Putting too much meat in the pan

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When cooking meat, there is such a thing as overcrowding the pan. Yes, if you leave it in long enough it will cook all the way through. However if you want your meat cooked evenly and with the same searing and flavours, it’s best to ensure that you keep it to 3-4 pieces at a time- depending on the size of the pan and what you’re cooking.

Not seasoning pasta water

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This is a critical mistake that can take any pasta dish from a 10 to a 5. Simply start by adding half a tablespoon of salt to the water- more or less depending on your preferences, and you will find your pasta will enhance the flavour of whatever sauce you choose to use with it.

Over-using E.V.O.O.

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Extra virgin olive oil is great for many things, but not for all things. With a relatively low smoke point compared to other oils, it burns quicker. This means when used with high heat, E.V.O.O. isn’t ideal for searing steaks.

Measuring dry ingredients in a liquid measuring cup

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Marco Pierre White said it best: “Cooking is a philosophy not a recipe, unless it’s pastry and then it’s chemistry!”

When baking, you want to be as exact as you can with the measurements. Dry ingredients such as flour should be measured using the ‘spoon-and-level method’ to ensure accuracy.

Putting cold meat into the pan

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When cooking your meats, especially if you’re looking for that perfect sear and even cooking, you want to have a hot pan and room-temp meat. Cold meat to a hot pan messes with the temperature too much and can ultimately tarnish the finished product.

Putting hot food directly into the fridge

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Whether you do meal prep or you just have leftovers to put away, it’s best you let the food cool down before packing it away in a fridge. Why? Because putting hot foods into a fridge will not allow the food to cool down quick enough to escape the ‘danger zone’ of 140° F (60° C) to 40° F (4° C) within 2 hours, which is the general amount of time it takes for food to go bad within that zone.

Not following the correct order when making one pot meals

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While one pot meals can be incredibly easy and equally as delicious, it is important to put ingredients into the pot when the recipe says so. Milk added far to early can curdle, for example. Vegetables can go soggy if added too soon.

Using a non-stick pan for everything

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While these pans are fantastic for certain things, they aren’t ideal for everything… at least when it comes to flavour. The type of heat that they give off is not ideal for searing and for crispy skin that you might want in steak or chicken, for example. For these meats, stick to some butter or oil and a good old fashioned heavy duty pan.

Adding garlic too soon

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How often do you start to cook something by melting some butter and frying up minced garlic? Unfortunately, garlic burns easily and can leave a foul taste if not cooked right. Try adding your garlic towards the end of cooking your meal.

Not drying vegetables before frying them up

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If you’re going to pan fry vegetables such as mushrooms or spinach, it’s important that you dry them off completely first. If you don’t the excess water will cause them to steam more so than fry.

Not letting your meat rest after cooking

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When you finish cooking a nice steak or some chicken, it’s important that you take it out of the pan and let it rest for at least a few minutes. Allow those juices to get sucked back up and distributed evenly throughout the meat. It’ll make a huge difference.