Celebrity Chefs Revealed The Most Common Cooking Mistakes – And What We’ve All Been Doing Wrong

Cooking shows make whipping up restaurant-worthy food look easy. Tuning in, we’ve all fancied ourselves as the next Ree Drummond or Guy Fieri, right? But the truth is, you’re likely making some big blunders in the kitchen without even knowing it! Luckily, there are pros out there willing to dish out sage advice. Learn from your favorite famous foodies to make sure you never make these simple mistakes again.

20. Don’t Boil Your Pasta Water

Alton Brown started his career as a cameraman and went on to become a commercials director. But his dreams changed in the early 1990s when he decided he wanted to make food-centric programming, which inspired him to study at culinary school. That led him to Food Network’s door, where he landed his comedy, history, science and cooking hybrid show, Good Eats.

The Right Way

Brown’s foodie knowledge has led him to a new way of preparing dried pasta — and he says you should forego your big pot of boiling water. Instead, he places his pasta into a vat of cold water, then heats it up. This method saves time, too — the pasta only has to cook for about four and half minutes once the water boils, since it has gotten to heat up with the water gradually.

19. Bland Beef, Be Gone

Food Network star Guy Fieri famously envisions a place called Flavortown, where all the tastiest foods live in harmony. As he explained on an episode of his show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, “On camera, I once said, ‘This pizza looks like a manhole cover in Flavortown.’ […] So it’s taking these iconic food items, these iconic food moments, and giving them a home. They all live in Flavortown.”

Welcome To Flavortown

But not all home chefs are prepping food worthy of entry into Flavortown, Fieri says. Specifically, he has advice for preparing chili — and he says you shouldn’t be browning all of your meat at once. Firing it up in batches allows it to char and fill with flavor. Too much meat in one pan will steam instead.