Anyone who steps into a kitchen with the dream of turning raw ingredients into meals, I salute you: you’ve experienced oil burns, incinerated meat, and drooping baked goods, but you’re still standing. I consider myself an accomplished cook after many years of trial and error and having created some culinary disasters that would make Doctor Frankenstein blush. Here are some hard-learned kitchen mistakes, as discussed in a recent online post.
AUTHOR: Ben Rice
Table of Contents
- 1. Baking Powder or Baking Soda?
- 2. The Hot Blender Dichotomy
- 3. Cool It!
- 4. Fingers in the Cake Mixer
- 5. One Bad Egg
- 6. Tablespoons or Teaspoons?
- 7. Old Timers
- 8. Colored Sand or Sugar Sprinkles?
- 9. ‘Tis the Seasoning
- 10. Corn Syrup and Microwaves Don’t Get Along
- 11. All in Moderation
- 10 Best Regional Dishes Across America
- 12 Superfoods That Will Help You Lose Weight Like Magic
- 12 Items That Were Once The Best But Aren't Anymore
1. Baking Powder or Baking Soda?
Are you one of those people who adds something to a recipe only to doubt what it was in the first place? This problem applies to nearly all home bakers who have had to deal with the soda or powder dilemma — the best way to remember is that baking soda works best as a cleaning agent; baking powder makes your pancakes fluffy.
2. The Hot Blender Dichotomy
Soup made: check; blender plugged in: check; surely, now is the time to hit the ‘pulse’ button, right? Wrong. When you blend hot liquids in an enclosed space, expect the lid to jump off, splashing soup or hot coulis over the kitchen roof. Yes, that impatient chef was me — several times.
3. Cool It!
A world-class decorative cake-making instruction comes from a home baker with common sense. If you are wondering whether the cake sponge has cooled enough for frosting yet, it isn’t. Sadly, I have been here before: something happens to a human when baking a cake — can we call it a Jonesing for frosting?
4. Fingers in the Cake Mixer
We’ve all heard of keeping your fingers out of the cookie jar, though I have yet to hear the same about a running cake mixer. However, one absent-minded chef used their fingers to move some clogged butter. This scenario is the gastronomical equivalent of firing an empty chamber into your hand.
5. One Bad Egg
When mixing wet cake ingredients, do an egg check before committing any to the batter lest you mess up the whole batch. Nothing will frustrate a baker more than one bad egg ruining the entire batch. One way to avoid this problem is to put your egg in water. Like a witch, a bad egg will float due to its porous, air-trapping texture.
6. Tablespoons or Teaspoons?
When measuring for recipes, it is always pertinent to check the unit before introducing the ingredients. I once added a tablespoon of salt to a Szechuan pork recipe that only required a teaspoon. Thankfully, my dinner guests hid their disdain until I tasted it and almost retched.
7. Old Timers
With the advancement of culinary arts in the home, gadgetry is never far from the conversation. However, the preponderance of complaints about kitchen timers all lead to the same outcome — a self-stopping timer is about as useful as a square steering wheel. You must invest in a timer only humans — or highly dexterous house pets — can halt.
8. Colored Sand or Sugar Sprinkles?
When you are a home parent caring for your little ones, mixing childcare and baking can be a flawed exercise. One parent warns that sugar sprinkles look dangerously similar to colored play sand — don’t store them in the same cupboard for obvious, tried-and-tested reasons.
9. ‘Tis the Seasoning
As explained with the measuring spoon dichotomy, making sure you season your food is as important as laying the right concrete in a foundation. One false move and the whole recipe will fall apart. Furthermore, don’t store unlabeled sugar and salt near each other — sugared french fries don’t taste very good. Salt is every cooking enthusiast’s best weapon.
10. Corn Syrup and Microwaves Don’t Get Along
An adolescent home cook decided to make their first batch of microwave popcorn, which required two spoons of corn oil. Seeing that there was no corn oil, the youngster chose corn syrup instead — and in doing so, they chose violence. Their microwave almost exploded, and the kitchen smoke alarm went off after a few minutes on high.
11. All in Moderation
Some baked goods require liquor to boost their flavor profile. However, reading the instructions could distinguish between a good night and a car wreck. One thread recollection involves a rum ball recipe using four cups instead of the required one-quarter cup. Suffice it to say that the dinner party was more festive than planned.
Source: Reddit.
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