Cooking at home is really rewarding but it's far from easy. It takes practice, patience, and persistence - thankfully Reddit is full of cooks are willing to share trade secrets so your next meal can be perfect.
maxhaseyes asked, Chefs of reddit, what advice can you give to people who want to cook and eat better at home?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
I always clean as I cook.
GiphyFailure shouldn't keep you from trying. It's a skill, you can't get any better if you don't try.
Be clean. Wash hands, work surface, and knives (and change cutting boards) between working on foods that will be cooked and those that will be served raw. Don't even have them out at the same time. Nothing will turn you away from doing it yourself harder than making yourself (and others) sick.
Saw a cool recipe? Find, and read, two more for the same dish, what do they have in common? That's the recipe. What's different? That's the personal flair.
Learn to clean while you're waiting for something to happen.
You are the only one who can truly judge your result, everyone else is just being nice. What do you like about it? What do you not like? What do you think would make it better?
Don't go overboard on that "seasoning."
My boyfriend adds salt and pepper to the food I make him.
Cool, no problem, I like seasoning too.
But he does it before he tastes it and that drives me nuts.
Like any skill, it takes practice.
GiphyPractice. Practice deliberately. That is, look up a cooking technique or unfamiliar recipe and repeat it until you are somewhat proficient, then move on to a new one.
For bonus points, make speed and efficiency your measures of success. One of the biggest advantages the pros have over home cooks is that they can produce good food without having to "slave away," constantly poking and prodding when it's not needed. You'll be amazed at how much unnecessary work your grandma puts herself through to make that show-stopping Thanksgiving dinner once you learn to cook efficiently.
Finally, focus on presentation. We eat with our eyes first, and a lot of what makes professional cooking more impressive than what people eat at home is that it comes out in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement. After all, there's only so much you can do with a roast chicken. Thankfully, plating is super easy, and once you have it down, it doesn't take any longer to plate things nicely than it would to plate them haphazardly.
I'm hungry.
- Buy a decent ($50) chef's knife, and keep it sharp. It'll make cooking way more fun, and also safer.
- Related to the previous point, buy a large, plastic or wood cutting board. Glass is for people who hate their knives.
- Try using more salt. If it tastes better, keep adding more more. Find the balance.
- If you've added a ton of salt and the dish still tastes like it needs more, add an acid. Lemon or lime, or vinegar.
- Fresh cracked black pepper is 100x better than pre-ground. Buy a cheap pepper grinder, they're disposable in the spice aisle, and use that.
- Use more garlic than the recipe calls for.
- Ginger is delicious, and is particularly important for rice dishes. Use more than is called for there too.
- Don't be afraid to turn up the heat. You'll burn some stuff in the beginning, but you can't get a good crispy outside on something you're frying if you're not cooking it hot. Also, don't stir too much. Let it cook a bit before flipping.
- Follow recipes, but not to a T. Cooking is an art, not a science (baking, however, is a science). After your first recipe or two, stop measuring out 1/4 teaspoons of stuff, and start eyeballing it.
- In general, online recipes are conservative with the amount of spices you use. You can usually add 1.5-2x more than they say and it'll be better.
This is important. Nuance.
Precise measurements only matter if you're baking, because there you're basically inducing controlled chemical reactions so the amount actually matters. Everything else you can eyeball.
Rice vinegar is incredible.
GiphyWhat you might be needing is acidity. It kind of bounces off of salt to deepen the flavor of dishes. I only learned of it myself recently, despite having been cooking for 30+ years!
Vinegars can balance flavor very well. (Not the cheap white stuff, if at all possible). There are a lot of choices with vinegar! Some are specific to a particular recipe/use. I stand by rice wine vinegar. The flavor is 'neutral' enough to blend with most anything. A cap full of rice wine vinegar into a dish you feel can't handle more salt will change the flavor profile for the best.
As with all changes, start small. Use a dash here and there. Happy cooking!
Baking is art. Treat it that way.
I'm baking though it starts as a science and then evolves into an art. You create your own scientific masterpiece. How long do you let it ferment? Bulk rise vs ball rise? Autolyse? Mix flours? Increase salt, sugar or oil? How about creating your own starter? How do you score your loaves? Knead or no knead? The list goes on and on and I've realized the perfect loaf of bread is one of the most beautiful things in life.
Delicious doesn't need to be complicated.
I recently saw a "three ingredient tomato soup" that people were raving about. It was a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, half an onion chopped into quarters and a half stick of butter. Put them in a pot and simmer until reduced, about 1 hour. Remove the onion chunks and puree in a blender, then salt and pepper to taste.
It was f*cking mind blowing and I'm 100% sure it was the butter. The blender turns it into an emulsion and it turns creamy and almost orange (before blending it's dark red).
Just typing this I'm going to make it again tomorrow.
Number 3 is particularly noteworthy.
- Buy quality ingredients. You don't have to buy the best. Just aim for somewhere in the middle.
- Get a decent chefs knife and learn how to use it. There's all kinds of fancy knives out there that have specific applications. But in terms of cooking 99/100 dishes, all you need is a chefs knife.
- Let your meat rest a little bit after cooking. Steak in particular.
- Don't afraid to fail. Part of cooking is messing things up. Especially if it's your first time trying a new thing. Sometimes your dish wont work out and you'll end up ordering Chinese food. No big deal.
Know The World
I find there are really only a few chefs out there whose recipes are always consistent. Jamie Oliver is a godsend. His stuff is always amazingly perfect and easy, especially for beginners.
Marcella Hazan is fantastic, but it's definitely technical Italian, but damn it's good. Her stuff literally taught me to cook.
Julie Child's recipes are absolute perfection and will teach you everything you need to know.
Martha Stewart is the go-to gal for all things baking perfection. Seriously.
Nigella Lawson for indulgent wanton gorgeous, delicious decadent food, savory and sweet.
All the others, omfg. I find the occasional recipe from unknowns to be a starting base, but usually they're just rubbish. Most people's palettes are pretty awful and I'm fussy, which is why I learned to cook to begin with.
Years ago I was having dinner at effing Spago of all places, and I was disappointed in the meal I was having, and it was horrifically expensive. I'm sitting there thinking, this meal costs HOW much and I don't like it? Well, I'll have to learn to cook to make it so I DO like it. So I did.
I went out and bought Julia's Mastering the Art of the French Cooking and Marcella Hazan's Classic Italian books, and worked my way through the techniques and recipes, and came out the other end as a brilliant, serious cook.
I've cooked commercially, have started up and run (and sold off) my own restaurant business, and now just enjoy.
One thing for the serious cook, which I avoided until only recently and I don't know why, was learning to use a top quality Mandolin. Those things are dangerous AF but once I got the technique down, it's a wonderful, glorious tool.
Good quality pans are essential. A thick bottom stainless steel pan. A heavy, iron skillet. A la Crueset deep huge effer for stews and roasts.
Heavy weight teflon pans for cook-top sautés, eggs, sauces. Toss them out when they start sticking.
When your veg peeler is dull, toss it and buy a new one.
Get a micro-blade grater. Life changing.
Never, ever, ever, ever put a hot pan in water to cool, it will warp and ruin the pan.
Induction is fan-fucking-tastic.
Don't rush out and buy all the cool tools at once. Learn what you need, and just buy a couple things at a time. I have stuff I've been collecting for decades and it stands the test of time.
Keep your knives sharp and your butter at room temp. All will be right with the world.
Future Planning
GiphyThere's the kitchen notebook, they last about a month before they are water and splatter stained. Then the good notes get transferred to the real notebook.
When I write a solid recipe incarnation in the good book, I leave about a page empty afterward to accommodate future notes and adaptations, and for really special dishes, the date and audience I cooked it for, and reception thereof.
Those little notes can go a long way in an entertaining and memorable event with friends or family. "I made those cherry-filled chocolate cupcakes you loved at your birthday a few years ago! And I added flaked salt on top since you said you wanted to try that, but never did. Happy Birthday!"
Yeah, you seem like a wizard when you do that.
I do the same thing, for the same reasons.
My grandmothers kept kitchen notebooks and recipe boxes with notecards where they collected family recipes. Recipe trading is an unofficial sport in my family, and everyone puts their own little touches on old recipes.
Listing
Our whole lives are lists
Ingredients list
Prep list
Cleaning list
Order list
Inventory list
Etc
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.
