7 Cooking Mistakes That Are Making Your Dishes Taste Bad
Unless you are a trained chef or culinary school graduate, no one expects you to be an expert in the kitchen. Nevertheless, there are still some common cooking mistakes you should know how to avoid. Not to impress anyone or to try to win your own cooking show, but because these mistakes can negatively affect the taste of your food! And, no one wants that! So, if you want to avoid these common cooking mistakes that make your dishes taste bad, just keep on reading:
Let’s see which common cooking mistakes might be making your dishes taste bad
Cooking Mistakes That Make Your Dishes Taste Bad
#Opening the oven door
It is okay to monitor your food, but not if you open the oven door every time! Every time you open the hot oven, the temperature will drop significantly, meaning the food will take longer to cook. These temperature fluctuations can also lead to unevenly cooked food. If you want to check on the food you are cooking, turn on the oven light and look through the door. If you have to open the oven door, do so rarely and quickly to reduce heat loss.
If you are constantly opening the oven door, the temperature will change drastically
#Using a dull knife
As obvious as it sounds, using a dull knife in the kitchen can actually be more dangerous than using a sharp one. This is actually one of the most dangerous things in the kitchen! That is because you have to use more force to cut something with a dull knife, and that extra force can cause the knife, the cutting board, or the food itself to slip, resulting in injury. But with a sharp knife, the weight of the blade does most of the work, and the cuts are easier and look cleaner. So, you really need to monitor your knives and sharpen them regularly to avoid injury and have perfectly cut food.
Using a dull knife in the kitchen is actually more dangerous than using a sharp one
#Not storing ingredients properly
Using fresh ingredients when cooking doesn’t necessarily guarantee a tasty meal, but it certainly helps! And storing ingredients the right way will help you keep them tasting fresh for as long as possible. So, make sure to store fruits and vegetables properly to ensure that they are fresh and delicious, and last longer! The same goes for storing bread to keep it soft on the inside and crispy and fresh on the outside!
Knowing how to properly store your ingredients makes all the difference in their taste
#Not tasting food while cooking
Even when following a recipe, it is important to taste what you are cooking as you go! Tasting at each step gives you the opportunity to make adjustments as you go to fine-tune spices, moisture levels, and other elements as needed. Many people trust the recipes they are using, but that doesn’t mean that mistakes don’t happen. So, make sure to taste your food, especially when adding salt and other spices!
Not tasting your food while adding salt and spices is a common cooking mistake
#Cooking with dirty appliances and utensils
Cooking with dirty tools and appliances can affect the taste of your food. Make sure to clean burnt food from your pots and pans and keep your appliances from burning. Also, be careful with your cutting boards! You need to properly clean and disinfect wooden cutting boards and utensils to make sure that there is no leftover taste and smell, as well as bacteria. In addition, keep the dirtiest parts of the kitchen clean at all times!
Make sure that all of your appliances are clean and with no leftover food
#Misreading recipes
Be sure to read your recipes carefully and pay close attention to the wording of each ingredient! For example, if a recipe calls for “1 cup of almonds,” that means you should measure the almonds before chopping them. If it calls for “1 cup chopped almonds,” that means you should chop the almonds first, then measure them. It may be a subtle difference in some cases, but in others, it can change the flavor of your recipe in unexpected (and probably unfortunate) ways! This is especially important in baking, where every gram makes a huge difference in the end result.
Misreading recipes is a classic mistake that people make while cooking
#Using the same oil for everything
Some cooking oils are better for certain recipes than others. For example, avocado oil has a high burning point, so it is a good choice for stir-frying and other high-heat methods. If you have to use a low-burning point oil (like extra-virgin olive oil) to cook something at a high temperature, it can easily cause the oil to burn and make your entire dish taste burnt. Extra-virgin olive oil, for example, is perfect for salads where no cooking is required. So, make sure to research what oils are best for what types of cooking. That will make all the difference in your dishes!
Avocado oil has a high burning point, so it is a good choice for high-heat methods
Extra-virgin olive oil, however, is perfect for salads where no cooking is required
These were all the common cooking mistakes you need to be careful with. If you make them a habit, this in return will make your dishes cook faster, taste better, and your ingredients last longer!
Now you know which are the most common cooking mistakes that you need to avoid
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Sources
- Eating Well ©
- Pure Wow ©
- Delish ©
- Epicurious ©
- Eat This ©
