They’re Crowding the Pan Like It’s a Subway Car
Professional chefs consistently observe home cooks making the fundamental error of overcrowding pans, which occurs when too many ingredients are placed in the pan simultaneously. This practice leads to uneven cooking because the ingredients lack sufficient space to cook properly, hindering the browning process as ingredients release moisture and preventing them from achieving the desired sear or crispness. The lack of room for moisture to escape means food gets steamed rather than properly browned. Celebrity chef George Duran notes that in busy kitchens, chefs often rush to cook multiple portions simultaneously, which leads to overcrowding the pan and cooking too many items at once. While this approach may seem more efficient, it actually backfires by lowering the pan’s temperature and causing steaming rather than browning, which significantly affects both texture and flavor.
When you give your ingredients proper space, they can develop that gorgeous golden crust that makes food irresistible. To avoid this mistake, ensure that you give your ingredients enough space in the pan and cook them in multiple batches if necessary, allowing each ingredient to cook evenly. Think of it like giving each piece of food its own personal space to shine—because nobody likes being squeezed in a crowded situation, especially not your dinner.
Their Knives Are Duller Than a Butter Knife
Many chefs overlook the importance of proper knife skills and use dull knives, which can result in inconsistent cuts and affect the presentation of dishes. Sharp blades allow for cleaner cuts and reduce the likelihood of accidents, while mastering proper techniques like the claw grip and rocking motion helps achieve precise and efficient cuts. Regular sharpening and maintenance keep knives in optimal condition. Professional chefs spend significant time chopping, mincing, slicing and dicing, not just to make everything look nice on the plate, but because proper knife work affects how food cooks, ensuring all ingredients cook evenly and at the same rate.
Picture trying to slice a tomato with a dull knife—you end up with a mushy mess instead of clean, even slices. By honing your knife skills, you’ll not only become a better cook but also save time and effort in the kitchen. A sharp knife is actually safer than a dull one because it requires less pressure and gives you better control, reducing the risk of slipping and cutting yourself.
They Skip the Sacred Ritual of Mise en Place
Professional kitchens emphasize mise en place, a term meaning roughly “things in place,” which involves getting everything ready before starting to cook, including all ingredients prepped, tools handy, ovens heated and pans ready to go, working organized and orderly. Perhaps the best thing learned in culinary school is having your mise en place—everything in its place—which is the best way to stay calm in a professional kitchen, as professional cooks spend hours preparing ingredients so they’re ready to add to the pan when needed, and without preparation, you’ll be overwhelmed.
Having everything ready to go before starting to cook makes the process more efficient and precise, leading to better results while helping prevent mistakes, saving time and allowing cooks to focus on cooking rather than scrambling to find what they need. At home, mise en place equates to happier, speedier cooking. It’s like being a Boy Scout—always be prepared, except instead of camping gear, you’re armed with pre-chopped onions and measured spices. If you’ve ever seen the kitchen of a busy restaurant during dinner rush, it often looks chaotic to the untrained eye, but it’s actually more like a carefully choreographed dance where everyone knows their part by heart.
They’re Treating Salt Like It’s Radioactive
Too much or too little salt represents a common mistake, as salt is one of the most magical ingredients known to mankind that can make all ingredients shine like stars, but can also ruin hard work by overpowering other ingredients. While it’s important to season food before serving to ensure it tastes exactly right, seasoning shouldn’t be limited to the very end, as seasoning throughout the cooking process builds layers of flavor, with small amounts added at the start helping flavors develop during simmering or sautéing.
If you wait until the end to add salt, your food will taste salty instead of seasoned, so instead you should salt as you go—adding a small pinch when sweating onions, seasoning meat before cooking, and adding another tiny pinch after deglazing, creating nuanced layers of flavor that make food stand out. The purpose of adding salt isn’t to make food taste salty—it’s to enhance the flavors of the ingredients. Many home cooks fear salt like it’s going to jump out and attack their taste buds, but used properly, it’s actually the secret ingredient that makes everything else taste more like itself.
They’re Reading Recipes Like They’re Reading Fortune Cookies
Professional chefs emphasize reading the whole recipe before touching anything, including the directions. Reading the whole recipe fully is key rather than diving in before checking all the steps, as without doing this you might realize you were supposed to put garlic in first and then have to run around, or discover that meat should be at room temperature or you’re missing an ingredient like a shallot for salad dressing.
Inadequate planning by rushing ahead without fully reading and understanding the recipe’s steps can cause you to miss steps or ingredients, so before prepping, it’s important to understand the recipe and the steps you need to follow. Taking the time to read your recipe from start to finish and making sure you understand each step while having all necessary ingredients and equipment on hand is essential. It’s like starting a road trip without looking at the map—you might eventually get there, but you’ll probably take a few wrong turns and waste a lot of time backtracking.
They’re Storing Fresh Ingredients Like They’re Canned Goods
Professional chefs advise against putting tomatoes in the fridge, as a pro chef and former chemist explained how cold temperature changes the chemical composition and makes them taste worse, so tomatoes should not be stored in the fridge as they become tastier when kept at room temperature. Some ingredients can lose their integrity if salted too far in advance, such as lettuces and leafy greens, while salting fish too far in advance can also be problematic.
Over-prepping can lead to waste, as preparing too far in advance or in too large quantities can cause vegetables to lose their crispiness, herbs to wilt, or impact the flavor and appearance of ingredients, so it’s important to prep only what you need. Considering the current season helps guide you toward selecting the freshest ingredients, as local fruits and vegetables can be harvested at peak freshness, delivering the best taste and texture without being picked early for shipping, so finding a local farmer’s market and looking for recipes featuring fresh available ingredients is recommended.
They’re Crowding the Pan Like It’s a Subway Car
Professional chefs consistently observe home cooks making the fundamental error of overcrowding pans, which occurs when too many ingredients are placed in the pan simultaneously. This practice leads to uneven cooking because the ingredients lack sufficient space to cook properly, hindering the browning process as ingredients release moisture and preventing them from achieving the desired sear or crispness. The lack of room for moisture to escape means food gets steamed rather than properly browned. Celebrity chef George Duran notes that in busy kitchens, chefs often rush to cook multiple portions simultaneously, which leads to overcrowding the pan and cooking too many items at once. While this approach may seem more efficient, it actually backfires by lowering the pan’s temperature and causing steaming rather than browning, which significantly affects both texture and flavor.
When you give your ingredients proper space, they can develop that gorgeous golden crust that makes food irresistible. To avoid this mistake, ensure that you give your ingredients enough space in the pan and cook them in multiple batches if necessary, allowing each ingredient to cook evenly. Think of it like giving each piece of food its own personal space to shine—because nobody likes being squeezed in a crowded situation, especially not your dinner.
Their Knives Are Duller Than a Butter Knife
Many chefs overlook the importance of proper knife skills and use dull knives, which can result in inconsistent cuts and affect the presentation of dishes. Sharp blades allow for cleaner cuts and reduce the likelihood of accidents, while mastering proper techniques like the claw grip and rocking motion helps achieve precise and efficient cuts. Regular sharpening and maintenance keep knives in optimal condition. Professional chefs spend significant time chopping, mincing, slicing and dicing, not just to make everything look nice on the plate, but because proper knife work affects how food cooks, ensuring all ingredients cook evenly and at the same rate.
Picture trying to slice a tomato with a dull knife—you end up with a mushy mess instead of clean, even slices. By honing your knife skills, you’ll not only become a better cook but also save time and effort in the kitchen. A sharp knife is actually safer than a dull one because it requires less pressure and gives you better control, reducing the risk of slipping and cutting yourself.
They Skip the Sacred Ritual of Mise en Place
Professional kitchens emphasize mise en place, a term meaning roughly “things in place,” which involves getting everything ready before starting to cook, including all ingredients prepped, tools handy, ovens heated and pans ready to go, working organized and orderly. Perhaps the best thing learned in culinary school is having your mise en place—everything in its place—which is the best way to stay calm in a professional kitchen, as professional cooks spend hours preparing ingredients so they’re ready to add to the pan when needed, and without preparation, you’ll be overwhelmed.
Having everything ready to go before starting to cook makes the process more efficient and precise, leading to better results while helping prevent mistakes, saving time and allowing cooks to focus on cooking rather than scrambling to find what they need. At home, mise en place equates to happier, speedier cooking. It’s like being a Boy Scout—always be prepared, except instead of camping gear, you’re armed with pre-chopped onions and measured spices.
If you’ve ever seen the kitchen of a busy restaurant during dinner rush, it often looks chaotic to the untrained eye, but it’s actually more like a carefully choreographed dance where everyone knows their part by heart.
They’re Treating Salt Like It’s Radioactive
Too much or too little salt represents a common mistake, as salt is one of the most magical ingredients known to mankind that can make all ingredients shine like stars, but can also ruin hard work by overpowering other ingredients. While it’s important to season food before serving to ensure it tastes exactly right, seasoning shouldn’t be limited to the very end, as seasoning throughout the cooking process builds layers of flavor, with small amounts added at the start helping flavors develop during simmering or sautéing.
If you wait until the end to add salt, your food will taste salty instead of seasoned, so instead you should salt as you go—adding a small pinch when sweating onions, seasoning meat before cooking, and adding another tiny pinch after deglazing, creating nuanced layers of flavor that make food stand out. The purpose of adding salt isn’t to make food taste salty—it’s to enhance the flavors of the ingredients.
Many home cooks fear salt like it’s going to jump out and attack their taste buds, but used properly, it’s actually the secret ingredient that makes everything else taste more like itself.
