10 Tips I Learned In Culinary School

What I learned in culinary school is... RE: BUZZFEED FOOD APPLICATION

1. Mise en Place

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Mise en Place is french for "everything in its place". It is scaling out all of the ingredients that the recipe calls for before even starting the recipe. Mise en Place-ing helps you work more quickly and accurately when completing a dish by not having to scale out a new ingredient before each step.

2. Scale Your Ingredients

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Investing in a kitchen scale will change your cooking game completely. Your recipe will come out much more accurately if you weigh each ingredient instead of using measuring cups.

3. Keep Your Station Clean

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Maintaining a clean working station was important in school. When you are done with a container or utensil, make sure it is off your station so it is not in your way while working. It is so much easier to work on a clean, clutter-free workspace. Wash your dishes and wipe down your space once you are completely done with a recipe.

4. Cold Ingredients=Flakey Dough

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When making doughs such as pie crusts, biscuits, croissants, etc., the ingredients should be as cold as possible without being frozen. This will ensure that your final product will come out perfectly flakey.

5. Room Temperature Ingredients

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ALTHOUGH, for all other baked goods, the ingredients, such as butter, milk, and eggs, should be at room temperature.

6. Vanilla Beans

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Using an actual vanilla bean pod instead of vanilla extract will make a noticeable difference in the final product's taste. To use a vanilla bean, cut the pod down the middle length wise and scrape out and use the seeds.

7. Cool Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

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If you want basically world's best tasting chocolate chip cookies, portion the dough and chill them in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Doing this easy trick will make your cookies fluffier and far less flat. In my opinion it also makes the cookies taste better!

8. Piping Tips

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Using piping tips can really take your decoration on your final product to the next level! There are tons of piping videos online to show you different ways to use different tips.

9. Quenelles

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Learning how to make a quenelle completely changes your final product's design. Making the perfect quenelle takes a lot of practice, but all you need is to whip up some whip cream and get an appropriately sized spoon. Also, you will need HOT water. I put water in a pot, boil it, and turn off the heat and use that. It makes it so much easier!

10. Lastly, Confidence is KEY!

Believing in yourself is everything. Have fun and love what you do!