Basic Kitchen Skills are something that everyone should have. Everyone has to eat, and if you lack even the most basic of kitchen skills, then you will probably get bored of eating the same things over and over again, or eating out all of the time.

I fell in love with cooking and baking as a child. My grandmother was always in the kitchen, baking up delicious foods from scratch, and she would always let me come in to help her. As I got older, I started watching shows like “Death By Chocolate”, “Essence of Emeril” and “Baking with Julia”, and my passion for cooking only grew more.

After I had graduated from college and had an apartment of my own, I became infatuated with watching The Food Network. I learned a lot of very valuable kitchen skills from celebrity chefs like Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis, Ina Garten, and others.

Fast forward fifteen years later, and I still love to bake and cook, and experiment in my kitchen. Some day I would love to cook for other people, perhaps by opening my own food truck.

I feel that some people have a natural love for cooking and baking, while others may struggle with it. It’s just like any talent, really. I would love to be able to create a beautiful painting, but I just don’t have that natural ability in me. I have tried. Cooking and baking is where my natural talent lies, and I try to better myself at it whenever I can.

Essential Kitchen Skills Everyone Should Have

If you have a desire to cook and bake delicious foods, but often feel lost in the kitchen, there are a few basic kitchen skills that will help you be able to achieve your goals. These kitchen skills are really essential, if you want to learn how to cook and bake. If you can master them, you’ll begin to feel more confident and want to keep learning. Start with these tasks to gain your footing.

Chopping/Dicing

Chopping is one the easiest things to learn, but one of the hardest to do with consistency and safety. One big key is having a sharp knife. One sure way to cut yourself is to be hacking away with a dull knife. Concentrate on the position of your fingers and the knife in relationship to the food. Cut in one direction, then turn the food or the knife to cut in another direction.

Separating an Egg

Separating an egg yolk from its white is another task that is simple to do, but sometimes hard to accomplish. There are a number of egg separators on the market that will help you with this task, but you can also just use your own two hands. Crack the egg into your hand and let the white seep through, leaving the yolk resting on your fingers. You also can pass the yolk back and forth between the halves of the egg shell, allowing the white to drain into a bowl positioned below. That’s the way I always do it.

Measuring

If you want to bake properly, you have to learn how to measure properly. Baking is a science, and if you do not get your measurements absolutely perfect, your baked goods will not turn out like they should. With most dry ingredients, spoon them into the measuring cup up to the proper line, then level it off with the back of a butter knife. With liquids, it’s best to set the cup on a flat surface and look at the cup from the side while adding the liquid.

Kneading

Kneading allows the mixture of flour and water to do its work within the dough by activating gluten, which make the texture that we know as being within bread. While kneading can be done with a mixer, there is something therapeutic about doing it by hand. A basic kneading method is done by turning the dough out, folding it over, then pushing it away using the heel of the hand. This continues until the dough is springing back and elastic.

Make an Omelet

This is another task that isn’t hard, but takes a bit of practice in order to get it perfect. I It’s very easy to end up with a pan of scrambled eggs, which is delicious, but not the same things as a fluffy omelet. I only recently perfected this skill, and now I make omelets quite often. They are delicious! To make the perfect omelet, whisk eggs together with a bit of water until they become somewhat foamy, especially at the edges. Pour into a hot pan – the edges should begin to cook immediately. With a rubber spatula, gently push the cooked egg from the outside toward the center, slightly tilting the pan to let the uncooked egg run underneath so it can cook. Once the egg has set, add fillings to one side of the pan, then fold the other side over to cover filling. Try not to add too many fillings, however, or it will make it difficult to fold your omelet over without breaking it.

These are but a few of the things that you can learn to do in the kitchen, but these kitchen skills will get you a long way. What are some of your favorite things to do in kitchen? How did you learn to do them? Let me know in the comments below.

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