I am here to solve your problems in the kitchen and show you that you can be an awesome cook. I was watching the show "Worst Cooks in America," and saw a lot of mistakes that I think could easily be corrected. Cooking is not as hard as everyone makes it. It really only takes a few very simple skills, in my opinion. The first is following directions, if you are able to follow the directions of a recipe you are like 60% on your way to becoming a great cook. The second is patience, being patient can be the difference between cooked chicken and undercooked chicken. The third is attention, sometimes you have to stand next to your gravy and make sure that it is the right consistency. All three of these rules are fluid and sometimes one requires the other. With these three things I truly believe there is no such thing as a bad cook.
Let's talk about the first way to become a better cook, following directions. This rule is primarily important for beginners and really bad cooks. If you don't know what you're doing in the kitchen just let someone guide you until you do know what you're doing in the kitchen. Start off with some easy recipes and move your way up onto harder recipes. Just make sure you follow those directions. I can't stress this enough. When I was first starting out cooking I would always do something different from the recipe and then wonder why my meal tastes terrible. It was because I wasn't following the recipe. My mom is one of the best cooks I know and she still busts out her old family recipe book to double check her pancake recipe and make sure she got it right. Of course world-renowned chefs are able to create recipes because they were trained to figured out which flavors pair well together. Luckily this blog isn't for world-renowned chefs, it's for beginners. Okay so now is it engrained in your brain to follow the recipe?
My second piece of advice is patience, which kind of coincides with following directions. Sometimes when you're cooking and you're really hungry, you really just want to eat that pizza now. Well too bad, it's not done yet! Please don't let your impatience ruin the food you're cooking. Something that is perfectly cooked can taste 1,000 times better than if it was a little undercooked or a little overcooked. This rule is especially important when you're cooking chicken. You never want to eat undercooked chicken. You're probably saying "but I can put it back in the oven." Well yea that may be true but you have to cut into that chicken to find out and now you lost a ton of those delicious juices. Now of course it is better to undercook than overcook in terms of salvaging the chicken. The dangerous part about undercooking that chicken is going to be if you eat it and get sick. So be careful if it is undercooked. Patience is also important while adding ingredients, which again ties back into the last rule. Make sure that you are being patient and adding ingredients at the appropriate. Many recipes require you to add those ingredients at the right time or the whole recipe can be ruined.
The third rule to follow is attention. Attention seems very broad and it kind of is. You must be paying attention to your dishes while they are cooking, but you must also use attention to detail. When it comes to paying attention it is a good idea to be around your food, unless of course you're slow cooking or simmering something for a few hours. Some recipes, like gravy or a roux, you will have to constantly be stirring and maintaining, which ties back in with patience. A good idea, and this may seem like a no-brainer, is to set a timer to ensure that you do remember to flip something, or when a dish is done cooking. The second part of this rule is attention to detail. Make sure that you read a recipe, read it again, and then maybe just read it one more time. If you forget one ingredient you're whole dish can totally be ruined. It is so important that you have every ingredient and remember to add them all. If your batter is to thick, or something looks funny double-check your recipe. Chances are you probably forgot something that can still be fixed. Another reason to pay attention to detail is measurements. Be aware of whether you are adding 1 teaspoon as opposed to 1 tablespoon. You might also want to utilize measurement conversions online or in most cookbooks. Some recipes will put 8 ounces instead of 1 cup so be aware of those differences. Now that you are paying attention you are well on your way to becoming a good cook.
So you're following directions, being patient, and paying close attention to what you're doing. With all of these tips you can transform into a cooking machine. Another big tip I can give is to use your common sense. Maybe I'm being harsh and some of these things aren't common sense but they are necessary. Don't leave raw meat left out for long periods of time. This is how meat goes rancid and you can make people sick if you cook it and serve it to them. The longer meat sits out the more bacteria forms in the meat. Another good rule is that if a dis looks terrible, it probably is. This isn't necessarily true for everything, but it's not a terrible rule of thumb. Lastly, taste your food as you are making it. If something tastes bad it is better to find out earlier rather than later. If you think something tastes bad scrap it and try it again, or try and fix it.
I think I have given you plenty to think about if you want to become a better cook. I sincerely hope this information helps you get into the kitchen and try out cooking.
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