20 Chefs Share Secret Cooking Tips That You Should Never Miss

The kitchen hell. It’s a whole new world for people who have never cooked, and sometimes, you just don’t want to fail a million times to learn everything. If the pros have it all figured out, why not just learn some tips from them? Hence, the chefs have gathered to share some of the most insightful tips ever.

Improve your kitchen skills, stop making beginner mistakes, and scroll on for some funny inputs from the chefs of Reddit here. We know you’re going to love some of their tips on your next kitchen adventure! Yes, yes, some of them are jokes you will definitely laugh at.

1.

“When you grab a pair of tongs, click them a few times to make sure they are tongs.” – Kolshdaddy

2.

“Former executive sous chef for a 3-star restaurant. I have also run a bunch of smaller kitchens during covid.

1. Get good knives. I recommend Mercer Renaissance as a starter brand. $40 for the 8in Chefs knives, $23 for the 5in utility knife.
2. Shallots are used extremely often in restaurant kitchens but rarely at home. Use as a substitute for onions for a more mild taste.
3. Heat pans for 1min before using, use less heat when cooking. Rarely will you ever need to go higher than 75%.
4. Taste everything possible. Not just your finished product. Taste the spices, salt, pepper, etc all separately before adding them the first time you use it. A lot of people will buy a new spice then immediately add it to their food ruining it.
5. Knives should be lightly honed before and after each use. Hand wash and dry immediately.
6. Never attempt to catch anything that’s falling. Not just knifes, if you drop a napkin your instinctive response should be to take a step back and put your hands up and out of the way. This trains your brain so you never attempt to catch something dangerous.
7. Want to make something more like a restaurant? Odds are you need more salt, sugar, or butter. We don’t care if the carrots we serve are worse than eating actual candy, we just want you to come back.
8. Just because you like cooking doesn’t mean you will like working at a restaurant. Pay is usually pretty poor unless you work at Michelin star restaurants and it is a hot, high-pressure environment. We lose a lot of people who couldn’t handle the pressure of getting yelled at.” – Abigail716

3.

“Keep it simple. I see so many young chefs coming into the kitchen fresh out of the classroom going hell for leather to make some strange gels, jellies, dehydrated this and that. Yes, it can taste great, but just chill out. Show me if you can make a proper Jus, properly cook a joint of meat, know how to bring the best out of a simple, humble vegetable. Just keep it simple.” – bibBo

4.

“A lot of the time when people add salt to a dish because they think it tastes flat, what it really needs is an acid like lemon juice or vinegar.” – Vexvertigo

5.

“Clean as you go! Done with the cutting board? Wash it or put it away before you move on to the next step. A clean kitchen makes your life way easier.” – they’ve

6.

“Not really a cooking tip, but a law of the kitchen: A falling knife has no handle.” – wooddog

7.

“Hot metal looks the same as cold metal.” – Scovers

8.

“When a dish calls for a certain amount of wine, it is recommended to consume an equal amount of wine whilst cooking said dish.” – promisedjoy

9.

“The amount of garlic flavor is dependent on WHEN you add the garlic. Add it early for light flavor, add it late for bold flavor.” – Orbnotacus

10.

“Tie. Your. Hair. I’ve watched so many people cook and half the time they have their hair loose just flying wherever it chooses. God no, just tie it. Please.” – nellouse1

11.

“Not a prof chef- Mashed potatoes… NOT blended potatoes. Don’t ever put potatoes in the blender, it will turn into glue

For anyone wondering the science behind it: potatoes contain a lot of starch. Mashing cooked potatoes gently by hand or with a ricer leaves most of the starch molecules intact. The butter and dairy you add to the mashed potatoes are able to coat each individual particle, making the potatoes creamy.” – goodbye401k

12.

“(home cook)
Cooking recipe is a suggestion; baking recipe is an instruction.” – pothkan

13.

“You can always add, but you cannot take away.” – El_Duende666

14.

“If a recipe says 2 gloves of garlic it means 5.” – Necessary_Job_6198

15.

“The secret that I was never taught growing up but has made such a huge difference in my cooking is thoroughly drying meat, fish, and veg with paper towel before cooking. My mom’s cooking was always too watery, not crispy or caramelized, because she missed this step, and to be fair, it isn’t mentioned in most recipes.” – half_a_sleep

16.

“Not a chef, but no sharps left in the sink.” – waterloograd

17.

“Smell is very similar to taste, and if you’re not sure about combining various spices, open the bottles and smell them all together.” – SuddenSenseOfSonder

18.

“Cooking is art, baking is science.” – DemonicCarrot

19.

“This one’s kind of common sense, but hotter doesn’t mean faster – turning your burners up to 10 for everything will just lead to smoke and half-cooked food with a burned exterior.” – blay12

20.

“Stop cooking with extra virgin olive oil; it is not some ‘better’ version of olive oil. Extra Virgin has an extremely low smoke point, so cooking with it often leads to burnt food and a smoky kitchen. It is intended for dressing and garnishing. Regular olive oil has a much higher smoke point and is meant for cooking. They are not the same.” – ajcranst