"I Understand There’s A Difference But I Literally Just Can’t Be Bothered": Cooks Are Sharing Their Favorite Cooking "Sins"
Reddit user u/Boopboop_12 recently asked, "What is your cooking sin?" Here are a few answers:
1."Sometimes I let my onions burn — not a whole lot but enough. Overcooked onions are delicious."
2."Mine is breaking the pasta in half for spaghetti. I know, I know. Don’t burn me at the stake. For the sake of the recipe rule, I’ll add the basic instructions: You’re supposed to make the sauce first, salt the water, and add the whole pasta (obviously not fresh) to the boiling water."
3."I feel I am not alone in frequently overcrowding the pan because I'm sure as hell not going to do it in two batches."
4."I have worked in professional kitchens for some years now. We always use fresh minced garlic when necessary. There is no comparison to freshly grated, start-to-finish garlic. However, when I’m at home, cooking for my family or just myself? I always use prechopped garlic in a jar from the grocery store. I cannot be bothered to de-paper over a dozen tiny cloves by hand, nor do I have the money or desire to hunt down elephant garlic for the sake of size and convenience. The jarred stuff always serves its purpose."
5."I brown omelets when I make them. I know that's a major taboo in cooking but I like them with a bit of a crust with my hot sauce."
6."Bacon in carbonara. Sorry, Italians, but guanciale is ridiculously hard to find in the US, is expensive to order online, and pancetta tastes like nothing but salt to me. I still do everything else by the book: pecorino, eggs, pasta water, no cream or milk or peas like so many other recipes use to bastardize this delicious dish. Looking at YOU, Gordon."
7."I use lemon juice from a bottle."
8."In my tiny London kitchen, I make chicken stock in the microwave."
9."I never use unsalted butter in recipes that call for it. I always have salted butter on hand since it's used for almost everything, so I just don't bother keeping unsalted around for the relatively rare times it's called for."
10."I don’t wash rice before cooking it. I understand there’s a difference but I literally just can’t be bothered to do that extra step."
11."A lot of pasta sins: shrimp with cheese, Asian fusion pasta with gochujang, soy sauce, scallions, etc. I make 'carbonara' with bacon (sometimes I add heavy cream). Obviously, I'm not Italian."
12."I break my egg yolks when I'm frying them for breakfast sandwiches so they cook. The texture of a runny yolk gives me the heebie-jeebies."
13."Cheese on fish/seafood pasta dishes. It’s delicious."
14."I use a Teflon pan sometimes, even though I own a ton of cast iron. It's usually for sticky things, but sometimes just for convenience since the aluminum is lighter, heats up faster, more evenly, and is a little bit easier to clean."
15."I refuse to make my own pie crust. And every time I use a premade crust, people love it. 'Oh, this crust is so good.' Yeah, that's because I didn't make it."
16."Instead of mise en place, whenever I’m dicing veggies for whatever I’m cooking, I just throw it all in one big bowl. Like if I’m cutting a mirepoix, the onions, celery, and carrots all go in one bowl instead of three separate bowls. This just cuts down on the dishes I use, which really stops me cooking more than I’d like because I fucking hate washing dishes."
17."I use grated Parmesan cheese that come in those plastic jars."
18."I make my pizza sauce from a base of canned tomato paste (obviously adding additional stuff). Everyone who has ever eaten a pizza of mine has specifically said they loved the sauce, so I'm doing something right and I ain't gonna stop now."
