Whether you’re a cooking aficionado with a burning fire (and often, burnt fingertips) for everything food-related or, on the contrary, entrust your taste buds to your holy kitchen majesty, aka the microwave, you can always take your inner chef to a whole new level. And it’s easier than you’d think.
Thanks to the professional chefs of Reddit, who recently shared what simple things “we're probably all doing wrong in the kitchen” in this thread, we can roll up our sleeves and work on the actual things to improve them.
Think of simple things, like never adding an onion and garlic at the same time (so you don’t have that icky burnt garlic aftertaste in a meal you otherwise put your heart into) or having things, ingredients and tools ready at hand to avoid “someone, help me!”-kind of hysteria in the middle of meal prep. Take your notes, everyone, I already have mine.
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Using tongs, you must clink them together at least five times to channel your inner crab.
Let’s face it, regardless of how fast we binge-watched Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, The Great British Bake Off, Masterchef in all countries it aired in, we didn’t actually learn to cook better. Instead, we now know all about the drama, about the blessing and the curse of being a chef, about nurturing your talent, dreaming hard and working harder… Wait, are we still talking about cooking?
So in order to take us all back to Earth, or rather our kitchen counter, and to find out what exactly we can do to improve our cooking game, since we nailed the watching part already, we spoke with Beth Moncel, a food lover and the founder of “Budget Bytes” where she has been sharing her passion for cooking and delicious recipes designed for small budgets since 2009.
Since I didn't see it in here: instead of adding more salt, try adding an acid. A splash of vinegar or lemon/lime juice can make flavors pop without over salting.
Never add garlic and onions at the same time.
Onions take about 8 minutes to saute and garlic takes about 30 seconds. If you add them together you're gonna have burnt, bitter garlic.
Clean as you go. Throw away trash, wipe up what you spill, get unnecessary utensils out of the way. If your kitchen looks like a tornado struck after you're done cooking, you f*cked up.
When asked what are the most common cooking mistakes people tend to make, Beth said it’s assuming that if they swap out an ingredient, they'll still get the same result. “Changing ingredients often changes both the flavor and texture of a dish, and in some cases can drastically affect the chemical reactions needed to make a recipe work,” she explained.
If you want perfect roasted potatoes (oven roasted, chopped pieces) with crispy outside and fluffy insides then boil them for about 5-10 minutes in salt water first. Then roast them.
And if you want them extra extra crispy you should try the belgian double roasting technic. Wash them with salt water and dry them. then roast them on a lower temperatur very short then let them cool on a paper and roast them on higher temperatur until crispy
Most people suck at roasting vegetables. Brussel sprouts are the number one f*ck up and most people lose their sh*t when I serve them properly done brussels.
Toss with olive oil (more than you think), salt (more than you think), and any other herbs/spices (e.g. curry spices with cauliflower), lay cut side down on a baking sheet, and throw that sh*t into a 200C/400F oven until it's visibly browned. Depending on the veggie (e..g carrots) you'll probably want to turn over to the otherside and continue roasting for a bit. Once they're done you can toss with pepper or fresh/delicate herbs before serving (e.g. mushrooms with tarragon or parsley).
Just because it's fork tender and cooked through doesn't mean it's delicious. Yet.
Unfortunately, not liking brussels sprouts might be genetic: https://www.centreofthecell.org/blog/science-questions/why-do-some-people-hate-brussels-sprouts/. According to various studies, some people have a hereditary high sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide, which leads to a very bitter taste even in trace amounts. If you have two of these genetic TAS2R38 markers, no preparation or seasoning can make brussels sprouts edible for you.
Beth reminds everyone that the best way to gain confidence in the kitchen is to practice. “Don't let a failed recipe keep you from trying again. Try new recipes often. The more you cook, the more you'll understand the nuances of cooking and you'll build intuition,” she said. “Before you know it, you'll be cooking freestyle and you won't even need a recipe!” Beth concluded positively.
There is a really simple rule when cooking a steak: Leave the steak alone. Stop f*cking with it. Stop poking and prodding and moving it an flipping it around. Let it cook. Let the heat do what it's supposed to do. Get to know your heat source and learn to trust it. Almost everybody I know violates this rule.
I leave my steak alone, put a timer on, used a meat thermometer, rest it and I still manage to f**k it up. Tried a few different methods and have only managed to get it right ONCE. Followed the same method a few more times without success. Have no idea what I'm doing wrong.
It is the fat that carries the flavor. If your going to saute something, put the herb and spices with the butter or oil that is in the skillet. Don't put them in the flour you're using to bread the food.
Not having things ready and in place.
Have you ever been halfway done with a dish and realize you didnt have the cheese grated? Now everything is on hold (and over cooking) while you grate cheese?
Having everything ready to go at the start lets you add the things when they need adding and helps put dishes out at the appropriate time.
Don’t stare at a toaster, it will jumpscare you. (Learnt this from personal experience)
Putting oil in the pot when you're boiling pasta. If you do that, the sauce will just slide right off your pasta. The starchier the water, the better the sauce will stick.
Nah, I finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. Makes it so much tastier.
Sharp knives. Makes things a million times easier, and is actually sooo much safer in the end. Combined with the proper grip and a bit of practice, and suddenly cutting things for prep goes from the most hated step of everything to just another step, maybe even becomes fun for some people.
Cooking too hot to speed things up. If the recipe calls for something to cook for one hour at 350 degress, cooking it at 425 degrees for 35 minutes is not a substitute. Some things just need to be cooked slowly and gently.
You're more likely to undercook the inside and over cook the outside if you do that.
Crack your damn eggs on a FLAT surface, not the side of a bowl or pan. Cracking on a flat surface makes it easier to open as well as preserving your yolk. If you crack it on an edge it pushes shell inside the egg and is more likely to break the yolk (which sucks if you are making it sunny side up, poached or separating whites) Also, if by some chance there is bacteria or icky gross stuff on the shell it is more likely to contaminate the inside when shell gets pushed in.
After 50+ years of cracking eggs on the side of the bowl, I’m good. Doing it on a flat surface for me just makes a mess, actually. 🤣
Agree that I hate this 'advice'. I keep seeing it, and keep wondering why people insist it's the ONLY way to do it. Don't you just end up with MORE egg shards that way? Let people crack their eggs how they like, it really doesn't make a difference so long as you don't end up with any eggshell in your eggs.
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However you crack them, don’t do it directly into whatever you’re making. Crack them out into a saucer, where you can see any bits of shell, then tip them off the saucer into your bowl.
Using the cracked shell instead of anything else to remove shell fragments if you slip up. Used to battle with the slippery little suckers until got told use the egg shell half and dang does it work a charm
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Now, however you do it is valid, but please respect that when I say "crack" an egg, I mean put a CRACK in the egg. I'm not breaking open the membrane, I'm not going to get egg all over the counter... I am putting a CRACK in the shell so that I can open the egg with my thumbs, the way my mama taught me.
I have mentioned this in another comment to another compilation, I wash the eggs (soap and water) and then use a knife with one swift hit to crack them. As the knife's blade is sharp and thin, usually the cut is very clean, or if there are little pieces, they stick to the membrane and don't get inside. Also, in this way I avoid any unnecessary spillage on the bowl's sides.
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By side do you mean corner, or side? Sides are a flat surface...
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I've always cracked eggs in the side of the bowl and I've never had any problems doing it, one hand to hold the bowl and one hand to crack the egg it's simple(the only way it can go wrong is if someone is stupid enough to use more force than necessary).
It's not that complicated lol And just as the post says it is easier to prevent the yolk from breaking and shells from getting in.
It's good advice for kids and for people who aren't great around knives. With a little confidence, using a sharp edge is better! You puncture the membrane and minimise the number of eggshell pieces that break up. But for people who are new to cooking, cracking on a tabletop is a safe introduction
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Worst advice ever.. I tried this even though it sounded stupid, and it didn't even work.(I got eggshell in my egg because it had to be wacked 4 times.. if you can crack eggs on a flat surface, those are some cheap & old eggs.)
Yeah I don't have the ninja quick reflexes to take an egg off the well, floor. That's the flat surface I'll end up w egg on it, & my face 🐔
I crack on the inside of my kitchen sink and place it in a bowl down in the sink. A. To limit the mess and B. To pluck any shells out of it before it gets added to the recipe. Learned that from my high school home economics teacher back in the day, lol
I do this at work, since I work on the grill, and it works a beauty
This is the advice given to kids so they don't try to use a knife and hurt themselves. Once you know your way around a kitchen you don't need to follow the baby steps any more
I used to crack ~200 eggs for frittata base. I would do 12 at a time in a shallow hotel pan, scan for shell fragments, then dump into a 5 gallon container.
I only crack eggs on a flat surface when they drop on the floor. An edge and a good tap work every time for me.
I don’t have dam eggs just normal ones so still hit the side of the pan for me and very rarely get broken yolks. Hitting them on a flat surface can end with a messy disaster.
Yeah, this has never been a problem, will continue to crack on the side of the pan =:p
You're cooking the damn egg, there is no saving bacteria buy cracking it different. Also crack your eggs into a bowl when poaching then add to water saved restarting water if you do break the yolk. Some eggs have thinner membranes than others.
I crack two eggs together. It makes a perfect indent to pry open the egg.
Hard boiled, yes. Raw? Nope. That’s just a recipe for a mess! 🤣
Load More Replies... I do this except when I separate the eggs. Much less shell pieces in the bowl.
I don't get this! I've read this tip and tried it, and it creates a bunch of broken shell bits that get into what I pour out and often I get egg on the counter! I've cracked against an edge my whole life, and I get clean breaks with intact yolks and never have to pick out shell bits.
Ha! And here I am, always cracked on a flat surface, and I thought I was doing it incorrectly! Just trying to teach myself how to crack an egg with one hand, and so did it on the side of the pan, and here I find this out, and I'm so glad!
I wash ALL eggs before using them at all. The come out of a chicken's @$$/yoni/cloaca, & is touched by who knows whom, & exposed to who knows what. I wash everything--especially fruits, vegetables, eggs, & cans before opening (so that dust, dirt, & God-knows-what doesn't get in). Who doesn't wash these things??? 😵
Haven’t washed an egg in as many years as I’ve been cracking them on the side of the bowl. I’m doing just fine. The eggs are getting cooked, not eaten raw.
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Okay... Well, FIRST of all, rinse off your eggs and place them on a towel or in a bowl or something, while your doing the rest of your prep. They're fine. Eggs are messy. Whatever works for you. I crack them on the side of a bowl or the pan and never have a problem. Not with the yolks, anyway. :)
Actually, I have been an "edge cracker" (whuuuut???) for most of my life - but I will say when I heard this advice, I tried it. It takes a lot of practice. A lot. But the result is really nice. The crack goes evenly around the eggshell, and the break is nearly always exactly at the diameter point. That makes egg separation lovely. I still crack on the edge when I am making myself scrambled eggs, but do the flat surface crack when I am making sunny-side-up eggs for hubby or separating the yolks for a recipe.
What you really mean, is crack the shell GENTLY on the side of the bowl. don't smash it!
Have tried both, and flat surface is better. With practice you can learn to do the whole job. The fry cook at my local bodega had it down pat, as he did at least 100 eggs each morning. w/one hand. He stood before the griddle w/bowl in his left hand. with his right he scooped up an egg, cracked it on the bottom of the bowl and quickly opened the shell--one-handed--and dumped the egg into the bowl. Then he'd dump the shell, shift the bowl to his right hand, grab the fork (without looking--he always put it in the same precise place--) scramble the egg with 4 or 5 quick strokes before spilling it onto the griddle. He was so fast that it was all a blur. Also: bits of eggshell in your egg? Most easily removed using the broken shell itself.Sometimes WET finger works.
I've been cooking for a half-dozen decades and I decided way back at the beginning to crack eggs on a flat surface. I use the inner edge of my sink or if I'm at the stove the inner edge of the cast iron skillet. I very seldom have broken yolks.
Am i the only one who cracks eggs with a sharp bang from a heavy knife? Works a treat and your egg can never spill like that edge s**t
Why should there be icky gross stuff on the egg? You don't was your eggs before using them for cooking? Do you was your veggies? They can have icky stuff too especially in their nether regions
Excuse me. Think about eggs being laid from the same orifice chick's s**t.
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I open over 90 eggs Daily at work for breakfast, I even have the double Hand style with Egg in both hands. (We mix it and siff it through a sifter to be sure There are no shells)
I crack the eggs inside the pan on the curve near the handle rivets. That way, the yolk doesn’t break, anything that spills out goes inside the pan, and it’s easy to get your fingers inside to control where you deposit it in the pan.
Never once has this been an issue for me what are people doing slamming it against the edge plus in the U.S. store bought eggs have been washed so if any icky stuff gets on the shell it has already gotten into the egg
More pointless profanity. Cracking eggs is childsplay...like swearing.
Wash with soap and water?? Never crack on the edge of the bowl?? Jeez,you guys spend too much time with eggs
This is the only way I avoid getting pieces of shell in the bowl. Took me a long time to figure that one out. However, I can tell you that the easiest way to fish out a piece of egg shell is with a wet spoon. Probably learned that on BP.
I use a shell, the sharp edges breaks the surface tension, and the “shrapnel” comes right out!
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I just toss an egg up in the air and shoot the pointed end off with my 45 caliber 1911. What nationality am I? Which birth state? Nope.. Not freaking' Texas.
I upvoted to take away 1 of your downvotes. I don't think you should be downvoted for being hilarious!! Arizona??
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Your paranoia is ridiculous. How about mashing them on your forehead?
My chef brother-in-law taught me how to deglaze a pan to make a sauce like a boss. Leave it hot, and douse it with a cup or more of wine, stock, or water, and you can turn even basic things into an amazing pan of goodness! The stuff in your pan that you're scrubbing off after you're done cooking is all the good sh*t, so learn to deglaze!
It is not even about LEARNING to deglace, the key is just doing it and realizing that the pan residue is your friend. You can make amazing sauces with it, often you do not even need to thicken them. Of course, this only is true if none of the ingredients are burnt, and deglacing works best with cast iron or steel pans. Sorry, but your easy-to-clean-teflon-coated skillet simply is not suitable.
-Under salting your food!
Everyone is so afraid of sodium but the vast majority of sodium in your diet is coming from processed snacks and fast foods not home cooking.
-Also dry your meat before you sear or sauté it. You’re steaming it if not.
-Taste as you go.
Being afraid of fattier cuts of meat. People are so used to that boneless skinless chicken breast that they sub them out for recipes that are 10,000x better using chicken thighs instead. If your primary concern is to reduce fat, sure, but if you're eating in moderation or going for flavor instead of low-fat, thighs thighs thighs my friend.
Practice your recipes. Don’t find one risotto you like and never make a different one. Cook 10 different risottos two or three times each over a long period of time. Doing this helps you understand the basics of how to make it and allows you to spot bad recipes, recognize good ones, and improvise without one.
Idk if this will get buried but my dad is a chef and I know what he would say here.
Always keep trying new things, in different preparations, with different ingredients to compliment them. And if you think you hate a specific meal or ingredient but you haven't tasted it in 10 years, give it a try again.
We were never picky eaters as kids because we were always encouraged to just try things we were unsure about and it opened me up to so many great foods as an adult!
So many people get stuck with what they know for sure they like, not even realizing how much it limits you.
Unless it Marmite! If you didn't like when you tried it 30 years ago, you're still not going to like it!
Leave your meat out to go to room temp before you cook it.
My dog would snatch it off the counter the second I turn my back!
Way too many people over clutter their kitchen and think they need a gadget for everything. In reality, a well-crafted, sharpened French knife, a pairing knife and a peel can get you a long way.
MISE EN PLACE! Everything has a place and everything has a purpose.
Also, steak should never be cooked to more than medium.
Nothing wrong with a well done juicy steak. Some people know how to cook well done steaks and keep them juicy, tender and flavorful.
Not sanitizing your hands and work area after handling raw meat, especially chicken.
Can't count the number of times I've been cooking with friends or family and have to stop them from chopping salad veggies on the same cutting board as raw meat, or running their hands under cold water for a second to 'clean them' before going to grab stuff out of the fridge or drawer or even just going about their day.
Same goes for giving your slimy raw-chicken cutting board a quick scrub to wash it using the same sponge you use for everything else.
If it's touched raw meat, it needs to be throughly cleaned and sanitized with hot water and either soap (your hands) or bleach (everything else).
Don't buy tomatoes that are pink and have no smell. Fresh, good heirloom tomatoes should have a distinct smell and be nice and red/solid yellow. The walmarts and safeway's of the world are selling you these horrific non-tomato tomatos....devoid of flavor and frequently unripe. Don't do it.
If you have to drain your rice after cooking it, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!
You should be measuring your rice:water as 1:2 ( 1 cup rice : 2 cup water. Get proper measuring cups, don't use a coffee mug...) and you should no liquid left if cooked properly. Simmer on low after initial boil, lid closed, fluff with a fork about 3/4 of the way, that's it.
And wash the rice until water runs clear. Othersie you're eating dust and bug poop ( Basmati and Jasmine rice mainly...don't wash arborio rice)
MY entire process is:
-Wash rice thoroughly under cold water
-Place washed/drained rice in clean pot and set on stove on low-med heat to slowly dry and toast the rice.
-Add 2bsp oil to the hot dry rice and make it sing, but should not get any color!
-Boil water in your kettle; add salt, pepper and other seasoning(Chicken stock powder is great for rice..or you know, MSG) to your measuring cup, dissolve with the water.
-Dump all the liquid in the pot; it will boil virgorously for like 5 seconds, don't be scared.
-Lower heat to a simmer, cover with the lid ( Big plus if it has a small vent)
-Fluff with a fork at 10mins in, then about 5mins later it should be ready to serve.
Pressing/squashing burger patties down as they cook on the BBQ (you're just making them drier by squeezing out the juices IMHO)
Ex-chef here, and this is a dumb one but I've seen it so many times in student halls. Don't microwave a f*cking steak, or eggs, to cook it.
Pouring water into a grease fire. That's actually SUPER dangerous.
NOT using a mandolin for all your veg. A good one, not the cheapo plastic ones.
Where it can take a good 45 minutes to matchstick fine dice your carrots, courgette, red onion, garlic, red, green & yellow bell pepper & ginger.... All this will take about 15 minutes with a nice quality mandolin.
Make sure you get a finger guard and use it, and always use the utmost caution with the beast & go slowly until you gain confidence through repeated uses.
Once you've mastered the mandolin, your knives won't leave the butcher block as often as they used to.
Get one with the V configuration, not one that's just a slant, those are rubbish.
Seriously, mastering the mandolin changes everything in terms of prep time. It's amazing how fast tomatoes get sliced, how blissfully paper thin fine you can get your onions in just a few seconds!
I love that thing. I have one with a handle & a knob that adjusts the depth of the blade, all in one. I think it cost about 70 bucks.
Toss your hardboiled eggs in an icewater bath right when they're done to make them peel easier.
Note: this post originally had 64 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
My grandmother taught me to always put a little bit of salt in sweet things and a little bit of sugar in savoury things. It does really help bring out the flavours of both.
My mum (rip) always put 2 chocolate chips in with any beef-based sauce. She was the best.
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Heart disease runs in my dads family, so grew up on a low to no salt diet. I continued this into my adult hood. As a consequence I now have a salt deficiency that is worse than someone who has too much salt. I have to take a prescription grade tablets of a type of sodium chloride daily since my system can no longer absorb and maintain sodium levels.
I can relate, but my doctor figured out what was going on before I had to take pills. Just adjusting my diet.
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My grandmother gave me these five rules for cooking and they have served me very well my entire life: 1. Sharpen your knives; 2. Fresh is best; 3. Season high; 4. Taste everything at every stage; 5. Clean as you go.
All the comments about salting foods. My Dad has had several strokes, salt is a major no no, food should reflect dietary needs and health concerns but you see all these television chefs cooking "healthy" food and throwing in handfuls of salt.
The latest research shows that salt doesn't have that much effect on health after all. In terms of heart disease, strokes, blood pressure, etc. the difference between a low salt and a high salt diet makes <5% difference.
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One of the important ones I didn't see listed, NEVER TRY TO CATCH A FALLING KNIFE!
And don't take a perfectly good nicely seasoned cast iron skillet and ruin it with dish soap and steel wool
Don't blame it on the salt while you are eating like 10 burgers/day! Salt is a very important for our health, specially iodine in it .Keeps our organs to funktion properly.
This list is presented as objective facts from professionals, but for the most part they're just differences in style or taste preferences.
Seems like Liucija is having writer’s block. Wasn’t this very same thing posted just a few months ago? And the one about different architecture? Usually there’s some new content, but it all looks the same to me
I like the one about trying thing you didnt like before again. My coworker (also a chef) didnt eat fish. He and his wife didnt like it so they never ate it. When cooking fish at the restaurant he was always unsure about it. When we had leftover fish, he ate it and realized he actually likes it. Makes creating new dishes a whole lot easier
As a chef myself I find these useless rules are meant for regular folk who don't know how to cook. Or maybe for 10 year Olds.
"Regular folk who don't know how to cook" is redundant. --A Regular Person
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The difference between a meal that's taste "meh" and great is often salt and seasoning.
I grew up on salty, Spicy (but not hot spice) foods - Hungarian - and I can tolerate salt very well. I’ve never had heart disease or high blood pressure and I eat salty food everyday.
Would've been better without half of the chefs swearing unnecessarily like unsupervised preteens. Makes it hard to take one seriously.
Would have been a much better article without all the profanity. Not sure the cooking mistakes rose to the level requiring so much anger and vulgar language.
My grandmother taught me to always put a little bit of salt in sweet things and a little bit of sugar in savoury things. It does really help bring out the flavours of both.
My mum (rip) always put 2 chocolate chips in with any beef-based sauce. She was the best.
Load More Replies... Heart disease runs in my dads family, so grew up on a low to no salt diet. I continued this into my adult hood. As a consequence I now have a salt deficiency that is worse than someone who has too much salt. I have to take a prescription grade tablets of a type of sodium chloride daily since my system can no longer absorb and maintain sodium levels.
I can relate, but my doctor figured out what was going on before I had to take pills. Just adjusting my diet.
Load More Replies... My grandmother gave me these five rules for cooking and they have served me very well my entire life: 1. Sharpen your knives; 2. Fresh is best; 3. Season high; 4. Taste everything at every stage; 5. Clean as you go.
All the comments about salting foods. My Dad has had several strokes, salt is a major no no, food should reflect dietary needs and health concerns but you see all these television chefs cooking "healthy" food and throwing in handfuls of salt.
The latest research shows that salt doesn't have that much effect on health after all. In terms of heart disease, strokes, blood pressure, etc. the difference between a low salt and a high salt diet makes <5% difference.
Load More Replies... One of the important ones I didn't see listed, NEVER TRY TO CATCH A FALLING KNIFE!
And don't take a perfectly good nicely seasoned cast iron skillet and ruin it with dish soap and steel wool
Don't blame it on the salt while you are eating like 10 burgers/day! Salt is a very important for our health, specially iodine in it .Keeps our organs to funktion properly.
This list is presented as objective facts from professionals, but for the most part they're just differences in style or taste preferences.
Seems like Liucija is having writer’s block. Wasn’t this very same thing posted just a few months ago? And the one about different architecture? Usually there’s some new content, but it all looks the same to me
I like the one about trying thing you didnt like before again. My coworker (also a chef) didnt eat fish. He and his wife didnt like it so they never ate it. When cooking fish at the restaurant he was always unsure about it. When we had leftover fish, he ate it and realized he actually likes it. Makes creating new dishes a whole lot easier
As a chef myself I find these useless rules are meant for regular folk who don't know how to cook. Or maybe for 10 year Olds.
"Regular folk who don't know how to cook" is redundant. --A Regular Person
Load More Replies... The difference between a meal that's taste "meh" and great is often salt and seasoning.
I grew up on salty, Spicy (but not hot spice) foods - Hungarian - and I can tolerate salt very well. I’ve never had heart disease or high blood pressure and I eat salty food everyday.
Would've been better without half of the chefs swearing unnecessarily like unsupervised preteens. Makes it hard to take one seriously.
Would have been a much better article without all the profanity. Not sure the cooking mistakes rose to the level requiring so much anger and vulgar language.
