The Most Common Cooking Mistakes
Learn how to avoid these common mistakes for success every time.
Photo: Oxmoor House Story by Ann Taylor Pittman and Tim Cebula
Our Most Common Cooking Mistakes
Every cook, being human, errs, bungles, botches, and screws up in the kitchen once in a while. If you have not "caramelized" fruit in salt rather than sugar, you have not suffered the most embarrassing mistake made by one of our editors. We did not have to look much farther than our staff―and their encounters with readers, friends, and relatives―to compile a list of 25 common, avoidable culinary boo-boos.
The creative cook can often cook her way out of a kitchen error, but the smart cook aims to prevent such creativity from being necessary. Here are 25 ways to be smarter every time.
Story by Ann Taylor Pittman and Tim Cebula
1. You don’t taste as you go.
Result: The flavors or textures of an otherwise excellent dish are out of balance or unappealing.
For most cooks, tasting is automatic, but when it’s not, the price can be high. Recipes don’t always call for the "right" amount of seasoning, cooking times are estimates, and results vary depending on your ingredients, your stove, altitude…and a million other factors. Your palate is the control factor.