What’s your cooking phobia?

January 26, 2022 by
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Even the most intrepid cooks have a dish or two that strikes fear in their hearts. For some it’s pie crust, for others it’s certain cuts of meat, or it could be a kitchen tool that terrifies them. Whether it’s due to past failures, injuries, or just a deep-seated fear of disappointing dinner guests, most cooks have a dish that they avoid making at all costs or a gadget that sits unused in the cupboard. Eater’s Dayna Evans explores the topic of cooking phobias – and how to overcome them.

Bechamel sauce from The Washington Post by Domenica Marchetti

The article interviews different cooks about what they fear most in the kitchen, and it seems that many of them are terrified of using the mandoline. As someone who bears a not insignificant scar from one of these scary-sharp devices, I can understand this phobia. I did not replace mine when the plastic housing cracked and so far haven’t missed it, even though I definitely see the utility in the device. Other people interviewed voiced trepidation about cooking certain cuts of meat, worrying that they might serve their guests overcooked – or worse, undercooked – chicken, for example.

As for me, although it is a cinch for most people to make I struggle with bechamel. What could be simpler or more useful than mastering this mother sauce? Yet over the years I have made so many versions of this that are grainy, curdled, too thick, or too thin. Having bechamel as my nemesis means I won’t make many creamy pasta dishes that for many are a carefree weeknight staple. What are your cooking fears and phobias?

Category: Antipasto

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24 Comments

  • readingtragic  on  January 26, 2022

    Custard. Always undercook it for fear of it curdling. Having said that, I’m not great at boiling eggs, either – maybe it’s an egg thing…

    • Darcie  on  January 27, 2022

      I just always strain through a fine-mesh strainer so I don’t have to worry about any curdled bits. My friend who is a professional pastry chef says the pros do it too, so it’s good enough for me.

  • KatieK1  on  January 26, 2022

    I hate flipping things like crêpes and tartes tatin. So I give that job over to my husband.

    • Darcie  on  January 27, 2022

      I have issues with crêpes too!

  • ameliark  on  January 26, 2022

    Deep frying scares me. And shortcrust pastry is my nemesis. It’s supposed to be simple isn’t it? For some reason I can’t get it right.

  • LeilaD  on  January 27, 2022

    Deep frying always seems like more of a hassle than it’s worth to clean up after (and I have several burn scars), I always burn the bacon (meaning my husband gets to make bacon for me), and I’m terrible at pie crusts. Sauces are no sweat for me.

  • lean1  on  January 27, 2022

    Potato leek soup

  • Indio32  on  January 27, 2022

    Mandolines.

    • Darcie  on  January 27, 2022

      So many people have horror stories from using these!

  • averythingcooks  on  January 27, 2022

    Deep frying for sure. The stove top method terrified me – amplified exponentially after a horrific accident involving a student at the school I taught at – in addition to the “burnt coating, raw contents” issue. We then bought a counter top deep fryer and we used it exactly once as the house (which is small and mostly open concept) smelled of the oil for 2 full days. The solution for us?? Our air fryer!! Perfectly crispy food, SO much less oil (ie just a quick spritz) and the times given in our books always seem pretty spot on for doneness.

    • Darcie  on  January 27, 2022

      I got rid of my deep fryer because of the mess…perhaps I should investigate the air fryer option for my Instant Pot!

  • ksg518  on  January 27, 2022

    Flambé. I’ve only done it a couple of times but I’m terrified of burning myself. Luckily it turns out you can live just fine without flambéed food.

    • Darcie  on  January 27, 2022

      That reminds me of the time I singed my eyebrows and bangs making Steak Diane! It took me a long time before I flambéed again.

  • SuneeSequim1  on  January 27, 2022

    Beef cut and pie crust…?? I just made a stuffed flank steak that was tough as shoe leather ever though I first beat it to death with my meal hammer beater thingy. Then there’s pie crust- tough pie crus, broken pie crust, too wet pie crust, too crumbly and won’t hold together pie crust, tasteless pie crust, ugly pie crust (?). My two nemesis or is it nemesi?

  • Rinshin  on  January 27, 2022

    Although it is one of my fav Mexican foods, I dread making chile rellenos. Roast peppers, skin, stuff with cheese, make egg white batter, dip completely holding onto stems, and gently place peppers into hot oil making sure the coating stays put. It is a hassle. I now use Ruiz El Monterey rellenos in a box with 30 frozen ones and only needs baking in the oven for 20 min. Perfect chile rellenos every time. I think Most Mexican restaurants use this brand as well. I make and freeze big batch refried beans and Mexican rice that I use as a part of our Mexican dinner night along with quickly made tacos or enchiladas and chile rellenos. Coming from Japanese background, I like fried foods.

  • TeresaRenee  on  January 27, 2022

    I learned how to make pie crusts at an early age because my mom couldn’t master it. Weird how the same recipe used by two people yields such different results.

    Coffee. I don’t drink it so I have no idea whether I’ve produced anything drinkable ever.

    Cooking fish makes me nervous. It’s so expensive and there is little leeway in the cooking – both undercooked and overcooked are bad.

    I’ve stopped trying to make fudge and candy recipes because of the continued failures. I think I lack the patience to heat it enough. And I probably had a broiler incident that I’ve suppressed because I avoid that method of cooking entirely.

    Roasts used to scare me but the handy remote thermometer that tells me the temperature as it cooks is now my best fried.

  • anya_sf  on  January 27, 2022

    Deep frying for sure.

    Cooking beef or lamb to a perfect medium-rare – even with a thermometer this terrifies me as the temperature sometimes varies so much depending on where I insert the probe, and meat is so expensive.

    Pie crust no longer worries me as long as I use a tried-and-true recipe. New recipes though…

  • Fyretigger  on  January 27, 2022

    I think of phobias as irrational fears (like mine of heights — I get vertigo for other people doing stupid things at heights). Fearing a mandoline is not irrational. It’s like the adage about a falling knife having no handle. Approach with caution. I use mine only with the pushing guard, and with my hand in a cut resistant glove.

    On a related note, my mother made wonderful divinity, until a neighbor friend told her how hard it was to make. She never had a batch turn out again.

    I guess fear can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  • dmco6863  on  January 28, 2022

    Agar, since going vegan. Gelatin always set as expected, agar agar doesn’t seem to like me.

  • MollyB  on  January 28, 2022

    I’m also in the custard-challenged camp. I’ve overcooked enough custards that I now undercook it too much of the time. (I’ve finally discovered that a thermometer helps! Between 170F-175F seems to be the sweet spot.) Beating egg whites to the correct degree for a recipe also stresses me out, and I’m always worried I’ve over- or under-beating my whites.

  • etcjm  on  January 29, 2022

    Macarons. They are always either too big, too small, don’t match, mess everywhere, too soft, too hard. I love them as well and since I’m gluten free could do them often. It’s always the thing my daughter wants when I stupidly ask ‘What shall I make’. I normally cave in about once a year and then won’t bake for weeks afterwards…

  • ccav  on  January 29, 2022

    Hollandaise. Have tried a few times and success is elusive!
    Also frying.
    And once I tried making an olive oil orange cake, where you boil a whole orange, then blitz it into the cake (the whole thing!). The cake was horribly bitter! Just got the book “Baking with Fortitude” and was eying an orange almond cake but it describes a same technique with the orange and I am scared to try again!

  • Ingridemery  on  February 1, 2022

    Meringue for me!

  • bittrette  on  December 30, 2022

    Home canning. I’m not going to go there and risk food poisoning.
    Stir frying. The first time I tried it the oil caught fire, and there was no second time.

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