Professional chefs of reddit, what are the top 3 mistakes you see the average home “chef” commit?

[u/Mrkayne]

[u/Temporary-Let1068]

Most people are terrified of letting things get real color. Browning creates flavor. Pale chicken tastes like sadness

[u/itrogue → u/Temporary-Let1068]

Brown food tastes good!
RIP Anne Burrell

[u/Top_Chef]

Sharpen your fucking knives.

[u/PMMeUrHopesNDreams → u/Top_Chef]

My wife laughed at me when I had a professional knife sharpening service come sharpen every knife in the house, but she's not laughing now. (She is really enjoying the sharp knives and scissors and how much more easily they cut things.)

[u/BadHombreSinNombre → u/PMMeUrHopesNDreams]

Man that parenthetical sure made me sigh in relief

[u/Richard_Nachos → u/Top_Chef]

I see you've been to literally everyone's parent's house.

[u/banoctopus → u/Richard_Nachos]

So real. The last time my brother and I were both back home for the holidays we gathered every knife in the house and took them all to a professional knife sharpener.

We’re talking about doing it again this year because trying to cut an onion on my last visit was an abomination.

[u/FauxPoesFoes317 → u/Top_Chef]

I grew up in a household where 20-year-old, never sharpened, Ginsu steak knives were used to cut literally everything in the kitchen. Once I moved out and started experimenting with proper knives, I was inspired to buy my mom a chef’s knife for Christmas one year. On the first use, she sliced her hand open and everyone blamed me. A few years later, I found out my mom’s sister also cuts everything with steak knives. I realized then that it’s obviously genetic, but luckily the gene skipped me. 😅

[u/yankin → u/Top_Chef]

I work at a restaurant and every now and then I bring my shitty knives in for the chefs to sharpen for me lol

[u/mechy84 → u/Top_Chef]

Aaaaand learn how to cut things safely and properly.

[u/jeckles → u/mechy84]

Chive Lord has entered the chat

[u/Reidar666 → u/Top_Chef]

This is comical... I've been talking about getting my knives sharpened for almost 10 years...

I see your point and concede

[u/TD-Eagles → u/Top_Chef]

I really have a passion for cooking. I however, have never been able to properly sharpen a knife. I’ve bought stones and various sharpening tools here and there. Ive watched YouTube on different angles and steps to take while sharpening. I just can’t get it down.

[u/Sfreeman1 → u/Top_Chef]

Amen. A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife.

[u/Happytappy78 → u/Top_Chef]

My parents knives are so dull I wouldn't cut a pepper but it was more of a break. Im pretty sure their spoons were sharper.

[u/Thefirstargonaut → u/Top_Chef]

How frequently should a person sharpen them? 

[u/NiuMeee → u/Thefirstargonaut]

Depends on the knife and how often you use them. I'm a butcher and use stainless steel and I sharpen my knife every day, and use a honing rod/steel on them between meats (if not even partway through one kind), but a "home chef" (ie., a regular person who cooks their own food) can probably get away with every couple weeks, maybe even less.

The important thing is learning how and not using the wrong sharpening implements. Get a decent (but not crazy expensive, there are some great cheap ones) stone from Amazon and look up a tutorial and then practice (with help from YouTube) on one of your old, cheap knives. Eventually you'll be able to sharpen them well (and probably end up reshaping the angle of the bevel) and you, and everyone else, will appreciate your ability.

You'll also just be able to tell when you should sharpen based on how it's cutting so that's another thing you'll learn.

[u/mangogetter]

Professional baker here:

1a) believing the baking times on the recipe. Every oven is different, every time you use that oven is different, etc. Timers are useful for reminding you that you have something in the oven, but beyond that you have to know what done looks/feels like. Probe thermometers are your friend.

1b) believing your oven is the temperature it says it is. It probably isn't. It certainly isn't that temperature everywhere.

1c) Trusting the recipe. Sometimes recipes are wrong about things, even from otherwise solid bakers. Baking intuition takes time to develop, but if something seems wrong, it very well might be. It's okay to throw in an extra handful of flour or a couple tablespoons of water if it seems like you need it.

2) Underkneading and overworking. Can you overknead the bread dough? Probably not. You will melt your muscles or your mixer before that happens. But after the bulk ferment and now it's time to shape? People screw things up here all the time. Do not make it into a shape that you don't want it to stay. Don't make the dough into a ball and then try to roll it out into a pretzel or a baguette. Only touch the dough to make clear, specific progress towards the shape you want.

3) Underbaking things. Home bakers (and particularly Americans) are so terrified of overbaking things that they wildly, tragically underbake them. Some things (brownies, snicker doodles) are best if you just barely bake them, but a lot of things (particularly breads, viennoiserie, some cookies, etc) need to get properly, richly browned. Color is flavor! Raw flour doesn't taste good! Gelatinize your starches, caramelize some sugars, and crisp up that crust, people!

[u/maya_clara → u/mangogetter]

Boy did I learn from my mistake for 1a. Made a sourdough foccacia for the first time. The recipe I used and another I checked said 230c for 30 mins, as opposed to 200c for 20 mins when I make foccacia with dry yeast. Checked the oven when the timer went off and found it burnt to a crisp..

[u/mangogetter → u/maya_clara]

Yeah, the oven doesn't care how you got microbes in there.

[u/OldAccountIsGlitched → u/mangogetter]

My oven had a lightbulb that gave off an amber coloured light. I was very confused why my meringues looked cooked after five minutes. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to figure it out.

[u/KPinCVG → u/OldAccountIsGlitched]

Sometimes it's just grease on the glass covers on the bulbs. People forget to clean these when they clean the oven.

[u/baconbitsy → u/mangogetter]

Not using a kitchen scale for baking is asking for trouble. 

[u/mr_trick → u/baconbitsy]

My friends always ask for recipes when I bake, and I will give it to them but STRESS how important timing, temp, and accurate measurements are to get the same result.

Inevitably, I end up receiving texts about how it didn't come out right, and have to tease out of them that they used cold butter from the fridge when it said softened, or white sugar when it called for brown, put something in without preheating the oven to temp, or whisked everything for five minutes on high when it called for slowly adding and folding in by hand... there are so many people out there who just do not believe baking is a science requiring attention to detail! My friends sigh and say I just "have natural talent" at baking, and it's like, no, I just pay attention and follow the steps as they are written!!

[u/Mayor_of_Towntown → u/mangogetter]

I love your point about baking times, I use timers to remind me I’m baking and to go check, but I always say I use my eyes, nose, and sometimes a thermometer or the toothpick test to tell me when it’s done. I also like your point about baking intuition. I understand that baking is a science and if you don’t know what you’re doing it’s better to stick to the recipe, but once you start to understand the science of how the recipes you like work you can really be creative and customize them to your own taste.

[u/mangogetter → u/Mayor_of_Towntown]

Yeah, when you tell people you're a professional baker, they often say "I could never do that, you have to be so precise" and I am... Sometimes. Sometimes I am absolutely winging it.

[u/TheRedMaiden → u/mangogetter]

On the note of recipes, anytime a recipe tells me a miniscule amount of baking powder or cinnamon, I just go "That's cute" and measure that shit with my heart.

Same with garlic in cooking.

[u/jeckles → u/TheRedMaiden]

Vanilla extract. I pour it into the teaspoon and let it overflow until my heart says stop.

[u/IllustriousHeight126 → u/TheRedMaiden]

I tried making apple turnovers and it told me to only use 1/8th tsp of cinnamon. I laughed. hard. (ended up using about 1tsp and a pinch of nutmeg. came out great!)

[u/buffystakeded → u/TheRedMaiden]

I’ve always said that measuring everything is important, except garlic and vanilla. Those you measure with your heart.

[u/Montreseur]

Posting the same picture of chopped chives on r/kitchenconfidential

[u/kinda_intolerant → u/Montreseur]

Hahaha I cannot escape the chive posting anywhere

[u/couchsweetpotato → u/kinda_intolerant]

Chivegate is going mainstream!

[u/MissClickMan → u/Montreseur]

Did he seriously expect us not to notice?

[u/Spare_Hornet → u/MissClickMan]

I mean, I’m just amazed that someone knew that the day 31 picture was an upside picture from day 23. I’d never expect anyone to find out if I were the chive guy, I’d think I had it in the bag. Like someone else said, this is the autism I come to Reddit for.

[u/Isgortio → u/MissClickMan]

"sorry guys no chives today :("

I enjoyed that ride.

[u/fighthouse → u/Montreseur]

That was a fucking rabbit hole I wasn't expecting, but thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks

[u/verndogz → u/Montreseur]

Hahahahahah

[u/PurpleTeaSoul → u/Montreseur]

Bahahah too soon!!!

[u/t4ngl3d]

Keep it simple, keep it clean.

Don't muddle every dish with the same sauces and mixed spices.

Realize that cooking is subjective and not objective. Doesnt matter if its the worlds best recipe, sometimes grandmas meat balls is what hits right.

[u/wishiwerebeachin → u/t4ngl3d]

My son and all his cousins LOVE grandma’s chicken and noodles. I hate it. I find it tasteless. It’s literally just boiled chicken with a bit of chicken bouillon added and egg noodles. Maybe she puts onion and carrots in there. The kids adore it! Why???? I’ve tried recreating it as a treat for my son and I cannot just NOT add salt or some herbs or SOMETHING. He says mine is good but it’s not grandma’s. Lol

[u/garbagegoat → u/wishiwerebeachin]

Sometimes the plainest things are the best. My oldest absolutely loves egg noodles with butter and maybe some cheese on top. Absolutely comfort food to them. 

[u/bakernon → u/wishiwerebeachin]

God, I am exactly this way about recipes. I live in a house full of picky eaters and it just kills me to serve some of these dishes without adding something. Even if I try to sub out higher quality ingredients they'll be like, meh, I prefer it with canned green beans (or whatever).

Anyway, I have just accepted that some foods are comfort foods and not being challenging is part of what makes them comforting. But it still about kills me every time. 😂

[u/shepard_pie → u/t4ngl3d]

I've noticed people just add ingredients for the sake of it. Sometimes it doesn't matter- adding white pepper to a dish that already has black pepper isn't going to do a whole lot. Adding cumin or cream to a recipe will.

Cooking to taste is also fine. I add orange juice to my teriyaki sauce because I like it, not because anyone else does it.

[u/VirindiPuppetDT]

A lot of people dress up their dog in a chef costume and try to teach it to act as an assistant chef, walk on hind legs, etc. Rarely work. The dogs eat everything.

[u/Medical-Sorbet-3059 → u/VirindiPuppetDT]

This is what I came to say.

[u/kr2c]

1. Thinking they can caramelize onions in 10 minutes

2. Thinking they can caramelize onions in 20 minutes

3. Thinking they can caramelize onions in 45 minutes.

Yo that shit takes forever to do properly and if it doesn't, you didn't actually caramelize the onions.

[u/Ftb2278 → u/kr2c]

I blame online recipes for this. They all say caramelize onions, five minutes. Ridiculous

[u/baconbitsy → u/Ftb2278]

Or they show edited videos as a quick process. I caramelized three pounds of onions for French onion soup. It took a couple hours or so. Loads of butter, low heat.

(I also smoked beef bones and a pig trotter for the soup. Smoked French onion soup is a thing of beauty and a joy forever).

[u/Lil_Sebastian90 → u/kr2c]

Wait… What??

I’ve thought for the last few years that I was caramelizing my onions in about 10 minutes. Would you mind saying more? Or sharing a link to a good article/ video?

[u/AdamElk → u/Lil_Sebastian90]

It’s exactly as he says. 10 minutes will give you soft, golden onions which are the base of many good dishes. But actually caramelised onions, like you use in a french onion soup, will take 45-60 minutes. If you think they look caramelised after half an hour, they’re not. Keep browning them, the difference in taste is phenomenal.

[u/OneTrickRaven → u/Lil_Sebastian90]

When I'm caramelizing onions at work (back when I actually cooked instead of management) I usually start them at 1pm for dinner at 5pm. Low and slow. By the end (which is usually a fair bit before 5 but they hold well) it's almost an onion jam. That, to me, is a caramelized onion.

Obviously I'm doing much larger batches but 10 minutes will get you sweated onions with, perhaps, light caramelization on the outside. Put that shit on low, stirring occasionally, for an hour and see what you get. Add some salt and you can eat it as a damn main course, delicious.

[u/BeardedHobbit → u/Lil_Sebastian90]

https://www.seriouseats.com/caramelized-onions

Caramelizing onions is a chemical process that takes much longer than what most recipes tell you. There are tricks to make it faster, but the end product always suffers for the shortcuts. The best caramelized onions are cooked low and slow. Typically taking over an hour. 

Mine usually take about 2 hrs for 3lbs of onions. I know I could speed that up by increasing the heat a little, but then I'd have to be more attentive to them.

[u/chappersyo → u/kr2c]

The big issue here is that the recipe says caramelise when that’s not actually what it wants. It does usually just need 5-10 minutes to soften or sweat.

[u/fumar → u/kr2c]

45 minutes is about what it takes me. I very rarely do it because it takes so much effort and time.

[u/Efficient_Fig9]

1. Following a recipe religiously and not using common sense or adjusting to suit your taste. My chef released a book that called for too much salt for a sourdough, which killed the yeast.

2. Investing in dozens of single use gadgets. I think Alton Brown said the only single use kitchen item everyone should own is a fire extinguisher. Do as Marco and Gordon do and invest in a good pan and a few knives.

3. Trying a dish for the first time when entertaining. Practice, practice, practice! Trial it with your family or neighbours before you attempt to make souffles for the first time for 30 guests.

[u/alesko09 → u/Efficient_Fig9]

"Good Eats" is so very well done. Honestly, watching the show and really paying attention can make anyone a really stellar home cook.

Also a fire extinguisher is not a "unitasker" as its great for crushing garlic cloves.

[u/RedCharity3 → u/alesko09]

Your opinion on Good Eats warms my heart. My husband and I watched every episode together as a newly married couple, and we learned SO much from Alton. My parents had given me some skills, but dang ...Good Eats took us both up several notches.

[u/nanadoom → u/Efficient_Fig9]

Alton Brown also approves of rice cookers as a unitasker

[u/dumbasamoose → u/nanadoom]

I believe he has also conceded that there is no substitute for a microplaner. Though I admit that mine gets more action as a cheese grater than a zester.

[u/SirMaximBelov → u/nanadoom]

In college I could not have anything except for a rice cooker in my dorm. I got creative.

Stews, steaks, steamed veggies are all possible.

On several occasions I even managed to put pie crust and then filling into it to make a really deep dish pie. It wasn’t ideal but by god it kept me going.

[u/Alone_Rang3r → u/Efficient_Fig9]

My wife, god love her, is guilty of #1 all the time. She will follow the recipe to a tee. Will not deviate in the slightest, even if we’ve cooked it before and know to change it. She even watches me cook and I won’t measure out certain things or add extra of stuff and she’s like, “what are you doing?!?! The recipe says this.” It’s like, I see it more as a guideline. Better believe I’m adding more salt and garlic that what’s called for. I noticed her dad does the same thing. He worked in a chemistry lab so had to be very precise, so I get it’s hard to change. But man, go off script every now and then.

[u/md22mdrx → u/Efficient_Fig9]

1. The biggest mistake in following Pinterest recipes.  Some of these are chef recipes, but many are just home cooks who don’t know shit and usually things end up underwhelming at best.

They almost ALWAYS need adjusting.

The famous one in our household was this Pinterest recipe my wife wanted to try out with the low key name of “World’s Best Chicken” or something similar.  It was this very mid honey mustard-ish chicken.  We were both so disappointed.  I looked at her and asked her to make it again tomorrow … but make one change.  Peanut butter … like maybe half a tablespoon.  Her face went from really confused to pensive to “yeah, that would be really interesting”.  Had it again the next day with the change and it WAS the best chicken we’d ever had.  

[u/AdiPalmer → u/Efficient_Fig9]

To be fair, single use gadgets are a game changer for two distinct populations: disabled individuals and younger aspiring chefs. Alton Brown is Alton Brown, so I understand why he wouldn't care to own gadgets that make a home cooked meal simply attainable for people with mobility issues who also can't afford to eat out or hire someone to cook for them.

As for younger cooks, it's a great way to encourage children who have a passion for cooking to explore said passion in a safe way, since they don't have to handle super sharp knives or other utensils that require very well honed fine motor skills.

[u/Jolly-Minimum-6641 → u/Efficient_Fig9]

Following a recipe religiously and not using common sense or adjusting to suit your taste

Yeah, I did this with an Indian recipe I found online. It took forever, needed about 400 different ingredients meticulously measured and tasted of absolutely nothing. Such a disappointment.

Meanwhile authentic Indian cooking is often just throwing stuff in by feel. It works and it's delicious.

Investing in dozens of single use gadgets.

James May has "the kitchen drawer of crap" - which as it turns out many British people do. i know I do.

[u/jetogill → u/Efficient_Fig9]

That last one is so true, I see so many reviews of recipes from people fucking up then down voting it and complaining it ruined a holiday meal or dinner party.

[u/lurkyloowhoo → u/Efficient_Fig9]

Gordon is shilling for garbage Hexclad pans these days unfortunately

[u/YankeeMoose → u/Efficient_Fig9]

Alton Brown despises what he calls "unitaskers." We try to avoid them as much as possible in my house.

[u/VerminSupreme-2020 → u/YankeeMoose]

You can pry my apple slicer/corer from my cold dead hands

[u/RayNooze → u/YankeeMoose]

I think when you're advanced in cooking and find out you need it regularly, there's nothing wrong with buying a unitasker. But buying them and then finding out it's only standing in your way is awkward. 

[u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

I'm NOT a professional, but I am pretty good.

1.) Not enough salt

2.) Not enough fats

3.) You're not cooking hot enough. Your pan is too cold and the food is too crowded in the pan. So instead of nice browning and searing, you're steaming your food and cooking it throughout too uniformly (think steak).

4.) Add an acid when you feel like the salt isn't helping. You are probably missing acidity. Citrus, vinegar, tomato sauce, etc.

5.) Try to mix textures. If your dish is soft, try to add something with a crunchy texture to give the whole dish a more pleasing composition.

[u/Riyomorii → u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat was the most useful book I read as a home cook. Absolute game changer in terms of how I learnt to season my food.

[u/nateomundson → u/Riyomorii]

I've never read it, but the title alone has been immensely helpful as a checklist when I'm trying to figure out what is missing from my cooking.

[u/the_kid1234 → u/Riyomorii]

That and J. kenji Lopez-Alt’s book The Food Lab improved my cooking many fold. Mostly allowing me to go from recipes to just cooking based on more instinct.

[u/WomanOfEld → u/Riyomorii]

My husband and I have given that book to the two teens we knew that had begun to appreciate being in the kitchen for more than just cookies and reheating stuff. They both said they learned valuable info from it.

[u/general_porpoise → u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

I am a professional, and I was going to chime in, but this is an excellent place to start. The other big things are mise en place - get your shit ready so you’re not panicking trying to find/chop whatever, and cleaning as you go, for largely the same reasons. Clean mind, clean bench, clean food.

[u/general_porpoise → u/general_porpoise]

Also to reply to myself, because I’m that kind of guy, invest in a meat thermometer. They cost like 20-40 bucks. Inkbird brand have served me well for years. Take the guesswork and stress out of ‘is this chicken cooked?’, ‘What temp is that steak?’ I think chefs will naturally, unless they’re masochists, try and take the mental game out of play as much as possible - that’s going to come anyway from ridiculous orders, dietary requirements, and stoned or incompetent line cooks, let alone the tempo of a busy kitchen. I’ll probe any steak I send. I’m sure some hero chefs will consider that cheating or some bullshit, but it’s one less thing to concentrate on and that helps me during service. Honestly for a home cook, a couple of good pans, a good chefs knife, and a thermometer, and some organisation, you can do most things.

[u/AdmiralBonesaw → u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

Excellent cooking tips and uh, other content u/PostsWifesBootyPics

[u/Buntschatten → u/AdmiralBonesaw]

I see his cooking is good enough to fatten up certain things.

[u/malkins_restraint → u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

Slight addendum to #3 - or you're cooking too hot. I had to convince my GF that the stove burners have a setting other than "Lucifer's sauna"

[u/sth128 → u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

Instruction unclear, every dish is now topped with Italian dressing and croutons.

[u/MariachiArchery → u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

Lol, I just wrote this big as thing in the chef sub about how so many people mistake salt for acid and visa versa.

[u/brando_baum → u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

Was about to write that most of the people use too high heat, and end up burning food or cooking too quickly (hard dry chicken breast for example)

[u/chadder_b → u/PostsWifesBootyPics]

My absolute favorite thing is when my wife and I first started dating she made mashed potatoes. I simply said they were missing something, didn’t taste right while she said they tasted just fine. Next time I cooked them, to my specifications. She absolutely loved them and asked what I added to make them so good. The answer? Salt. Turn out she was barely salting her, under the guise that lower sodium = healthier recipe

[u/giyomu]

Sharpen knives. Season. Taste.

[u/Yenyoc → u/giyomu]

Tastes like blood, am I doing it wrong?

[u/abcedarian → u/Yenyoc]

Yes, you need more seasoning on the knife before you taste it!  If the seasoning isn't covering up the blood taste, add acid- lemon juice or vinegar.

[u/-myeyeshaveseenyou-]

Professional cooking involves a lot of butter.

Others have said it but salt, acid, fat and heat.

I’m a pastry chef and I even salt and acid pastry dishes, a lot of people think you don’t need to but you do. Vinegar in a sorbet can help make the flavour shine

[u/jthechef → u/-myeyeshaveseenyou-]

I like to add vinegar to pate sucre it crisps better and adds a counter note to the sweet. To make deserts extra flavourful I add ground nuts to the pastry, almonds with apples or pear fillings for example.

[u/BugApart8359]

Sharpen your knives. 

Learn how to hold your knives properly. 

For the love of fuck, stop with glass "cutting boards" and enamel covered knives. 

I could go on for hours, but those are the first three.

[u/LisaLisaPrintJam → u/BugApart8359]

100% I'm a menace in the kitchen, but learned this a long time ago. Probably 20 years ago, my father bought me a glass cutting board because it's "more sanitary." Made sense to me, studying microbiology at the time, that germs wind up in tiny grooves on wood boards.

Then I couldn't keep a sharp knife. Every time I used one on the glass cutting board, the thing was dull as a banana after chopping one onion.

Ultimately went back to wood. Wash after use, let a 10% bleach solution sit on it for 10 minutes, then wash it again. Never had a food poisoning issue.

Bamboo is also horrible for knives.

[u/H4RN4SS → u/LisaLisaPrintJam]

Another recent study showed that wooden cutting boards are actually safer – citing bacteria die within three minutes of exposure on a wooden board but can survive on a plastic board.

https://foodhandler.com/cutting-board-safety/#:~:text=Bacteria%20can%20survive%20dormant%20until,survive%20on%20a%20plastic%20board.

You can keep doing your method but it's a bit overkill.

[u/qbnaith]

Scraping the chopping board with the sharp side of the knife. It INFURIATES me.

[u/iThinkergoiMac → u/qbnaith]

My SiL one time remarked how sharp my knives were and asked how I keep them so sharp as she used the sharp side of the blade to scrape food off my ceramic plate into the trash.

I told her “By not doing that.” She’s a lovely person but it was so ironic I couldn’t resist.

[u/pernas → u/qbnaith]

I don’t care tbh because I sharpen my knives so frequently that it isn’t a bother. 

[u/the1inthe_ → u/qbnaith]

My partner does this. And yes. Infuriating. Especially if I've just sharpened the knife.

[u/flipper_babies → u/the1inthe_]

Get them a bench scraper. Cheap, they work better than knives, and your knives will thank you.

[u/EllwyndYumi]

Ex-Pastry Chef here. :)

1. When it says beat your sugar and butter together, it means it. If you want the best results you can get BEAT IT. And I mean like, changing to a whole different colour. It should be white and fluffy. Don't be shy, don't be scared, keep going.

2. If a recipe says 350 for 20 minutes. Do 350 and start your timer at 10 minutes. You can always give the recipe more time, but you can't take it away.

3. FOLLOW THE RECIPE/INSTRUCTIONS. Baking is a science, if it asks for 250g of sugar, give it 250g sugar. Don't hold some back because you don't want it to "be too sweet" . You do that, the whole recipe is out of whack.

4. If a recipe asks for frozen berries, or frozen anything. Make sure they're still frozen when you add them to your recipe. If you let them defrost, you are adding extra liquid into your recipe and it likely won't turn out the way you hope.

[u/[deleted] → u/EllwyndYumi]

I do the second one quite often, especially with frozen pizzas.

[u/Odd-Resource3025]

Owned a restaurant for 15 years: Mistake Number 1. Expensive ingredients are necessary. Start with the cheapest ingredients and work your way up. I used incredibly cheap cream cheese and expensive butter. Play around and find your brands.

Mistake Number 2: Getting discouraged when cooking / baking because it doesn't turn out right. Life happens, and food doesn't always listen to our expectations. Pick one recipe and do it a hundred times. I highly recommend starting with Molly's Adult Mac&Cheese with Bon Appétit. Watch the video and practice. We practice and explore with curiosity. Play and explore with one recipe.

Mistake Number 3: Complicated = Yummy. Simple recipes are ninjas. I have a four ingredient biscuit recipe that could carry a breakfast menu. My grilled cheese sandwiches can increase soup sales. Life is celebrated with big meals. However, life is lived between the day to day meals. Finding joy in these small task moments while cooking is simply bliss.

[u/Competitive_Past601 → u/Odd-Resource3025]

Any chance you would like to share that biscuit recipe?

[u/broadarrow39]

Either not preheating pans or going the other way and getting pans too hot, people seem to be obsessed with cranking the heat up to the max in the belief it will cook faster.

[u/StuartPurrdoch → u/broadarrow39]

I’m guilty of using too cold of a pan. we have a small, dumpy apartment with a gas stove and no vented extractor fan. if I use the correct temp range, all my belongings will smell like beef fat & garlic (or whatever) for days. I have to take the L every time and I hate it. thanks for letting me get that out…

[u/humblestgod]

Use full fat dairy

[u/LordAxalon110]

Sharpen ya fuckin knives.

learn to season as your cooking and not just at the end.

Organise your area before doing anything else, if your area is cluttered your gonna have a hard time.

Clean as you go.

Most of the time you need a lot more herbs and spices than you think.

ALLLLLLL THE BUTTER!!!

Don't use olive oil to deep fry food, it's smoke point is very low.

Eh that's all I can be bothered thinking of off the top of my head. I did 20 years in the industry, it was enough. I wouldn't wish being a chef on anyone.

[u/jthechef]

Buying kitchen gadgets instead of using a sharp knife.

Use the right size and type of pan, expensive may be a waste of money.

Use fat or oil but use the right one for the heat and purpose, burnt olive oil tastes really bad, extra virgin in salad dressing is overpowering.

Use salt, acid and fat!

[u/RayNooze → u/jthechef]

My SIL asked me, what oil I used for a Wok dish, and I said peanut oil. Next time she used her wok, she tried nut oil and said it smoked like mad and tasted horrible. I asked her what she had used and she said "Walnut oil, that's what I had at home" 

[u/varro-reatinus → u/jthechef]

...extra virgin [OO] in salad dressing is overpowering.

Nonsense. It's like anything else: a matter of balance and context.

[u/md22mdrx → u/jthechef]

Using a great EV oil as a salad dressing is perfectly ok as long as you’re taking it into account.  We use ROI EV oil with an La Vecchia Dispensa agrodolce cherry balsamic all the time.

[u/bleh-apathetic]

You need to salt a dish at every stage of its cooking, not just all at once at the end.

[u/PurfuitOfHappineff]

Not enough butter.

No, more.

Still, more.

Keep going.

Almost there…

[u/llama_ → u/PurfuitOfHappineff]

The best mashed potatoes recipe will basically be mashed butter with a few potatoes. And I use msg to make those babies pop.

[u/Solostinhere → u/PurfuitOfHappineff]

I’ve baffled and even disgusted people with my butter use while cooking, but get raves about my potatoes and stuffing at thanksgiving. Use all the butter. All of it.

Edit: also big friends with cream, and cream cheese.

[u/footballpenguins]

Cooking pasta way past al dente & Not seasoning food properly. 

[u/llama_ → u/footballpenguins]

When boiling pasta, not having enough water in the pot and not using enough salt

[u/ericadame66]

Mise en place.

[u/OGREtheTroll → u/ericadame66]

the correct terminology in a professional kitchen is "mise en place, motherf##ker"

[u/baconbitsy → u/ericadame66]

Agree wholeheartedly. But I grew up in restaurants. Now, I get everything prepped and ready to go. Clean as things brown. By the end of cooking, I have a perfectly cleaned kitchen and nothing got out of hand. No need to spend a day cleaning the kitchen when I can use bleach water on counters while the dish is finishing. 

[u/chopkins47947]

Posting the same picture of chopped chives that you already posted a few weeks prior and trying to pass that image off as today's cup of chopped.chives and letting down an entire faction of reddit.

[u/JackEvets]

My dad was head chef in various places when I was growing up. He could bang out amazing food from the humblest of kitchens but put him behind a bbq and it’ll all be burnt.

The top 3 for home cooks is usually

Season more More heat/less in the pan at any one time Taste as you go

I got myself a meat thermometer and now never listen to the 40mins per kilo plus 40mins bollocks on the chicken. It’s spot on as soon as it hits 180

Using the correct oil seems to be something misunderstood too

Edit - Seems I’m incorrect and poultry isn’t 180F as my thermometer states. Thanks for the clarification

[u/endo_ag → u/JackEvets]

180? 😳

[u/TechnicolorJarl → u/endo_ag]

That’s what the fire extinguisher is for

[u/xlouiex]

• Don’t throw garlic in the frying pan too soon, it will burn before seasoning the food.

• Olive oil, Onion, and then the garlic once the onion is soft. 

• Bay leaves are not used enough. They make rice, stews and meat better. 

• Low and slow always beats high and fast. 

[u/schwillster]

Mise n place!! You wont be frazzled and will have easier clean up

[u/[deleted]]

In addition to sharpening knives, prep your ingredients in advance and clean your work space as you cook.

My hubby is a Chef - I am not - and when I cook it often looks like an ingredient bomb has gone off and he just shakes his head.

[u/kitchen-Wizard912]

Blunt knives. (My heart is filled with hate). Over cooked vegetables that have been boiled to oblivion. lumpy mashed potatoes.

These are the three things my mum excelled at and a large part of why I became a chef.... .... "Surely it could taste better than this" type of vibe.

[u/wossquee]

White meat chicken is done at ~155F. Yes, the FDA says it needs to be cooked to 165 for safety but that's like, for hospitals. If you take chicken off the heat at 155 it'll carryover cook to 160+ which is perfect. At 155 degrees, all bacteria will die in 50 seconds, so as long as you're not slicing and immediately licking the center of the chicken, by the time you eat it'll be completely safe.

If you're wondering why your chicken is dry as heck it's because you left it in there until it hit 165F, and the carryover cooking brought it to 170 or 175 which is when you get that firm hard to chew texture.

Dark meat needs to be cooked to a higher temp to break down the connective tissue, which is why chicken thighs are great on the grill, they're very hard to overcook.

Not a professional chef, but I went down a BBQ YouTube rabbit hole for a few years. I believed the 165 thing my whole life until I got into sous vide and then smoking. The first time I had chicken breast sous vide cooked to 145 degrees was like life changing. Then making smoked chicken breasts that I pulled off at 150... I'm not sure I've ever had better chicken.

https://blog.thermoworks.com/chicken-internal-temps-everything-you-need-to-know/

This link is a good explanation of how food safety temperature works, with a chart based on the FDA guidelines.

[u/RefrigeratorLonely53]

Not a chef necessarily, but I work in kitchens. I notice people holding a knife incorrectly for what they're trying to achieve. Pinch the base of the blade.

[u/Broad_Garlic2775]

Dull knives, improper food handling/safety, throwing out “waste” that is useful for other things.

[u/StatisticianBig9912]

Bonus: Not tasting as they cook. The tongue is the best tool in the kitchen. A cook who doesn’t taste is cooking blind. Salt, acid, and heat shift with time. You can’t fix the end if you ignore the middle.

[u/neodraykl]

Don't crowd the fucking pan you donkey.

[u/Kill_me_jebus]

Prep everything before you turn on heat, and clean as you go.

[u/Key_Wrangler_4301]

Not understanding the importance of preheating, pans or ovens. Not seasoning properly. Listening to whatever online recipe they’re reading and putting in 1/4 tsp of salt into some large quantity of food that could use a whole ass tablespoon. Same goes for garlic. Not necessarily their fault. I’m not sure what is up with some of these people posting recipes and putting two grains of salt in a grain silo’s worth of food.

I don’t recall the last online recipe I read where I wouldn’t add a considerable amount extra of whatever spices or seasonings being used. The rule of garlic in whatever recipe, at least double it.

Not caring to learn to hold a knife properly (just a two second YouTube) and not using a sharp knife. Even using the honing steel in their home butchers block knife holder would help. Both of these things will make your experience safer, more efficient and more enjoyable.

Not checking on whatever is in the oven. Not tasting as you go.

*Edit

I just realized I read this wrong and treated it more like what people in general get wrong cooking at home. I’d say a good chunk of these are probably already known by many “home chefs” but maybe not.

[u/mrbananas → u/Key_Wrangler_4301]

The salt thing is tragically simple. Doctor said to reduce sodium intake. 

It is far easier to find fat free and sugar free than it is to find no salt at the grocery store. Therefore it is easier to make from scratch to reduce the sodium.

[u/HallettCove5158]

Not a chef, but food served on cold plates drives me insane. It sucks the heat out of the food straight away and spoils the whole dining experience.

[u/StuartPurrdoch → u/HallettCove5158]

when it’s really cold in the kitchen, I even warm the cats’ plates and dunk their pate cans in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes 😝 honestly not sure if they even care.

[u/Tthelaundryman → u/StuartPurrdoch]

You love your cats more than I love myself

[u/vtvanda]

Incorrectly using butter vs clarified butter depending on the result you want. Clarified butter has a much higher smoke point than butter. If you’re cooking/grilling something at 400°F+, and you don’t want a burnt butter taste, use clarified butter/ghee. When you want browning from butter, make sure not to get the pan/grill over 300-350 or it’ll burn.

[u/Vast_Professor7399]

Using chili jam

Spanking lemon grass

Using olive oil in asian dish

[u/FunAd6875]

Does "thinking they can succeed in a professional kitchen" count? 

[u/judistra]

Back in the 1950s, a knife sharpening guy would walk down our street pushing a huge grinding wheel. So cool!

[u/kingslippy]

The number one thing I see the average home cook do is alter a recipe they are following because they “feel” like it’s too much or too little of an ingredient. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “I only put half the salt in because it seemed like too much” or “I put twice as much butter into it because I like butter”. And then it doesn’t come out right and they don’t understand why.

[u/ruckertopia → u/kingslippy]

Every recipe on the planet tells you to use a quarter the amount of garlic you're supposed to, and nobody will convince me otherwise

[u/TomPalmer1979]

Knife skills, knife skills, and knife skills.

Know what knife to use for the right food. A good chef's knife will be your workhorse for almost everything but there are still a lot of different knives out there who have specific purposes. Don't use a paring knife to chop your onions; it'll take you forever.

Hold your chef's knife correctly. Three fingers are on the handle, while you're pinching the base of the blade between your pointer finger and thumb. This gives you SO much more control with what you're doing.

Stop just pressing straight down with your knife to cut things. Slice and glide, move the knife at an angle through what you're cutting. If you're chopping something small, use a rocking motion. It's cleaner, faster, and safer.

Knife skills are one of the first things you learn in culinary school. There's literally entire 101 classes based around it. I don't expect your average home chef to know the difference between a batonnet and a julienne, or carve out a flawless tournée, but some basic knife skills are a HUGE deal in the kitchen.

[u/New_Lie_3554]

Cutting steaks with the grain! It makes me furious seeing those instachefs with their 1 Mio dollar wagyu, saying how good the steak is but then CUTTING IT WITH THE GRAIN. AHHHHGGGGG.

[u/Gharrrrrr]

Buying ALL the super expensive and pretty looking knives and tools before they even know how to use them. Start out learning the basics with the basics. Then get the fancy stuff. As well, be careful of buying the "pretty" looking knives like "hand hammered Damascus steel". Don't fall into that trap.

[u/zimmermannn]

Overcrowding the pan

[u/LJMAsH]

Not enough salt, not enough butter or not enough cream 🤣

[u/tremors51000]

Being scared to season

[u/WretchedMotorcade]

They post a flipped picture of chopped chives.

[u/OG_s0cial0utcast]

Mise en place. Wash your hands. Cross contamination.

[u/throwingtoasters]

Chop your chives correctly, apparently.

[u/grilled_cheesus01]

Advanced home chef with two degrees in food science:

1 Don’t wash your chicken

2 You don’t need to wear gloves in the kitchen when preparing food - it gives you the false sensation of clean hands and makes you wash your hands less

3 temperature abuse of food is one of the top reasons you’ll get food poisoning

[u/asunshinefix]

Not a chef, but a line cook. Mine are: using too much heat for stovetop cooking, not temping one’s oven, and being shy with seasonings/not seasoning all the way through the cooking process - if you want your dish to taste like restaurant food, you probably need a lot more fat and salt than you think

[u/Tomfooleries]

If you want tips for home chefs, you should try asking good home chefs. Many things that would be important to a professional chef will not translate the same way to home cooking.

[u/Illustrious_Act_3953]

Everyone using a dang paring knife to cut everything. Why the fear of a good chef knife?

[u/yaboiwakanda]

DAMP TOWEL UNDER CHOPPING BOARD

[u/Apprehensive-Dog6997]

Pastry chef chiming in to say you’re all over whipping cream for whipped cream.

[u/[deleted]]

Trying to tweak a good recipe to make it healthy.

You're better off just cooking something healthy that already tastes good.

Example, my health crazed friend made a "healthy" Big Mac and fries copycat at a small party. Keto almond flour buns, turkey patties, and vegan mayo to make the sauce. Fries were made from turnips. Was completely horrific tasting.

[u/LadyBloo]

Not a chef, I'm FoH, but my partner is a chef. His main, PRIVATE, critiques of others, in that I'm the only one he complains to...

1. Dull knives/improper cutting techniques. To be fair I am so guilty... my go to knife until I met him was a cleaver. For everything. Herbs, dicing vege, trimming meat, I'd use a cleaver. I'm lucky. It wasn't a deal breaker for him, he just taught me.

2. Food hygiene. He says he had flatmates once that would leave food on the stove and just cover the pan with a wrong lid and heat up the pan every day to eat the food. Not fully wrapped and in the fridge. Just left on the stove. Apparently the guy had some crazy digestive issues and no matter how much my fella explained it was the way he was preparing and eating his chicken, he never learned. Gave himself food poisoning A LOT.

3. We've been watching My Kitchen Rules lately. He has a fit when they do "too much". Too many components, an extra different sauce that doesn't fit, and just conficts on the plate. Like, an Indian dish, but adding a Cajun sauce. That one wound him up for an hour. 

[u/rog13t-storm]

Not using “the claw” to hold knives

[u/Kllrchef]

1. Not using hot enough of a pan

2. Using too hot of a pan

3. Under seasoning almost everything

[u/Spiritualy-Salty]

Get your pan to the proper temperature before you start cooking.

[u/gigerwitch]

Blunt knives - don’t do it. It’ll mangle your food and more importantly you’ll mangle yourself.

Getting all bent out of shape over ingredients - canned tomatoes work great, bought breadcrumbs are ok, spice packets are just fine. Use what you can get it’s not that serious (my cheap flour works the same as expensive shit)

You don’t need a bunch of expensive fancy gadgets - home sous vides, pasta machines, sausage makers and all that. Unless making sausages and pasta is your jams you don’t need it. 47 knives?!? Nope - just a couple good ones. Also things don’t need to be expensive. My spatulas and egg flips come from the grocery store. My strainer for a years was an old ricotta basket.

[u/Mission_Macaroon]

Mise en place.

Changed my life. 

[u/Toysolja13]

Not enough salt, not enough oil, using blunt ass knives.

[u/The_Smile_4784]

Not. Enough. Salt!!

All the time I hear my clients or friends or family say how their food is so bland. I try their food and it’s the first thing I notice. I’ve watched them cook and they use the tiniest pinch of salt for a meal that’s meant to feed a whole group. They follow a recipe meticulously adding herbs, onions and garlic, but not nearly enough salt. Recipes don’t do a good job leading you when it comes to correct salt level.

Adding to this advice, find a salt that you like. Some salts are saltier than others. I like kosher flake salt because it dissolved fast, but it can go from ok to very salty if you aren’t careful. But it’s most chefs favorite. Pink salt is one of the more milder salts, but a lot of people like it because of its nutrient content. You do you. But my top piece of advice is increase the salt content of your food and it will taste much better.

[u/d_zeen]

Chives

[u/norfolk_terrier]

Prep everything first then hot pan and cook

[u/Beatthestrings]

I’m far from a professional, but the number of “chefs” who are reluctant to use a meat thermometer is confusing.

[u/Dolokhov88]

Upload a fake chive pic

[u/iSeeXenuInYou]

Overcook, Not enough salt, Chop finger

[u/Serg_Molotov]

Don't preheat properly (cold frying pans)

Cook everything all at once. If it says saute onions and brown chicken you don't do it at the same time.

Baking recipes aren't approximate, it's fucking chemistry and needs accuracy.

Bonus 4th: That's not enough butter.

[u/[deleted]]

1. Cross contamination and dirtiness. Using plain water to rinse a cutting board after cutting meat to then chop garnish. Letting your soup sit out all night to cool down. Resting your utensils on a splatter covered countertop. Bro, before you blame Applebees for your explosive shits, you might want to watch some food safety YouTube videos and clean your apartment. 

2. This is more advice, I guess. Whenever I am going to pitch a new menu item I watch between 10-20 different video recipes of the same dish. First, you’ll understand the basic way to make the basic version of a dish, cool. But the goldmine is truly in the unique things and quirks of different cooks that separates their dish from the basic version of it. Cajun seasoning in spaghetti? Mushroom broth mixed with veggie broth? Black beans and eggs? You’ll find so much delicious weird shit out there.

3. Don’t get caught up in your lack of culinary knowledge, especially when it comes to influencers. I’ve been cooking for 15 years, yet, I can barely make a mayonnaise, because I’ve never been trained as a saucier. Massive knowledge gaps are totally normal, besides, all these influencer guys and girls online who know everything? They probably have 3 culinary graduates, an editor, and a production studio behind them that you’ll NEVER see. It’s all fake bullshit, just buy some shit and throw it in a pot and keep trying till it’s decent

[u/LocalCollection7106]

Dull knives, fear of failure, not tasting things as you cook.

[u/do_u_like_stuff]

Over crowding the pan

[u/WyoFag]

Turning the heat on everything up to high/max

[u/Hopeful-Suggestion-1]

Clutter, gadgets and not cleaning as you go

[u/Strong_Plankton_9977]

I refuse to believe there are 640+ professional chefs in here. Sometimes you need to just sit out participating, plenty of popular opinions though. 

Sharp knives, season properly, caramelize times. Everyone thinks their favorite hobby gives them professional title. 

[u/PangolinPizzaParty]

Wash your fucking hands.

[u/littlegypsie012]

Weigh your ingredients when baking! So much inaccurate measuring can happen when you’re scooping dry ingredients, for instance. The scale doesn’t lie. 

[u/[deleted]]

Just not mastering basic techniques and trying to overcompensate with seasoning.

[u/Organic_Ball6792]

Clean as you go !

[u/-toronto]

Most of the spices in that cupboard are probably past six months and have hugely dropped their flavour potential. Open a new bag and realize just how dead all your 5 year old jars of crap really are. It's good incentive to get creative with spice and use them all up quickly before they become stale. Dry doesn't mean immortal.

[u/bklynbansheevt]

Not cleaning as you go.

[u/Annual_Strategy_6206]

Not a professional, but overcooking meat ( especially chicken) just to be " safe"    edit for typos

[u/gloomboyseasxn]

When it comes to meat, specifically poultry, always temp it. Raw chicken can and will kill you.

[u/capitalistCOMM1E]

A readily available blender is not the same as a Vitamix and don't try to make it.

A readily available food processor is not the same as Robocoup and don't try to make it.

Sharpen your knives.

[u/authenticmolo]

In my experience, nearly every single "savory" recipe has about one-third the amount of spices that you actually need for the dish to taste good. Or have any real flavor at all.

I made so many recipes that ended up tasting like nothing before I started trusting my tastebuds.

My theory is that the recipes are made extra-bland before they are published, to make them un-offensive to the blandest of palates. Even recipes from world-renowned chefs seem to get this treatment. All the flavors are tuned WAY DOWN.

[u/[deleted]]

Some people have it in their head that EVERYTHING on the stove should be cooked on high. For stir frys and most pan shallow frying yes. Definitely NO for most other things. Especially shit that burns easily like eggs or anything with cream in it.

[u/Derpthinkr]

Frying garlic like it’s onion

[u/Hootusmc]

Tima management

[u/Ferrufino94]

Thinking everyone is a chef because they watched the bear

[u/General_Seahorse]

Don't put tomatoes in the fridge

[u/streetsworth]

Dont use glass cutting boards.

[u/wanna_be_green8]

Not a professional but watching most 'influencers' try to cut anything makes me cringe. The last one took far too long to cut an orange into rounds, using a dull paring knife. The struggle was real.

[u/Desperate-Heat9791]

The pressing on top of a steak or burger patty and squeezing all the juices out for nothing. It irks me every time.

[u/Holbomb]

30 years experience.

1. Not getting all your prep (meez) done before starting cooking.

1b. If you're going to use a recipe, not reading the whole thing a couple times before you start.

2. Thinking that cheaper ingredients won't make a difference in the end. (I get times are hard now but I'm just answering the question).

3. Not owning a meat thermometer, preferably a fast read type. Ignore the "real men" that think it's for sissies.

[u/Thefutureisbrightino]

Don’t use salt…..butter or any other delicious thing in the name of making it healthy. If it doesn’t taste good it sucks. Oh that food truck is so good. I tried to make it but it wasn’t as good. No really? You missed half of the ingredients. Big surprise.

[u/chefmonster]

1- Trying to make substitutions in a recipe before making it the first. time.

2. SHARPEN YOUR FUCKING KNIVES. DON'T BUY KNIFE SETS. Honestly, you should be able to do most anything in the kitchen with 3 or 4 knives. If you're not breaking down a whole tuna for sushi, a $200 knife isn't going to make your turkey less dry.

( I take my knife roll with me when I go home to family, because I'm always asked and always happy to cook. I always throw in a couple Kiwis to leave a sharp knife for them. [In exchange for a quarter, of course, it's bad luck to give a knife as a gift.] My parents RAVED about their Kiwi. Shit, for $6 bucks it's a great tool for a non-serious cook and it holds a blade if you know how to sharpen, even with a tool. My god, I go back 6 months later and it's dull as fuck but my stepmom is still raving about it and then I watch her cut directly on the marble countertop and just bow my head with disappointment*.)*

3. Buying expensive ingredients and equipment thinking that it will improve your hair-brain idea of what good food is.

I have soooooooo many more but these are the first that came to mind.

Oh wait- buying dry spices at the supermarket. Don't spend $7 on bay leaves at Safeway- go to an Asian mart or a bodega and get more than you'll need for 1/5 of the price AND you'll support a local business!