How long before one can become a good cook? Nothing major, just enough to feed the family and few friends once in a while. I mean how much time and screwed up meals does it take to be able to put diner together without sweating it too much?
2006-12-12 11:15:12 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Food & Drink ➔ Cooking & Recipes
Since you're talking about cooking in a social setting - family and friends, I would say a 4 to 6 months if you cook regularly, trying different recipes and you really want to learn.
I recommend picking 5 to 10 recipes that you would like to cook and try to master them. Pick at least to main courses (meat dishes).
For example:
1.Roast chicken
2.Beef Stew
etc....
Below are some good websites with tested and reviewed recipes.
About making it easier...
Mise en Place - have things (food, pots and pans, over, preheated) prepared and lined up ready to go. When you have it all ready, it just following the recipe line by line.
2006-12-12 11:49:53 · answer #1 · answered by lots_of_laughs 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it depends on the person, their ability to imagine how various aspects of seasonings and menus work together, and their sensitivity to taste. Some people never develop the skills and some people seem to pick up on them in a matter of a few years or so.
I've been cooking for 45 out of my 53 years now, and I still have the occasional goof. But I've always enjoyed cooking and experimenting with foods, and by the time I was 12, I could fix simple but tasty meals for the entire family. They weren't cordon bleu menus by any means, but they were nutritious and filling.
I'd think that by the time you've been cooking for three or four years and gotten the basics down, you ought to be just fine. And if you do have a culinary disaster. . .well, remember what I said about my own cooking! :-)
2006-12-12 11:30:22 · answer #2 · answered by Wolfeblayde 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I cook professionally and I would say about a lifetime.
Its all about trial and error. Make what you want, if you don't like it, try making it a different way. I can honestly say that once you waste the money on ingredients, your going to want to make it right the next time. I still make things that I think that I could have done better. So the next time I make it, I revise the recipe (if I ever used one) LOL =0)
2006-12-12 12:23:14 · answer #3 · answered by moobiemuffin 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it took me 2-3 years to go from boiling water to a nice meal. And more ruined dishes than I can count! Hell, I still screw up dishes to this day, 13 years later. Everything is still learning, there is no perfect. I'd be scared of someone who called themself a perfect cook and never scorched anything or had a sauce break on them.
2006-12-12 11:22:18 · answer #4 · answered by chefgrille 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some would say years I've been cooking since I was 5 and I'm 21 now
2006-12-12 11:22:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As long as you can follow a recipe you can cook pretty much anything well enough no matter how much experience you have. Not saying it's easy, but you'll get by.
2006-12-12 11:23:45 · answer #6 · answered by slogan909 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i just takes alot of practice...
i suggest starting off with things such as
stir fry's
soups
salads
quiche
all things that taste really really good, but you can learn alot from them..
such as knife handling skills
baking
using the food processor and frying
shallow frying
boiling!
practicing things like that will make you a good cook!
2006-12-12 11:20:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋