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. 🤣
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.
Both methods (exact amount of water & too much (flavoured) water with exact cooking time) work perfectly fine.
yeah, I'm thoroughly entertained by this poster screaming about using too much water, but then their first step is to wash the rice. both methods reduce the starch (and stickiness) of the final product. it all depends on what you want.
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As long as the rice comes out the way you want it to, you're doing it right. Stop the rice snobbery!
False. the draining rice after cooking is cultural (most of India does it that way for certain dishes). Also the rinsing has nothing to do with dirt, that is a sign this person isnt isnt in the food industry, it is to get rid of extra starch, which once again, depends on the dish
My mom was from Germany and always cooked the rice with a lot of water and drained the excess. It was mushy and flavorless, so I developed a distaste for rice. Later, when living with a girl from Bolivia, she did it pretty much as described in the post, and since then, I have loved rice, replacing potatoes and other carbs. And since working in Central America, rice and beans -in different styles depending on the country- and sometimes called Gallo-pinto (spotted rooster), also became part of my regular diet.
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Or use a rice cooker, we do (I'm Malay). Must absolutely reiterate the most important part though - WASH YOUR RICE!
For a ricecooker I'd also say don't salt rice before cooking, I've messed up a few times before understanding, and use the proper rice (the ones you find in Asian shops)
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Jesus christ. Asians eat more rice than anyone and it's perfect every time. Buy a rice cooker and measure the water level with your finger. First knuckle. Perfect every time without all that fuss.
Exactly, water measured from the top of the rice in the pot to the first knuckle of index finger. Works for all quantities of rice.
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It really depends what rice you are cooking and what you are trying to achieve. My Indian grandfather always boiled his rice and it was good rice. This "you're doing it wrong" BS is just ill informed snobbishness.
He knew what he was doing. I just gave up. It always got raw or slimy. Now I use boil bags. 3 times as expensive, but it always goes well.
Load More Replies... Any serious rice cook, or eater, will use a rice cooker. OTOH, I've been using my Instant Pot for rice lately, and it's just as foolproof.
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I learned this from a Chinese home cooking blog. I swear by this method. Rinse your rice in a colander until the water runs clear (I switch it around with my hand). Put it in a pan and cover it with fresh water, let set for 20 minutes (I use the timer on the microwave). Drain off the soaking water and put the exact amount of water as you did the rice, 1:1. Bring to a boil, cover, and put on a very low simmer for about 15 minutes, checking every 5. Do not stir the rice. To check for liquid at the bottom, take a spoon and pull rice away from the side of a pan. If you stir it, your rice will be sticky.
This is how I cook rice. I also use the "finger" method, where the water level from the top of the rice is the same depth as the rice itself, which ends up being a 1:1 ratio.
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Rice has been cooked for millennia and the traditional method for plain rice is to boil a lot of water and then put in the rice and drain afterward. The drained gruel has many raditionall uses among indigenous cultures. In Indian communities, certainly. In Bengal, a rice eating state, it may be drunk with a dash of lemon, salt and chilie powder, especially in summer as it cools the body. It is used to starch clothes. Given to cows, they love the gruel. Also added to booked lentils and served to a sick person. The gruel contains many nutrients and is easy to digest. How long you should boil the rice until it's cooked but not mushy, depends on the variety. When making pulau/pilaf water is not drained but rice is sauted with herbs and spices and other condiments, appropriate amount of cold water added to the pot and it is cooked until done - not mushy, firm done. Rice cookers are a modem addition to the kitchen, late 19th century/early 20th. It's for convenience and saving time.
You don't rinse rice because of dust and bug poop. I mean, if that's there that's fine to get off, but you rinse it because it's too gluttonous if you don't. Who told you it was covered in dust and bug poop until it ran clear?!
Whenever I ask Asian friend and colleagues about cooking rice the answer is always “rice cooker” and like, yeah, I get it makes good rice and is super convinient, but it’s like everyone forgot how to cook rice once they were invented. People 100 (heck, 50) years ago knew how to make perfect rice without a rice cooker. I feel like rice cookers have destroyed a rich history of rice cooking culture and no one cares!
I know how to cook rice from scratch, my mum and my grandmum taught me. Most of my friends know how to do it too. And we don't do it like the instruction above or any other instruction western chef ever give. For daily meals, rice cooker still better option, because of time and energy saving.
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I hated rice untill I started to cook it with small amount of water. Excess of water will wash away all flavor. Similar with cooked potatoes (peeled, chopped), they need to be only covered with water.
Or buy those plastic bags with one portion in it and cook 12 mins instead of 10.
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I use about a 1:1.25 ratio, and with some rice can go as low as 1:1, the 1:2 ratio of 1 part rice to 2 parts water is too much imho, maybe 1:1.5
Another benefit of adding oil to rice: you can reheat it and eat it the next day, although covering it with a damp paper towel helps. If you don't, it dries out and is inedible.
Sorry, I learned from my father who learned from his mother who was born around 1903 in New Orleans. He taught me to cook it the same way as pasta, just no salt. Drain to get rid of the starch then you have fluffy rice with no starch.
I also add a ~tablespoon of vinegar to the water that you boil. It makes the rice fluffier and not sticky.
Or 1:2, dump in t in all at once, boil, once water has fully evaporated, set it to lowest heat, cover, and steam for 15-20 more minutes. No touching at all
I use a rice cooker that I love and I usually put just a little bit more water in mine, just about a 1/4 cup to 2 rice 4 water ratio. It makes the rice just a little softer, especially if you're going to make sushi with it. Don't forget rice vinegar to make it sticky if you want good sushi.
Wash both basmati rice and sona masoori rice. You've done it wrong if there's a thin beige/gray film on top when you're done.
What about sticky rice? I have a problem with non sticky rice. So we prefer it sticky. How do you make that?
Wash your rice. Cook in way too much boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain and cover for five minutes. Not wet. Not sticky. Perfect. For brown rice no method works better.
Well I cook it whit more water and rinse it after, but only because I never add anything other than salt to it and then add the flavor by putting it on the pan with everything else
Uncle Roger: yes, this is how you cook rice, DoN't Do It LiKe AuNtIe HeRsHa
Or you could go a simpler way and use a rice steamer. We got ours as a wedding present many years ago, and we have now given it as a wedding present many times.
Well, if you are talking “parts” using mug is as good as measuring cup! 🤷♀️
Perfect rice. Wash it a couple times. Preheat oven to 350. Put rice and water and some salt in a baking dish, with two to one water to rice I flavor the water usually with chicken or beef base and whatever you like, you can even use broth for the water. Cover with parchment paper then foil and bake for one hour then check it to see if it’s done. Works every time
Biggest trick I learned about rice was the rinsing. Comes out way better if you rinse your rice a few times
don´t try this for brown (wholegrain, unpeeled) rice - it will not work, you have to cook it like noodles or legumes, best in unsalted water
My way of doing it is wash, put in pot with water (same quantities), put at high temperature until it boils (should make holes in the rice) lower temperature (on my stove I put it to like 5 out of 10) put a lid and leave it for 20 mins then leave it for 10-20 mins out of stove (preferably, idk how to explain why but it's better) and voila ! I usually season my rice after it's cooked because usually when I season the water the spices stay on top and make a layer on top of the rice when the water evaporates.
That's the way I'm cooking my rice but there's a rice that actually gets cooked like pastas, that's how my mom does it but she buys a different one from mine so I guess it's how this one needs to be done
My mum taught us how to cook rice this way. Wash it properly, and put in a section of your finger of water.
This lecture on how to make rice is why I don't. I use Minute Rice, it's no fuss and super easy and I like it.
My mother and grandmother always put the rice in the sauce pan first. Then they put the tip of their index finger on the top of the rice. Water was slowly added until it reached the first joint of the finger, just above the bed of the nail. This was always exactly the right amount of water to rice. Then, the rice was cooked, without a lid, until it came to a slow boil. It continued to boil until the bubbles came thru' the top of the rice like bubbles in wet mud. A lid was placed on the pan, the heat turned off under the pan and the pan sat like that for 20 minutes. Resulted in perfect rice, every time.
Don't think washing is necessary for MOST rice these days--it's no longer packed with talc, as in the past. And for $20 you can buy a rice cooker--a real help if you cook rice often. Invented in postwar Japan; now almost everyone in Japan and most in the US use them. My wife is Japanese, and once she tried one decided she'd never go back.
As long as you use the same cup, any cup and do the 1/2 ration you can use anything to measure your rice. But this is white rice Only. Whole rice takes more water. Read the instructions on the bag. Also parboil and rinse your rice first to remove excess arsenic. If you are using whole rice. (It is in tbe ground and is absorbed into the rice). Some less so than others. Just do a little research on this.
You absolutely can use a coffee mug as long as you fill it once with rice and twice with water. And you don't need to simmer it at all. Bring it to a rolling boil (and don't forget to add salt), then stir, cover tightly, and turn off the heat. 20 minutes later, perfect rice.
Who the h*** measures with a cup? The magic formula is _always_ from the tip of your thumb to the first joint. Ask any (SE-)Asian :)
Okay but have you considered getting a rice cooker? - Filipino here
I have been doing it so long I don't need actual measuring cups, yes I know where to eyeball it from said coffee cup, or even a Solo cup. I measure spices in my hand. I have never followed a recipe, because I have always understood how to make adjustments and everything always tastes better than people expect.
Get a rice cooker. Rinse your rice thrice directly in the pot (drain as much water as you can each time). Flatten the rice in the pot. Touch your index finger to the surface of the rice and add water up to the first line if you're using white rice, a little less than that if it's brown rice. Toggle the switch down to Cook. When the switch goes back to Warm, unplug the cooker and leave the rice for another 5mins to settle. Don't listen to any non-Asians claiming to know how to cook rice perfectly. You're welcome.
Last I checked other cultures also have rice central to their diets. Not one is superior to another, simply different
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Umm.. you don't use 2 cups of water for every type of rice-- that's how they end up with too much water genius... read the directions. Brown rice and basmati are typically 2:1 for water, but white, sticky/sweet and sushi rice will go gloopy with that much water while cooking.
I eat rice everyday. 1:1 ratio, on a rice cooker. 1:1.5 if you want it stickier. One wash is fine.
Use butter, much better flavor. And parboiled rice comes out perfect every time. No fail rice. Especially for company, it’s never ever mushy and each grain can stand alone. For a little extra look, sauté a about a 3 tbls or so of orzo until golden, add your cup of rice and mix around in butter for 30 sec. add your 2 cups of water or chicken broth and salt (nothing worse than bland rice) I use bouillon so I get a little flavor and salt. Simmer until it’s all flat on the top and no more water is bubbling up. 20 min. Don’t keep opening the lid. Leave it alone for 20 min. If there’s still a little goopy water on the bottom then leave for another couple minutes. Leave it longer if you like a crispy bottom, this rice is excellent for that. It’s pretty much a no fail rice if that’s the texture you’re going for. Not so much for rice pudding, it tends to get hard. Cheapy white rice is better since it tends to be more starchy.
Just buy a rice cooker or use your microwave. Most microwaves have a rice setting. And, I've seen people say NEVER wash your rice and others say ALWAYS wash your rice. I've been cooking plain old long grain rice for 60 years. Wash it and drain it in a seive. Ratio one cup, ANY CUP! rice and two cups water. Teaspoon of salt per cup of rice. Cook in a rice cooker or microwave or a stove top pan. It WILL come out soggywuth the rice cooker and microwave, which is why you then let it sit for about 10 minutes and then fluff it. Sometimes it takes a bit more than 10 minutes before it gets fluffy. It's not rocket flipping science. Just ordinary old math and common sense, like knowing what a ratio is, for goodness sake. Chef snobbery is the bane of an ordinary home cook. Trying to make the simplest things seem complicated. Don't read chef tips and get your knickers in a twist. A lot of it is complete bs.
It doesn't matter what kind of measurement you use... as long as you use twice as much water as rice! Measuring cup, coffee mugg, glass, soup ladle or, (crazy idea🙄) you weigh both. The rule: 2 parts water to 1 part rice always works! Wash your rice... and you can season the cooking water, but you don't have to! Just season the food well, you'll serve with the rice. Then you can use left over rice, for everything... even for desserts!
That is an ignorant way of cooking rice. Rice is not like bread that follows only one way of cooking. Some rice are washed more, some lose all flavor if washed more than twice. Some can be cooked by draining the water and it still remains amazingly aromatic and fragrant. You wont ever be able to appreciate rice cooking of different methods unless it is a staple in everyday meal, three times a day. When you eat rice that frequently, you learn to appreciate the difference in rice cooking methods.
Nope, boil like al dente noodles then poor all the water you can off, take off heat and cover with a lid. It comes out perfectly every time and is by far the easiest method I’ve ever come across.
When cooking sushi rice it's 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water. Everytime I use 2 cups water it's way too soggy. Oh and I use a saucepan instead of a rice cooker or pressure cooker.
for instant pot users the ratio it 1:1 using the pressure setting for 4 mins. turns out perfect if you like your rice Aldenta like I do, I also only use Jasmine from Thailand and always prewash the rice.
All right, purists, take this: I cook my rice in the oven in a 9x13 glass pan. I've had the best luck this way. Look it up.
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.
