What are the biggest mistakes cooking?

Good list. Most of our frying pans can go into the oven, except one square one we just use for frying eggs and pancakes, that has the silverstone coating on it. Many of our pots can go into the oven, most are stainless steel commercial quality pots. Heavy with the thick bottoms.

I don't use ginger for anything other than making hot toddies.

I have never cut my fingers cutting onions, other things yes, but not onions. Onions tend to burn a cut if you have one, so I tend to be careful with them. I never chop things on a board, always in my hands and drop them into a pot. I tried that board chopping and cut myself one time so quit cutting on a board forty years ago.

Time and temperature. One of the most important aspects of cooking correctly. Most people think time and temperature is what temp to set the oven and how long to cook it. Time and temperature are safety guidelines. The temperature refers to the internal temp of what your cooking. Time refers to how long to hold it at said temperature to kill bacteria. Chicken for example if you follow the guidelines chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit to kill salmonella. What they don't tell you is that one second at 165 degrees kills the same amount of Salmonella as 145 degrees for 8.5mins. For example I like to cook my chicken breast to 155 degrees. Its tender and juicy. Nothing worse than over cooked chicken.

Buy an instant read thermometer from a restaurant store or online preferably a digital one. They cost about $20 for a digital one. Don't use the plastic pop up ones that come with whole chicken.

A digital thermometer will also allow you cook steaks and burgers to temp correctly. No more guessing.

90 degrees to 100 Rare
110 degrees to 115 medium Rare
120 degrees to 125 medium
135 degrees medium Well
145 degrees Well done.

Here are the Top Three I learned at chef's school:

1. Always thaw frozen items in the refrigerator. Never on the countertop. Never in the sink. Never outside of the refrigerator.

2. Never store vegetables and meats in the same airspace (refrigerator). The gasses from most vegetables (broccoli is the worst offender) will cause meats to begin to decay--even when they're refrigerated. Keep everything in sealed containers of Zip-Loc bags.

3. If you see liquid in a package of fresh chicken--reject it. That is a good indicator it's contaminated with bacteria.

a reply to: Nothin

Only thing I would disagree on is olive oil not being a good cooking oil. Extra virgin olive oil has not place in a pan, but regular (real) olive oil is good for cooking a lot of things. It's not good for frying things, but then neither is butter. EVOO is so overrated it makes me chuckle, some people think it's the end-all be-all for everything and it's totally not.

Additionally, the best high temp oils are oils like grapeseed oil and peanut oil. I've never used avocado oil, but coconut oil burns at high temps (it's smoke point is only 350F) and isn't ghee a form of butter? I looked up avocado oil and it has a smoke point of 520F so it would probably be good.

a reply to: Meniscus

Excellent point, and something I neglected to mention. Many published cookbooks will tell you to WAY overcook meats!

They do this for liability reasons. In fact, most cookbooks will tell you 125F is the lowest temp you should ever serve beef! That's absolute hogwash! Then they'll list 10-15F increments from there. Same thing for pork, and especially turkey; they list temps like 150F for pork and 175 for turkey.

ETA - This is also why almost all new slow-cookers are completely worthless. They cook at way too high temps. The food safety Nazi's have ruined all these once great kitchen tools, so it's back to the basics like dutch ovens over low heat.

a reply to: rickymouse

Whoa!! You chop things in your "hand"???? Now there's something I would not recommend! You might do that once in our kitchen, but you wouldn't have any hands left to do it twice! Not with our knives.

I must misunderstand what you are saying because no way is it ever advisable to cut/chop anything 'toward' your body...ever!

Again, I must misunderstand, but I wouldn't even want to watch you show me this!!

Just wanted to add, If you nuke your cloves for like a minute in a cup with some water, they pop right out of the shells with no drama, and taste the same.

The biggest mistake I see is with cooking meat. Especially thick cuts...

Room temp required, including the inside of the meats.
I do steaks, or any thick cuts this way, especially brisket or pork butt.
On the steaks, I do room temp. If I can't wait the 2-4 hrs, I nuke it on medium power for a min or two, just enough to warm center, but not cook it at all. Then it's straight to the grill for a sear of about 3-4 min a side at the hottest temp I can get. That's after a nice butter and herb bath.

Strong flavored ingredients like vinegar, salt, mustard, citrus, truffle oil, cumin, curry, green peppers, onion and olives in the wrong proportions will d-stroy any dish fast.

So will too big of slices of onions and green peppers.
...So dice that stuff small

What are the biggest mistakes cooking?

Undercooking pork unless you like trichinosis.

And some undercooked fish can kill you. ex Fugu

My biggest mistake is usually drinking to much tequila at my bbq and making a fool of myself.

originally posted by: CriticalStinker

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: CriticalStinker

It's a pet peeve of mine when people think al dente means underdone or under cooked.

What about totally overcooked pasta. Like people who think it is ok to leave pasta in a slow cooker for 9 hours and think that is edible.

I'm traumatized from spaghetti, not because the noodle itself is always bad... But because often it's not cooked properly IMO.
I cook all my pasta underdone, then finish in the sauce to make sure it's still firm.

That's the right way. Also sauce must be ready before the pasta.

a reply to: olaru12

How you cook Fugu is irrelevant, you can eat it raw. Cooking doesn't kill the toxins in Fugu at all.

It's how you cut Fugu which counts.

The toxin in Fugu is a neurotoxin and is unaffected by heat.

Just FYI.

And no, I've never eaten it and don't intend to either. It's not good enough to make me want to risk my life on it.

And did you know, getting Trichinosis from under cooked pork is largely a myth anymore due to the way they're fed. There are lots of reasons you want to cook pork to certain temps, but Trichinosis isn't really the biggest one anymore. Between 2002 and 2007 there were only 44 cases of Trichinosis in the US (out of 325,000,000 people), and the overwhelming majority of these were attributed to consuming wild game, not pork.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


Invest in, and keep sharp, a good set of knives.

Don't add oil to pasta water and save the water to thicken your sauces. Don't rinse your pasta under cold water. Finish the pasta in the sauce.

Don't put sliced/cubed potatoes in warm water when boiling them for mashed, it makes grainy potatoes.

Do not tent any grilled/pan-seared meat ever.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Agreed.

A knife won't make you a better cook, but it sure makes things a heck of a lot safer and look nicer too. Go Wusthof and Heckels! (We also use a few Victorinox commercial knives (formerly Forschner), boy are those things sharp when sharpened properly).

Yep, potatoes are one of the few things to add to cold water.

I did not know that about using the pasta water to thicken sauce though. That's a really good tip, and it makes perfect sense! Great tip!

And yeah, it kills me whenever you see a recipe tell you to tent grilled and seared meat! (why did we sear it then???) LOL!

Good points all.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


For the uneducated (not you obviously), sharp knives keep you from tearing the onion's cell walls too which make you 'cry'. I'm a Wusthof guy myself.

The pasta water thing is how they do it in Italy, the starch in the water acts as a natural thickener.

1. Forgive me if this have been mentioned, but bring your meat to room temperature before cooking.
Usually 20-30 minutes on the counter.

However, I don't know about doing this with ground meats.

2. Avocado oil is great for frying foods.

3. This is a noticeable difference between gas and electric cooktops and gas and electric ovens.
I know this from experience....as I had gas appliances all my life until last year.
Gas ovens have a higher humidity than electric due to the combustion of gas. In my experience, it lengthens cooking times. [I have had a LOT of recipes be "off" for times, and I knew my oven temps were true, but I always have the item in the oven 5-15 minutes longer.]
Electric cooktops SUCK!!!!!! No other way to explain it...takes too long to heat, and too long to cool.
IMHO, the best stove would be an electric oven with a gas cooktop, and they are available these days.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe


The bringing meat up to temp is a really good one. I gave you Applause for that.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Huh, we have an old gas oven and just automatically lower the temps about 25 degrees without tampering with cook times and ours comes out where it should be.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Nice to know that about the Fugu....

In 4H where we raised and butchered our own hogs, it was drilled into us to cook pork well.

4-h.org...

I'm a pretty serious home cook whom is fortunate to do charity events with a local Master Chef Society. Learned a ton just by helping them and I'm confident enough in my cooking that I entertain them at my house. They are friends. With that said...………

Lack of preplanning

For major meals, I do a master list and flow sheet including how each dish will be served. Remember, you eat with the eyes first so organization and presentation is a must. One of the things I was taught was to not bust your ass trying to get everything done at the same time. Preplan with timeline, have an ingredient list, and execute your plan.

Not understanding residual heat or how to hold food at it's peak.

Food continues to cook after it leaves the pan. If you want peak, learn how to use residual heat to your advantage.

Have basically two kitchens with one being outdoors and I even have a holding oven on my back deck. Amazing

Letting food dry out

Buy some commercial plastic wrap and use it. I never let anything just sit uncovered.

Actually, I have a ton more. Would you believe it is dinner time and I need to go cook?

Denny

I'm a pretty serious home cook whom is fortunate to do charity events with a local Master Chef Society. Learned a ton just by helping them and I'm confident enough in my cooking that I entertain them at my house. They are friends. With that said...………

Lack of preplanning

For major meals, I do a master list and flow sheet including how each dish will be served. Remember, you eat with the eyes first so organization and presentation is a must. One of the things I was taught was to not bust your ass trying to get everything done at the same time. Preplan with timeline, have an ingredient list, and execute your plan.

Not understanding residual heat or how to hold food at it's peak.

Food continues to cook after it leaves the pan. If you want peak, learn how to use residual heat to your advantage.

Have basically two kitchens with one being outdoors and I even have a holding oven on my back deck. Amazing

Letting food dry out

Buy some commercial plastic wrap and use it. I never let anything just sit uncovered.

Actually, I have a ton more. Would you believe it is dinner time and I need to go cook?

Denny

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: rickymouse

Whoa!! You chop things in your "hand"???? Now there's something I would not recommend! You might do that once in our kitchen, but you wouldn't have any hands left to do it twice! Not with our knives.

I must misunderstand what you are saying because no way is it ever advisable to cut/chop anything 'toward' your body...ever!

Again, I must misunderstand, but I wouldn't even want to watch you show me this!!

I was a boy scout, when camping, you do not have a table and I camped a lot. I also used to carve all kind of stuff with my razor sharp pocket knife. You get used to it, when slicing something like a carrot or potato, you cut part way through and spin the carrot or potato into the knife instead of muscling the knife all the way through. you basically are only cutting to the half way point of the fruit or veggie. I have been using this method for fifty years and rarely ever cut myself. Try it on a carrot some day, be sure not to cut yourself.