Foods You've Been Cooking Wrong Your Whole Life

Cooking isn’t always easy. Even some of the easiest dishes are commonly made incorrectly. Luckily, most mistakes you may make have very simple fixes. From overcooking boiled eggs to messing up your salad, here are foods you’ve been cooking wrong and how to cook them correctly in the future. 

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There are many ways to mess up your eggs, from overcooking your eggs to skipping an ice bath. A common mistake when making eggs sunny side up is cooking without a lid, which will result in a perfect yolk, but your egg whites underneath will end up undercooked. A few drops of water and a lid make all the difference.

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It’s not technically wrong to boil your Brussels Sprouts, but moist heat from boiling them will give you squishy, smelly results. It’s also important not to trim them too much. You can get the perfect dish by choosing the right heat type and sprucing it up with bacon or a butter sauce.

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Making the perfect rice can be tricky. It’s easy to want to peek in on your rice, but lifting the lid will cause the temperature to drop immediately, resulting in overcooked outsides and mushy insides. To cook rice perfectly, wash it first to remove excess starch to ensure your grains are separated.

Why are you making bacon on the stove when the instructions are in the name — you should be bakin’ it. There are so many perks to cooking bacon in the oven. Placing the bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet saves it from getting burned and avoids a greasy cleanup. Protip: start with a cold oven, and your bacon won’t curl up and shrink.

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Adding sugar to your marinara sauce to combat the tomato’s acidity is a common kitchen hack, but it’s not the best option. Instead, try a better tomato — like a San Marzano plum tomato — so you won’t need any sugar. You can also use sweet potato, baking soda, or cinnamon to combat the bitter taste of the marinara sauce.

If you’ve ever made asparagus, you’ve probably been told to cut the thick base off of each piece before cooking. But how high should you cut, and is it the same for each piece? The trick is simple. Use your hands to bend the ends. They’ll naturally snap in the right place.

It’s easy to cook chicken breast and pork chops too long, resulting in an overcooked, dry piece of meat. Unlike a steak, these meats have to be cooked fully to avoid foodborne illness, which is probably why so many people overcook their meats. To get the perfect piece of fully cooked, juicy meat, invest in a meat thermometer and be sure to cook at the right temperature.

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Garlic is a staple in most savory dishes, so it’s surprising that many of us are cooking it incorrectly. It is very easy to burn your garlic, which makes the food taste bitter and can ruin the whole dish. To avoid burning your garlic, try grating instead of chopping and avoid cooking it at too high of a temperature.

Cooking a steak at home can feel intimidating because it’s so easy to get it wrong. Many people are making steak the wrong way by oiling the pan, cooking the steak while it’s still ice cold from the fridge, or just cooking it on one side. Making the perfect steak requires patience. Let the meat rest and come to room temperature before cooking it. It’s also important to oil the steak, not the pan.

Did you know you should keep a cup of pasta water when making a pasta dish? Pasta should be cooked al dente, meaning firm to the bite. Once you’ve got your firm pasta, you’ll add the pasta water to the pasta, which will keep cooking it while also making sure the sauce sticks to the pasta.

Do you ever try to make a salad at home only to end up with a sad bowl of bland, wilted greens? You’re probably making a few mistakes. Washing your greens is important, but so is drying them, or you’ll end up with a soggy salad. If you’ve got darker greens, like kale, try giving them a massage before putting your salad together. Add salt and lemon to your greens and massage until they’re softer.

Fish sticking to the pan is a very common problem when making fish at home. Fortunately, there’s a simple fix. First, make sure your pan is heated to its smoking point. While waiting for the pan to get hot enough, ensure your fish has been towel-dried because oil and water don’t mix. Once your fish is dry, you can add your seasonings of choice and add it to the pan. Once you place the fish, it's crucial that you don’t move it around. Just flip it when necessary.

Why is it that when you order a burger at a restaurant, it comes out thick and juicy, but at home, it’s flat and dry? You’re most likely doing a few little things wrong that can make all the difference. First, make sure you don’t overwork the patty. Next, don’t press down on the meat with the spatula every few minutes. That will release all the juices, leaving you with a dry burger.

Do you ever boil an egg for the exact time needed to get the desired yolk consistency, only to crack it later and discover it’s overcooked? This is because you’re probably skipping a crucial step in the process. Once your eggs are done cooking, transfer them to an ice bath immediately. An ice bath will stop the cooking process, giving you the perfect egg.

You’ve probably made baked potatoes wrapped in foil at least once, but that’s not the best way to make a baked potato. The foil will keep all the moisture in, steaming your potato instead of baking it. To get the perfect spud, complete with crispy skin, start by washing a russet potato, poking it all over with a fork, and covering it in oil and kosher salt before putting it on a lined baking tray. This method will give you a fluffy inside with crispy potato skin on the outside. 

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