While some people find cooking soothing and therapeutic, others might break into hives at the very thought of it.
Mainly owing to the fact that they don't always find the journey quite worth the payoff of a perfectly cooked roast chicken, or a spongy and creamy cake.
With this in mind, when people do find themselves forced into the kitchen to prepare a meal, they often look for all the advice they can possibly get.
Advice many professional chefs are more than happy to provide.
Redditor polloastemiou was eager to hear all the cooking advice professional chefs had to offer, leading them to ask:
"Chefs of Reddit, what's a cooking hack everybody should know?"
A Clean Kitchen Is A Happy Kitchen
"Clean as you go."
"Not really about cooking, but it's way easier to clean everything immediately than to let it set in."
"It drives me nuts when I see people just throw sh*t in the sink expecting it to clean itself."- neverbeendead
Like Oil And Vinegar
"Don't f*ck your coworkers."
"Get quality olive oil."- friendly-skelly
Everything Could Use A Little Zest...
"Use lemon juice (or any appropriate acid, such as vinegar) as a seasoning just like salt & pepper."- Hessquire
Lemon Juice 80S GIF Giphy
Plan Ahead...
"Everything takes approximately twice as long as any recipe says it will take."
"Especially if you're making it for the first time."- neverbeendead
Just Watch Your Fingers
"Make sure your knives are sharp."
"It will make EVERYTHING you do easier."- aatkey
Strike That, Reverse It!
"Scrape food with the back of knife not the cutting edge."- Black03Z
Michael Myers Halloween GIF Giphy
Hygiene People!
" Wash your hands well and frequently."- Human_Melville
Preparation Is Key
"Prep your ingredients before you start active cooking."- Direct-Chef-9428
Ice Ice Baby!
"Freeze your fresh ginger and then grate as needed."- ricobandito
Give Thanks Eating GIF by I Heart Guts Giphy
Non Stick!
"Parchment paper for baking."- walmartbonerpills
Multi-Purpose
"A meat thermometer really makes cooking a lot easier and works for things beyond meat."
"I temp potatoes all the time to make sure they're fully cooked but not over cooked and gummy."
"To reach safe internal temps or target temps on various meats you can generally pull things off 10 degrees f early and let the meat rest."
"A steak will rise from 125f to 135f internal temp while you let it rest."
"The hotter exterior will continue to cook the interior."- IDontStandForCurls
We Learn From Our Mistakes
"Accepting that the only way you get better is trying something you may fail at."
"Don't be a coward."
"F*ck up the sides of your knife on a whetstone learning to sharpen."
"You'll learn how to properly care for a knife so when you get a decent one it will stay nice."
"Burn some sh*t."
"You'll learn how not to burn sh*t."
"Be creative and make some disgusting food."
"You'll learn how flavors interact so you can make something decent."
"So again, don't be a coward."
"You'll learn more from a failure than you think."- mehtorite
Gordon Ramsay Fox GIF by HULU Giphy
The Kitchen Is Not A Place For Surprises
"Not really a hack but if there’s more than one person in the kitchen, announce yourself before going behind anyone so they don’t back into your knife or scalding hot pot."- DriedUpSquid
Splish Splash!
"Don't be afraid to add splashes of water to your cooking food when the pan looks sticky/dry."- jenny_a_jenny_a
It's A Science
"Pro baker here."
"This is for baking, but a lot of the same logic works for cooking, though it's true that you can have a bit more leeway with cooking."
"Baking is science."
"It's formulaic and ratios."
"Cooking is art, but it still requires proper technique."
"Get a scale."
"Weigh everything."
"Filling cups by volume is very different than filling cups by weight."
"You are going to put too much flour in that recipe."
"Cake flour is 4 oz a cup, all purpose is 4.5 oz per cup."
"Please don't use corn starch to lower the protein in your AP flour if you bake regularly; just buy some cake flour."
"When you sub cornstarch, you are not only removing some of the protein in AP flour, you are removing everything that give structure to your baked goods."
"It's okay in a pinch, for one-off if you never bake and will never use the cake flour again, but please, if you're doing it regularly, ESPECIALLY if you are selling baked goods, buy some frigging cake flour and a scale."
"Lemon juice in milk works for buttermilk but it's not ideal."
"The lactic acid in buttermilk softens the proteins in flour, giving you a heavenly crumb to your cake."
"Again, if you are doing one-off, yes."
"Often or selling, no."
"Set a timer."
"You are going to forget those cookies in the oven."
"I saved countless batches of cookies and layers of cakes at my old job because my boss would put stuff in the oven and not set a timer."
"By the time he'd remember, the items were already out and cooled."
"The days I was off, he ended up with a lot of cheesecake crust crumbs because he'd burn the cookies and salvage the product by running them through the Robot Coupe to use as crusts or streusel-ish topping."
"Don't mess with a recipe until you know it, and if you do, don't blame the recipe for your product not turning out properly."
"I got tired of mentoring in groups because I'd post a no-fail-if-followed recipe and someone would change a thing then blame my recipe."
"No. Do it like I posted, I've used it and sold for years off that recipe."
"I know you added the rest of the egg or too much flour."- SnackBottom
baking ann b. davis GIF by HULU Giphy
Maybe after reading these tips, some of us might be a little less afraid of cooking.
Unless, of course, the only thing they like less than cooking is cleaning.
@GregAbbott_TX/X
