Cooking is a regrettable necessity in some people’s eyes. Actually, cooking can be really enjoyable. It’s also a good step toward a more healthy lifestyle. Good cooks are continuously learning and trying to improve their craft. Here, we will offer you some great tips to further your knowledge and love of cooking.

Indenting the center of a hamburger patty by up to one half inch will prevent bulging during cooking. Just a poke in the middle prior to cooking will allow a more even distribution of heat and will stop your burger from swelling on the top, something most of us are all too familiar with.

For the most beautiful homemade chocolate chip cookies, do not add all of the chocolate morsels into the mix! Save about a quarter of what your recipe calls for until after the cookies are all arranged on the cooking sheet, then add them evenly to the tops of the dough drops to create bakery looking, perfect chocolate chip cookies!

To maximize the efficiency of the cooking that you do, always make your food in large quantities and when you are finished with the meal, store the meats in freezer bags. This will allow you to create a meal the next day for your family that is still fresh and tastes great.

To increase the texture and quality of the pasta that you cook at night, make sure that you finish cooking with the pasta in the pan with sauce. This will help to absorb the sauce so that it blends in properly and tastes great when you sit down to the table and eat.

Do not season all the meat immediately: try a small piece first. Certain foods require special care when seasoning. Hamburgers, meatloaf and meatballs are examples of foods that need to be carefully seasoned. Don’t cook it all at once after you have seasoned it. Cook a small amount in a pan and taste it first. After doing this, you can either adjust the seasoning to better suit your tastes, or just continue to cook the meat as is.

Ensure that your baked fish is moist and tender by cooking “en papillote”. This is a French technique that refers to fish baked in a parchment-paper packet. Place the fish and vegetables of your choice in the center of a large piece of parchment-paper. Bring the edges of the paper together, crease them tightly to form a seal, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 450 degrees. The fish and vegetables steam in the packet, keeping them moist and tender, and creating a tasty, healthy dish. (Clean-up is just as easy – simply throw away the paper after eating!)

As was stated at the beginning of the article, good cooks never stop learning. When taking enjoyment from creating a dish or meal, you will also have fun in learning new cooking skills, and how to cook other foods. Cooking is also about sharing your knowledge with others. Cooking is not only a skill to be learned, but a gift to be shared.