36 Little Cooking Habits You Should Actually Ditch ASAP


Olde Hornet

Well-Known Member

Cooking is both rewarding and challenging. Whether you're just starting out or have been honing your kitchen skills for a while, there are likely some mistakes you might still be making. 🔪

From throwing out the pasta water to buying the wrong cuts of meat, here are cooking and baking mistakes you should avoid if you want to get to the next level in the kitchen. (Plus, how to fix those mistakes for next time!)

1. You overcrowd the pan.

A crowded pan is a recipe for soggy disaster. While it may be tempting to fit as many veggies as possible on one sheet tray, doing so will increase the moisture — and food is more likely to steam instead of brown. When roasting, pan-frying, sautéing, or pan-searing food, give your ingredients room to breathe. That way, they can get perfectly golden brown.

2. You under salt the water.

When adding pasta to boiling water, the pasta will absorb part of the water as it cooks. If you don't salt the water, the food will remain bland. But if you do, it'll be seasoned from within, which is a sure-fire way to achieve pasta greatness. If you're wondering how much salt you should add to the water, the answer is: more than you think! Italians will tell you it should be "as salty as the sea," and while that's a charming overstatement, it's not that far from the truth. Most of the salt you add will get lost in the water, so to make sure some of it gets in the pasta, you need to be generous.
 
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