by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: December 30, 2009

How to be a better cook is an issue pondered and even debated by millions around the world, each and every day. The reality is of course that the question of how to be a better cook can never know any one single answer, as everyone who cooks has different shortcomings - or perceived shortcomings - and different ambitions as regards what or how they would like to cook in a more successful fashion.

The first step for anyone who is trying to determine how to be a better cook is therefore to quite specifically identify what it is they are trying to achieve. Simply stating that one wishes to be a better cook and endeavouring to proceed from that point onwards is unlikely to meet with any great level of success. This is quite simply because there are so many techniques and procedures involved with cooking that a general approach in this respect is likely to lead only to confusion and disillusionment.

The second reason why one’s goals in how to be a better cook should be precisely defined is in order that the causes of one’s existing problems can be more precisely determined. A very common example of this can be found when it comes to cooking eggs. There are those who wonder what precise technique they are not grasping when it comes to poaching an egg, who will discover upon further investigation that all they are doing wrong is attempting to poach the egg straight from the refrigerator when of course it must be allowed to reach room temperature in the first instance for best results. Similarly, problems encountered in frying an egg could simply be in the excess of fat or oil in the pan. Defining specifics in this way allows them to be addressed and tackles the issue of how to be a better cook in a very precise fashion.

The best way to address these problems in the modern era is by searching for the specific issue online. If poaching an egg is the problem, a Google search should be made for, “How to poach an egg.” It is important, however, to consider a number of the answers which one will accordingly find in order to form a balanced opinion and find a more accurate solution.

When one has addressed the specifics of their problems and determined any and all ways in which to address them, it is only then time to look at learning new cooking techniques and recipes. This too must be tackled in a precise and logical fashion, however, if the best results are to be achieved and each step successfully mastered before the next one is tackled. Those novice cooks who determine to be the next Gordon Ramsay in no time at all will soon know a very definite wake-up call.

How to be a better cook is therefore a very personal issue for each one of us and although advice is readily available both on and offline, only where the specific nature of the advice required is accurately determined can the desired information be found and long term results achieved.

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