Cooking can be therapeutic for many of us;
dealing with raw materials with different textures, tastes and colors is
a kind of art and the act of cooking itself can be especially relaxing.
This wonderful cooking experience can easily be destroyed by common
mistakes that many of us occasionally make, such as over-seasoning,
inadequate seasoning, or even over-cooking an egg, which can damage the
taste of food.
To avoid such problems, familiarize
yourself with the 12 common mistakes made by cooks in the kitchen and
the easy solutions that can save a meal and make cooking an enjoyable
experience once more.
1. Frying meat in a non-stick pan
The mistake: If you want to fry meat so
that it’s nicely seared, don’t do it in a nonstick pan. Pans of this
type do not reach the high temperatures required to sear meat and
therefore don’t create a crisp layer.
The fix: Nonstick pans are more suitable for frying eggs or pancakes,
and if you want to make juicy meat with a crisp seat, fry it in a cast
iron frying pan, which heats to high temperatures allowing the meat to
cook properly.
2. Not heating the pan enough
The mistake: Another mistake that many make
when preparing food in a pan is not heating the pan enough, which
causes the food to be cooked unevenly, to lose liquids and dry out,
which is why chefs say, "If you think the pan is hot enough, wait
another two minutes."
The fix: How do you know that the pan is hot enough? Spray a few drops
of water on it and if they sizzle or "pop" on the pan it’s a sign that
your pan is hot enough. After this step, you can add oil, but you should
wait for the water to evaporate first.
3. Thawing meat in the cooking process
The mistake: People, when rushed for time,
often use frozen meat in their cooking thinking it’ll defrost quicker
while being cooked. Unfortunately, meat cooked this way may seem ready
on the outside but will be almost raw on the inside. The same applies to
oven roasting.
The fix: To avoid such a situation, place thawed meat outside the
refrigerator or freezer for two hours and allow it to reach room
temperature before cooking. Properly thawed frozen meat cooks uniformly
and tastes better after cooking, as opposed to semi-frozen meat.
4. Frying in olive oil
The mistake: When frying, oil reaches high
temperatures, and when it comes to olive oil high temperatures cause it
to lose its nutritional value and it starts to burn. As a result, the
taste of your food may be destroyed maybe even making the meal inedible.
The fix: To avoid this, use olive oil for seasoning and not for frying.
Canola oil, for example, is resistant to high temperatures, which is why
it’s recommended for frying.
5. Measuring using a glass cup
The mistake: The vast majority of people
enjoy eating pastries, and those of us who enjoy the baking process know
that this is a delicate science, and therefore precise quantities must
be used by measuring the ingredients. When measuring in a glass cup
people often forget that it holds different volumes of dry and liquid
products, and therefore will never give an exact measurement.
The fix: To avoid mixing incorrect amounts of ingredients that may
destroy the pastry, use a professional measuring cup that has one row
for volume and another for weight.
6. Store all foods in the refrigerator
The mistake: We all want to keep food we
buy at the grocery fresh, but it's not a good idea to put every single
item in the fridge. Vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, garlic,
potatoes and tropical fruits like kiwi and mango tend to spoil and lose
their flavor when cooled, but they retain their freshness when stored in
a warm place.
The fix: To maintain the freshness of fruits and vegetables, check which
ones should be kept in a warm place and place them in open baskets to
keep them fresh for longer.
7. Over-frying garlic
The mistake: Over-frying garlic causes it
to burn and lose its taste and texture. This happens because the water
content in garlic is low, so when you fry it too long, the water inside
it evaporates quickly and it burns.
The fix: In order to enjoy the unique taste of garlic, add it to food
towards the end of the cooking process or fry it for 2-3 minutes, remove
it from the pot or pan and set it aside until you want to add it to the
food you are preparing.
8. Over-cooking eggs
The mistake: Many people think that if the
egg yolk looks gray after cooking it is a sign that the egg is spoiled.
However, this color is not related to the quality of the egg, but to the
time of cooking. An egg that cooks too long turns gray and rubbery.
The fix: To maintain the color of egg yolks, remove the pot from the
heat as soon as the water begins to boil, cover the pot and let the eggs
remain in the water for another 10 minutes before you peel them.
9. Not salting pasta
The mistake: Many people are afraid to
over-salt their pasta, so they don’t add any salt, which makes it
tasteless. Topping non-salted pasta with a delicious sauce won’t help in
this case because unsalted pasta doesn’t absorb flavors like salted
pasta does.
The fix: In order to salt your pasta properly, use the following rule:
Add one tablespoon of salt to every 300 grams of pasta. This way you can
be sure that your pasta dinners will be full of flavor.
10. Using dried herbs instead of fresh
The mistake: When there are no fresh herbs
in the house, we usually use dry, packaged substitutes, but this may
ruin the taste of food. Drying herbs like parsley and basil causes them
to lose their taste unlike drying oregano and tarragon which develops
and enhances their flavors. Therefore, adding dried herbs instead of
fresh causes the taste of food to either be too concentrated or not
strong enough.
The fix: If you get stuck without fresh herbs in the middle of cooking,
consider the taste concentration of the spices mentioned above and add
them to the dish accordingly. Also try to store fresh herbs in paper
towels that absorb moisture, so that you always have fresh herbs on
hand.
11. Frying moist spinach
The mistake: Frying wet vegetables for a
hot and healthy side is a mistake. Frying vegetables such as spinach or
arugula that still have water on them causes them to lose their crisp
texture leading to them being soft, soggy and unpleasant to eat.
The fix: To enjoy the wonderful taste of fried or stir-fried spinach,
you should purchase a salad dryer, or absorbs the water from the
vegetables with paper towels before cooking them.
12. Crumbly coating of breadcrumbs
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The mistake: Fried chicken with a crisp
golden coating is a favorite dish especially for children and adults
alike, but when preparing fried chicken, the coating of breadcrumbs does
not always stick to the meat, and we get a half-coated piece.
The fix: Try to make a crispy coating use the following method: First
dunk the meat in flour, then in the egg and only after in the
breadcrumbs. Fry the chicken in a well-heated pan with canola oil and
get ready for the best breaded-chicken you’ve ever had.
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