Whenever I’m feeling blue, I tune into one of cooking legend Gordon Ramsay’s food shows. His screaming is soothing and I love absorbing all the advice on what not to do in the kitchen. You know if I ever end up having to make him lunch at a top-tier restaurant out of the blue. Don’t forget the lamb sauce? Check. Don’t send out raw salmon? Gotcha! Don’t be an idiot sandwich? Roger that! But there are tons of other cooking no-no’s that are extremely useful to know.
And redditor MomosOnSale got other cooking aficionados talking and sharing their advice on what you shouldn’t be doing in the kitchen. We’ve collected the best tips and tricks for you to snack on. Remember to upvote the ones that you found useful and if you’ve got any extra ones to share, drop us a comment below.
Pie artist, baking expert, and cooking diva Jessica Clark-Bojin told Bored Panda all about her kitchen pet peeves, the basic blunders that amateur cooks tend to make, and how to make our meals look enticing, so be sure to read on for her wonderful insights. Jessica recently announced the first book dedicated to pie art, ‘Pies Are Awesome: The Definitive Pie Art Book,’ and has just sold her very first NFT and the world’s first-ever cryptoFoodArt.
Just for the record—ugh! Who uses glass cutting boards?!
#1
Don’t pour oils down the drain!
Image source: ChattyDog
#2
Coming anywhere near my non-stick pan with metal. If you scratch my pan I will scratch your soul.
Image source: o0oO0o0Oo00oOoo00i
#3
Medium rare chicken. Works for steaks, but not for hen.
Image source: thermonuclearmuskrat
#4
Don’t try to catch a dropped knife. Back away and let it fall.
Image source: charlesnorthpark
#5
If it has touched raw meat, it can’t go anywhere near cooked meat
Image source: Aerod1n
#6
DON’T
LEAVE
PASTA
IN THE WATER
WHEN IT’S
DONE!!!!!
Image source: grishagrishak
#7
Don’t cut meat immediately after cooking it, more juices will flow out, the meat will become drier. Wait a few minutes
Image source: atavaxagn
#8
Cooking with unwashed hands
Image source: unknown
#9
Never and I mean never panic if you start a fire on accident, you need to be calm enough to know if you have to smother it (oil or grease fires) or grab the extinguisher. Panicking can get your house burned down
Image source: nippynip345
#10
Never pour spices directly into a steaming pot on the stove. The spices will congeal in their containers from the moisture introduced. Instead put the spices in a separate side container then add to a steaming pot.
Image source: EatPrayS***
#11
Don’t use a nice knife on anything other than food. (a common offense would be opening a food package with it)
Don’t send a nice knife through a dishwasher
Don’t leave a sharp knife in the sink
Don’t leave a knife wet, even ones claiming to be stainless will often rust if left wet.
Image source: atavaxagn
#12
Glass cutting boards. Like seriously, just GTFO.
And in a similar vein, dangerously dull knives. I’ve seen some real bludgeons in other people’s kitchens; no wonder they hate prep work.
Image source: BattleHall
#13
guessing at amounts when baking.
Image source: Wrong_Answer_Willie
#14
Always wear pants while cooking bacon.
Image source: tjipa84
#15
I’d like to add to this that you should read and understood the entire recipe before you start cooking. You don’t have time to boil water when you need to “add boiling water”. And it’s nice to have the rice ready when you arrive at “serve with rice”.
Image source: mister-pi
#16
Skipping fresh ingredients.
Just peel & chop garlic! Squeeze a lemon! Skip the jar/ bottle
Image source: unknown
#17
For the love of god stop mucking about with whatever it is you’re cooking. Unless it’s something you specifically need to be mixing or stirring constantly, leave it alone! You’ll never get proper color on things if they make more contact with your spatula than your pan.
Image source: SorrySeptember
#18
People coming into the kitchen to “help”.
Image source: BuckshotShow
#19
Learned this the hard way: don’t throw fresh chili peppers into a hot pan unless you want to pepper spray the whole house!
Image source: sriracha_everything
#20
Cooking everything on “high” because you want it done faster.
Image source: SheriffComey
#21
Adding salt as a matter of course, or just because the recipe says to. Taste first, and only add if needed. If you’ve used stock or a stock cube in your dish you might not even need salt, they already have it.
Image source: LucyVialli
#22
Don’t season a liquid before reducing it, it will become too salty after you reduce it.
Image source: atavaxagn
#23
Don’t press your burgers down as they’re cooking. You’re releasing all the juice. It’ll give you a dry ass burger.
There are such things as smash burgers, but I believe on those, you smash them at the beginning before the fat has a chance to melt so you’re not smashing the juice out.
Image source: adamtwosleeves
#24
Not using enough butter.
Image source: janlaureys9
#25
Never put oil in the pot when cooking pasta, as the sauce will just slip and slide away instead of sticking to the pasta.
Pasta should never, ever be rinsed for a warm dish. The starch in the water is what helps the sauce adhere to your pasta. The only time you should ever rinse your pasta is when you are going to use it in a cold dish like a pasta salad or when you are not going to use it immediately
Image source: overdose_of_c*m, HoboBeered
#26
never let water touch chocolate.
Image source: FairyFaye42
#27
Cutting with a dull knife. Get yourself a sharpener, even if it’s a cheap one.
Image source: NerbleBurfs
#28
Resting is part of cooking. That bacon you cooked to perfection that’s still in the skillet? Yeah, that’s too late. You need to remove things from heat a little earlier than youd think so that the ambient heat continues to do its job. Otherwise you’re overcooking it.
Image source: CiD7707
#29
Remember, you can’t get some stuff back after you add it. Go slow with seasonings, and lightly. You can always add more, but you can’t take it back. Don’t let your food taste like ocean water.
Image source: powerlesshero111
#30
Using sugar to take the edge off a highly acidic sauce. Just put a damn carrot in it and let it absorb the acidity instead of covering it with a new flavor.
Image source: TheMatroid
#31
Cranking the heat to reduce the cooking time will leave you with a burnt outside and an under-done inside.
Image source: mkicon
#32
Don’t use a cold pan to sear something; get the pan hot first, better sear.
Image source: atavaxagn
#33
Do not mix hot cooking oil and cool sink water! I saw a girl burn the hell out of herself because she didn’t listen to the Home Ec. teacher. She threw her hot oil in a sink with some cool water running. Boom! Sprayed hot oil all over her arm and neck. Let your oil cool folks.
Image source: XxVerdantFlamesx
#34
Don’t let your baking powder get clumpy. Tiny rocks of baking powder ruin anything you bake.
Image source: dzastrus
#35
Cooking with extra virgin olive oil over high heat
Image source: unknown
#36
Don’t grab something that is on the stove without a towel or some type of heat protection
Image source: atavaxagn
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