Starting any cooking project will be overwhelmed by many moving parts – select the right ingredients, master the preparation techniques and execute.
Even experienced chefs face a share of the kitchen’s misfortune, but that’s what makes cooking so meaningful. The kitchen becomes your personal testing site, and each mistake teaches something new, gradually building your confidence and expanding your cooking skills.
Knowing from the start is what you need to pay attention to can greatly improve your cooking experience. I approached professional chefs in different cooking styles to discover the most common kitchen mistakes, identify which basic skills are the most important, and discover feasible strategies that will improve your cooking from day one.
The biggest mistake amateur chef makes
Cooking coach Stephen Chavez recommends doing as much preparation, measurement and recipe reading as possible before starting a new recipe.
We often guilty of putting our expectations in the kitchen, trying to model a meal after a memorable Michelin-starred dining experience. While aiming at loft is admirable, it is also important to have a realistic approach to years of training in award-winning cuisine.
Stephen ChavezSenior Chef Teacher Institute of Cooking EducationThe Los Angeles campus is no stranger to education and collaboration with amateur chefs. Although he actually saw it all, it was the biggest cooking error he encountered most often:
1. Start recipe not prepared
Be sure to read the recipe all before you start, maybe twice.
“This can conceptualize the food you are cooking, whether it’s a flavor profile, cooking technique or the form of a meal, or make sure that the proper ‘Mise en Place’ is done,” he said. “‘mise en Place’ is a French term that means ‘all positions’. This means that all ingredients and equipment are ready and ready before cooking, and all ingredients and equipment can be used clearly and ready for use.
For the perfect chapter, see our list The best chef’s knife In 2025.
2. Don’t measure and scale dishes or learn how to use a scale
Kitchen scales can prepare guesses about ingredients for new recipes.
“Why do restaurant food always taste better?” he asked. “Mainly because every time there is the proper proportions to prepare everything. We don’t use a little and a little bit of it. We know exactly what ingredients we are using and use them in the proper proportions to do our best.”
This is The best kitchen scalestested by CNET.
3. Don’t learn basic cooking techniques
Preparing ingredients in the right way can make it a breeze to pass the recipe.
These include actions such as stewing, sautéing, frying, grilling and baking. “Once you learn every cooking technique and what’s best for each, you can apply that technique to the food you want,” he explained. “For example, if you want to grill in the summer, medium-cut meat and vegetables are best for grilling, while small cuts are best for grilling, best for grilling, best for stewing, and large cuts are best for grilling.”
4. Ignore their intuition
Derek Simcikthe executive chef at Four Seasons Hotel Nashville responded to these views, but added that too many amateur chefs simply don’t trust themselves or the process. “Cooking should be intuitive. If something doesn’t taste enough, or feels it needs more ingredients, trust your intuition; your gut is usually right.”
Professional chefs make mistakes
Professional chefs have their own traps to avoid.
Even the most famous chefs in the world make mistakes. The arts and profession of culinary is a continuous education and development to keep up with global trends, technology and emerging ingredients.
Roshan Gunarathna, executive chef in luxury Maldives Sun Siam The resort, blames overconfidence and self-confidence food.
“Some chefs rely too much on their past success,” he said. “They skip the critical steps, stop tasting dishes, ignore feedback, and assume everything will be fine because it has before.”
This makes these chefs ignore the growth opportunities too. He added: “Once you have mastered their technique and style, some chefs stop learning. If you don’t keep up with the latest updates, your food will be out of touch with today’s guests wanting to date and get out of touch with.”
Dubrovnik Hotel ExcelsiorAgree, noting that chefs who gain fame and wealth often take their names on projects and stay away from daily service. “Keeping hands-on practice is key to keeping standards high and keeping in touch with teams and food,” he said. He added that it is also important for professional chefs to maintain their current food movement with “better, younger talent” and provide a different perspective.
“Great chefs form a strong team. If you don’t hire people who challenge and drive you, your kitchen won’t grow.”
How to expand your cooking skills
Recipes are not only for collecting new recipes. Many people are also learning about cooking techniques and how to best use certain ingredients in their readers.
There are plenty of resources available for amateur chefs when it comes to improving their skills and expanding their weekly menus. Recipes tend to dominate, with detailed tips and tricks scattered in the fleshed-out recipes that accompany the image.
But with society’s reliance on new discoveries on social media and technology (frankly addiction), there are other ways to consider when it comes to gaining knowledge.
Read more: I tried this AI recipe generator to create restaurant quality meals at home
As a professional food educator, Chavez is no surprise to promote the “new way to make food fun and fun” course. He is also a big fan of TV shows such as PBS’s America’s Test Kitchen and Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street magazine.
“Recipes and techniques are always tested and actually working,” he said. “Nothing is more frustrating than a recipe that looks good on the show, print or the internet, just finding it doesn’t appear as the look of the picture at all.”
“They also include equipment, products and cooking technology advice and provide books and magazines related to the program.”
Chavez recommends reading magazines like Milk Street carefully to improve your skills.
Apps like YouTube and Tiktok may also be good resources. He reminded him: “Just make sure the creator is trustworthy and remember that fast videos often miss the steps to show perfect ‘after’, which may not be the case when you make the item.”
Finally, it is also important to travel and get inspiration from all over the world. Kenneth Tufo, executive chef Horse soldiers’ urban static room In St. Petersburg, Florida, most of us may be used to the US fare, which includes influences from many regions around the world.
“Find unique spices and foods from other cultures [via travel] His suggestion is a good way to expand your knowledge. This will also make most travelers appreciate some familiar flavor origins and why.
Dishes and cooking techniques worth mastering
Mastering some cooking basics and recipes can make anyone feel like a professional almost completely without time.
Grill the chicken in proper amounts without overcooking it is a skill to transfer chicken to other dishes.
David Koehn, famous executive chef in Chicago Mon Ami Gabian expert in French cooking, is considered the basis of modern cuisine. His three tips include:
- Learn how to make good chicken or beef. “From there it’s to reduce the sauce, a small soup, a good soup or a fuchsia. It all starts with stock: that’s the main force behind the French kitchen. I still get a huge joy from stock, which is simple in theory, but that makes a huge difference in the end result of a lot of French dishes.”
- Learn how to brine, truss and roast whole chicken. “It’s economical, you can feed four to six adults with it (and some aspects) and all your love for French food hits everything: ‘simple’ luxurious, generous, nostalgic gestures, and when it’s done correctly, it’s really delicious.”
- Learn how to properly rub and roast vegetables. “A proper mung bean, or properly roasted pearl onions, has more cooking power than putting a small bag of fish on something. Good vegetable cooking is my new “caviar” and it’s even rarer.”
In addition, Nashville’s Simcik, his Mediterranean-style cuisine can be found in his Riviére roof Menu, recommended to practice knife skills and master simple egg omelettes, think the latter is the portal dish to learn how to avoid overcooking and burning the edges.
Don’t forget to hold your breath
There is no reason cooking shouldn’t be pleasant. If you’re confused or panicking recipes, it’s probably too advanced for your current kitchen skills.
Next time you want to throw pasta from pure frustration (rather than seeing if it sticks), remember that cooking is a skill that develops over time and patience. While anyone can conquer the basics above (you should be someone who must eat to survive in order to survive) and venture beyond the microwave, enjoying the journey and everything you will learn along the way is just as important. After all, nothing is more delicious than sweet success.
