Professional chef reveals the 7 most common mistakes made by beginner cooks
Cooking is an invaluable skill, but sometimes it can take a long time to master the art.
Professional chef and restaurant owner Johnathan Law has revealed the top mistakes of amateurs on Quora.
Law, who operates The Year of the Ram Cafe and Diner in Shenzhen, China, said that most of these mistakes are easily avoidable once you know about them.
1. Overseasoning. Law said he used to use a dozen spices to season his dishes, but it only confused his palate. "A good dish should have at most 3-4 different primay flavors, coupled with some aromatics," he writes.
2. Underheating the pan. If you're stir-frying or searing meat, the pan should heat for 5-7 minutes, Law writes. "I have fired an employee before for consistently failing to do this," he said.
3. Constantly stirring food with a spatula or spoon. "Lots of people seem to think of sauteing as simply cooking something on high heat, and it's not," Law said. "The idea is to make sure the foods being sauteed never steam in the pot, and that means constantly 'jumping' the food, not stirring it with a spatula."
4. Not using an oven thermometer for baked goods. This $10 instrument ensures your cakes or brownies turn out perfect, Law said.
5. Adding too much liquid to a braise. "I've seen some people add enough water or wine to a braise that the meat is nearly completely submerged," Law writes. "NO! Don't do that! There's a difference between boiling and braising!"
6. Substituting baking ingredients because they taste similar. Make sure you know the chemical properties of the items you're using before doing this, Law says. Otherwise, the consistency of your dish could be totally off.
7. Adding too much starch to thicken sauces. People get impatient prematurely and add flour or cornstarch to thicken sauces, Law explains. But it's better to wait. "If you add too much starch, you will end up with a bland, grainy, nasty sauce," he says.
- A centenarian who starts her day with gentle exercise and loves walks shares 5 longevity tips, including staying single
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- Colon cancer rates are rising in young people. If you have two symptoms you should get a colonoscopy, a GI oncologist says.
- Having an regional accent can be bad for your interviews, especially an Indian one: study
- Dirty laundry? Major clothing companies like Zara and H&M under scrutiny for allegedly fuelling deforestation in Brazil
- 5 Best places to visit near Darjeeling
- Climate change could become main driver of biodiversity decline by mid-century: Study
- RBI initiates transition plan: Small finance banks to ascend to universal banking status
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market