Cooks and chefs of reddit: What food-related knowledge do you have that the rest of us should know?

ThomasGullen · 6 months

If you get some egg shell in your eggs, the best way to scoop it out is with another piece of shell. Sticks to it like a magnet.

carrotv · 6 months

Once you're finished absorbing all these useful bits of knowledge, check out this thread with a plethora of tips and tricks you can use in the kitchen.

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lforv/chefs_souschefs_line_cooks_of_reddit_what_tricks/

cool_hand_luke · 6 months

being a cook in a restaurant has nothing to do with creativity and everything to do with speed and efficiency
don't overcrowd your pans. putting too much food in a single pan will decrease the heat more than you want
a single good sharp knife is much more valuable than a whole block of knives
you should always have lemons, onions, garlic, vinegar, oil, and butter in your kitchen
to get green vegetables to stay green, we blanche them, it's the only way that they wont look grey and lifeless after they're cooked
fat and salt are your friends, there's nothing unhealthy about them when you eat them in the right amounts
the most flavorful cuts of meat are the ones that scare you and you'll never purchase them
don't add milk to scrambled eggs, creme friache, if possible
most (not all) restaurant cookbooks dumb down recipes for you
at fine dining restaurants, nothing ever goes from a pan or pot to another without going through a fine mesh sieve (chinois)
if it weren't for illegal labor, you would never be able to eat out
the gap in flavor between vegetables in season and out of season is astronomical
if you get pressured to buy a more expensive wine or made to feel like an idiot by a sommelier, you're eating at the wrong restaurant
be nice to your butchers and fishmongers, they'll let you know what's what

EDIT: Thank you all for a wonderful afternoon. I didn't think I'd have so much fun answering questions. If you have any more, I'll try to get to them, but read around, you'll probably find your answer somewhere around here. I hope I helped a little here and there, and to that vegan - I'm sorry I was so harsh, but you folk are pains in the asses. I'm currently in the process of opening my own place with a extremely talented bartender. When I get closer to opening, I will do an AMA and get the whole management team to answer everything we can. Again, thank you everyone.

_vargas_ · 6 months

Don't stir rice when its cooking.

JackRubysGun · 6 months

Timing is by far the most important skill to master. Remember food will continue to cook AFTER it is pulled off heat, if it is done while on heat by the time it gets to a plate it is overcooked. Good knives and good cookware are worth the cost. No electric heat if you can avoid it.

socket_wrench · 6 months

Kosher or sea salt is better for seasoning (especially meats), as it is easier to distribute evenly and has a different mouthfeel. Most restaurants don't use table salt at all in the kitchen.

To caramelize onions: Start on low heat in a thick-bottomed pot with a little oil or butter, salt and pepper. Keep the pot covered, stirring occasionally, until the onions are completely wilted. Remove the lid and increase the heat to medium, stirring more frequently, until the onions are evenly browned.

Lard isn't that much more unhealthy than butter.

ghostbackwards · 6 months

Stay the fuck away from doing it for a living. Believe me.

k3n · 6 months

During HS/college I cooked in 5-6 restaurants, some corporate and some independent; here's a few things that I picked up. Some are related to the dining experience while others are aimed at the cooking experience:

There's a misconception that cooks will get offended if you send something back, and this is only partially true. They'll only get upset if you're just being anal about it (trust me, servers and cooks both realize when you're just trying to be difficult). On the other hand, we're humbled if call us out on something and you are correct, like if you order a medium-well steak and there's still ample pink inside; however, just make damn sure you are correct (especially since the average restaurant-goer is fairly clueless about things like steak temps).
Speaking of steak temps, there are several things YSK if you're cooking and/or ordering steaks: the first thing is that there's a set of fairly-standardized actual temperatures that're used, and while your cook may not take a reading on every specific steak, they should have cooked enough of them to know them by heart. They also have occasional tests or calibrations done to ensure that they're still accurate.
Another thing YSK about cooking steaks is that there's a quick & dirty method to test the doneness; practice this and you'll never need to slice into it to check it's progress! You will need to probably 'calibrate' yourself depending on the cut of meat, though, at least the first time that you cook that particular cut.
Some places use presses for burgers and/or steaks while on the grill or broiler, and if you have the time, you'll get a better piece of meat if you request that they don't use it for yours. These presses work by steadily applying weight to the meat, thereby squishing the juices out and speeding up the cooking process, and so what you end up with is a piece of meat lacking much of it's juiciness (sometimes this is good, sometimes it's bad).
Unless you're at a bona-fide BBQ joint, those "BBQ ribs" most certainly were not barbecued, they were probably parboiled. Even some places that like to call themselves BBQ joints will do this, as well some places who pride themselves on their ribs (I don't want to name names, but they're out there if you research it). If you're a BBQ fan you should already know that only a real BBQ place will have truly good ribs (and a real BBQ place usually entails them pulling the meat off the fire when you order).
If you really enjoyed your food and you want word to get back to the cook, then you have to be rather explicit usually; simply telling your server "it was good" won't do it. You will probably need to say something that includes "tell the kitchen ..." (this is a good generic term) or the more-specific "tell the chef ..." (even if it's not a real chef and only a cook, that's a compliment in itself, whereas calling a chef a cook might be seen as ignorant or insulting, so just play it safe and say chef). Point being, you have to task the server with relaying the message, and bonus points for flagging down a manager to give this feedback!
Salt is the best cleanup agent for grease spills, even large ones. It's cheap and absorbs great, lets you basically sweep up the mess.
A good number of things cooked in a deep fryer will start out at the bottom, and will only float when cooked. French fries, battered fish and chicken, etc.
If your fried foods are coming out soft, it's because the deep fryer isn't coming up to temp (~360F). This can be due to either the grease needing to be changed or over-use of the fryer. When stressed the temps will drop (like adding a pound of frozen fries) and if they don't get back up to temp before your next batch, then you get uneven cooking and sogginess.
The pro way to dress burgers with mayo/mustard/etc. is to smear some on one side and then with the other half rub it evenly on both sides.
Tortilla chips are just corn tortillas quartered and deep-fried. Taco shells are the same tortillas but cooked in a special taco basket. Also, salt can once again be used as a degreaser; when the chips are removed from the grease, sprinkle them with salt to soak up what grease is left on them. Gently shake to remove salted grease.
Easy microwave cleaning: nuke a wet washcloth in the dirty mw for 30s, then use the warm cloth to wipe down the soft interior.
Stuff starts to spoil faster than you think it does; think twice about how quick you put things out to be served! Also be mindful of how long they sit out under temp. The food service industries are generally bound by various state and federal codes (quick example), but those entertaining guests often don't know the true dangers and methods of prevention, for instance: > Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 ° and 140 °F, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. This range of temperatures is often called the "Danger Zone." That's why the Meat and Poultry Hotline advises consumers to never leave food out of refrigeration over 2 hours. If the temperature is above 90 °F, food should not be left out more than 1 hour.

lynchyeatspizza · 6 months

To open a packet of pasta

RckmRobot · 6 months

Get an oven thermometer. It's the only way to be sure of the temperature you are baking things at.

cajunrajing · 6 months

Salad dressing is simple and cheap to make at home. Why overpay and get low quality from the store. Same with hummus.

*Edit: Spelling, apparently, typing in between sample rounds at work = fail spelling. :(

foulflaneur · 6 months

I'm a little late but I'll just go ahead and post anyway. I posted this once before.

Yacht chef here. I specialize in easy, quick and fancy.

Read Harold McGee. Understanding a few basic scientific principles will improve your cooking dramatically.

Turn down the heat on the stovetop when cooking everything but meat. Then turn it waaay the fuck up.

Don't forget to season with an acid (i.e. citrus or vinegar) just like you would with salt.

For great mash potatoes, add xanthan gum to your melted butter and cream for a stable hydrocolloid before adding it to your potatoes. You can add a lot more flavor (butter) without it separating.

Xanthan gum works wonders in most homemade salad dressings too. So many uses in a kitchen.

Use a digital thermometer with an oven safe probe. Use it for everything. Temperature is really important in everything you do. Even things like bread and pastries.

Use the big sheets of parchment paper on all your pans and kitchen surfaces. It makes cleaning up a lot easier. You can get boxes of 3000 sheets for like 40 bucks and it will last you a year. Shit is magic.

Sharpen your knives. A sharp knife is not only safer but will change the way you cook. A dull, shitty knife will slow you down by half during prep.

Don't 'eyeball' amounts and don't cook by time. Cook by weight and temperature. Use a scale. Your pastries and will improve dramtically.

Don't keep eggs in the fridge.

Always put a wet rag under your cutting board to keep it from moving.

Learn how to blanch vegetables. The first time you see the difference between blanched asparagus and regular asparagus it will blow your mind.

Put lemons and limes in the microwave for ten seconds before you juice them. Much easier to juice.

Immersion blenders are indispensable.

Fish cooks suprisingly well from frozen. Try it, you'll be amazed at how you can develop great flavors on the outside without overcooking the interior. Just don't try it on something over about 1.5" thick.

Dried beans taste better, are way cheaper than canned beans and are a lot easier to portion. You might be suprised by how much better they taste. Just soak them overnight.

If you have a stand mixer, get the food grinder. Freshly ground meat cooks more evenly, tastes better and is easier to work with.

Make your bread awesome by increasing it's gluten content. Buy gluten at the store and add a tablespoon per 3 cups of regular flour.

Cut evenly to cook evenly.

Use fresh herbs but don't buy them in the package if you can. They often sell the plant in a plastic pot in supermarkets and the price is usually about the same for the same amount. The upside is you don't have to worry about your herbs spoiling.

Put an egg yolk, a little salt, a touch of lemon juice and a teaspoon of mustard in a glass bowl. Beat the shit out of it with a whisk for about thirty seconds. Then slowly add (I mean drop by drop at first) a cup of oil while beating the shit out of it (wrap a towel in a circle and use it as a base for your bowl if you don't want to hold it). As it thickens, keep adding oil in a very slow stream. It will slowly form mayonnaise and it if it's your first time tasting real mayo you might want to give yourself time to forget the mayo lie that you've been living. As you get better, this will only take a few minutes to make a bunch of mayo. For me, this is kitchen wizardry.

If you're doing a bunch of cooking (especially with flour) it takes about twenty seconds to plastic wrap your prep counter. It saves about 10 minutes of cleaning.

MSG is not bad for you. Use it sparingly and it can really improve your food. Try it with soups first and experiment with it in other things. It's not for everything but can mean the difference between good and great.

Salt your eggs before you cook them. They are more tender.

edit: Apparently salting eggs is a contentious issue but I'm right on this one. I first read about it in Harold McGees book On Food and Cooking in which he debunked the idea that salting before-hand makes tougher eggs. Use lower heat and salt your eggs beforehand. They will be more tender. The end.

isitiswhatitis · 6 months

Scrape foods on your cutting board with top of your knife instead of the blade.

ikedavis · 6 months

Butter makes everything taste better.

ZerothLaw · 6 months

There is a lot of technique advice in here, which is all well and good. But these are all really basic things. First, buy these two books:

http://www.cookingforgeeks.com/

and

http://www.amazon.com/Ratio-Simple-Behind-Everyday-Cooking/dp/1416571728/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Cooking is chemistry and art. It is chemistry not just in mixing things, but in how meat is cooked, and veggies brown. Those two books present the science of cooking, basic techniques, as well as some very advanced techniques. For the reddit crowd, they're perfect.

Learn what temperatures oils smoke at. (Smoke means turn dark and start smoking... oil at this point tastes nasty and makes whatever you're cooking in it disgusting.) Learn how much fat by weight is in butter, margarine, sour cream, cream cheese, etc. Learn how much moisture is in each. These factors affect how they affect your recipe. So if you replace them, you will have different results.

A key example of this is cookies. A very basic cookie recipe is 1 part sugar: 2 parts fat: 3 parts flour. So this means 1 tablespoon of sugar to two tablespoons of butter to three tablespoons of flour. Adjusting this ratio in minute ways produces dramatically different cookies.

Add a bit more fat(in poppyseeds which are 75% fat by volume, and the fat renders out in the oven...) and the cookies become creamier.

Add some more flour, and they become stiffer.

Add more sugar and they become gooey.

Change the butter to lard, and it will be like increasing the fat.

Spices are volatile and under heat, they break down. So for stuff that is cooked for a long time, add the spices at the very end of the cook time.

Understand the physics of heating things. When you apply heat from the outside in, this creates a heat gradient. The length of time you apply the heat is how the meat becomes cooked. This is how you can burn a steak and still have it be raw in the center. It takes time for that heat to move, especially in thick steaks.

Learn the science behind techniques, and you will become a better cook. For example, to make a clear carrot-based stock, don't expose it to sunlight. Or, duck confit: the fat molecules are too big to get into the meat so all you're really doing is dry-cooking the meat with an efficient heat conductor. Cartilage and connective tissue turn to gelatin under heat and moisture. Absent moisture, the connective tissue becomes brittle.

My favorite recipe I made using science I learned: Three day roast beef or: Pulled Beef. -Marinate the roast in a 1:3 ratio of acids and oils. Only hot spices will be absorbed by the meat at this point, like pepper or garlic. Onion is too delicate. Do this for 24 hours in the fridge.

-Braise for another 8 hours on low in low-salt beef stock. Add some wine, shallots, carrots, garlic, and other spices. I like using dry mustard at this point for an added accent to the meat.

-Let the roast cool and chill in the fridge overnight. Reserve and chill the braising stock for gravy.

-Preheat oven to 300f

-Roast the beef for about 3-4 hours or until the center is hot.

-The braising stock will now have solidified lumps of beef fat floating on top. Use these with an equal amount of flour to make a basic roux. Brown the roux on medium, and add the braising stock on high, stirring vigorously. Add as much or as little stock as you need to the gravy. The gravy will thicken as the water boils off.

-Serve with side dishes such as roasted potatoes in thyme and rosemary.

What this does is produces fully cooked and flavourful beef, which retains its shape(isn't soggy), but is never tough to chew. This is because the cartilage has become gelatin, and chilling it overnight sets the gelatin. The gelatin helps the beef hold its shape, but is significantly less chewy than the original connective tissue. Learn how to make basic sauces. Every sauce has as its base, a roux. Roux is basically a mixture of flour and oil, and browned or not browned. Add your desired liquid (1 tablespoon of flour = 1 cup of liquid) and stir.

Dairy will form a 'scum' if you heat at too high of a temperature. This is the origin of the word 'scum'. So heat it at low temperatures, with lots of stirring.

Always sear your meat on a very hot pan before you roast or broil your meat. This produces thousands of amazingly tasting chemicals that will add some flavour to your end result.

You rest your meat because its like a vessel of water under pressure. Heat = pressure. As the pressure lets off, the juices settle and won't squirt out as soon as you cut the meat. This ensures your meat will stay moist and flavourful.

Also: FIRST POST ON REDDIT.

The_Ewe_Pilgrim · 6 months

Butter. It goes into everything.

Add wine into your sauces to add a nice and subtle complexity.

Substituting shallots for onions is often milder and sweeter for whatever you are cooking.

Don't forget garlic, even just a little.

Season everything as you cook.

Taste, taste, taste.

Do not refrigerate tomatoes as the cold is responsible for making them mealy.

Use fresh ingredients when you can.

Chilled onions don't make you tear up as much.

bigbill147 · 6 months

What is the difference between a cook and a chef?

guitarman90 · 6 months

You can always cook it more, but you can't cook it less.

CaleDestroys · 6 months

Wonder why your grilled chicken never tastes as good as a restaurant's? Gotta brine it for 4-6 hours.

Edit: Retard grammar.

eggsaladburp · 6 months

Hard boiled eggs need to be started in room temp water, brought to a simmer(not a boil) and cooked for 9-10 minutes, then plunged into ice water to chill. They yolk will be perfectly yellow(not greeish) and the white will be uber tender.

Not_the_IRS · 6 months

Chef here.

Keep clean and organized all the time. Have a soap and bleach bucket with rags around to be able to switch between tasks quickly. It also helps with food safety and makes you look like a professional. If you have chicken and residue from previous crap you've cooked then im going to think you're a fucking idiot and certainly not going to want to eat anything you cook. Keeping c/o will also improve your cooking by making you more focused on whats going on around your kitchen. Also this includes getting all of your ingredients prepped before your start. Same with your fridge, get things organized, makes this a lot faster.

Learn knife skills, it saves times and fingers. For the home cook its not as important, however its certainly useful.

knowledge is power, sauces are the life of a lot of dishes. use a sauce with every dish you make.

while at the restaurant i cant do this, homemade stocks are fucking amazing. There is no comparison to store bought. fyi if you make soups with store bought stock be prepared for the saltest shit you've ever had.

The main reason people aren't good cooks is because they are afraid to step outside there comfort zone, find some really challenging recipes that take a few days to make or are really technique heavy, cook them and learn, if youre not learning youre not cooking.

ssjaken · 6 months

The show Good Eats is required.

magichat · 6 months

Keep your bacon fat and cook with it later

Mind_if_I_do_a_J · 6 months

Store raw meats in the bottom of your refrigerator. Avoid cross contamination.

pachirico · 6 months

This will be my first comment at reddit even though I spend the majority of my free time here. Just thought I'd share.

I'm currently enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America, one of the best schools in the world, I'd I just thought I'd share some tips that my 100 thousand dollar tuition has taught me.

First, to elaborate more on what cool_hand_luke has said, blanching isn't as simple as just throwing veggies in boiling water then cooling it. When cooking green vegetables, add a little salt to the water. Ratio for cooking vegetables should also be six parts water to one part vegetables. The way blanching works is that the heat causes the pockets of chlorophyll to expand giving it a much brighter color. It's important not to let it boil for too long otherwise the pockets will burst and the water will turn green and youll lose all color in your green vegetables. Throwing it in the ice water stops the cooking process or "shocks" it. However when cooking white vegetables, such as cauliflower, you'll need to add acid into the water as well as cover the pot. It'll give you the best color out of your vegetables.

When ordering red meat the redder the better. I'd never order any piece of red meat anything above medium. It gives it a lot more flavor when prepared this way. Don't worry about it being too raw to consume. Any form of red meat, and I mean any, can be consumed raw. The only exception to this is ground beef because it has already been heated in the process of grinding. Burgers or any ground beef product should always have an internal temperature of 135-145 degrees F. Anything below that is unsafe.

When cooking, especially when you wanna give something more color, caramelize it. This is done by using a fat such as oil or butter. To expand on that, its usually always best to use clarified butter, it has a higher smoking point. Then there is sweating, if you want to add an ingredient without giving it color to your end product you have to sweat it. This is done the same with usually with less fat though and constant string. Make sure nothing is sticking to the side of the pot/pan.

There is so much more but I'd doubt anyone will read this whole lengthy comment anyway. One thing to also keep in mind is to keep things simple. Don't go crazy trying to add your own twist and just making it more complicated unless you know exactly what you're doing. I find food you produce will yield the best results when you yourself are in a good mood with a clear mind. You'd be surprised at the difference.

Edit: edited lower smoking point to higher smoking point. Thank you to AntiMe for reminding me. There is so much information that I have crammed into my head that little things like this get looked over. This is why I'm far from graduation.

_vargas_ · 6 months

Food safety is huge.

Cross contamination (using the same cutting board or knife when cutting raw meat and produce).
Wash your hands with hot soapy water for at least 15-20 seconds in between the handling of different food items during prep, particularly any raw protein.
Dangerous bacteria grows fastest between 41F and 140F. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.
Leftovers should be reheated to 165F.
When chopping vegetables (and just about anything else), the blade of the knife should never completely leave the cutting board.
Deep fryers and frozen turkeys don't mix.
Wash all produce. There's dirt and/or pesticides on it and you never know which asshole who doesn't wash their hands after pooping handled that produce before you came along and selected it.

snap_wilson · 6 months

When you make pasta, don't put oil in the water to keep it from sticking. 1, it doesn't work that well. Most of the oil will just float to the top. 2. It makes it harder for the sauce you have prepared for the pasta to stick to it. You want your pasta mildly sticky.

GigaReed · 6 months

Learn the mother sauces and use duck fat.

phonein · 6 months

Salt and pepper all the thuings. Seriously. EVERYTHING. season fucking everything.

thewhitebear · 6 months

Cutting garlic - wash hands immediately after with COLD water and soap. Warm water will open your pores and your fingers will smell.

Eggs - use low heat until ur a pro.

Steak - let meat rest so all the juices can evenly distribute back throughout the meat so when you cut it, all the juices and flavor don't run out immediately.

Invest in a good cutting board and knife. I hate when people use a steak knife to chop veg on a glass plate. :|

Balsamic vinegar + goat cheese + strawberries + spinach + shaved almonds. Secret weapon to impress. Never fails.

VolcanoSteve · 6 months

If you aren't cooking drunk, you aren't cooking right.

strumism · 6 months

Don't eat shellfish at a buffet - just don't. Actually, on that note, don't eat hollandaise at a buffet either.

If you enjoyed your meal, THANK THE CHEF/COOK IF YOU CAN. I promise you the next time you're back they'll remember you and put extra care into your food.

If you order your proteins well-done expect to get a piece that's been sitting in the bottom. No self respecting cook is going to cook the piss out of his nice piece of steak so you can eat it grey.

Be weary of specials. Sometimes a special is actually that - a special that isn't normally on the menu. However, specials are often what's going off in the fridge so the chef tries to sell it off that day.

Despite what you may have heard or read. Bread is NOT usually re-used, at least at all the places I've worked.

My mind is blanking on other things, but I'll try to update when I can think of more.

[deleted] · 6 months

Don't use steel wool on a non stick pan

Don't put my expensive knives in the dishwasher you morons

For my family mainly

myeyesaresotired · 6 months

I ran to a computer just to post this. This is something that every chef/cook knows but never realizes to tell you.

The most important tool in the kitchen is your HANDS

The difference between a cook's hands and a non-cook's hands (besides the scars) is the heat tolerance. Ever put a piece of meat in a frying pan with your hand and howl when a single drop of sizzling oil lands on your hand? After a few months in a commercial kitchen, we don't even notice it. Repeating this helps: I will not fear, fear is the mind-killer...

Get them strong, get them fast, get them tough. The best way to do this is: Practice. Practice. Practice more.

Learn one way to chop onions, garlic, whatever, and practice it relentlessly until you can do it as fast as you can without losing a finger. Don't let anyone shove their technique onto you.

Look up how cooks hold knives and start doing that. Remember to slice through the food, not guillotine it.

There is NOTHING more important than mise-en-place, aka "miz" or "your fuckin' miz!". Some recipes like to tell you to chop the onions while the beef is browning, but you're not being efficient, you're just being dumb. The only thing you should do while waiting for something to cook is cleaning up pots, pans, cutting boards, and surfaces.

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