13 Genius Cooking Tips From Professional Chefs You’ll Actually Use

#1. Always sprinkle salt from up high, and season your food at every stage of cooking.

Sprinkling salt from high will evenly distribute it, instead of having salt stuck to one piece of food. And by seasoning as you go you can avoid the common mistake of over-salting a meal at the beginning or end of cooking.

#2. The key to the perfect omelette is hitting the pan at just the right moment in the final seconds of cooking.

After removing the skillet from the heat, start rolling the omelette over on itself starting from the side nearest the pan handle. Then whack it! Or you can cheat and follow this video.

#3. Use a “roll cut” to give things a varied texture and make a dish more visually interesting.

A roll cut gives copped pieces a thick center and thin edges, so they cook at different rates and have an interesting texture. Find out how to roll cut here.

#5. For perfect, fluffy rice without a rice cooker, never, ever lift the lid.

After the rice is done, leave it to rest for around 10 minutes without lifting the lid, as this gives the moisture a chance to settle. Delicious rice, every time.

#6. And for jasmine rice, always rinse it before cooking and use a 1:1 ration of rice to water.

Rinsing removes the starch on rice and, if you don’t rinse, can unbalance the ratios.

#7. Use clarified butter for cooking, as it doesn’t burn (and tastes amazing).

Clarified butter is just the fat from regular butter (so, minus the milk solids, which can burn). It’s great for pan-frying and roasting, and you can learn how to make it quickly and easily here.

#8. Save the stems of herbs, tie them with butcher’s twine, and add to soups, stews, or stocks.

Once you’ve used all the leaves, refrigerate the stems in a plastic bag and throw them in a simmering pot to add flavor (and the twine will save you fishing them out individually once you’re done).

#8. Cheat an authentic smoky flavor by making your own DIY smoker with a Dutch oven and wood chips.

Tutorial here.

#9. Stop cracking eggs on the side of the bowl — you should crack them on an even surface, like the counter or cutting board.

When you crack an egg on an edge, the shell gets pushed inside the egg. And we don’t want that.

#10. Before you whisk eggs, pierce every yolk with a fork.

It’s much easier to blend everything together when you stab the yolks first.

#11. Always make biscuit dough by hand (never use a food processor or mixer).

https://www.instagram.com/p/y7Wjw5ojU9/

For perfect, flaky biscuits, work the butter into the flour with your fingertips, as it warms the butter and works it into the dry ingredients better.

#12. Prep your pan by frying an egg in it before making fried rice (yes, really).

This is a secret chef trick for making nothing stick to the pan. And it works!

#13. And for perfectly-shaped burger patties, throw them against the cutting board before gently pressing a dimple into the center.

The drop smashes any air bubbles out of the patty, and the dimple prevents them puffing up while they’re cooking.

Now go out and make something delicious.

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