15 bad cooking habits and 14 good ones

[LuFins Dad]

1.Bad habit: "Stop pressing/smashing your burger patties (or any food, really) while they cook. That literally squeezes all the juice out, and you'll be left with a dry burger."

Wrong. https://www.seriouseats.com/classic-smashed-burgers-recipe

8.Good habit: "Always let your meat dry on a paper towel and come to room temperature before you put it on the stove. This allows for an excellent texture and a nice sear."

Nope. Dry on a paper towel, yes. But the room temperature thing? Doesn't really make a difference for the evenness of the cooking, and there is evidence to suggest that if the meat is colder, but still dry, it's easier to get a great sear without overcooking the inside. https://www.seriouseats.com/old-wives-tales-about-cooking-steak

[LuFins Dad]

The thread inspired me to make smash burgers tonight.

[George K]

@LuFins-Dad nice.

I just hate the smoke...

[LuFins Dad]

@George-K said in 15 bad cooking habits and 14 good ones:

@LuFins-Dad nice.

I just hate the smoke...

Avacado oil. Supposed to have a high smile point, but didn’t look like it to me. Fortunately, the smoke wasn’t acrid at all. The burgers were quite tasty…

[xenon]

It’s a good list - but agreed with @LuFins-Dad. Hard disagree on number 1.

I love thick pub style burgers, and you shouldn’t press those. But I love smashed burgers more. I’ll remember to post a pic next time I cook them on the outdoor griddle.

[jon-nyc]

Well I think the spirit of the rule is correct in that even the link said smash in the first 30s. Key is don’t press it down when you see it start to get fat from the juices. That does indeed dry it out.

[Mik]

I like a 1/4 lb burger of really high quality. No smashing. My current fave is Omaha Steaks. Other than that, I get my burger meat from TS Farms, same as my favorite burger joint, Bones' Burgers.

[89th]

Good to know about rinsing cutting board before cutting onions. Also keeping pancake mix NOT over-mixed. I'll have to try both of those.

I'm a "clean as I cook" person, my wife is not. I'm also a "put away laundry when it is folded" and she is not. Must be how our brains are wired. One is logical and one is...

[Mik]

But wait... there's MORE!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/recipes/gordon-ramsay-s-method-is-just-old-inaccurate-folklore-people-are-sharing-the-cooking-advice-they-ignore-at-all-costs/ar-BB1k55wa?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=7060351b9bfe47a3aabb0e07c9dcdb70&ei=28

[Mik]

And more..

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/recipes/people-are-sharing-their-favorite-cooking-technique-or-hack-that-most-home-cooks-don-t-know-about-and-some-are-fascinating/ar-AA1aPTtn?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=b5a7f271cacb41fe91e48ae9e586b3a0&ei=267

[Aqua Letifer]

2."I add frozen berries directly into my hot oatmeal to defrost the berries while simultaneously cooling the oatmeal to the perfect, edible temperature."

How is this a hack? It's just common sense.

[Aqua Letifer]

Here's one of my own. So far I've tried this with pancakes, french toast, ebelskivers, indian curries, cookies, mac & cheese and muffins. Worked right out of the gate on everything but the muffins and cookies, but with some adjustments to the amount it now works great for those, too:

Use kefir instead of milk.

[xenon]

Smash burgers last night on the griddle. These were flipped after about 40 seconds.

[LuFins Dad]

Nice.