Despite your best intentions, there will come a time, and probably already has in the past, where you run into issues when you’re cooking in the kitchen. Luckily, in most cases, there are things that you can do in the moment to help minimize the fallout. And, by learning how to deal with some of the most common kitchen problems, you can also help to mitigate future issues that you might run into. 

To help you with this, here are three things to do when you run into snafus in the kitchen. 

Get Comfortable Pivoting

While you might have had a plan for how things were going to go when working in the kitchen, things don’t always go to plan. You could have your fridge stop working, knick yourself while prepping your food, spill everything you’ve been working on, notice that the recipe isn’t turning out how it should, and so many more things that can throw a wrench in your cooking plans. But since you can’t turn back time, you’ve got to learn how to work with the situation you’re in. 

The best way to do this is to get comfortable with the idea of pivoting. When things don’t pan out the way that you had envisioned, you have to learn how to think on your feet and come up with a solution that will help to save that dish or the recipe you’re working on. This might mean switching up your recipe, going in a different direction, or even just pausing until you have a better idea of how to move forward. 

Make Sure You Read The Recipe Right

To help reduce the chances of you having issues in the kitchen when making food, the best thing you can do is make sure you fully read over the recipe a time or two. 

As you do this, get out all of the ingredients that you’ll need. This way, you’ll be able to double check that you have enough of everything you need and that nothing is past its expiration date, which can give you big problems if you only notice this in the middle of cooking this recipe. 

Learn How To Balance Flavors

For many people, one of the biggest problems that can ruin a recipe is when the flavors don’t turn out right. Maybe you added too much of something and don’t know where to go from there. But if you understand how to balance flavors, you may just be able to salvage the recipe. 

In most cases, adding salt can make things salty while also adding to sweetness and balance out bitterness. You can also add sugar, spice, or something sour if you think you’ve added too much salt. Sweetness can be better balanced with acid and other sour flavors. So depending on what you’re trying to balance out, you can find a way to do this with just a few more ingredients. 

If you want to be able to save yourself some kitchen snafus that you’re not able to avoid outright, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you in doing this. 

Anna Jones
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