The Top Three Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make When Cooking for Home

For anyone who enjoys great food and time spent with friends, cooking should be a welcome addition to entertaining and not a dreaded chore. One way to make cooking for home enjoyable is to be successful at it. I promise that if you start seeing great results on which you can depend time and again, cooking will start to become one of your favorite pastimes. So let's start with what NOT to do. Here are the top three mistakes I've seen home cooks make, and once you know them, too, you can avoid these common errors and be well on your way to cooking for home success.
You can't judge a masterpiece with a Timex.
The primary mistake I see people make in their cooking is judging "doneness" by increments of time. I'll bet you've done this yourself; I know I used to do it all the time. It really can't be helped because every single recipe book I've ever seen TELLS you to do this. So what's the problem with "cook for twenty minutes on medium"? It's simple: there is no way to make a generic assessment on how MUCH TIME it takes for an item to be done cooking. There are too many variables involved. Think about it. How many times have you followed such time advice only to find the product undercooked, needing more time (now how long do you let it cook?) - or worse: overcooked and inedible? Doneness must be judged using other observations, such as the use of a thermometer. Make this simple adjustment when you are cooking for home, and I promise you will see improved results immediately.
Cook the Right Stuff.
People who love cooking usually love food, too. I know I do, which is how my passion for cooking eventually led to my passion for INGREDIENTS. I get so excited by new types of foods to use with my favorite cooking methods, and it truly inspires me when I find a new vegetable at my local Farmer's Market. This is why I am a big fan of cooking locally and seasonally whenever possible. And this is the second most common mistake I see my friends and clients make when they are cooking for home. They use the same ingredients over and over again. Although this is not wrong, it is certainly limiting not only your palate but your creativity in cooking as well. So my suggestion is to buy locally and seasonally whenever possible because this will FORCE you to try new ingredients and experiment with new cooking techniques and methods of preparation.
Don't Cook the Right Stuff the Wrong Way.
I saved this for last because I think this mistake is the most misunderstood. Many people think cooking is cooking is cooking. But chefs and other cooking professionals know that this is certainly NOT the case. Many foods can be prepared in a variety of ways, and knowing which cooking method to use for your desired results is important in narrowing it down. In other cases, some foods require very specific methods of cooking preparation based on specific characteristics of that food such as delicate texture, color changes that occur with heat, etc. Once you learn the variety of cooking methods available to you and the procedures, characteristics and outcomes of each, you will be cooking for home just like the professionals do at your local restaurant. This is really cooking.

Ultimately, these mistakes are common because this is the way people are taught to cook: following recipes. But there are no "recipes" in culinary school and here's why: generic recipes are great for IDEAS, but they don't really teach you to cook. However, learning cooking methods and avoiding these common mistakes will give you an edge over other people who are cooking for home because you will be applying the techniques of professionals with more successful results.

Chef Todd Mohr is a classically trained chef and cooking educator who has taught thousands to cook using a simple, yet powerful system. To learn his #1 Chef Secret for free, go to www.webcookingclasses.com and watch the free video. Learning this secret has changed the way people think about cooking. It will enhance your cooking skills, provide kitchen training and have you cooking like a chef at home in a matter of weeks.