Learning How to Cook – The 3 Most Basic Skills you need when Learning How to Cook

Learning How to Cook The 3 Most Basic Skills you need when Learning How to Cook

1. Cutting with a Chef's Knife

If you use fresh produce, meat, poultry, and seafood in your cooking, there will rarely be a meal that goes by where you don't need to do quite a bit of knife work. While it can be intimidating to use the long, sharp chef's knife, you need to get used to it! Its weight, length, and sharpness make it an ideal choice for most of your cutting tasks.

When learning how to cook, focus on getting comfortable with this knife. Make sure that you first have a good grip on it. Either use your whole hand to grip the handle just below the blade or move your thumb and index finger up so that they actually grip the base of the blade itself. This will allow you maximum control.

Also when learning how to cook, make sure you use moderately-paced, sweeping motions with the knife as often as possible, always using your off hand to "feed" ingredients towards the knife. Furthermore, to keep your blade in good shape, use the sharpening steel every time you cut!

2. Choosing your Heating Methods

Another thing that can be intimidating to people learning how to cook is the huge variety of heating methods available in even the most modestly-equipped kitchen. If you really want to expand your horizons and be able to cook lots of different dishes, you will need to focus on learning most, if not all of them. However, there are a few that are most important and that will allow you to cook a huge variety of meals.

Cooking in a skillet on high heat, or sauting, is a great method for browning the outsides of your produce and meat. That "crust" that the browning leaves is packed with flavor! Use a bit of oil, add seasonings as you like, and add your ingredients. Be sure to keep the pan moving as needed so things don't burn!

Baking is another familiar method of heating and should be one of your first when learning how to cook. Every kitchen has an oven! Most ovens allow you to easily control the temperature, but a nice standard to keep the oven at is 350-375 degrees. This is great for a lot of baking, as well as for finish off large pieces of meat which you have seared in a skillet.

3. Picking Seasonings

Herbs and spices are what give different cuisines their distinct flavors. There is a dizzying array of different spices, but there are a few you really need to focus on when learning how to cook.

First, you need some kind of salt and pepper. For salt, go with either kosher or sea varieties, as they are the tastiest, and their large grains allow you to easily adjust your pinch size and add just as much as you want to your food. For pepper, the most flavorful option is to use black peppercorns and grind them fresh whenever you use them.

Other spices and herbs you should familiarize yourself with are oregano, basil, garlic, cilantro, thyme, parsley, chives, ginger, paprika, and cayenne pepper. These are still a scant few compared to what's out there, but mastering these will have you well on your way to making tasty dishes.

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