Cooking
on a stove-top is nothing like baking or grilling, it has its own rather
complicated set of rules that depends on a variety of different
factors, no wonder why many people only use it to make eggs, rice or
macaroni. But the truth is that your stove-top has so much potential:
with some guidance and practice, you can use it to make excellent
steaks, stews, sauces, and incredible braised veggie dishes, and we
barely scratched the surface with these examples.
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We
believe that most people are wary of stove-top cooking because they make
some common mistakes, and by solving those, we hope to inspire more
people to use their stove-tops more and feel more creative and confident
as they do so.
Mistake 1. Not taking your stove into account
Different
types of stoves heat up and change temperatures with different speeds,
and not taking this into account can affect your results. For example,
electric stoves change temperatures way slower than, let’s say, a gas
stove, so switching quickly from searing to simmering using an electric
stove can prove to be challenging, but still possible.
To
solve this, simply turn on a second burner on low and when you need to
lower the heat, transfer your pot or pan to the second burner. The
bottom line is that your stove matters just as much as the ingredients
or cookware you’re using, so always keep that in mind when trying out a
new dish.
Mistake 2. Overcrowding the pan
When
you have to cook a large family dinner, you might be tempted to cook a
bigger batch in the same size pan you usually use, but this is a serious
mistake. If you do so, your food will cook unevenly, with the part that
ended up on the top being at risk of hardly being cooked at all.
Also,
forget about a crispy or caramelized crust, as the abundance of food
will not allow you to sear the food properly. To avoid this mistake, you
will either have to cook in 2 batches or use 2 pans to prepare your
food. How much food is too much, you ask? Simply make sure every
ingredient in the pan gets plenty of heat at all times.
Mistake 3. Cooking on the wrong burner
Many
people don’t know this, but gas burners come in different sizes because
each size corresponds to the size of the pan or pot. This is because
gas burners usually cannot heat up a pan as evenly as an electric burner
and if you’re trying to sear a steak on the smallest or the mid-sized
one, it won't heat up your pan enough.
On
the other hand, sauteing a sauce may prove difficult if you’re using
the largest burner. That’s why you should always use the larger burners
for stock pots and frying pans, but use the smallest or medium-sized
ones for sauces.
Mistake 4. Consider your range hood
It’s
key to turn on your range hood while cooking, as it sucks up all the
smells, oils, and steam from your stove-top, which allows your dishes to
taste much better and have a nicer texture. However, with time, it can
accumulate a lot of solidified oils, dust and other gunk in it, and if
not cleaned regularly, it can actually make your dishes smell bad.
Clean your range hood regularly with detergent and a damp cloth to prevent this problem.
Mistake 5. Not drying off the ingredients before cooking
Water
and hot oil don’t mix well together and the resulting splatter may even
cause skin burns, so always dry off your ingredients before cooking
them. I personally even pat-dry the extra moisture off a steak with a
paper towel before grilling or searing it, which, I find, creates a
crispier and tastier exterior (apart from not injuring me).
Mistake 6. Stirring or flipping too early and too often
One
of the most intimidating foods to cook on a stove is meat or fish, as
it’s so easy to make it too tough or stringy without having that crispy
crust of your dreams. One of the main mistakes that will definitely
yield these honestly underwhelming results is flipping, stirring or
moving around the meat too often. When cooking a steak, for example, you
should ideally only turn it once and don’t move it until it’s crisped
up.
To
know if your meat or fish steak is ready, gently lift one side of the
steak and see if it has a golden exterior and doesn’t stick to the pan.
If so, it’s ready to be flipped. If you’re preparing chicken strips or
even seared mushrooms or veggies, follow the same rule, don’t move your
food around the pan until it gets a nice golden brown crust, otherwise,
it will stick to the pan.
Mistake 7. Putting cold or frozen foods into the pan
Another
common stove-top cooking mistake is taking the ingredients straight out
of the fridge and placing it on to the heat. This is the wrong thing to
do because the cold meat, veggies or whatnot will lower the temperature
of the pan, and that means that your food will be more likely to stick
to the pan and cook unevenly.
To avoid this mistake, simply take your ingredients out of the fridge ahead of time and let them reach room temperature.
Mistake 8. Using the wrong kind of oil or fat
Olive
oil is exquisite in salads, but it may not be your best friend when you
need to cook something over a high heat, as it has a relatively lower
boiling point than other oils, which means that it will start burning
rather fast, plus it has quite a pronounced taste that you may not
always want in your dish.
Try
using neutral oils, such as grape-seed or rice bran oil when you need
high heat (when making a stir fry or searing something). You won’t be
able to taste these oils and they will make it easier for you to
caramelize or crisp things up. Finally, don’t forget that you can
combine different oils, too. For example, mixing olive oil and butter
yields a very interesting taste and works oh so well with seafood.
Mistake 9. Not setting the food aside after cooking
When
you see that your dish is ready, don’t simply turn off the burner and
walk away from the stove. This is because the burner will continue being
hot for a while, and it will continue cooking your food during that
time, whether you want it or not. So, instead, it’s best to remove the
pan from the stove-top completely or transfer it to a cold burner.
Also,
it’s a useful habit to always keep your pan in one hand and control the
amount of heat your food gets by lifting the pan from time to time,
just like most chefs do. This will prevent your food from burning once
and for all, but admittedly, it does take a bit more attention and time
on your part.
Mistake 10. Using the wrong pan for a specific dish
Using
one pan for all applications may save you some money and kitchen space,
but it may also affect your food. The thing is that different pans are
specifically designed to do a different job. Just like you wouldn’t want
to jog in a pair of high-heeled shoes, you wouldn’t want to make
pancakes in a wok.
It’s
true that some frying pans are more universal than others and you can
probably make pretty much everything in a cast iron skillet, it’s not a
good idea to use a nonstick pan for everything, as these pans are best
suited for fluffy pancakes or soft scrambled eggs.
Similarly,
stainless steel pans are best for getting that crispy crust and searing
meat, fish, mushrooms, potatoes, and other vegetables. That’s why it’s
best to have a few different kinds of pans in the kitchen and use them
accordingly to the results you want to achieve.
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