5 things that are just plain wrong to do with food

John Cheese over at Cracked has an interesting article, “5 Simple Things that Every Bad Cook Does Wrong.” While a bit irreverent in tone (my old-fashioned mother would have called his language “colorful”), he does drive home some good points that we should not only teach in the kitchen, but also remind ourselves about occasionally (especially the last two). In brief, they are:

• Cutting meat too soon after cooking it
• Using high heat on everything
• Not knowing your pans
• Going crazy with seasoning
• Messing with it too much (slightly edited)

Chase does know what he’s talking about and gives a thorough explanation of why these procedures are wrong.  And he truly knows how to cook. As he writes, “You’ll be able to hear a change in the way a piece of fish sizzles when its texture changes after a few minutes in a hot pan. You’ll be able to tell from sight if a piece of chicken is overcooked by the way the meat draws back from the bone. Without a timer and without opening the oven door, you’ll be able to tell how much longer your cake has to bake just by the smell.”