What do you find the most challenging aspect of cooking?

TastyReuben said:
Oh, and getting soft-boiled eggs exactly (and I mean exactly) right. I think I’ve done so twice.
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I have found that what I do is pretty consistent. Maybe it can help you. Boil the water (enough to cover the eggs by an inch) carefully lower the eggs in and put heat to simmer, cover and set timer for 6 and a half minutes.(that's how I like my yolks) Have an ice bath waiting, put them in there for about 15- 20 minutes. Then take the back of a spoon and gently crack all around the egg and then submerge in water again for about 5 minutes. Then under slow running water, I peel the shell easily and that's it. I've had great consistent results doing this method.
 
Puggles said:
I have found that what I do is pretty consistent. Maybe it can help you. Boil the water (enough to cover the eggs by an inch) carefully lower the eggs in and put heat to simmer, cover and set timer for 6 and a half minutes.(that's how I like my yolks) Have an ice bath waiting, put them in there for about 15- 20 minutes. Then take the back of a spoon and gently crack all around the egg and then submerge in water again for about 5 minutes. Then under slow running water, I peel the shell easily and that's it. I've had great consistent results doing this method.
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Those are hard boiled, isn't it?
I struggle with consistent soft boiled eggs. Liquid yolk but white fully set.
Seems almost impossible due to different age and size of the eggs
 
Puggles said:
I have found that what I do is pretty consistent. Maybe it can help you. Boil the water (enough to cover the eggs by an inch) carefully lower the eggs in and put heat to simmer, cover and set timer for 6 and a half minutes.(that's how I like my yolks) Have an ice bath waiting, put them in there for about 15- 20 minutes. Then take the back of a spoon and gently crack all around the egg and then submerge in water again for about 5 minutes. Then under slow running water, I peel the shell easily and that's it. I've had great consistent results doing this method.
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I put them in the pot, cover with water about an inch, bring to a rolling boil, then ice water bath until I get around to peeling them. This is hard-boiled.
 
badjak said:
Those are hard boiled, isn't it?
I struggle with consistent soft boiled eggs. Liquid yolk but white fully set.
Seems almost impossible due to different age and size of the eggs
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That’s what I mean by “exactly” right - I want every last molecule of the white cooked hard and every last molecule of the yolk to be liquid and warm.

I also want my soft-boiled eggs warm, through and through.

A dearly-departed member here, Yorky, he ate a lot of soft-boiled duck eggs, and I adapted his method to chicken eggs and got it to work…once. I also followed an America’s Test Kitchen method (they’re usually spot-on with their stuff) and it worked first time…then never again.

Funny thing is…I can poach the perfect egg like nobody’s business, but then that robs me of the experience of topping my eggs and eating them out of cute little egg cups!
 
The most challenging for me is service. Getting everything on the plate, nice and hot, reasonably well plated, and served to all the guests at the same time. That's when I enter into hyperkinetic mode - and it doesn't always work, of course.
Cooking meat is always a challenge for me because I'm not a meat eater. Still, I'll check some meat expert chef before I start and then follow his/her instructions to the letter.
A few years ago, someone asked me to make roast beef for 30 people. Called my brother, called half a dozen chefs in Venezuela, looked up some chefs on internet and finally bought the roast. I cooked it (with a meat thermometer in hand) while watching like a hawk. It came out just fine, but it was hard work. It's hard work every single time I have to cook meat.
Mise en place (prep) and cleaning up afterwards are not stressful for me; they're just absolutely necessary, even though they might be a pain to do.
 
TheSoloChef said:
Despite having a dishwasher (not everything goes in it so I do handwashing as well)
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I can only suggest you try to put everything you possibly can in the dishwasher. I tend to do that. Its surprising how few things really need hand washing. If you have hand painted china then that will fade in the dishwasher but almost anything else will survive.
 
Morning Glory said:
I can only suggest you try to put everything you possibly can in the dishwasher. I tend to do that. Its surprising how few things really need hand washing. If you have hand painted china then that will fade in the dishwasher but almost anything else will survive.
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I mostly try to hand-wash to conserve water. The dishwasher uses 5 to 8 gallons. My sink has a mark in the bottom where 2 gallons is and with the dishes in I don't go over that. When I rinse the faucet is on halfway and I use the spray function.
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Morning Glory said:
I can only suggest you try to put everything you possibly can in the dishwasher. I tend to do that. Its surprising how few things really need hand washing. If you have hand painted china then that will fade in the dishwasher but almost anything else will survive.
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I am a big supporter of "washing while cooking." I tend to always clean as I'm cooking, not just my board space, but to quickly wash a pot to reuse it minutes later, or my whisks, or my favorite spatulas. Plus, when you're done, there's less overall cleanup.

My biggest challenge would probably be to have everything get on the plate at the perfect time, when everything is at optimal temperature and sitting just the way I want it to, especially when I want to take a nice picture of it. When you're doing a long cook item, like smoking something, I can never get it consistent, I either jump the gun, or am way behind, but I always somehow make it work. 🤷‍♂️
 
Morning Glory said:
I can only suggest you try to put everything you possibly can in the dishwasher. I tend to do that. Its surprising how few things really need hand washing. If you have hand painted china then that will fade in the dishwasher but almost anything else will survive.
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I don't put any glassware in my dishwasher nor my sharp cooking knives as they don't come out looking the same over time if you put them in the dishwasher! And for whatever reason when the top drawer on my dishwasher is full there's still plenty of room in the bottom and when the bottom is full the top is half empty and it's better (i.e. cheaper and less wasteful) trying to only run the dishwasher when it's as full as possible.
 
TheSoloChef said:
I don't put any glassware in my dishwasher nor my sharp cooking knives as they don't come out looking the same over time if you put them in the dishwasher! And for whatever reason when the top drawer on my dishwasher is full there's still plenty of room in the bottom and when the bottom is full the top is half empty and it's better (i.e. cheaper and less wasteful) trying to only run the dishwasher when it's as full as possible.
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I bung all glassware in the dishwasher ( if I had expensive fragile glasses maybe I wouldn't) but every day glasses seem to be fine. For years I never put sharp knifes in but then I discovered the important thing is not to put them in the cutlery basket where they clatter against other things and the blade can be damaged. I lay them on the top level.

I run the dishwasher every night, full or not. You may be interested in this article: Is a dishwasher or washing by hand cheaper? We do the sums
 
Morning Glory said:
I bung all glassware in the dishwasher ( if I had expensive fragile glasses maybe I wouldn't) but every day glasses seem to be fine. For years I never put sharp knifes in but then I discovered the important thing is not to put them in the cutlery basket where they clatter against other things and the blade can be damaged. I lay them on the top level.

I run the dishwasher every night, full or not. You may be interested in this article: Is a dishwasher or washing by hand cheaper? We do the sums
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Wow, it's more than 3 times as expensive.
 
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