Whether you enjoy cooking for family and friends and want to improve your skills or if you are considering working in the food industry professionally, knowing some of the top mistakes made in the kitchen that chefs do not make will help you to increase the knowledge and experience you have when you are preparing any type of dish. Understanding the 5 kitchen mistakes top chefs don’t make will help you to avoid making them so you can become an expert in cooking, baking and even preparing dishes of any cuisine.
Seasoning Meat Too Early
When you season meat too early prior to grilling, baking or even pan-searing it, it can often cause the meat to harden, drawing all of the moisture within the meat out. Instead, season the meat you plan to prepare just before you start to cook it to keep the meat as tender as possible.
Not Allowing Meat to Rest Properly After Cooking
Allowing meat to rest for anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes is highly recommended when you are cooking to avoid letting all of the meat’s natural juices out too soon. Additionally, allowing meat to rest once you are done cooking is a way to ensure that all of the juices within the meat itself are more evenly distributed throughout the entire slab or roast. After you have cooked chicken or steak, allow the meat to rest for at least 5 to 10 minutes. When you are preparing entire birds or roasts, allowing the meat to rest for anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes is ideal depending on the amount of meat you are cooking.
Softening Butter Too Much
Softening butter too much in any recipe can change the entire consistency of the final product. Using butter that is too soft can ruin the texture of any recipe you are working to complete. It is best to soften the butter just a bit when using a microwave, or better yet, leave the butter out on the kitchen counter until it has softened just enough.
Not Tasting a Recipe While Cooking It
When you prepare any type of meal, tasting the recipe during the entire process of cooking it is vital to ensuring the food has the flavor you desire. Tasting your food during the process of cooking it will help you to determine whether or not you are lacking in seasoning or if you need to tweak the entire texture or consistency of the recipe you have selected. The more you taste your recipe each time you prepare it, the easier it will become to distinguish flavors and seasonings that you prefer.
Overcrowding Your Pan
Top chefs do not make the mistake of overcrowding the pots and pans they are using to prepare everything from appetizers to multiple course meals. When you are using a pan to prepare any type of food, ensuring it is not overcrowded with vegetables, meats or other ingredients will allow the food to cook more evenly. When you overcrowd a pan during cooking, it often changes the temperature of all of the ingredients and the heat is not evenly distributed to the foods within the pan itself. Use multiple pans if you do not have the appropriate size so that you avoid not cooking some of the ingredients at all.
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Chef Wendy Franklin enjoys perfecting a recipe and knowing that the food that comes out of her kitchen is top of the line. Wendy enjoys sharing helpful cooking tips with her readers and has also contributed to “How Do I Become a Chef?” for anyone who wants to turn their passion for cooking into a career.