About 36% of Americans cook at home daily, and the amount of Americans cooking has increased over 50% since the COVID-19 pandemic.
With more and more people becoming invested in this skill, many are asking how to become a better cook.
Cooking sometimes isn’t easy. It requires skill, time, and the knowledge of a few tips and tricks that will take your food to the next level.
These tips till do just that!
- Stick to the Recipes in the Beginning
When you’re first starting out, one of the most simple but effective cooking tips is that you should stick to recipes. Even if you’d like to add more garlic or spice, start out with the exact measurements of what the recipe says.
Make sure to use quality recipes with good reviews too.
Sticking to the exact measurements and times in the recipe will yield good results if the recipe is a good one.
- Then Get Inventive
Once you’ve made a few things with the exact measurements, you can make them again and adjust. If you think it needs more of a certain ingredient or less than one, you’ve made it once exactly as it was supposed to be and have better knowledge of how to customize it for your tastes.
If you try to get inventive in the beginning, you might ruin the food because you aren’t sure how much of something it’s okay to add.
- Invest in Good Equipment
Cooking can get expensive, but it will be so much easier if you invest in good equipment. Good knives, a rice cooker, and an air fryer are all things that aren’t necessary, but can really show you how to be a better cook.
They also make life more convenient. A rice cooker, for example, will shave a lot of time and effort off of over-rice dishes!
The equipment you buy will depend on how you intend on cooking most things. If you want to know how to grill, for example, that requires different things than cooking only in a small kitchen might.
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- Stock Up on Spices
Something else you should stock up on is spices. Spices are involved in many recipes and if you have a good selection at hand, they’ll last for a long time and are cheap to buy.
Buying one will mean you can use it for many recipes to come.
- Take Care of Your Knives
Once you’ve invested in a good set of knives, you should make sure you take care of them. This means sharpening them on a regular basis.
Knives will dull over time, which means food might be harder to cut through and the presentation just won’t be as neat. Some things can fall apart if you attempt to cut them with a blunt knife.
- Use a Thermometer
When talking about cooking for beginners, it must be pointed out that you should use a thermometer to see if food is done — especially meat.
If you cut into it and keep checking if it’s done, the food won’t turn out as well because you’re letting the juices bleed out. Again, the presentation won’t be as nice either.
A thermometer can be gently stuck into it and check the temperature, which will tell you if the food is done in an easy and reliable way.
- Don’t Use Shredded Cheese
Shredded cheese seems like the convenient option for dishes like mac and cheese, but don’t do it! Shredded cheese is often coated with a film to prevent the cheese from sticking together, which means it doesn’t melt and blend as flawlessly in a dish.
Instead, shred the cheese on your own, even if it seems like more effort. Your dish will come out so much better!
- Practice the Same Dish Over and Over
When you’ve made one dish, don’t forget about it and move onto something else over and over. Although you don’t want to make the same dish every night, keep returning to the first few you make.
As you make adjustments and perfect your technique, the dish will keep getting better. It’s better to have a few dishes you’re amazing at making than a bunch that don’t quite turn out right.
- Explore Vegetarian and Vegan Options
If you’re getting into cooking, chances are you’ll have to cook for someone who doesn’t eat meat at some point.
Explore meat-free options and add them to your roster, so you’re armed for anything!
- Salt
Although it’s important not to over-salt things, there are few dishes that can’t be made better by adding a little bit of salt when cooking.
Start light, and add as you go.
- Taste as You Go
For salt and other reasons, it’s important to taste as you go — especially if adding more of your own spices or anything else.
That way, you can catch things before they go too far.
If you only taste your dish at the end and you’ve added too much of something, it’s too late to fix!
This is How to Become a Better Cook
When it comes to how to become a better cook, there are many practices and techniques you can employ. You can’t go wrong by stocking up on some equipment, taking care of it, and practicing a few awesome dishes to blow away whoever you’re cooking for!
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