# The best thing you've done to improve your cooking **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655 "2011-02-26T01:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/61 "2011-03-01T15:39:25Z")
I’m not really into cooking, but the best thing I did was to realize that there’s nothing wrong with butter. I don’t use it that much because I don’t do “real” cooking very often, but sauteing in butter/olive oil is infinitely better than the crappy margarine or whatever it was I was using before. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/62 "2011-03-01T18:39:35Z")
> [@kapri](#): > > I’m not really into cooking, but the best thing I did was to realize that there’s nothing wrong with butter. I don’t use it that much because I don’t do “real” cooking very often, but sauteing in butter/olive oil is infinitely better than the crappy margarine or whatever it was I was using before. I as well as some above do a lot with various Indian spice mixtures, and the pro tip for me was don’t skimp on the butter – I find the flavor is essential to preparing delectable vegetable dishes with lots of spices. Guaranteed that people will flock to the table once they’ve discovered that you know how to bring it. For me, butter is a luxury item, but it’s irreplaceable – and as a pretty good bread baker, I still find it’s the only true accompaniment to a good pain. Not that good bread _needs_ a garnish but it doesn’t hurt, and can make a mediocre or indifferently-formed loaf into a meal for the ghods. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/63 "2011-03-01T20:21:27Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Too many folks don’t use enough (or overuse it). Its a delicate thing and can make the difference between something good or something horrible. > > Salt, taste, salt, taste, salt, taste. > > It never gets old, I tell ya! > > For instance, for all my culinary knowledge (ahem), I never realized the perfect steak on my grill was made with a huge helping of SALT, more specifically, a crust of sea salt. Interesting that one of the things I feel increased the quality of my cooking the most was leaving out most or all of the salt in most dishes. We get too much sodium as it is, and once you stop using massive quantities of salt, you get used to not having it pretty quickly. When I’m cooking entirely from scratch, a little bit is required, but most store-bought ingredients are overloaded with salt. The pasta, the butter, the broth; all of it is pre-salted. Most of it is pre-over-salted. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/64 "2011-03-01T20:46:51Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Too many folks don’t use enough (or overuse it). Its a delicate thing and can make the difference between something good or something horrible. > > Salt, taste, salt, taste, salt, taste. > > It never gets old, I tell ya! > > For instance, for all my culinary knowledge (ahem), I never realized the perfect steak on my grill was made with a huge helping of SALT, more specifically, a crust of sea salt. > > Fuck marinades, sauces, etc…if you have a really good cut of beefsteak to toss on the grill…salt it up (and pepper, ground please) and it’ll turn out wonderful, provided you don’t overcook it. > > Seriously. > > ETA: of course, oversalting is really bad. which is why you taste as you go. You can always add more salt, but you can’t take it out once its there if its too much. [quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:63, topic:572655”] Interesting that one of the things I feel increased the quality of my cooking the most was leaving out most or all of the salt in most dishes. We get too much sodium as it is, and once you stop using massive quantities of salt, you get used to not having it pretty quickly. When I’m cooking entirely from scratch, a little bit is required, but most store-bought ingredients are overloaded with salt. The pasta, the butter, the broth; all of it is pre-salted. Most of it is pre-over-salted. [/QUOTE] I think it depends on what you’re cooking and how much prepared stuff you’re using. Some ingredients (canned stock!) are loaded with salt, but the more you do from scratch, the less salt there is, and you do need to salt as you go or else it comes out tasting bland (yes, I know, you can train yourself to not miss salt - but I’m not feeding trained people, I’m feeding people used to salt.) In other words: Opening a can of beans? Don’t add any more salt. Cooking dried beans from scratch? Add salt, or end up with tasteless beans. Oh, and one more “best thing”, speaking of stock: My parents gave me a free-standing freezer a few years ago that they were getting rid of. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, then reasoned that it’d be a perfect holding container for stock. So I started making stock - chicken, beef, veal - and have a freezer full of it. Boy-oh-boy, it makes a difference. Even the best store-bought stock isn’t anywhere near as good as homemade, both in taste and texture. If you have the storage space and inclination, make your own stock. It’s not hard, and it makes everything taste better. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/65 "2011-03-01T23:43:33Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > I think it depends on what you’re cooking and how much prepared stuff you’re using. Some ingredients (canned stock!) are loaded with salt, but the more you do from scratch, the less salt there is, and you do need to salt as you go or else it comes out tasting bland I understand – and I said basically the same thing in the post you quoted. HOWEVER, the idea of crusting a good cut of steak in salt makes me shudder. Potato chips and pretzels should take like salt. Steak should taste like _steak_. I know, humans like fat and salt and sugar. Lots and lots of it. But I cook for my family, not for humanity at large. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/66 "2011-03-02T00:55:11Z")
I add a splash of chardonnay to almost everything! Adds a lot of flavor, but people can’t usually identify it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/67 "2011-03-02T06:56:09Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > If you have the storage space and inclination And if you lack the storage space (or even if you do have it), just cook the stock down to about a tenth of the original volume. (if you continue cooking until it coats the back of a spoon, you’ll have glace the viande, which also works, just takes a little longer). Stick it in an ice tray, pop it out and put it in an ziplock back, voila. Each ice cube diluted with water equals about a cup of stock (give or take, depending on your ice tray size.) Not only that, it’s _fantastic_ for making sauces and pepping up your gravies. (Where you use it undiluted or barely diluted.) Unless I’m using them right away, I cook all my stocks down to nearly nothing, as I find them more useful this way, with the bonus of taking up very little storage space. Just one thing to remember: don’t salt it at all or salt very very lightly if you plan to use your concentrated stock with little reconstitution. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/68 "2011-03-02T19:05:07Z")
I mentioned this thread to the Other Shoe last night, and he mentioned two contributions from our household that I haven’t seen here yet: - learning how to maintain cast iron (and then - using it!) - fish sauce - how can something that tastes so foul make everything (non-dessert, I suppose) taste so much better? (My hat is off to the brace ancient person who said, “Hey, here’s some old-ass fish that’s been rotting away for months. Let’s collect the juice?” “Why?” “Have you _tasted_ my wife’s cooking? Anything will improve that!”) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655/69 "2011-03-02T20:12:28Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > OK, that’s four, so if I had to pick a single one, I’d say Nigel Slater. This, this, and this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-thing-youve-done-to-improve-your-cooking/572655.md?page=3)