Food lovers know that there is a certain art to making food. Cooking itself is a skill set that everybody may have but not everybody can master it. There is a reason why the food we eat in our homes tastes so different from the restaurant. Now, we know that we all can't be master chefs but there are certain practices that we can inculcate in our daily cooking that will improve the taste and the quality of food. At times, we skip some cooking steps thinking that we know better, but we are actually making tiny mistakes that can affect the taste of the food! That is why we shortlisted seven very common cooking mistakes that we do in our kitchen. If you have committed them, then don't worry you are not the only one.
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Here Are 7 Things We Are Doing Wrong In The Kitchen | 7 Common Cooking Mistakes We Should Avoid:
1. Throwing Pasta Water
The water used to boil pasta is full of starch. This starchy water helps the pasta bind with sauce to make a smooth and delicious pasta. Use pasta water over normal water for making a creamy pasta.
2. Overusing A Non-Stick Pan
Non-stick pans are excellent for making certain dishes, but not all. A non-stick pan can't get as hot as other pans, making it a bad choice for charring or searing food. Another disadvantage is that acidic foods erode the non-stick layer.
3. Adding Ingredients To An Unheated Pan
It is essential to have an evenly hot pan to start cooking. We often don't pre-heat the pan properly before adding our ingredients. In a recipe like stir-fry vegetables, the pan has to be hot for the vegetable to be crispy. A warm pan would make the vegetables mushy and soggy.
4. Using Dull Knives
We don't have a habit of sharpening their kitchen knives because we don't know that a sharp knife is more efficient and safer. Using dull knives means applying more pressure to it, leading the knife to slip and cut our fingers.
5. Not Preheating The Oven
Many recipes specifically instruct us to preheat the oven before starting the preparation. However, we don't listen. The reason why needs to preheat is that a preheated oven leads to uneven cooking, burning half a dish and leaving the other half uncooked.
6. Placing Hot Food In The Fridge
Placing hot food immediately in the fridge can bring the temperature of the fridge up and put other food at risk for bacteria.
7. Over-Mixing/Flipping Food While Cooking
We keep moving our food around, eager to see if it is ready or not. But this disturbs the cooking temperature of the food. We have to be patient and let the food cook properly before flipping it or stirring it.
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If you know about any other mistakes that people unconsciously make in the kitchen, do tell us in the comments section!