Correcting cooking errors

Soup

If soup stock turns sour 24 hours after it was made, it was probably left in its saucepan all night, or covered and put away when still warm.

When a thick soup is lumpy, the thickening was probably added too hastily. Correct by beating well with a whisk.

When stock is cloudy that should be clear, you may have cooked it too quickly - it needs a long, slow cooking time. It may not have been completely skimmed. Before straining, let the stock settle. Do not stir before straining.

If your vegetable purée is too thick, too many vegetables may have been added in proportion to the liquid. This may be remedied by adding more stock or milk, stirring to keep the purée smooth.

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Fish

When boiled or steamed fish breaks during serving, you have cooked it too fast. Small fish should be steamed.

When boiled fish is hard and very salty, it was not soaked sufficiently to remove the salt before it was cooked. Soak it in cold water or milk for at least 6 hours, changing the liquid several times.

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Meat

When boiled meat is tasteless though cooked gently, too much water was probably used. There should be only just enough to cover the meat. Also, a root vegetable such as carrot or turnip should have been cooked with it and a tiny bunch of sweet herb.

When pork crackling is hard and non-edible, it was not brushed over top with salad oil before it was cooked. This makes it crisp and delicious.

When grilled meat is dry though not apparently overdone, you have either stuck a fork into the meat and the juices escaped, or you put it under high heat while dry and lean. If you do not posses grilling tongs, use two forks, a spatula, or a palette knife. A fork can be used if it is put into the fat only. When lean meat is to be grilled, it should first be brushed over with liquid butter or drippings.

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Frying

When pancakes or fritters are heavy: (1) The batter has not been beaten sufficiently. The word batter means “to beat” and so beating is the main point. (2) The fat is not hot enough. Thin blue smoke should be rising when your fritters are put in. (3) The batter was used immediately after being made. It should stand for at least one hour.

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Chicken

When chicken lacks flavor, the oven was not hot enough when the bird was put in and the goodness escaped instead of being sealed in the bird, or the bird was overcooked.

When a bird is dry, it was not larded on the inside, and it is also a good plan to put a piece of butter or dripping inside the bird before it is cooked; or maybe the bird was not basted sufficiently. A piece of greased paper placed over the bird when it is brown enough also helps to keep it moist.

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Sauces

When white sauce is lumpy, the fault was with the mixing. Butter and flour must be cooked gently to a perfectly smooth paste before any milk is added - then the milk stirred in gradually and kept perfectly smooth. Lumpy sauces may be strained and reheated or taken off the heat and beaten furiously with an eggbeater.

When sauce that should be white has a fawn tint, the butter and flour were cooked over very high heat and just began to brown, thereby causing the discoloration.

A sauce curdles most often when an egg has been included in the sauce and is allowed to boil. A sauce containing eggs should be cooked in a double-boiler saucepan and never allowed to boil after eggs have been added. Another cause is adding acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar too quickly.

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Vegetables

When boiled green vegetables are a bad color, they were not put into rapidly boiling water or the lid was kept on while they were cooking or they were overcooked. All green vegetables should be served as soon as they are just cooked through.

When fried potatoes are greasy, they were too wet when put into the fat. Lightly press them in a paper towel before cooking, and be sure the fat is hot enough and that there is plenty of it. Deep-frying is best for potatoes.

When a boiled cauliflower is not white, the stalk was placed downward in the water and the scum settled on the flower. This will not happen if the stalk points upward.

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Eggs

When an omelet is dry and very fluffy, you will know that you have beaten the egg too much. Eggs for omelets need very little beating. Beat yolks and whites together and then only lightly if you prefer a moist omelet. Beat eggs separately but still only enough to froth if you prefer the lighter kind.

When however long you whip the egg whites, they will not stiffen: One reason could be that they were stale or too fresh. Eggs should be newly laid but not just laid. The white of an egg that has only been laid a few hours is almost as difficult to whip as a stale one. Another cause could be that there was just a trace of grease on either the bowl or the beater.

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Pastry

When pastry is heavy you may have used the rolling pin with a heavy hand. Pastry should be rolled lightly with short, rapid movements. Don’t roll out over the edge or you will force all the air out. For puff pastry you need a very hot oven and it is a good idea to refrigerate the pastry for a short while before putting into the oven.

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Desserts

When the fruit in a gelatin all rises to the top of a mould - a layer of gelatin should have been put in the mould and allowed to set before any fruit was added to it.

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Fruit

When apples in a pie have remained in slices and are rather hard, the apples were sliced too thinly - thin slices take a long time to soften. Cut the apples in small pieces. Slices are suitable for a flan.

If the fruit sinks in gelatin, the fruit was too wet. Dry thoroughly after washing fruit by spreading it out in a warm place.

When fruit sinks in a cake, the oven door was opened while the cake was rising or too much baking powder was used.

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Cakes

When a cake, though containing several eggs, is not light, it was not beaten sufficiently. Cakes that depend upon an egg for their lightness need to be well beaten to aerate the batter.

When a cake sticks to the tin, either the tin was not sufficiently greased or it was not perfectly dry when greased.

When shortbread is rough in texture, the flour and sugar were not sifted, or it was not kneaded sufficiently. It should be worked until it will roll out without cracking or breaking.

When shortbread is greasy, the butter was warmed and became oily. It should have been warmed so gradually that it softened without becoming greasy.

An uneven, textured cake with holes was either unevenly stirred when mixing in flour, or spooning mixture into the tin created pockets of air which were trapped during baking.

When cake forms a dome or lots of cracks after baking, either oven temperature was too high, mixture was too stiff, cake tin too small, or cake was placed too close to top of oven.

When cakes sink in the middle, either too much baking powder was used, mixture may have been too soft, oven temperature was too low and center of cake did not rise and cook, or oven temperature was too high and the cake rose on the outside before it cooked in the middle.

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Icing

When boiled icing is lumpy, you poured the syrup too quickly into the egg white.