How many times have you put a pizza in the oven, checked on it, and when it is just right say, “I better wait because it hasn’t been 21 minutes yet.”? So you wait a mere 1 1/2 more minutes, the timer goes off and the pizza is far overdone. Learning to use your own sense of judgment in gauging cooking times is a hard thing to do. It requires experience, trust in your own self, and of course risk. Experience because the more you judge by sight for each dish the better your judgment will become. Trust because if you always doubt yourself odds are you will make unwise decisions. And lastly I mention risk because you could always be wrong.
Do you want to learn how to start cooking by sight and not by a timer? Start getting recipes from family members or friends who don’t use cookbooks or recipe boxes. When they say things like, “Just add a little bit of this and then stir and give it a little bit of that…” and then they say, “Don’t worry about it, you will just know.” Ok, sure. Easier said than done! But sure enough with time you will find yourself saying the same things to your friends when you give out recipes.
Now I’m not saying never use a timer. And when cooking meat use a thermometer when you are in doubt. My first few attempts at cooking whole roasted chicken resulted in dry overcooked meat (I had no thermometer and was paranoid of having undercooked meat). But over time, I learned to trust what I saw… if the juices were running clear in the meatiest parts… it was done.
So don’t be surprised if a few of my own recipes say things like… “8 minutes or so…”, you will get used to it. Just try not to hold it against me!
Liz
www.SimpleItalianCooking.com
Simple and Easy Italian Recipes
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