Paying attention to cooking

[Manuela]

Sometimes when I cook something can happend to distract my attention. A phone conversation (that usually involves gossiping :p ) or an interesting scene in a movie at the TV (yes, I have a small TV-set in the hallway and when I cook with the kitchen door opened I sometimes watch movies)... All this leads to burnt or overcooked dishes that I try to fix with condiments in order not to be noticeble. Does this happened to you? Some of the people I know said they have this attention span issue too...

[Samuel]

Yes, it did happen to me. Unfortunately, when you smell something burning, it's too late. Nothing can save the day in this situation. Just buy an alarm clock for the kitchen or use the mobile phone to set an alarm/memo. I don't like overcooked/burned food, it tastes horrible. And the ash is cancerigenic.

[liowkc]

In this fast pace modern world, it is difficult to concentrate on anything includijng cooking; you have the involuntary distractions like your cell phone ringing and voluntary ones too (like turning on the radio and TV).

[Denton15]

I have had the occasional mishap, I expect everyone does. I have three teenagers who like to cook, we are getting used to the smell of burning because they do everything to fiercely. I hate it when I accidentally let the potatoes boil dry, it smells so bad and it leaves the saucepan in a terrible mess. By the way, washing powder (the sort you use in a washing machine) is the best thing to clean up a burned saucepan. Put the washing powder and hot water in the saucepan leave for a while then it will be much easier to clean.

[liowkc]

Overcooking and getting things burned seem to be rites of passage for aspiring cooks, Add in all the distractions and the outcome is a total disaster :( :)

[Samuel]

Overcooking and getting things burned seem to be rites of passage for aspiring cooks, Add in all the distractions and the outcome is a total disaster :( :)

True but...the more a food is cooked, the more difficult it is to digest and metabolize. It can actually damage your health by increasing the toxicity of your body. Then the liver will try to repair things. If he succeeds, it's ok. If not, the toxins will spread into your body. If they spread into your body, the immune system will come into action. So, imagine if you overcook food on a daily basis. You'll get sick more often. ( my best friend is a doctor :P )

[Denton15]

True but...the more a food is cooked, the more difficult it is to digest and metabolize. It can actually damage your health by increasing the toxicity of your body. Then the liver will try to repair things. If he succeeds, it's ok. If not, the toxins will spread into your body. If they spread into your body, the immune system will come into action. So, imagine if you overcook food on a daily basis. You'll get sick more often. ( my best friend is a doctor :P )

That is a good point, but with certain things under cooking can be extremely dangerous, even life threatening (e.g. chicken) so we should be careful to cook things properly without over cooking them. I guess we just need to keep our minds on what we are doing, or you can use a kitchen timer, I use one and it reminds me to check my cooking before it has a chance to spoil.

[beginnercook]

I am responsible for some messed meals too since I also get way too distracted by anything possible. I think i should be locked into the kitchen with nothing to see or hear. Otherwise I just get something to see or talk on the phone and ruin the food.

[Samuel]

That is a good point, but with certain things under cooking can be extremely dangerous, even life threatening (e.g. chicken) so we should be careful to cook things properly without over cooking them. I guess we just need to keep our minds on what we are doing, or you can use a kitchen timer, I use one and it reminds me to check my cooking before it has a chance to spoil.

The thing is that chicken meat is sterile inside the muscle. Most of the dangerous bacteria is located at the surface and comes from handling (for example salmonella and e.coli; the greater the surface area, the greater the threat!). Pork(trichinellosis :eek: ) and poultry should never be undercooked, but beef and lamb can be eaten underdone. To prevent these situations, a food thermometer is a MUST.

[she_cookie]

This happens to me a lot. It's awful and i can't count the times i burnt the food because i was in the middle of a conversation or i just forgot i had something on the stove.
I think a solution can be a little timer clock, that you can set and it makes a little beeping noise after a while, when the food is almost done, you set it to beep whenever you think its right.