Basic cooking skills

[vagriller]

What are some basic cooking skills necessary to get by in the kitchen? I know this is a can of worms to open, and there are many many variables involved but just list what YOU think are the basic skill set needed to get by. I was thinking of this the other day, and wondered how an amateur such as myself might stack up against a pro.

 

[GB]

Man there are so many. I could list them for hours. I will start with just one. This is the first one that popped into my head. It is by no means the most (or least) important, just the first one I thought of.

Heat control. Knowing how hot to have your pan, grill, what have you. Knowing when to turn the heat up or lower it. Knowing what foods will need high heat, what will need med heat, etc.

 

[vagriller]

Man there are so many. I could list them for hours. I will start with just one. This is the first one that popped into my head. It is by no means the most (or least) important, just the first one I thought of.

I know that. Everyone will probably have different answers as to what they think is essential (depending on what type of food you cook, etc). But I figure if enough people respond maybe some common things will keep coming up. Or not, and that is fine too. It's just something that's been rolling around in my gray matter for awhile.

I hadn't even thought of heat control!

 

[VeraBlue]

You need to be able to count accurately. Good eye/hand coordination. A healthy sense of smell and sight.

Honestly, anything after that is just gravy.

Having said that...

It helps to know the names of your tools.
It helps to know how to properly use those tools.
It helps to understand basic terminology - saute, braise, broil, etc.
It helps if you have an ability to prioritize.
Stay organized.


The fact that my list is soooooooo easy, it makes me wonder that everyone isn't cooking all the time

 

[BreezyCooking]

To be perfectly honest, I can think of only two absolute essentials.

1) Being able to read a recipe for comprehension from start to finish (even if you have to do it several times) & patiently research any terms you're not familiar with.

2) Not only cultivate patience, but also a sense of fun & the absurd when things don't always go the way you planned, & be willing to try again. Julia Child, the master of masters, had this 2nd one down pat, & touted it often on her tv series.

If you have the above, the rest - regardless of how complicated - will eventually fall into place easiily.

 

[Andy M.]

BC said it better than I would.

If you can read and understand, you're home free.

Relax and enjoy. It's not the end of the world if the meal is not perfect. Good or bad, you have to do it again tomorrow.

 

[Robo410]

basic knife competancy able to cut chop clean etc without hurting yourself or making hash.
top of stove skills: simple saute, pan fry, boil & simmer
basic oven skills: roast, bake, broil, etc
ability to follow a recipe...yup

 

[MarionW]

I think the most basic and required essential is desire. With desire, all else will come.

Marion

 

[lindatooo]

Ahhhh basic skills......yup, reading, now that's a good start; and fractions (in fact when my son complained about fractions in school I reminded him he already knew them - he was a good cook by that time!) Basic skills you will develop as you go along - that you have the desire to cook and the persistance to keep trying even when recipes fail (which they will) would be the two most important things. DH says I'm like the little girl with the curl in the kitchen - when it's good it's very very good (and for the most part I do succeed) but when it's bad it's AWFUL!

I love to feed people though - and just last weekend we had friends to dinner one of whom is lactose intolerant and neither like garlic....now that's a challenge for me!

Appetizers were Gardinera (pickled veggies with just a touch of heat) rare roast beef slices with horseradish rolled up, skewered w/ toothpicks and cut into bite size pieces; home-smoked salmon and a very nice Brie with crackers. Main Course was pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw (a non-dairy cucumber salad for my intolerant friend) and corn on the cob. Plates were cleaned and there were smiles all around - I call that fun!

Now that was not the first pork roast we'd done - perhaps the 5th or 6th and I think we finally really have the process down. It also wasn't the first batch of salmon we'd smoked....again, though, it was a very good batch. Learn something from each mistake and try not to make the same one more than once and enjoy yourself! It also helps to have patient and hungry friends!

You do have an advantage - this site - there are always helpful folks about to answer your questions!

Best of luck!

2 in Or

 

[TexanFrench]

When I was about 10, my mother broke her arm and I had to take over cooking for the family. She sat on the stool in the corner and directed the action. By the time she was out of the cast, I was a pretty good basic cook, I think. These were her rules, as I remember them:

1. Read every recipe twice before you start
2. Measure carefully
3. Never put meat into a cold pan (preheat until a drop of water sprinkled in turns to steam)
4. Treat knives with respect: keep them sharp and put them away as soon as you don't need them any more
5. Cook veggies with a minimum of water
6. Anything cooked in water needs a pinch of salt
7. Cook "with your nose": herbs that make a dish smell good will make it taste good
8. Don't be afraid to improvise, using the ingredients at hand
9. If cooking fat smokes, throw it out and get fresh
10. Don't overcook your eggs
11. Clean up after yourself

Do these count as skills?

 

[ps8]

Stay organized.

OH NO! Not the dreaded "O" word. Seems like everything needs orginization - and I'm sooo not orginization sazzy...sigh.

 

[adnan]

The most important skill you need is: opening doors, if you can't open the kitchen door you won't be able to do anything in the kitchen...

Seriously: you have to have a sense of safety, there are a lot of dangerous things in the kitchen: heat, sharp knifes, water + electricity. Make sure you know some basic first aid stuff in case things go wrong.

OH NO! Not the dreaded "O" word. Seems like everything needs orginization - and I'm sooo not orginization sazzy...sigh.

Here's my organization of kitchen tools: All kitchen tools are in the big kitchen tool drawer (and I mean BIG! )

 

[college_cook]

Heat control took alot of time for me to get down, and in hindsight, it's a very important skill. I used to not have the patience for it, but, when you're doing a dish that needs low heat, just wait- it's worth it.

Knife skills- also important. I think alot of folks can probably manage to do most of your basic cuts, but I know alot of folks who don't hold their knife correctly. Start with the basics.

A good sense of time... develop an internal timer that rings automatically to let you know when its time to pull something out of the oven, fryer, pan, etc. This is probably more important in restaurant work, but its quite handy in the home when you've got a large spread you're putting on the table by yourself. Actually it's handy most of the time.

Creativity- Get crazy. Not insane, but crazyis good. Don't be afraid to throw together some odd ingredients together and see what happens. If it comes out terrible, just remember that BBQ sauce can fix a lot of things... or if it's really terrible you can always throw it away or feed it to your dog; trust me when I say they appreciate it.

KISS Philosophy- I think it's important in the home kitchen, but depending on your style, everyone may not agree. KISS is an acronym for Keep It Simple, Stupid. I did just say get crazy, so this sort of sounds like it contradicts that... I suppose what I mean is that you don't need to throw every spice in your pantry into a dish for it to be crazy... and you don't need to sample a finished dish and try to jazz it up in 10 seconds before you serve it. At that point the dish is finished, it is what it is, and last ditch attempts to make it something else are likely to be futile. Also, if something's done and you want to change it, don't cook it longer... b/c then it's just overcooked.

 

[Chopstix]

I think at the most basic level, a good cook is someone who appreciates good food. This means he/she is equipped with a keen sense of taste and smell and knows what good food tastes like so that he/she can adjust seasonings, be able to correct or improve a recipe, etc. Even better if the cook already has an educated and sophisticated palate (which would come from having tasted many different types and quality of food.)

All great cooks have got to be passionate about food.

Also, I like being around people who love good food. They usually have interesting personalities. I'm a bit wary of people who are not interested in food and would be quite content to eat blah food, refusing to try new tastes. I think it says something about how they must lack passion for the other areas in life.

Sorry I digress...

 

[catapono]

Hello,

I am one of those newbies, and what most of my problems I encounter do involve the "heat control", meaning while cooking on top of the stove, how "high" the heat is and "how long to cook something", and in the oven, most of my problems occur, I go by the time the recipe says to cook something but I always (almost) have to cook it longer, (sometimes 2 to 3 times) as long as the recipe calls for........

Sounds crazy, but the heat control, knowing how much, how long to cook something is very hard.... I haven't mastered it yet!!

 

[VeraBlue]

To be perfectly honest, I can think of only two absolute essentials.

1) Being able to read a recipe for comprehension from start to finish (even if you have to do it several times) & patiently research any terms you're not familiar with.

2) Not only cultivate patience, but also a sense of fun & the absurd when things don't always go the way you planned, & be willing to try again. Julia Child, the master of masters, had this 2nd one down pat, & touted it often on her tv series.

If you have the above, the rest - regardless of how complicated - will eventually fall into place easiily.

I don't believe an ability to read is a necessary skill when it comes to cooking. Some of the earliest great cooks were illiterate. Consider the slaves of the american south... Having an ability to read implies it is necessary to follow a recipe to be a good cook.

 

[Andy M.]

... Having an ability to read implies it is necessary to follow a recipe to be a good cook.

Talking about the basic skills to get by in the kitchen these days, reading is a lot more than following recipes (which is not a bad thing). It's a basic way to acquire information, including techniques, processes, equipment operation and cultural backgrounds for different cuisines.

 

[VeraBlue]

Talking about the basic skills to get by in the kitchen these days, reading is a lot more than following recipes (which is not a bad thing). It's a basic way to acquire information, including techniques, processes, equipment operation and cultural backgrounds for different cuisines.

All valid points, Andy...but I think we're going to disagree on this point. I don't see reading as a basic skill at all. I see it as a learned (taught) ability. To further my point, stories (which could easily include recipes and cooking instruction) were handed down verbally from mouth to mouth for generations. It wasn't until recently (barely more than 200 years) that recipes were penned to paper.

 

[Andy M.]

All valid points, Andy...but I think we're going to disagree on this point. I don't see reading as a basic skill at all. I see it as a learned (taught) ability. To further my point, stories (which could easily include recipes and cooking instruction) were handed down verbally from mouth to mouth for generations. It wasn't until recently (barely more than 200 years) that recipes were penned to paper.

Isn't a skill a learned ability?

The original poster's question was "What are some basic cooking skills necessary to get by in the kitchen?". I assumed that was in today's world rather than speaking historically. If we're talking about the historical perspective, I agree with you.

My thought process was that if you know nothing about cooking, you could learn just about all of it through reading. I'm not saying that's the only or the best way.

 

[VeraBlue]

Isn't a skill a learned ability?

The original poster's question was "What are some basic cooking skills necessary to get by in the kitchen?". I assumed that was in today's world rather than speaking historically. If we're talking about the historical perspective, I agree with you.

My thought process was that if you know nothing about cooking, you could learn just about all of it through reading. I'm not saying that's the only or the best way.

I think our points differ at the word 'basic'. I do thank you for the intelligent and thoughtful conversation on this point. I appreciate your banter, as well. Others (other boards, specifically) would find it easire to take offense and enter battle rather than discuss. Again, I do appreciate your thoughts.