I am quite ambivalent about cooking. I don't like it, but I don't dislike it either. It's just something we have to do to survive. If I have to, I prefer to cook for more people since I think it's a waste of time if I cook for an hour just for myself, but then eat it in ten minutes.
Out of all the cooking techniques, and there are many, I love baking or roasting the most. You only need to pay attention to one thing, an oven in this case, and it's not reliant on sound. I've got an oven that I can easily see in to see how the food's coming along and it makes the room warm during colder days. It may take longer to properly make food and it needs to heat up first, but it's just so convenient and easy to clean up. I've only one sheet or two to clean up instead of 5 pots and pans. I also don't have to be constantly present, only checking up on the dish every 10 or 15 minutes.
What’s your favorite cooking technique and why? Do you prefer grilling, baking, frying, steaming, or something else? What about that technique makes it stand out to you?
Are there any cooking techniques you avoid, and why? Is it because they’re too tricky, take too long, or don’t match your taste preferences?
That's an interesting question, Janne. My favourite cooking technique, if it counts, would be sautéing followed by grilling. Sautéing doesn't take long, and you can sauté a lot of things together, putting together a complete dish.
I love to grill meat after marinating it, because grilled meat appeals to my taste preferences as long as it is spicy enough.
I am not against baking, in fact I love it, but I hate to measure out exact quantities of ingredients and go on fixing them. A little extra flour and it is brittle, a little extra sugar and it is sweeter than you'd like forever, or a little extra egg and it is gooey in the oven for longer than you'd like. Fluffiness, texture, puffiness, and so many other things can matter when you are baking, especially desserts. It can easily be rubbery or chewy when not intended. A little mistake, and brownie becomes cake and cake becomes brownie. Besides, staring at the oven or coming back every 10 minutes to check if it's done is not my thing. I am going to forget all about the oven.
I know grilling needs vigilance and patience as well, but it takes shorter time and there are fewer things one could mess up.
Sautéing is the easiest to me. When I have my hands busy, I get less time for my brain to drift away and forget about cooking. Besides, you can fix less salt or less spice by adding some more, and you can fix more salt or more spice by adding potatoes or a slight quantity of sweet, but you cannot fix an extremely sweet dessert after it's already baked.
As for cleaning the pots and pans, I partially agree with Janne, but then again I assure you, it takes quite a lot of utensils to prepare for the baking before it goes into the oven, at least when it's me cooking. I also think that washing utensils in between keeps my hands busy and keeps me focused.
Thank you so much to my secret elf for my siggy, Happy New Year 2025!
Galena May, just your average witch, only the fun please.
Honestly, I am a terrible cook. I can reliably make toast and cereal, but anything more than that usually ends up disastrous. However, I love to bake, and I'm pretty good if I do say so myself. I have no idea why there's such a difference in my cooking and baking skills. Luckily, my partner loves to cook, so he helps me out a lot. So, for cooking techniques that I enjoy - anything that involves as little hands-on work as possible. Long bakes in the oven or slow cooker meals are ones that I tend to lean towards. My partner has been experimenting with sous vide though, and I appreciate his patience, skill, and the yummy food that comes out of it.
