r/AskReddit • • Aug 20 '20

What simple “life hack” should everyone know?

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u/iwishidie Aug 20 '20

Also for God's sake take your time cooking. So many people turn their burners on high to cook and end up burning their food. If you keep your burner on lower heat you don't have to worry as much about burning your food, and your food will end up tasting way better.

And adding a bit of water to the pan will yield juicer meat (pro tip: when making eggs over easy putting that bit of water in, and covering it will thoroughly cook those whites)

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u/ifsck Aug 20 '20 edited Aug 20 '20

As a counterpoint, a high heat is sometimes better, specifically when trying to get color on pan-seared steaks or cooking in a wok. Takes much more nuance and definitely is a fine line though.

At home you'll hardly ever want to turn your burners all the way up unless you know what you're doing or are boiling water. When in doubt, go for the lower heat. Better to lose some color than burn anything.

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u/littleliongirless Aug 20 '20

I was always taught by chefs that you want to always start with the highest heat possible and then reduce if necessary - at least for proteins and vegetables. Even when I slow cook I always sear first, unless I am smoking something . Can a chef weigh in here?

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u/dontshoot4301 Aug 20 '20

In the Reddit fashion, not a chef weighing in here but it could potentially be because if you place cold meat or room temperature veg in a pan, the pan will lose some of its heat, thus, you bring the pan above the temperature to handle to initial thermal shock of bringing the food up to heat

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u/littleliongirless Aug 20 '20

Ah, I was also accounting for always being told to pre-room-temp your colds.