7 Common Cooking Mistakes

[smlewis00]

I came across a very informative article about the 7 most common cooking mistakes! I found it very helpful and wanted to share it!
7 Common cooking mistakes:
1. Not reading the recipe correctly
2. Overcrowding the pan
3. Not preheating the pan
4. Small pot and gummy noodles
5. Sauteed Wet Greens
6. Uisng dried herbs instead of fresh ones
7. Frying food in oil that wasn't hot enough
Source: http://www.realsimple.com/food-reci...on-cooking-mistakes-10000001730751/index.html
The article goes into detail about each mistake and I thought it was very smart and helpful.
Do you agree with these common cooking mistakes? Any mistakes you think should be added to the list?

 

[True2marie]

Excellent points.

The ones I often fall prey to are #2 (overcrowding) and #7 (oil that's not hot enough). Both of these issues are difficult to overcome because you discover your mistake after the foods been cooking for a while. So, it's important to prep in advance to avoid them. For example - throw a 1/2 teaspoon of water into your oil to see if it crackles!

 

[sillylucy]

I always do number 7. I guess I am impatient and I don't know when it's hot enough. I found a site that once said to splash a drop of water into the oil and if it sizzles then the oil is hot enough. Has anyone else tried that trick?

 

[OhioTom76]

I don't always preheat a pan, it depends on what I am making. For example, with scrambled eggs I always preheat the pan and wait until the butter foams before adding the eggs. However, if I am making an omelette, I don't preheat the pan at all. I use cooking spray and immediately add the eggs to the pan and cover with a lit, then cook it over medium low heat so it gently sets the eggs. If I were to pour them into a preheated pan, the bottom would brown before the top set.

Overcrowding the pan drives me nuts, my mom does this all the time when she is cooking steaks and burgers. They never get a nice sear and all wind up grey with no color, yet still overcooked - because all she is really doing is steaming them from all the excess moisture in the pan.

I'm guilty of using a small pot for noodles, but that's mainly because I don't like waiting for a huge pot of water to come to a boil. Plus in some cases you can use that starchy water to help make a pan sauce, whereas if you were boiling a large pot of water, it would be too diluted and you wouldn't get the benefits of the concentrated starch.

As for dried herbs, there is a time and a place for them. I'm not a fan of using fresh oregano or thyme for example, you need a lot more to get the equivalent flavor of a little bit dried. If you are making something with several herbs and using all fresh, the dish can wind up looking drowned in herbs and appear unappetizing. Plus they get stuck in your teeth.