4 Tips To Take The Guesswork Out Of Cooking

It's not easy to cook while feeling confused. In fact, guessing when to cook increases stress because you don't know what kind of results to expect. We'll help you cook a little bit by giving you some tips to take the guesswork out of it.

One reason to speculate is because it's hard to believe until you see it. But I want to help you grapple with the idea that you must first believe, and then you will see. Quantifying and testing portion sizes and temperatures is a great way to eliminate guesswork. Let's see how this works.

4 ways to quantify your cooking skills and avoid guessing:

Cooking Tip #1: Temperature

Temperature is important when cooking. Some foods can make you sick if you don't cook them at the right temperature. Cooking much above "medium heat" will completely destroy other foods. Use water as a temperature indicator. Water evaporates at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. So if you are using a frying pan and sprinkle water on it and it evaporates, you know that the pan has at least reached the boiling point of the water. The faster the water evaporates, the hotter the pan will be. This also works on the grill.

You can also test the temperature by testing a small piece of food. For example, you might want to fry chicken in oil on the stove, but you're not sure if the oil is hot enough. Don't ruin the whole breast by putting it in oil that isn't hot enough. Instead, add small pieces of chicken to the pot. You'll quickly know if the oil is hot enough to cook your food.

Cooking tip #2: Try small portions.

Sometimes it's enough to taste a small amount before cooking the whole thing. This is especially useful when frying. When I was in the catering business, I sometimes had to bake hundreds or even thousands of crab cakes at once. Well, I'm going to take some crab cakes, cook them, and test them out. This allows us to adjust the remaining batches to produce a better product. Boiling or frying small pieces of something is a great way to find out if your plan will work without giving up all your ingredients on a guessing adventure.

Cooking Tip #3: Portions

Get a digital scale and start understanding raw portion sizes. Let me tell you how I discovered the importance of this tip. When I made spaghetti for me and his wife, I cooked a whole pound of spaghetti, or a whole box, for the two of us. When I sat down to eat, there was so much spaghetti that I ended up eating more than I should have. I always had spaghetti left over after a meal, and I would put the leftover spaghetti in the fridge and throw it away after a few days without eating it. Using a digital scale, I first weighed 8 ounces of dried pasta for two people. I cooked 8 ounces and still had some left, so I reduced it until I knew exactly how much dry pasta to cook for both of us... 5.3 ounces is our perfect amount. Now it's finally easier to make pasta, so I don't eat too much and I don't have any leftovers.

Understanding and knowing your portion sizes can also help you avoid overbuying at the supermarket, as you will know exactly how much product you need to buy for the meals you feed your family. Helpful. And be sure to follow the portion sizes. If you are cooking frozen shrimp from a bag and end up with 3 shrimp left in the bag, don't just toss them into your meal and cook. No, I end up feeding my family too much. Leave it in the bag and cook it next time. There's no need to "cook the whole package." Cooking Tip #4: Test your spices

If you're making something in the pot and need to add spices, don't throw them in and guess what they'll taste like. Gather the spices you want to use and add the "mixture" to a small casserole dish or cup. This will help you understand how the flavors work and give you confidence that the combination will work.

So with these quantified cooking tips, you won't have to guess what's going on with your food. Monitor your results and consciously change your steps for next time. By starting with these small visual clues, you'll be amazed at how much more you can stop guessing and convince yourself that what you see is the truth. There is no need to imagine. Cooking is easy.

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