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Why it works

Short cards on the kitchen moments that most often go wrong: what happens in the pan and how to keep it on track.

Eggs

  • Baked custard, flan and cheesecake

    An egg custard sets slowly and willingly in the oven, but a few degrees too many turn silk into holes, weeping and cracks.

  • Baked meringues and pavlova

    Meringues aren't baked in the oven but dried: low heat, dissolved sugar and dry air decide how crisp they turn out.

  • Boiling eggs

    That green ring around the yolk is just the egg timer's way of saying someone forgot about it.

  • Fried and poached eggs

    A fresh egg has a thick white that clings to the yolk; gentle heat and a lid set it before the edge turns rubbery.

  • Scrambled eggs and omelettes

    Eggs keep setting for a while after the pan comes off the heat, so take them off before they look done.

  • Swiss meringue

    Swiss meringue is like a Swiss watch: slower to get going, but it keeps perfect time.

  • Tempering egg yolks

    Egg yolk is an introvert: it can handle hot soup, but only if the soup comes over a spoonful at a time.

  • Whipping egg whites

    Egg whites are perfectionists: one speck of yolk and they go on strike.

Milk and cream

  • Brown butter and clarified butter

    Butter isn't pure fat: first its water boils off, then within moments the milk solids brown – to hazelnut, or to black.

  • Condensed milk and dulce de leche

    Slow heat browns sweetened condensed milk into dulce de leche by itself; it wants low heat and stirring, not an unopened can in water.

  • Melting cheese into sauce

    Cheese melts blissfully into a warm sauce, but in a boiling one it sulks: it balls up into rubber and sheds its fat.

  • Quark in baking and doughs

    Quark is largely water: wet quark thins dough and fillings, and in the oven whey runs out of it until egg and starch tie it up.

  • Whipped cream

    Whipping turns cream into foam and then into butter – and between the two lie just a few extra turns of the whisk.

  • Why milk and cream curdle

    Milk proteins can take the heat and they can take a squeeze of lemon – just not both at once.

Emulsions

Starch, rice and pasta

  • Asian noodles

    Rice noodles want a hot bath, not a boil – cook them soft in advance and all you pull from the wok is sticky fragments.

  • Cooking pasta

    Pasta water isn't waste, it's liquid glue that talks the sauce into clinging to the pasta.

  • Cooking rice

    Rice wants a shower before cooking and a nap under the lid afterwards.

  • Czech bread dumplings

    A bread dumpling is a loaf that decided to finish cooking in steam – and if you don't prick it at once, it sulks and sinks.

  • Filled dumplings: momo, wonton, Maultaschen, pierogi

    A dumpling holds when the dough is supple, the edge clean and no air inside; then it wants a gentle simmer or steam, not a hard boil.

  • Fresh pasta, noodles and spätzle

    Stiff noodle dough needs a rest before it will roll out; thick but flowing spätzle batter, by contrast, is beaten until it forms bubbles.

  • Glutinous rice and mochi

    Glutinous rice has no gluten, only sticky starch: it is soaked, then steamed, hardens in the fridge, and mochi is eaten in small bites.

  • Grain porridges: semolina, polenta, oats, millet

    Porridge looks thin in the pot, but on the plate it soon turns into a brick: cook it a little thinner than you want to eat it.

  • Mashed potatoes

    Mash wants a masher, not a blender – a blender turns it into wallpaper paste in under a minute.

  • Pilaf, paella and absorption-cooked rice

    In pilaf and paella the rice absorbs exactly the liquid you give it; after that it needs peace, as stirring turns it to sticky mush.

  • Potato dough: dumplings, noky, gnocchi

    Potato dough wants dry, cooled potatoes, just enough flour to hold, and quick hands: kneading and standing make it slack and sticky.

  • Potato pancakes and rösti

    Grated potato soon turns grey in the air, and when wet it stews in the oil instead of frying.

  • Pudding and pastry cream

    Pastry cream with yolks must bubble briefly, otherwise an enzyme from the yolks breaks it down overnight in the fridge and it turns runny.

  • Risotto

    Creamy risotto is thickened by starch released from the surface of the grains into the stock, while the centre of each grain stays firm.

  • Roux

    With roux, colour costs muscle: the darker it gets, the better it smells and the less it thickens.

  • Svíčková, tomato and dill: Czech sweet-sour sauces

    Carrot, celeriac and parsley root can thicken a sauce on their own, so svíčková needs no flour.

  • Thickening with starch

    Starch is a sprinter: a quick boil gets it going full speed, while long simmering and acid knock its knees out.

Meat

  • Braising tough cuts

    Collagen won't be rushed: a gentle simmer turns it into gelatin, a rolling boil turns the meat into shoe leather.

  • Breaded and fried

    Lukewarm oil doesn't fry the coating, it soaks it: instead of a crunch you get a sad little squelch.

  • Chicken breast

    Chicken breast has hardly any fat or collagen to hide a few extra minutes behind – the thermometer is its best friend.

  • Crisp poultry skin

    Skin turns crisp once its water is gone and the fat beneath it has rendered; steam, a lid and basting turn it rubbery.

  • Goulash and paprika

    Paprika is the star of goulash, but in sizzling fat it quickly turns into a bitter diva.

  • Marinades: acid, enzymes, yoghurt

    A marinade is a visit, not a move: it never gets further than the meat's front hall.

  • Minced meat: meatloaf, meatballs, köfte

    Meatloaf wants a firm hug, not a wrestling hold: overworked, it sets into rubber.

  • Rendering bacon and lard

    Bacon needs patience: on gentle heat its fat runs out and it crisps, on fierce heat it burns outside and stays rubbery within.

  • Resting meat

    Resting does meat good, but it's no miracle cure: think coffee break, not a week at a spa.

  • Roast pork and crackling

    Pork rind is like popcorn: it needs water inside, fierce heat and above all a break from basting.

  • Salting meat ahead (dry brining)

    Salt is patient: first it draws the juices out of the meat, and given time it puts them back.

  • Schnitzel: pounding and coating

    A schnitzel pounded to an even thickness cooks through all at once, so the thin edge doesn't dry out before the centre is done.

  • Searing meat

    A seared crust seals in nothing but flavour – and for a crust, that's achievement enough.

  • Slicing meat against the grain

    A slice cut across the fibres parts easily between the teeth; one cut along them chews like string, even when cooked just right.

  • Stock and broth

    Stock is a discipline of patience: rush it at a boil and you get a cloudy, greasy soup instead of a clear one.

Fish and seafood

  • Carp: bones, muddy taste, frying

    The muddy taint sits mainly in the fat; close scoring tames fine bones, and thick portions fry until done at the backbone.

  • Fish soups and stews

    Fish stock simmers briefly and the fish only finishes in it – cook it like beef and you ladle out bitter broth and broken pieces.

  • Fish: when is it done

    Fish has no patience: one minute too long and the fillet becomes a dry jigsaw of flakes.

  • Mussels and clams

    Mussels and clams are bought and cooked alive, until they open; broken ones and open ones that do not close when tapped go in the bin.

  • Pan-frying fish with the skin on

    Fish skin crisps and releases from the pan by itself when it is dry and given time; wet and prodded, it sticks and tears.

  • Shrimp, squid and octopus

    Shrimp and squid want a few minutes, octopus and stewed squid a long gentle simmer; anything in between tends to turn rubbery.

Vegetables and pulses

  • Aubergine (eggplant)

    Aubergine drinks oil like a sponge and gives it back only once its airy flesh has cooked through and collapsed – so don't add more oil.

  • Braised cabbage and sauerkraut

    Sauerkraut tolerates a patient braise, fresh cabbage doesn't: overcooked, it swaps its aroma for a sulphurous warning.

  • Browning of cut fruit and vegetables

    An enzyme and oxygen turn cut apple, avocado or celeriac brown; acid, water or a brief blanch stops it.

  • Cooking pulses

    Beans have no quarrel with salt; what makes them stubborn is acid, hard water and old age.

  • Garlic in the pan

    Garlic has two speeds: fragrant, fragrant, fragrant – and one second later, bitter as regret.

  • Green vegetables and chlorophyll

    Broccoli only turns brilliant green once: at the start of cooking. After that it just waits to be rescued before it goes grey.

  • Mushrooms

    In the pan a mushroom acts like a kitchen sponge: first it lets go of its water, and only then does it bother turning golden.

  • Roasted vegetables

    Vegetables on a tray must lose their water first; as long as they're sweating, they have no interest in turning golden.

  • Sweating and caramelising onions

    Onions refuse to be hurried: rush them and they blacken, give them time and they turn golden and sweet.

  • Tomatoes, tomato paste and acidity

    Tomatoes have character: raw paste is sharp and sour, but a few minutes in fat give it a rounded flavour.

  • Watery vegetables: courgette, cucumber, cabbage

    Salted and drained courgette, cucumber or cabbage gives its water up to the bowl, not to the bake, fritters, salad or tzatziki.

Fruit

  • Fruit fillings and baked fruit

    Fruit releases juice in the oven: starch or breadcrumbs catch it, otherwise it soaks the pastry and the pie runs when you cut it.

Dough

  • Baking bread and rolls

    Bread needs steam and patience: steam at the start lets it rise, and waiting until it cools before slicing spares you a gummy crumb.

  • Crêpes and thick pancakes

    Batter that has rested a while gives tender crêpes; the first one is only a test of how hot the pan is.

  • Czech flour: hladká, polohrubá, hrubá

    Czech fine, medium and coarse flours differ not in strength but in particle size – and so in how fast they soak up water.

  • Gluten-free flours and doughs

    Without gluten, only a binder and water hold dough together, and it is safe for a coeliac only if not a crumb of wheat flour gets in.

  • Griddle flatbreads: tortillas, chapati, arepas

    A flatbread puffs up on its own steam – but only if the dough is soft enough and the pan hot enough.

  • Kneading and gluten

    Gluten is the dough's gym: give bread a proper workout, and let sponge cakes and pancakes put their feet up.

  • Sourdough starter

    Sourdough starter is a living culture of lactic bacteria and yeasts; feeding and warmth decide how the bread rises and how sour it gets.

  • Sweet yeast dough: filled buns, kugelhopf, kolache

    Sugar and butter turn yeast dough into a treat, but the yeast works more slowly in it and needs more time and warmth.

  • Yeast dough

    Yeast is only human: cosy warmth gets it working, real heat finishes it off, and in the cold it just dawdles.

  • Yeast dumplings and steamed buns

    A steaming yeast dumpling is like a soufflé: until it has set, every peek under the lid costs it some volume.

Sugar and chocolate

  • Caramel

    Sugar syrup is a crowd on the brink of panic: one grain starts to crystallise and all the others join in.

  • Ganache and chocolate creams

    Ganache is an emulsion of chocolate and cream: the ratio sets its firmness, temperature and stirring decide whether it stays smooth.

  • Gelatin, agar and panna cotta

    Gelatin must not boil and melts in the mouth, agar must boil and withstands heat; fresh pineapple breaks down only gelatin.

  • Melting chocolate

    A drop of water or too much heat ruins chocolate: melt it slowly, in a dry bowl and only until lukewarm.

  • Sugar syrup and its stages

    A thermometer in syrup really measures how much water is left: a few degrees higher and a soft ball turns into a hard sweet.

Spices and flavor

  • Blooming spices in fat (tadka)

    Cumin in hot ghee fills the kitchen with its scent in half a minute – leave it a little longer and it turns black and bitter.

  • Chilli and heat

    Capsaicin doesn't get along with water but does with fat and milk, so a glass of water barely helps a burning mouth.

  • Reducing a sauce

    Reduction boils off the water but keeps the salt: a sauce that was just right can easily end up as brine.

  • Salting and seasoning

    Salt does more than make food salty: it mutes bitterness and lets other flavours speak – but nobody can fish it back out of the pot.

  • Toasting nuts and seeds

    Nuts and seeds are toasted until fragrant and slightly darker; golden turns to burnt quickly, and a hot pan keeps cooking them off the heat.

  • Umami: fish sauce, miso, soy sauce

    Fermented seasonings bring glutamate but also a lot of salt; count them as salt, and stir miso into the soup only off the heat.

Baking

  • Baking cakes and Bundt cakes

    A Bundt cake sets from the edge to the centre, and if you let it out of the oven too soon, the middle sinks into a crater.

  • Baking powder vs. baking soda

    Baking soda goes nowhere without an acidic sidekick, while baking powder carries one right in the sachet.

  • Choux pastry

    Choux pastry is puffed by steam alone: the eggs hold it in, and until the walls set, opening the oven makes it collapse.

  • Christmas biscuits from butter dough

    Biscuits keep their shape while the butter is cold; warm dough spreads in the oven and thin edges brown before the centre is done.

  • Creaming butter and sugar

    Creaming is more than mixing: the sharp sugar crystals work thousands of tiny bubbles into the butter that later lift the cake.

  • Filo and pulled strudel dough

    Strudel dough pulls out translucent only with kneaded, rested gluten; filo dries out and cracks in the air within minutes.

  • Puff pastry and laminated dough

    Steam between cold layers of butter and dough lifts the leaves; once the butter softens into the dough, the layers merge and it leaks out.

  • Shortcrust pastry and cold butter

    Butter has only one job in shortcrust: stay cold and stand in the way of gluten.

  • Sponge cake and whisked batters

    A sponge is mostly air caught in egg foam, and it escapes with every heavy-handed stir.

Frying

  • Batter frying: tempura and beer batter

    Batter turns crisp when it is cold, briefly mixed and full of bubbles, and goes straight into oil that is hot enough.

  • Deep-frying in oil

    In properly hot oil food sizzles cheerfully and crunches; in lukewarm oil it quietly soaks it up like a sponge.

  • French fries and double frying

    Fries are fried twice: first slowly so the inside softens, then briefly so they turn golden – golden, not brown.

  • Fried cheese (smažený sýr)

    The coating must turn golden before the cheese inside melts: cold cheese, a double coating and properly hot oil make that happen.

Heat and grilling

  • Grilling: direct and indirect heat

    Coals can make a crust or cinders; which one you get depends mostly on which half of the grate the meat sits over.

  • Home smoking and smoke flavour

    Smoke carries flavour and harmful substances; clean hardwood, enough air, the outdoors and a thermometer make it tastier and safer.

  • Sous vide and low-temperature cooking

    At low temperatures, safety depends on how long the core of the meat holds the heat: 70 °C needs 2 minutes, 60 °C needs 45 minutes.

  • Wok and stir-frying

    Stir-frying is a race against water: a small batch on hot metal browns, while a crowded wok only stews the food in its own juices.

Preserving

  • Fermenting vegetables: sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles

    Measured salt and vegetables kept under the juice give lactic bacteria a head start to sour them before rot or mould takes hold.

  • Home canning and botulism

    Fruit, jams and acidic brines only need a water bath; low-acid vegetables, mushrooms and meat are safe only from a pressure canner.

  • Pectin and jam

    Jam only sets when there is enough pectin, sugar and acid together; a cold-plate test tells you more than the timer.

  • Quick vinegar pickles

    A quick brine is seasoning, not preserving: the jar belongs in the fridge and is counted in weeks, not years.

Food safety

  • Blending hot soups and sauces

    Hot soup in a closed blender can blow the lid off – and the steam and soup then fly straight at the cook.

  • Cooling and storing leftovers

    Goulash left on the hob overnight only matures in legends; in reality it's mostly the bacteria that mature.

  • Garlic and herbs in oil

    Garlic and herbs under oil have neither air nor acid; homemade flavoured oil and pesto go in the fridge, to be used within 4 days.

  • Internal temperature of meat

    The colour of meat likes to lie; the thermometer is the only witness you can trust.

  • Raw and undercooked eggs

    Salmonella can be inside an intact egg; make raw-egg creams with pasteurised eggs, or hold the cream at 71 °C for 2 minutes.

  • Raw fish: ceviche, tartare, sushi

    Lime only turns fish white and kills neither parasites nor bacteria; for raw dishes buy fish meant for it, or deep-freeze it first.

  • Raw poultry and cross-contamination

    Chicken doesn't need a shower: the tap would only send its bacteria on a tour of the whole kitchen.

  • Thawing meat and fish

    Thaw meat and fish in the fridge, in cold water or in the microwave; on the worktop the surface warms up before the centre gives.