12 Things I've Learned at Work That Have Changed My Cooking Forever

“Is that a fact, chef?” he said with a Cheshire-cat grin; addressing me, someone who wasn’t a chef, as “chef” was a playful insult. “So you probably can’t do this, then,” he said, taking a ripe red pepper, lopping off the ends and opening it up quickly with his chef’s knife, pressing it flat against the board, and cutting it into two paper-thin fillets, and holding them up so I could see the light streaming through.

No Jeremy, I couldn’t and still can’t do that. My knife skills are decent, but they’ll never be anywhere near professional level. But that doesn’t mean I can’t cook professional-level food at home. All it takes is knowledge, some decent gear, a little planning, and a bit of practice—all things that Cook's Country (and our sister sites America’s Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated) can help with. After all, our mission is to help people become better cooks. I’ve certainly become a better cook over my twelve years of working here. As a testimony, here are twelve things I’ve learned that can help take your cooking to another level.

Food that’s only salted at the end of cooking lacks dimension. In the test kitchen, we add salt to recipes in stages—a little at a time—and taste and adjust seasoning before serving. 

Salt big pieces of meat early before cooking. We recommend at least an hour or up to a day. Doing this allows the salt to penetrate and deeply season the meat.

In the test kitchen, we add more love to cold foods by seasoning it aggressively with both salt and acid. Chilling foods dull their flavors and aromas, so it's important to compensate by seasoning generously—but judiciously. 

Test Kitchen Tip: To keep from overdoing it, season with a normal amount of salt before chilling and then taste and add more salt as desired just before serving.

To intensify the flavor of ground spices—particularly blends such as chili powder and curry powder—cook them for a minute or two in a little butter or oil before adding liquid to the pan. This will help bring out their full flavor and aroma. (To release the essential oils from whole spices we recommend cooking them over medium heat, without any oil.)

If you cook or bake regularly, you should have a food thermometer. A good thermometer takes the guesswork out of cooking, telling you exactly what's going on inside your food. In the test kitchen, we use an instant-read thermometer when cooking fish, meat, poultry, and bread to ensure that are recipes are one step closer to perfection. I happen to do this at home too—and yes, my meals come out just as good, every time.

You don’t have to be able to fillet a pepper, but cutting things evenly means they will cook evenly. Take the time to build good technique, and  your speed and proficiency will gradually increase.

Don’t be afraid of heat: a ripping-hot skillet, wok, oven, or grill can provide deeply flavorful browning and char.

Smoking meat, fish, and veggies on a grill is really easy; you don’t need a fancy smoker to make great hot-smoked salmon, pulled pork, chicken legs, or brisket.

Mise en place is the French term for “everything in its place,” and really just means doing all your prep work in advance and keeping everything organized until you need it. A proper “mise” allows you to work faster once the cooking starts.

In my household, a simple roast chicken became an important meal to master and so I did just that. With roasted chicken you get a two-for-one: try making stock from the carcass—it's dead-easy and a wasted opportunity if you don’t do it. In the test kitchen, homemade stock has been a transformative ingredient for many of our recipes.

There aren’t many dishes that aren’t improved by a finishing spritz. In the test kitchen, we normally add lemon or lime to the dish at the end for maximim flavor impact. 

Butter tastes good. Really good. It goes into everything in most restaurant dishes. You don’t have to over-do it, but know that a knob of butter makes most things taste better.