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Professional chefs have an amazing talent for making any food taste delicious, in part due to the techniques they’ve polished after years of practice. They also make better use of their workspace, which helps make cooking more efficient. Read about some cooking tips professional chefs use so that you can ensure every meal you create tastes like fine dining.
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Organize Your Kitchen
Before diving into cooking, you need to make sure you have the appropriate workspace. Your kitchen essentials shouldn’t be all over the place because this makes things harder to access. Keep all similar ingredients in a designated spot. For example, have a drawer or lazy Susan cabinet for spices and dedicate a place in the pantry for flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients or non-refrigerated oils.
Similarly, your cooking tools need a spot. Create an area in your kitchen that your cutting boards, measuring spoons, and other items can call home. Keep in mind that all these don’t have to go into the same drawer or cabinet, but you should know where each item is. When the kitchen is a mess, cooking can seem impossible.
Spread Foods Out
Spreading food out is another cooking tip that many professional chefs utilize. Remember to keep things spread out when you fry food in a pan or allow it to bake in the oven. Packing things too closely won’t result in faster cook times and could lead to uneven cooking.
Use the Right Ingredients
If you don’t normally cook, stick to your recipe’s ingredients; don’t substitute yogurt for butter or milk for water. Cooking takes practice; over time, you’ll learn what substitutes work best and which flavors you prefer.
It’s also important to know the different types of cooking oil. A recipe may call for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), which differs from regular olive oil. EVOO works best for sautéing and frying, and drizzle it on top of a finished dish or add it to salad dressing. Noting this is vital when you cook because each oil—canola, avocado, coconut, extra virgin olive oil, and others—all have varying smoke points. If you use a different oil, you’ll need to know how to adjust the cooking time to ensure a tasty meal.
Clean Throughout the Process
Chefs clean the messes they create while cooking, which keeps their workplace open for the necessary ingredients. Professional chefs don’t work in a messy environment because this gives you less room to prep and cook.
For example, if you plan to make steak with a side of mashed potatoes, set the washed potatoes aside while preparing the steak. And if you have already peeled and chopped the potatoes, keep them in a pot with cold water so that they don’t turn brown. The counter is your workstation, and it needs to remain clean. Now it’s finally time to satisfy your tastebuds and cook up something delicious!
