What is the Most Common Mistake You Make.

Wyshiepoo

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Mine is skimming a recipe in a book too quickly.

Several times I've got all the ingredients, got myself ready to cook and then read, 'marinate for 8 hours' or 'add ingredient X'.

And then I think "oh goodness me" or words to that effect.

Or I suddenly realise that the ingredient I was supposed to scatter or dollop on the meal is still in the fridge or waiting somewhere hours after I've eaten the meal.

Also toasting flaked almonds. I don't know how many fricking times I've popped them under the grill, nothing seems to happen so I go off and do something else and suddenly I smell the damn things burning!
 
I think mine must be over cooking things - particularly potatoes and pasta. I put them on to simmer, get distracted and end up with slimy pasta or mushed potatoes! Also forgetting things in the oven and ending up burning them. I have disciplined myself to use a kitchen timer, for even the simplest things to avoid this.
 
I think mine must be over cooking things - particularly potatoes and pasta. I put them on to simmer, get distracted and end up with slimy pasta or mushed potatoes! Also forgetting things in the oven and ending up burning them. I have disciplined myself to use a kitchen timer, for even the simplest things to avoid this.

I have an app on my phone, a cooking timer. It allows me to put multiple times in so that I can time several different things cooking at the same time.
 
Not a common mistake but one I've just found out that I made.
I just opened the left hand oven to find that I'd left the remainder of the Turkey Risotto that I cooked about a week ago in there meaning to transfer it to the freezer in a container.

Gee whizz! The stench! Not the most pleasant thing to find at 6:45 in the morning.
 
Not a common mistake but one I've just found out that I made.
I just opened the left hand oven to find that I'd left the remainder of the Turkey Risotto that I cooked about a week ago in there meaning to transfer it to the freezer in a container.

Gee whizz! The stench! Not the most pleasant thing to find at 6:45 in the morning.

Oh dear! I did something similar not long ago. I cooked a chicken dish which I intended to photograph next day and put it in the oven to get it out of the way (no room in fridge). I then somehow forgot all about it - actually I was unwell and didn't do anything much for four days, by which time I'd completely forgotten about it. I didn't use the oven for another few days and then switched it on without looking inside... not good.
 
Or I suddenly realise that the ingredient I was supposed to scatter or dollop on the meal is still in the fridge or waiting somewhere hours after I've eaten the meal.

I did that with my kohlapuri this last week. The coriander leaves were sat waiting to be added and I forgot. They were added to the remainder which was subsequently frozen.

However, what really pisses me off is when I have visitors during my cooking process (not preparation process) and I end up over cooking, or even burning, the dish.
 
However, what really pisses me off is when I have visitors during my cooking process (not preparation process) and I end up over cooking, or even burning, the dish.
This is why I usually cook late at night, after everyone has gone to sleep! It's usually not someone asking me what I'm making, or wanting to try it before it's ready. More likely, I hear something like, "I can't find my sweater", and then I'm expected to help look for it. I often end up having to pause everything - take food off the heat, put cold items away that need to be cold, etc - and then pick it up later. It was worse when I had a cat that liked to jump on the counter...I couldn't leave anything unattended for more than a minute. Now, I can sometimes just put things down, wash my hands, and step away briefly. This usually works out, but sometimes the way ingredients go together does suffer.

I'm bad about not reading all the way through and then realizing there's houRs marinading that I didn't do.
This is probably the biggest kind of mistake that I make entirely on my own. I usually just skim through the ingredients, and then try to put things together without looking at the directions.

One mistake I used to make was in deciding to grind some meat, having everything cut and frozen and ready to go, and only then realizing that I had forgotten to also put the grinder components in the freezer. So, I end up delaying what I need to do until the next day. I've prevented this mistake from happening by putting all the grinder components in the freezer immediately after washing, so they're ready to go whenever I'm ready with the meat.
 
Don't understand - why do you put grinder bits in the freezer? :scratchhead:
When grinding meat, it's always desirable to have everything cold. I like to have the meat partly frozen during the grind, since this results in the best quality product. If the meat is too warm, there'll be "smearing". The image on the left shows what happens when the meat it too warm during the grind:

20110401-burger-lab-grinding-01.jpg


The fat isn't integrated well, and it will separate more easily during cooking, resulting in dry meat without the flavor you expect from properly ground meat (as shown by the image on the right). Cold is the friend of meat grinding.

The reason I freeze every component that contacts the meat is to keep the meat cold. The friction created by grinding warms up the meat somewhat, but not enough to cause smearing, as long as you have a good meat grinder and frozen meat at the start. A room-temperature grinder will warm up the meat faster, so I freeze all the labeled items; the body of the grinder - which doesn't touch the meat, and which contains the drive motor - should never be frozen.

Standalone-Electric-Food-Grinder-Parts1.jpg
 
In general, I forget to write something down. So …. if it's not on the shopping list, then it doesn't get bought. And then a day or two later I'm wandering round looking for ingredient 'X', sure that I was going to buy it, then thinking I must have left it at the supermarket check-out, then finding the supermarket receipt and discovering that the item wasn't on the till roll, then finding the original shopping list to discover that I'd failed to write the item down in the first place.

Or I have two shopping lists - the second one created because I'd forgotten that I'd already started a list. Then only taking one of the lists shopping, and coming home with only half of what I needed.

And when I'm 'playing' in the kitchen I often forget to note down quantities of ingredients that I've used - and I end up producing something really worthwhile but with little chance of replicating it.

So - forgetfulness would be my biggest mistake. Again, again and again...
 
This is why I usually cook late at night, after everyone has gone to sleep! It's usually not someone asking me what I'm making, or wanting to try it before it's ready. More likely, I hear something like, "I can't find my sweater", and then I'm expected to help look for it. I often end up having to pause everything - take food off the heat, put cold items away that need to be cold, etc - and then pick it up later. It was worse when I had a cat that liked to jump on the counter...I couldn't leave anything unattended for more than a minute. Now, I can sometimes just put things down, wash my hands, and step away briefly. This usually works out, but sometimes the way ingredients go together does suffer.


This is probably the biggest kind of mistake that I make entirely on my own. I usually just skim through the ingredients, and then try to put things together without looking at the directions.

One mistake I used to make was in deciding to grind some meat, having everything cut and frozen and ready to go, and only then realizing that I had forgotten to also put the grinder components in the freezer. So, I end up delaying what I need to do until the next day. I've prevented this mistake from happening by putting all the grinder components in the freezer immediately after washing, so they're ready to go whenever I'm ready with the meat.


Is that how you got the name; Late Night Gourmet? Hah!! :wink:
 
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