Some Helpful Points to Help Avoid Some Common Mistakes When Cooking Wortechologies Wortechologies >

Some typical mistakes that occur often when learning to cook can include some extremely simple errors. Cooking is a skill and an art but some people claim they can't even boil water. This excuse is probably a simple matter of that person having never been taught the basics of cooking.

A mistake can happen at any point in the cooking process. Learning how to cook is best done with a teacher who can physically show somebody how to cook. If that is not an option, it is feasible to learn to cook from a book. Many typical mistakes can happen due to carelessness, ignorance or reading errors.

These are some tips for avoiding the most common cooking mistakes:

1. Utilize a recipe, read the recipe to make sure you understand everything.

2. Read your recipe's list of ingredients and gather all the ingredients on the counter prior to starting. This helps avoid the problem of not having some of the ingredients you need to have. Lay them in a line in the order that the recipe needs their use.

3. Follow the recipe exactly. Don't estimate quantities, measure meticulously, using measuring cups and measuring spoons.

4. Refer to a cooking reference book if you want to substitute one ingredient for another because some ingredients can't be substituted and others need specific substitutes.

5. Carefully read the recipe and create the food in the precise order called for.

6. Look up the meaning of blend, mix, whip, fold, stir, boil, simmer and other action cooking verbs.

7. Some recipes can be doubled without a problem, others can't.

8. Don't overheat, over-bake or overcook, don't under-cook or under-bake. Use a thermometer or toothpick test to see when your cooking is done. Use a timer.

9. Don't pour hot liquids into cold glass. Use glass engineered to handle heat or do not use glass.

10. Be cautious around the hot stove burners. Turn pan handles so they are not sticking out over the edge of the stove into the room where you could bump into them and spill hot contents. Protect youngsters from hot items.

11. Use the proper sizes of saucepans.

12. Follow health rules for handling raw meats, chicken and fish. Use separate cutting boards or wash them between foods.

13. Watch what you are cooking and stay in the kitchen.

Cooking can be fun and creative. With a little preparation and education, everybody can learn this great art!

About the Author
Take a look at these links for some tilapia recipes like baked tilapia and some sweet potato recipes to help with some delicious recipe ideas. J. L. Smith may be contacted at http://www.tilapiarecipes.org/. Click here to view more articles by J. L. Smith.