ago
Buttercream on a warm cake , melting into the surface, is actually a lovely taste (to me) when it's hardened into a kind of crackly sugar coating.
#27
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE MICROWAVE. Those cooking shows only show the highlights of cooking. Think of the food network as the facebook of cooking. You don't see the bad s**t that happens, only the highlights.
bill marsano 5 years ago
But never put bread in the micro. Except stale bread, in a damp cloth or paper bag, that you want to refresh.
Robert Robi Z 5 years ago
Reheating meat in the MW always results in little explosions that scatter little pieces of meat all over the (always covered) dishes and even sometimes lifting the cover... There are little holes in the cover, the power is set lower... no result, except meat exploding
Cybele Spanjaard 5 years ago
I am not afraid of my 22 year old Sharp combo Micro Convection magical cooker as yet.
Fran Stateler 5 years ago
Thanks for the tip. I sometimes eat something cold rather than heat it up in the microwave.
Vonny Browne 5 years ago
I’d say 95% of my cooking in my microwave. God Bless Percy Spencer the day he accidentally invented the microwave ☝🏻🙏🏻
Eva Zaqqum 5 years ago
Well I don't have a microwave at home, and honestly, I don't miss it :)
A Random Panda 5 years ago
My mom has a recipe for microwaveable spaghetti. I think you put some in a microwaveable plate with water. IDK measurements and stuff, so um, you need to search that up.
Peko 5 years ago
Work perfectly fine. As I recall you need to microwave it somewhat longer than you would need to boil it but it's easy enough to test it while doing it so you don't get overcooked pasta. You can also microwave potatoes, just prick the skin and microwave on high for about 10 minutes.
Load More Replies... #28
When you put something in the oven to bake, its very tempting to peak inside. Try to do this as little as possible. When you open the oven door, all the hot air escapes, thus lowering the temperature of your oven. It's OK if that happens a couple times, but if you keep checking...it's going to take FOREVER to finish. Finally, invest in an oven thermometer to know the true temperature of your oven. Some ovens just aren't accurate when reading temperature.
Mariana Schneider 5 years ago
I was constantly burning everything in my oven. Finally bought a thermometer, and found out everything is actually 100ºC hotter than it should :O
#29
You probably aren’t mixing certain things as much as you should be, like creaming butter and sugar isn’t just combining them, you need to beat them until they’re fluffy. The same goes for adding eggs...you’ll get better cookies and brownies if you beat again until fluffy when adding eggs to your creamed butter and sugar. However, you don’t want to over-mix once you add the flour, just mix until no more dry flour is visible. Over-mixing the flour can make your end product tough.
Colin L 5 years ago
Overmixing with flour activates the gluten strands that can make things tough or (overly) chewy. Also, clean up flour with COLD water. Warm/hot water will make it stickier.
Misterscooter 5 years ago
I need to try this with my Grandma's Snickerdoodle recipe. Hers were always fluffy. Mine are always flat.
#30
Always sift your dry ingredients. This is especially important for powdered sugar when making buttercream, because you want the butter and powdered sugar to mix seamlessly.
Maria Ribaulo 5 years ago
I'll admit I don't do this often enough. I know it makes a difference but... well... lazy.
Karen Lyon 5 years ago
I'm not lazy -- my sifters stop working after awhile. My sister-in-law and her stepmom are amazing bakers, and they don't always sift.
Load More Replies... #31
Don't be afraid to screw up, and beware too much advice. Everyone has an opinion when it comes to cooking, both on how to do it and what it should come out like. Learn to make food you really enjoy eating first, and then you can branch out into tweaking it to please guests.
Kirsten Kerkhof 5 years ago
Yup, just give it a try! Ask around for what other people deem idiot-proof and affordable (preferably cheap) recipes and have a go. If you follow the instructions, the worst that can happen is that you don't really like it.
#32
Not all butter is created equal. There isn't a set regulation for how much salt is added to salted butter made by different companies. One brand can have more salt in its butter than the next. Say your recipe calls for unsalted butter and 1 tsp of salt and you decide to use salted butter, which could already have 1 tsp of salt in it — you could be adding too much salt and throwing off the chemistry of your bake.
#33
Cooking steaks low and slow. You should set your oven on its highest setting, put a cast iron pan on high until it's smoking, sear your room temp steaks 3-4 minutes per side. Finish in the oven to your desired temp, just a couple minutes to get a nice med-rare. Remove from oven, tent with foil, allow to rest for 15 minutes. Here's last night's steak, although that was using the sous vide method.
#34
Working in filthy or messy areas. It is amazing how much better your concentration is when you cook without clutter and mess. Clear bench=clear mind.
Some Cool Guy 5 years ago
My cooking style is complete chaos. I like it that way and it works out fine.
#35
Have basic ingredients in house; garlic, olive oil, lemon, onion, herbs and spices, flour, rice and pasta. Most of the stuff is cheap, and lasts forever.
Nevits Yibble 5 years ago
Since when are these "basic ingredients"? For which style of cooking? They certainly aren't basic for Mexican or Chinese cuisine
#36
A lot of cakes require butter and sugar to be beaten together until pale and fluffy. You will never get the right consistency using just a wooden spoon/spatula. There are so many different mixers out there (hand or stand mixers) and you can use them for so many different things. You will really notice the difference in your cakes once you’re getting that extra air in there.
Malakai 5 years ago
Stand mixers can be fairly expensive, but they are very worth the price if you can afford them. Most also feature additional attachments like a grater and spiralizer that you can buy separate, so you can use them for more than mixing cakes and other baked goods. I have a grater attachment for mine that let me shred 4lbs of cheese in 5 minutes for a nacho recipe. Stand mixers are getting to be quite versatile as a result.
A Random Panda 5 years ago
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-home-hand-5-speed-mixer-131397781-p?catalogId=10241&productId=1108538&storeId=10151&langId=44&krypto=CjtBOEYlHwugM2qlKZibZGY4ZiDx2EBdaLVaXWwvwGWTxJKlbSmwBadCXAmgQvzPn2naWjAIqoiT96NuxZ5JW2KW8PtkDm5nfR1JGa4hTzlpufZJHZIAq8lqJr7nSBmc%2BNjTLEq8d5nwg1IbTZ45hx8HsCPbyj%2F4bKuRlfxxaeZP%2BgwFo33EMDZOoG9e6OFwCvh%2BuEuyDbMg0jHbf4Wi3A%3D%3D&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fsainsburys-home-hand-5-speed-mixer-131397781-p
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#37
When it comes to cakes, always lightly soak your layers with a simple syrup to keep them moist instead of having dry cake with your frosting. Also, crumb coats are your best friend when decorating your cake. Apply a thin layer of frosting on your cake (smooth it out just like it is your final product) so it can catch all the crumbs that would otherwise ruin the beauty of your finished cake. After you’ve applied it, chill the cake in your fridge or freezer and apply your final coat of frosting.
#38
Your stove has temperatures other than On and Off. Most people who just start out turn their burner on high and start throwing things in; that's ok for boiling water, but learn what works best with other things and get acquainted with your equipment (different range tops and cookware cook fairly differently).
Linus Nilsson 5 years ago
Come on, nobody actually do this. This is like saying "stop using horsepee to boil your veggies", it's a good advice, but affects no-one
Night Owl 5 years ago (edited)
Whenever you think "Nobody can be that stupid" think again. Apply that rule to everything, and also (and especially) keep it in mind when voting and when researching before voting. Also think about all the warning labels and why they had to be created and put there
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#39
When trying a recipe for the first time, do follow it precisely. However, if it didn't turn out right, don't get discouraged. Try again. Try to take notes and determine what went wrong with the recipe. Too much garlic? Not enough? Too spicy? Too bland? Did it burn? Overcooked? Undercooked?
Cathelijne van Weelden 5 years ago
Put a post-it note in the cookbook with your findings! Or write in the cookbook if you want to be bold...
#40
Moving things around too much when trying to brown them. Leave it the hell alone, if you're looking you're not cooking!
#41
I SEE THIS ALL THE TIME AND IT MAKES ME REALLY SAD: People will get a decent knife, like a Victorinox and then using cutting surfaces harder than the knife's edge. Every time the knife strikes the cutting surface, it will mess up the blade. Please please stick to soft(er) plastics and wooden cutting boards
Beatrice Multhaupt 5 years ago
People who use hard surfaces are usually afraid of germs so they figure that a stainless steel ''cutting board'' will be easy to clean. ACTUALLY, wood is antiseptic, otherwise all our trees would be eaten by all sorts of bacteria all the time.
#42
Tiered cakes need boards and supports! You can’t just stack eight layers of cake and frosting on each other with all their weight, and expect it to hold itself! Do your research before you DIY a wedding cake and don’t balk then at why bakeries charge what we do for them.
#43
All my frostings have a healthy pinch of salt in them and people are amazed that they’re never too sweet.
Beatrice Multhaupt 5 years ago
Frostings aside as they need a lot of sugar for texture, try halving the sugar content of the dough. During my first few months living in Germany, I couldn,t figure out what made the pastries so delicious. Then I got a locally published cook book....
#44
Just dumping a bunch of food coloring into your frosting will ruin the texture and leave you with dyed teeth. Add a little dye to your frosting, let it sit a few hours (in the fridge if it has eggs, on the counter if its American buttercream), and if it needs more to get the color you need, add more and repeat the process. Or, for really dark colors (like black), start with a chocolate frosting base.
#45
Often times home cooks tend to let something cook for too long or take too long to prepare dinner. One major reason is they don't think to prep before cooking. Things go a lot smoother when you have all your ingredients measured up, chopped, sliced, or otherwise prepared before actually cooking the meal. If the dish calls for chopped vegetables, do it all first. No time? Do it in the morning, or better yet, the night before. I often chop up all my vegetables and place each one in a paper bowl. If I do it the night before I actually cook the meal, I'll put them in plastic zipper bags and toss them in the fridge. I do the same thing with my sauces for stir fry. I'll mix up my sauce, usually in a plastic bowl with a lid, and put it in the fridge. Then, when I'm ready to cook, I just take everything out, and all I have to do is throw everything together. Unless the recipe specifically says otherwise, you can mix all your dry ingredients together and your wet ingredients together. If a recipe calls for different spices, measure them all out in one small bowl. If it calls for various liquids, unless the directions say to add separately, mix them all in one bowl. Make sure to read the directions carefully before attempting this shortcut.
Cathelijne van Weelden 5 years ago
Alway containers instead of zipper bags 😉 loose the (1 time use) plastic plus they stack 😃
Malakai 5 years ago
Or re-use the bags if they just had veggies or sauce in them. Easy enough to wash out real quick
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Helen Haley 5 years ago
If you don't have time that night, what makes you think they have time the previous day or in the morning?
#46
Haven't seen it here yet, but get familiar with using vinegar. It can take a dish from good to [frikking] awesome. Same goes for fish sauce. Go easy, but it tastes way better than it smells, so don't be afraid.
#47
You don't need all those fancy food processors and kitchen gadgets, the only thing I have is a small mini blender which I rarely use. Almost everything else only generates more washing up than it's worth. (And I have a dishwasher!)
#48
Grease and parchment-line basically every pan you use. For cakes, cut out a circle the size of the bottom of the pan and put it in after greasing the pan. For square pans, have it overhang on the side so you can grab it and lift your brownies/blondies/whatever straight out. It makes life infinitely easier and things almost never get stuck in pans.
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
Same here, although we call it Baking paper in Aus.
Load More Replies... #49
Not a chef, but many of my friends are. Knives are what they drilled into my head.
You don't need a drawer full of different kitchen knives, or one of those stupid giant knife sets. Spend at least $75 on one good kitchen knife. Buy it at a store where you can try different knives and find a blade and handle you like.
Don't put it in the dishwasher and don't rub it with a scour pad. That will dull the blade. Also get a sharpening tool and or take the blade in to get sharpened when it feels dull. Also, get a protective sleeve for it.
Malakai 5 years ago
A good knife set isn't stupid. Different knives have different purposes--a chef's knife is the utilitarian of the arsenal, and the most frequently used, but you need others depending on what you're doing. A bread knife, for example, not just to cut bread, but also to slice tomatoes, as the serrated edge makes breaking the skin easier is a common necessity, unless you like squished tomatoes. Paring knives are good for cutting small items like individual cloves of garlic, or peeling fruits and vegetables--their smaller size makes for easier precision. If you use fresh, whole fish, a boning knife makes cleaning and deboning a fish much easier. Every kitchen should have at least one chef's knife, one paring knife, and one bread knife--there are quite a few others, but you should only invest in them if you really need them. Also, a higher cost does not necessarily mean a better knife--some expensive knives are made from materials that are more prone to breakage and damage. Do your research
Corey Smith 5 years ago
I couldn't agree with you more. While I use a chef's knife for most things, good luck trying to bone a chicken with one.
Load More Replies... kjorn 5 years ago
site on your porch, chewing Tobacco and sharpen you blade while looking people outside suspiciously… :-)
Lucas 5 years ago
Can't see anyone from mine, live in a small village so even if I could there isn't a cast of thousands.
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#50
When it comes to spices, many home cooks tend to mix them in, one at a time. I'm often guilty of this myself. But I learned an ancient secret: Use a mortar and pestle. Combine all your spices in the bowl, and grind them up. Not only does this release the oils, but it will blend the spices together, creating a more even distribution of all flavorings in the dish. Whether you're making a homemade marinara, stew, or even a roasted chicken, blend all of your spices together before applying.
#51
Use fresh produce when available for that season. "Fresh" strawberries in January.... Pass.
Steve Barnett 5 years ago
in the UK, if you buy, say, asparagus out of season, it will have come from Peru. Because it has travelled so far, by the time it's got to the UK it will be tasteless.
#52
Unless you're cooking eggs, don't use a non stick skillet. Season the god damn pan properly and use it how you like.
Steve Barnett 5 years ago
Seasoned pans, where do I start, it's like an obsession for me. Long story short, season your pans! Get a good set of stainless-steel pans and season them. Sorry, in a previous post someone commented that it was okay to put seasoned pans in a dishwasher, I do not agree with that because the detergent will compromise the seasoning; once properly seasoned you can just clean them with hot water alone.
LuckyL 5 years ago
Not English as a first language. What are seasoned pans?
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#53
Prepared garlic. Once you use fresh garlic there's no going back.
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
I have used fresh garlic many times but still prefer jar garlic. Much more convenient.
Láďa Durchánek 5 years ago
Wow, I didn’t even know prepared garlic is a thing. Everyone uses fresh garlic here.
Neva Nevičica 5 years ago
I don't know exactly where you are from...but the dry, granulated garlic? I have seen it almost in every supermarket in europe. Ok, people don't need to use it, but it certainly exists.
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Kirsten Kerkhof 5 years ago
Buy garlic in bulk and spend an afternoon peeling them. Then freeze.
Malakai 5 years ago
Add fresh garlic last to any dish you're cooking most of the time, as it's prone to burning easily, and it makes for a more pungent garlic flavor.
Peko 5 years ago
If you want pungent garlic flavour. Plenty of recipes call for mellow cooked garlic.
Load More Replies... #54
When making something that reduces they salt to taste before reduction. When it reduces it becomes way too salty. Working in a restaurant the new guys that try to cook stuff on their own do it all the time.
#55
Always ask for feedback from anyone else who will eat the dish you prepare. Be prepared for both praise and criticism. If your kid says, "This sauce tastes too spicy", take note and adjust the spice. Perhaps ask them to taste it while you're preparing it. Ask what they suggest.
#56
Sometimes less is more. Being a Sous chef for 4 years after obtaining my bachelors degree in culinary arts, I have seen a lot of mistakes in a kitchen or in someone's home. Just because you bought a spice rack with every spice known to man, doesn't mean you should use them. Learn to taste and balance your seasoning before getting carried away with spices.
Nevits Yibble 5 years ago
These are the same people who also run out and buy gigantic knife sets. And have no clue how to use a steel.
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
No we need spices! Learn how to use spices then use it carefully.I cook a lot with spices and often you won't be able to tell that the dish contain spices. For example i use cinnamon when i cook tomatoes (tomato sauce, bolognese...), yes cinnamon. Because tomatoes are really acid and the cinnamon tastes sweet, so it kill the acidity and you don't need to add sugar. But you have to be careful, i use my fingers to take a very small amount and taste it until it's no more acid, and no one can tell that i put cinnamon in my dishes, even the persons who HATE cinnamon. I'm french and a most french dishes use spices like clove, juniper berries, caraway... You can't cook a bechamel sauce without nutmeg it's a crime.
#57
Taste is directly linked to smell in your brain. Having any sort of unpleasant or overpowering odor in your home can completely destroy the taste of a meal for many people.
#58
Put something under your god damn chopping board. Even a dry tea towel is better nothing. The amount of people I see chopping with a moving chopping board is crazy.
#59
You have to spoon the flour into the cup, then level off. If you dunk the measuring cup into the flour it packs more flour by volume into the cup than what the recipe calls for, throwing off the recipe.
#60
I can't stress enough how you should never crack an egg on the side of the bowl. Fastest way to get egg shells in your batter. Always crack them into a flat surface then open them over the bowl. And if you're still nervous about getting shells in, then crack the eggs into a separate bowl before adding them to your batter.
Cat on a bike 5 years ago
and if any shell falls into any kind of food, the best way is to take them out with a bigger shell part.
Jessica Nametz 5 years ago
I can attest that this is true! I never use the side of the bowl anymore, just smack it on the counter then break into whatever I am cooking.
#61
Mother sauces. Learn them. Perfect them. Use them to your advantage. They are a "must" when it comes to working in a kitchen. Every other sauce is a spin off of any mother sauce.
Neva Nevičica 5 years ago
Internet says: The five French mother sauces are béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato. I think thats' it :)
Load More Replies... #62
According to Gordon Ramsey, amateur chefs always try to use that god damned f***ing black truffle oil which is never to be used by anyone with self respect.
Kathryn Baylis 5 years ago
Um, no. Never used it in my life. I’m 59, and have been cooking since I took Home Ec in 7th grade.
What do you think ?
Daria Z 5 years ago
I'm a home cook, not a chef at all, but I found out that adding salt and sugar together makes the taste of a dish more balanced. So I add salt into sweetened coffee or a bit of sugar into a stew. I'm not sure if it's right to do so but I like it :)
Lucas 5 years ago
Adding a little sugar can bring out the flavours in a savoury dish. I do it sometimes too.
Load More Replies... Nevits Yibble 5 years ago
BP if you're going to title something “Pro Chefs Share…“, then leave out the stupid s**t by amateurs. Like “I used to use canned mushrooms but now I use fresh - wow gosh what a difference”
Mavia Kainaat 5 years ago
WOOWWWWW!! Why does this have so less upvotes?Why wasn't it made when most countries were starting to go into lockdowns?
Sasy 5 years ago (edited)
They forgot an important tip.....if you are interested in cooking and want your own restaurant work on it, do an apprenticeship, go to school, work part time etc. Do not wait until you get onto a cooking competition in the hope it will rocket you to stardom. While some have gone on to do great things, more haven't, and food work is hard work, it isn't glory and riches out of the gate. If you really want it, don't wait, get in there and get to work.
Flisey 5 years ago
I have learned that off brand sugar and icing sugar are a lot finer than the brand name ones (at least in my country). Even when the name brand is cheaper I don't buy it.
Lauren Caswell 5 years ago
Some are even made in the same factories as the name brand, it's insanity
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Daria Z 5 years ago
I'm a home cook, not a chef at all, but I found out that adding salt and sugar together makes the taste of a dish more balanced. So I add salt into sweetened coffee or a bit of sugar into a stew. I'm not sure if it's right to do so but I like it :)
Lucas 5 years ago
Adding a little sugar can bring out the flavours in a savoury dish. I do it sometimes too.
Load More Replies... Nevits Yibble 5 years ago
BP if you're going to title something “Pro Chefs Share…“, then leave out the stupid s**t by amateurs. Like “I used to use canned mushrooms but now I use fresh - wow gosh what a difference”
Mavia Kainaat 5 years ago
WOOWWWWW!! Why does this have so less upvotes?Why wasn't it made when most countries were starting to go into lockdowns?
Sasy 5 years ago (edited)
They forgot an important tip.....if you are interested in cooking and want your own restaurant work on it, do an apprenticeship, go to school, work part time etc. Do not wait until you get onto a cooking competition in the hope it will rocket you to stardom. While some have gone on to do great things, more haven't, and food work is hard work, it isn't glory and riches out of the gate. If you really want it, don't wait, get in there and get to work.
Flisey 5 years ago
I have learned that off brand sugar and icing sugar are a lot finer than the brand name ones (at least in my country). Even when the name brand is cheaper I don't buy it.
Lauren Caswell 5 years ago
Some are even made in the same factories as the name brand, it's insanity
Load More Replies... 
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