20 clever kitchen tips from real chefs
We can always use some more advice to make our time in the kitchen easier and our food tastier.
Professional chefs have been through it all and their tricks of the trade are time-tested.
These are 20 of the many rules they swear by for the perfect breakfast, lunch, or dinner:
1. Baste your eggs, don’t flip them
There’s nothing worse than getting ready to eat a nice fried egg only to have the yolk break in the pan when you go to flip it over.
So don’t flip it at all!
Chefs just add a bit of extra oil or butter (or even water) to the pan and baste the top of the egg with the hot liquid to make sure it’s cooked on top.
If you’re using water or stock, add it once the egg begins to cook and then put on the lid for a minute or two until the egg whites set.
2. Mise en place
This simply means “put in place” and refers to getting your things in order before you start cooking.
Ever wonder why cooking looks so easy when you’re watching someone do it on television? It’s because they have all of their ingredients chopped and ready to go so they just need to add things as they need them.
It’ll create a few more dishes, but the elimination of last-minute stress is worth it!
3. Dry your proteins
Whether it’s tofu or a tomahawk ribeye, you need to take a paper towel to the outside of your protein before it touches a hot pan.
If it’s still wet when it hits the heat, you won’t get that nice sear on the outside (or by the time you do it will be overcooked).
4. Store herbs in a damp paper towel
The fridge does some nasty things to fresh herbs, but if you wrap them in a paper towel before you stick them in there, you have a much better chance of keeping them green longer.
They’ll stay crisper if you store that paper towel full of herbs in a plastic baggie as well.
Just don’t do this to salad greens – they’ll wilt with the extra moisture.
5. Don’t let your meat heat with the pan
Always use an already-hot pan for meats to create a good crust on the outside.
If you put them in while the pan is still heating, you’ll never get the coveted medium-rare sear.
6. Freeze meat that needs to be sliced
Cutting bacon or prosciutto before cooking it?
Get those nice, small pieces without your knife slipping all over the place by sticking that meat in the freezer for a few minutes first.
That’ll make life much easier.
7. Use the right spatula for fish
They call it a fish spatula for a reason.
One of these babies is the best thing you’ll invest in if you fry a lot of seafood.
This will keep the skin intact and the meat from flaking when you flip it over.
8. Don’t risk your fingers, use a mandoline
If you see those extra thin veggies on a plate or apples on a tart and think the chef risked life and limb or went to some sort of ninja cooking school, think again.
If you want to give it a try, don’t reach for your knife, invest in a mandoline instead.
9. Strain your sauces
You might think you have the arm strength and patience to get a smooth sauce with a whisk alone. Or perhaps you avoid making them altogether until you can afford a fancy blender. But in fact, all you need is a chinois.
They can be found for around $20 and will get all the lumps out.
10. Chef’s don’t shop at fancy kitchen stores
Don’t get us wrong, we love the shiny, pretty chef’s tools for sale in the high-end home goods stores. But if you want a tool that really does the job and does it well, try a restaurant supply store instead.
These can be found online now and just about anyone has access to them (in most cases).
Makes sense, right?
11. Add salt bit by bit
We’d probably all be surprised at just how much salt is in our restaurant meals. But you don’t have to destroy your sodium levels at home on a daily basis.
You should, however, try to salt your meals as you go, step by step, rather than trying to season it all at the end.
This will also help incorporate it into the food a lot better.
12. Smash your garlic
Garlic makes everything better. But peeling garlic is a pain and makes your fingers smell funky for hours or even a whole day.
Smash your garlic with the flat edge of a knife before chopping instead of picking at the skin with your fingers. This will loosen it enough to pull that skin it right off!
13. Read your recipe thoroughly
Great chefs know all the steps in advance. They aren’t consulting a book as they go, wondering where an ingredient is at the last minute.
Give your recipe a good read from beginning to end before you start. That way you won’t get any surprise endings!
14. Never use dish soap on your cast iron pan
Unless you like the taste of dish soap, never let it touch your cast iron pan.
In an interview with Bon Appétit, chef Justin Smillie said, “Cooking with a cast-iron pan gives you an incomparable crust, for both vegetables and meat. To clean ours, we just douse it in oil and salt, burn it out, then wipe it clean.”
15. Brush fish with mayo before putting it on the grill
Grilled fish is so summer! But it’s such a pain to lose part of it on the grill.
Use mayo in place of extra oil – but put in on the fish instead of the hot grill. It’ll keep your dinner in one piece.
16. Roast meals on a cooking sheet instead of a deep roasting pan
Unless you’ve got a giant turkey, your food will get much roast-ier if you put it on a more shallow baking sheet.
You can also spread things out more and avoid undercooking some of your veggies.
17. Fry your fried chicken twice
Is your friend chicken a bust? Fry it again!
Just let it rest for 10 minutes after the first dip, then fry it a second time for three minutes.
Voila – extra crispy chicken!
18. Don’t add garlic too early
If you’re cooking with high heat, you don’t want to add garlic right off the bat. Chances are it will start to burn unless you’re adding a liquid very early on in the dish.
Burned garlic will completely ruin your meal.
19. Don’t overcrowd your pan
Whether it’s on the stovetop or in the oven, you never want to pile up your food while it’s cooking.
Give every veggie and piece of meat it’s own space so it can cook evenly.
20. Undercook your meat by a minute
Meat needs to rest for a few minutes after it comes out of the pan, but it doesn’t entirely stop cooking after you take it off the heat.
While it’s resting, it continues to cook, so taking it off the stove/grill or out of the oven a minute early ensures you won’t get medium-well when you wanted medium-rare.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.