10 Things You Won’t Find In The Kitchen Of A Good Cook
Lots of people will tell you that they are great cooks, but until you see their kitchen or taste their food, you don’t know if it’s true. You can get a good idea of how good a cook they are by taking a look around their kitchen. There are some things you simply won’t find in the kitchen of a good cook.
1. Regular Table Salt
A person who cooks well does not use table salt for their seasoning needs. You will most likely find better salt in their kitchens. Salts such as pink Himalayan salt or Celtic sea salt. Even coarse salt, kosher salt, or other specialty salts. But plain, iodized table salt probably won’t be there.
2. Knives In The Dishwasher
You will never find knives in the dishwasher in the home of a good cook. A good cook knows that your knives need to be hand washed, dried, and put away in order to keep them sharp and in great condition for as long as possible. I’m not talking about regular dinner knives, but rather things like steak knives or chef knives.
3. Brand New Cookware
People who cook well don’t have brand-new, shiny cookware. Their cookware is typically well-worn, and you can see that it is well-loved and used frequently. That usually means you will find dents, dings, and scratches on it.
4. Dirty Dishes In The Sink
If you walk into a home with a lot of dirty dishes piled in the sink and on the countertops, it is not usually the hallmark of a good cook for two reasons. First, experienced cooks clean as they go, so there is not a big pile of dishes at the end. Second, if you cook often, you want a clean space to start with. It’s hard to prep a meal around piles of dishes.
5. Pre-Shredded Cheese
Pre-shredded cheese may seem awfully convenient, but it’s got a lot of starch and fillers in it that affect its taste and its ability to melt. A good cook knows that their food will turn out better when they shred the cheese themselves.
6. Glass Cutting Board
If you walk into a kitchen and there is a glass cutting board on the counter, you’re probably in a kitchen where minimal cooking happens. Someone who cooks and chops frequently would never allow a glass cutting board to dull and chip their knives.
7. Bare Pantry
If you are in the kitchen of a good cook, the pantry isn’t going to be bare. A good cook will have a full pantry with a variety of ingredients to choose from to whip up a delicious meal in no time flat using just what they have on hand.
8. Pre-Made Spice Packets
A good cook doesn’t use pre-made spice packets for dishes like chili or tacos. They know their meals will be much more flavorful and have a lot less sodium in them by seasoning their meals themselves with spices.
9. Margarine
Margarine is not something that you are likely to find in the kitchen of a good cook. What even is margarine besides a bunch of artificial ingredients made to taste a little like butter? A good cook, even one that just cooks at home for their family, is going to go for butter.
10. Miracle Whip
Miracle Whip is another “just no” ingredient that you won’t find in the kitchen of a good cook. It’s not mayo, it’s not salad dressing, it’s just some sickly sweet conglomeration of ingredients that no one really knows what to do with.
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This article first appeared on The Gracious Pantry.