When it comes to cooking habits, some are hard to break. Many chefs/home cooks have habit that they didn’t think were doing any damage but have actually been ruining the quality and taste of their food. Sometimes you don't even realise these actions affect your dish and health. Some may be keeping your meal just short of reaching perfection while others may actually be hazardous to your health. These cooking habits are mostly down to impatience and laziness and should be avoided.
Well, if you've picked up any of these bad cooking habits, it's seriously time to say goodbye to them and up your kitchen game the right way.
Using one cooking spoon to scoop different dishes
For some of us, dishwashing is a difficult chore. Even so, using one cooking utensil to scoop different dishes is a big no. This habit can give you scour food stories. To avoid stories that touch, simply use a different cooking spoon for each dish.
Overloading the frying pan
We know you can't wait to cook and leave the kitchen. Even so, be patient, allow your protein to fry and give you a crispy result. Never give in to the temptation of filling your saucepan to the brim. Doing that can actually cause slow cooking and soak the food with oil. Taking time to cook in batches will make your meal taste much better.
Over stirring the food
One of the kitchen rules says consistent stirring prevents burnt food. But, stirring too much isn't a good cooking habit to adopt. Every time you stir or flip food, you extend your cooking time and alter the food texture and colour. Also, it breaks food apart and makes your meal mushy. An occasional stir prevents sticking and ensures all sides are cooked. Resist the urge of frequent stirring; unless the recipe tells you to do so.
Using barehand to remove hot pot of food
You are not James Bond. You may have been taught that if you can’t use your bare hands to remove a hot pot of food from the fire, then you are not ready to accept the role of a chef 🤣 🤣 Don’t hurt yourself trying to prove you are a brave chef. Kitchen towels and gloves are here for a reason, use them.
Using the same oil to fry different things
For real, who does that? Imagine frying Egg or Plantain with the same oil used to fry Fish 😱. We use oil in so many different ways to enhance flavour or make the dish look yummy and glossy. Many households reuse the same oil over and over again to minimise waste. It is okay to reuse oil as long as you can refresh with Ginger. However, it is unhealthy to reuse oil when it has become dark, greasier and thicker. That dark oil can create free radicals that can lead to inflammation and thus diseases. It’s best we throw it away.
Refreshing Sour Food
When trying to display our management skills to prevent waste, we overlook certain things and try to make the dish better by refreshing it. Some people even try to use charcoal to revive a sour meal 😲. The moment you notice a change in taste or colour of your food. It's a sign the meal is no longer healthy for consumption, hence the need to throw them away. Your health is a priority; you live to make another dish.
Not Cleaning as you cook
Nobody wants to eat from a dirty and unorganised kitchen. Never wait until when you finish cooking before tidying up the place. Clean as you cook, houseflies thrive in a dirty environment. Never give room for that to happen. Keep your kitchen clean while cooking and after cooking.
Rinsing your mortar and pouring the content in a cooking pot
If you are guilty of this habit, do like this 🙋 Nigerian Mothers hate waste. They are thorough with scraping Pepper and Crayfish from a mortar. Interestingly, they will rinse the mortar with water and pour the content right inside the cooking pot😂. Do you know germs could be lingering around your mortar? These germs can hop inside your food while pouring the content into the cooking pot.
There are many others that include: licking the cooking spoon, defrosting your meat on the kitchen counter, partly reading the recipe, not preheating the oven, using dull knives etc. Did we miss any habits on the list? Tell us.
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