Chefs share the dumbest kitchen mistakes, number 2

You watch every episode of MasterChef, you’ve even bought a sous vide machine and a smoker, and you see Yotam Ottolenghi as your best buddy. You’re a top chef, right? Well, yes, but professional chefs know all too well where most home cooks go wrong. Are you guilty of these bad kitchen habits?

Pressing down on burgers

How often do you see that? Someone is cooking their burger and presses it firmly onto the hot plate because it’ll be ready faster that way. No, no, no: you’re squeezing all the fat out of your burger (and that’s where the flavor is), so you’re left with a dry piece of squashed meat that tastes like cardboard.

Not preheating the oven

‘Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.’ Do you see that as optional advice? And do you just put your pizza or par-baked bread roll in the cold oven? A hot oven really does make a difference; for example, it ensures a good, even texture in the cake or pie you’re baking. Is your pizza rock-hard? Yes, that’s because you didn’t preheat the oven first.

Guessing whether the meat is done

If you’re not exactly sure when your steak or grilled chicken is ready, stick a thermometer in it. You can ignore recipes that specify exactly how long to cook a steak: they’re never right anyway.

Putting cookie dough straight into the oven

Are you making chocolate chip cookies? Shape the dough into balls and put them in the freezer. That way, the chocolate chips will stay intact when you bake them.

Just throwing everything together

If you’re baking a cake, don’t throw the entire ingredient list into the mixing bowl at once. First cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs, and only then the flour—the order in which you add the ingredients makes a big difference.

Overcrowding the pan

If the entire pan is packed with meatballs, schnitzels, or steaks, try getting them nicely browned. It won’t work! Just use a larger pan so you can move your meat, fish, or vegetables around in the hot pan; that works much better.

Too little salt

Oh, salt is unhealthy and bad and blah blah blah, so you only use a tiny bit. Bad idea, because food really doesn’t taste good with too little salt. Salt helps other flavors come into their own. But too much salt can also ruin an entire dish. So pay attention!

Read also:

• Recipe: top chef Robert Kranenborg’s favorite stamppot
• 7 tips for cooking safely
• 8 super-smart kitchen tips for every home cook

Source: Bored Panda