When it goes wrong
What went wrong
275 ways cooking goes wrong, each with its cause. Type what you can see — you do not need to know the name of the technique.
275 ways it goes wrong
- A cream or egg sauce split.Simmer
- Bitter and astringent.Infuse
- Adding more and more salt without improvement.Season
- Black outside, raw inside.Grill
- The batter went from light to liquid and the cake did not rise.Fold
- An enriched dough looks broken and greasy partway through and never comes together.Knead
- A rubbery skin formed on the custard, or the dough dried and cracked at the edges.Chill
- The bread burnt before the cheese moved.Press
Smell and taste
- Acrid rather than smoky.Char
- Barely any citrus flavour despite plenty of zest.Zest
- Barely any flavour transferred.Infuse
- Barely any smoke flavour.Smoke
- Bitter garlic dominating the dish.Mince
- Bitter or soapy patches.Mix
- Bitter, acrid bark.Barbecue
- Bitter, acrid spices.Toast
- Bitter, acrid taste with black rather than brown colour.Sear
- Bitter, ashtray flavour.Smoke
- Black, bitter patches.Glaze
- Bland despite days in brine.Pickle
- Burnt black patches and a bitter taste.Marinate
- The caramel is bitter and acrid.Caramelize
- Cheese melts into a stringy, oily mass anyway.Grate
- A cheese sauce turns stringy with an oily slick.Temper
- Cold-smoked food spoiled.Smoke
- A cornstarch-thickened sauce stayed thin and tasted chalky.Simmer
- The dish is too salty after reducing.Season
- The dish tastes bitter after adding citrus zest.Peel
- Dried herbs taste of nothing.Dehydrate
- Everything tastes flat despite being tender.Pressure Cook
- Everything tastes of nothing.Poach
- Everything tastes of one ingredient.Dice
- Everything tastes vaguely the same.Dehydrate
- Everything tastes washed out.Boil
- Far too salty.Reduce
- The fat smokes and everything tastes acrid.Saute
- The finished dish is bitter.Zest
- Frozen vegetables taste stale and off after a few months.Blanch
- Garlic is bitter and the whole dish tastes of it.Saute
- Greasy, heavy food.Fry
- Harsh, hot raw garlic flavour in a dressing or sauce.Mince
- Harsh, raw alcohol flavour in the finished dish.Deglaze
- Herbs taste grassy and bitter rather than fragrant.Chop
- The liquid stays pale and the sauce tastes thin.Deglaze
- The meat is unpleasantly salty all the way through.Brine
- No smoke ring.Barbecue
- Nothing browns and the dish tastes flat.Steam
- Onions are soft and golden but taste thin.Caramelize
- A recipe halved by volume does not taste half as strong.Measure
- Salty on the outside, bland in the middle.Season
- The sauce is bitter.Deglaze
- The sauce separates into an oily layer and a watery one.Emulsify
- Scorched, bitter taste from the bottom of the pan.Reduce
- Seasoned correctly in the pan, tastes under-seasoned on the plate.Season
- Smoking heavily and tasting acrid.Broil
- Soggy, greasy crust.Bread
- Sooty, acrid flavour.Grill
- Sour cream or yogurt curdles into grains in a hot pan.Temper
- Stock is cloudy and greasy.Simmer
- Sweet marinades burn to black long before the food is done.Grill
- It is taking forever and the flavour has gone flat and stewed.Reduce
- Unpleasantly salty all the way through.Cure
- Waxy taste.Zest
- The whole dish tastes bitter and burnt.Char
Texture
- The bottom near the seam is soggy and the edge came unstuck.Crimp
- Bread dough is consistently too stiff and dry.Measure
- Breast is dry by the time the thighs are done.Truss
- The cheesecake filling curdled and turned grainy.Temper
- Chicken is tough and stringy.Poach
- Cloudy or gritty result.Infuse
- Crisp for two minutes, soggy after five.Fry
- A curdled, split creamed mixture when eggs go in.Mix
- Dry and crumbly rather than tender.Barbecue
- A dry skin formed on top and it baked with a crust through the middle.Proof
- Food is overcooked to mush.Pressure Cook
- Freezer burn: dry grey patches on frozen food.Store
- Fried food that was crisp is soggy within minutes.Store
- A fried piece burst open and leaked in the oil, or a dumpling split in the pot.Shape
- Fried rice came out mushy and clumped.Fry
- The fudge turned grainy.Caramelize
- Gluey, stretchy mashed potato.Mash
- Grainy rather than split — visible curds.Emulsify
- Horchata or a nut milk is gritty.Clarify
- A lean cut fell apart into dry shreds.Braise
- The liquid is thin and watery.Stew
- Lumps in a sauce despite whisking.Whisk
- Lumpy despite lots of mashing.Mash
- The meat has gone mushy and pastes together when rolled.Pound
- Meat is dry and stringy despite hours in liquid.Stew
- The meat is dry and stringy despite sitting in liquid.Braise
- The meat is still tough after hours.Braise
- The meat turned to mush.Marinate
- Mushy texture on fish or lean meat.Sous Vide
- The outside is leathery.Smoke
- The pan boiled dry and scorched.Steam
- A pool of liquid on the board and dry meat on the plate.Rest
- Rice came out gummy and mushy.Simmer
- The sauce is thin and watery at the end.Braise
- The sauce split into fat and liquid.Reduce
- Scrambled eggs came out watery.Whisk
- Scrambled eggs turned rubbery and dry.Fold
- The soffritto has both raw crunchy bits and browned mush.Dice
- Soft, mushy vegetables.Ferment
- String cut into the skin and the legs tore.Truss
- The sugar crystallised into a gritty mass.Caramelize
- Tomatoes are cooked and mushy rather than just peelable.Blanch
- Tough after ten hours.Barbecue
- Tough, rubbery muffins or pancakes with long tunnels inside.Mix
- A watery fritter or rösti that will not crisp.Grate
- Watery mash.Mash
- Watery, crushed pieces and eyes streaming.Dice
- Watery, thin sauce.Pressure Cook
- Whipped whites turned grainy and watery.Whisk
Timing
- Burnt outside, raw inside.Roast
- A cake that is dense and did not rise.Mix
- Charred outside, raw inside, on something thick.Char
- Dark crumbs, raw inside.Bread
- Dark crust, raw centre.Bake
- Dark outside, raw in the middle.Griddle
- Dark outside, raw or cold inside.Fry
- The finished sauce has a raw vegetal edge.Sweat
- Meat overcooked past the target even though it was pulled at the right temperature.Rest
- The outside is dark and the inside is raw.Saute
- Some pieces are burnt and others raw on the same tray.Slice
- Some pieces are done while others are still raw inside.Shape
- Some pieces are soft and some still raw after a fast stir-fry.Julienne
- It takes far too long.Julienne
- Unevenly cooked, some pieces raw.Steam
Look
- Baked goods come out inconsistent between attempts with the same recipe.Measure
- Bald patches — crust in some places, bare food in others.Bread
- The blade drags and tears wet dough.Score
- Blanched tomatoes are soft and partly cooked.Peel
- Blanched vegetables kept cooking and went soft.Blanch
- The boiled eggs will not peel cleanly.Peel
- The bread burst along its side instead of opening at the cut.Score
- Bread goes stale in a day in the refrigerator.Store
- Browned on top, cold in the middle.Broil
- A bulging lid, spurting contents, or any off smell on opening.Can
- Burnt in the time it took to turn around.Broil
- A burst at the top or a weak spot, with filling boiling out.Crimp
- The butter browned during clarifying.Clarify
- A cake rose and then sank in the middle.Bake
- The caramel seized violently when liquid was added.Caramelize
- The cheesecake cracked across the top.Bake
- Chipped edge on a hard blade.Sharpen
- Chopped basil turns black within minutes.Chop
- Clarified butter still burns.Clarify
- Cloudy brine in a vinegar pickle.Pickle
- Cloudy liquid in a vegetable jar.Can
- The coating slid off in the pan and is frying on its own.Bread
- A converted recipe comes out wrong.Weigh
- Cookies spread flat into one thin sheet.Bake
- Cream turned to butter.Whisk
- The crimped edge is pale, hard and thick while the rest is golden.Crimp
- A crisp crust has gone soft during the rest.Rest
- Crisp outside, cold or unmelted in the middle.Press
- The croquette or dough mixture will not hold a shape and smears on the hands.Chill
- The crust tears off and stays in the pan when turned.Sear
- It cuts well for a day and dulls immediately.Sharpen
- Dense and heavy with a tight crumb.Bake
- The dough barely moved after hours.Proof
- The dough is slack, sticky and will not hold a shape, after a long time in a mixer.Knead
- The dough tears rather than stretches, and the baked loaf is dense with a tight crumb.Knead
- Egg whites will not foam at all.Whisk
- Everything caught and burnt at the edges.Sweat
- The exterior hardened into a shell while the inside stayed wet.Cure
- It fights back so hard it will not roll out.Knead
- The filling squirted out of the sides before the bread browned.Press
- The first piece sticks and tears; later ones are fine.Griddle
- Fish fell apart.Poach
- Fish or dumplings fell apart.Simmer
- The flan, pudding or cheesecake is still soft in the middle after an hour in the refrigerator.Chill
- The foam deflated immediately on contact with the base.Fold
- The food is cold by the time it is served.Rest
- Food welded to the bars.Grill
- It formed, then broke a few minutes later.Emulsify
- The glaze ran off and pooled in the tray.Glaze
- Grated potato goes pink then grey.Grate
- Grey meat sitting in a pool of liquid instead of a brown crust.Sear
- Grey rather than pink after cooking.Cure
- Grey, unappetising meat.Sous Vide
- Guacamole turned to a smooth paste.Mash
- Half the flesh comes away with the skin.Peel
- Half the liquid is gone with the solids.Strain
- Hard on the outside, wet inside.Dehydrate
- Herbs turn black and slimy in a few days.Store
- Holes and ragged tears in the cutlet, shreds stuck to the mallet.Pound
- Hollow or shrivelled.Pickle
- Honing does nothing.Sharpen
- Huge irregular holes and a pale, tight crumb underneath.Proof
- The infusion smelled wonderful in the pan and of nothing on the plate.Infuse
- The knife is no sharper after long effort on a stone.Sharpen
- Lemon curd or custard has firm little flecks in it.Strain
- A lid that flexes or pops when pressed.Can
- Liquid siphoned out during processing.Can
- Long shreds that are unpleasant to eat.Zest
- It looked fine, then collapsed while standing.Fold
- Meat dried out and lost juices.Score
- Meat is chewy despite being cooked correctly.Slice
- Meat is evenly grey from edge to centre.Roast
- Melted chocolate seizes into a stiff paste.Temper
- The mixture sticks to the hands and the surface tears as it is rolled.Shape
- Mould in the jar after a few weeks.Dehydrate
- Mould on the surface.Ferment
- It never came to pressure.Pressure Cook
- It never thickened at all and stayed thin and clear.Emulsify
- No noticeable difference after marinating overnight.Marinate
- No visible difference from unsalted meat.Brine
- Nothing browns even on an empty tray.Roast
- Nothing happened after several minutes.Toast
- Nothing happened at all.Ferment
- Nuts kept browning after coming off the heat.Toast
- Off smells, or slime.Cure
- One end dark, the other pale.Broil
- One end is paper-thin while the middle is still thick.Pound
- One half is flat and dark, the other half puffy and pale.Press
- One thick coat that stayed sticky underneath.Glaze
- The onion falls apart on the board before it is diced.Dice
- The onions browned.Sweat
- Onions dissolve into shreds instead of holding their shape.Slice
- The outside is mealy and chalky after cooking.Marinate
- Pale, flat-tasting stew.Stew
- Pale, steamy and taking twice as long as the recipe says.Griddle
- The pan warped or the base cracked.Deglaze
- Pasta stuck together in clumps.Boil
- Pastry shrank in the oven, or butter ran out of the puff and pooled underneath.Chill
- Peeled potatoes have gone grey or pink.Peel
- The pieces collapse into shreds when cooked.Julienne
- Pieces roll away and the cuts go crooked.Julienne
- The pieces slumped and spread on the tray before cooking.Shape
- A pile of wet green paste instead of chopped herbs.Chop
- Poached eggs spread into ragged clouds.Poach
- The pot boiled over.Boil
- Pounded to the right thickness but cooked unevenly anyway — the edges dried before the centre was done.Pound
- Readings drift during a long mix.Weigh
- The rice burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pot.Simmer
- Rice is still crunchy in the middle.Simmer
- It rose beautifully, then collapsed in the oven into a dense slab.Proof
- The scored fat never rendered.Score
- Scrambled specks in a custard or sauce.Temper
- The seam opened in the oven and the filling ran out along the side.Crimp
- The sear cooked a grey band into the outside.Sous Vide
- The second batch is darker than the first and smells burnt.Griddle
- It set hard and cracked like toffee.Glaze
- The sieve clogs and the liquid stops moving.Strain
- The skin between leg and body stayed pale and flabby.Truss
- Small quantities read as zero or jump erratically.Weigh
- Soft cheese smears and blocks the grater instead of shredding.Grate
- Soft things are squashed rather than sliced.Slice
- Soft, floppy pickles.Pickle
- Sticky ingredients leave most of themselves in the spoon.Measure
- The stock is cloudy even though it was strained.Strain
- The stock went cloudy again after the raft.Clarify
- Streaks of unincorporated white through the finished bake.Fold
- The surface is pale in patches even where it touched the pan.Sear
- The surface will not brown afterwards.Brine
- Texture is spongy, wet and faintly ham-like.Brine
- They are still crunchy after ten minutes.Sweat
- The total is wrong even though each addition looked right.Weigh
- Uneven — one side darker every time.Bake
- Uneven — some pieces fine, some large.Mince
- Uneven, some pale and some dark.Toast
- Unevenly cooked despite the water bath.Sous Vide
- Vegetables are drab and grey.Boil
- Vegetables are drab and soft.Steam
- Vegetables are grey, limp and sitting in liquid.Saute
- Vegetables are olive green and limp.Blanch
- Vegetables are soft and pale rather than browned.Roast
- Vegetables have disintegrated entirely.Stew
- Vegetables went soft and grey without blackening.Char
- Violent spitting and oil over the hob.Fry
- A wet, pasty smear rather than distinct pieces.Mince
- White film on the surface.Ferment
- Wildly different sizes and the dish cooks unevenly.Chop
- Wing tips are black.Truss
Every symptom carries its cause, what to try now, and how to avoid it next time.