26 Tips To Fix Cooking Disasters In The Kitchen

From burning dishes to splitting sauces and everything in between — if you think about it, there's so much that can actually go wrong in the kitchen. Of course, with the potential to cook up a storm of outrageously good dishes, too, mastering how to cook is a worthwhile endeavour. However, even seasoned pros can experience mishaps, and even something as simple as mashed potatoes can become a challenge, turning out to be too watery or too dry. While some mistakes, like forgetting an ingredient, can be easily remedied, certain cooking disasters can ruin a dish — or just nearly. Before you throw that overcooked beef into the bin or give up on trying to make your meringues peak, consider if there's a fix first.

Culinary advice often focuses on what to do to achieve perfection, or at least close to it. Knowing how to bake a pie so that the crust on top isn't burnt and the pastry case isn't underdone is really useful. But what do you do if it's too late, if the mistakes have already been made? What do you do if your stew is too salty or your curry is too sweet? Is there a way of rescuing soggy rice or noodles that have boiled too long and gone soft? Kitchen calamities are common — in order to save your nearly ruined efforts next time, read on for some nifty tips to handle a multitude of culinary issues and cooking disasters.

If the thought of baking your own meringue feels daunting, then it's good to be reminded that this is one of the easiest and loveliest desserts, even though may need to put some whisking action in. That doesn't mean to say you won't run into disaster, such as your mixture not transforming into stiff peaks, which is a must to get that light and airy texture. The key to making a superb meringue is getting the right consistency, and making sure the mixture isn't too runny. A food blogger at Survival Freedom offers a basic but useful tip for making perfectly peaking meringues, as well as for when and how to add this topping to a pie to stop it from running.

If no matter how hard or long you whisk, your meringues are showing no signs of peaking, try adding just a small amount of corn starch. If you're making a French meringue specifically, another option is to fold in another egg white that's been whipped up. And when adding to a pie, such as a lemon meringue, make sure you add the meringue when the pie isn't too cold so that it adheres to the topping better and you don't get separation between.

Do you love the velvety taste of a silky smooth bechamel sauce? If your white sauce has lumps of flour in it, then it's certainly going to be less appetizing. After you've made a roux from flour and butter, you can avoid a lumpy consistency by adding milk slowly and constantly stirring or whisking. In other words, a successful sauce should never have any bits in it at all as you slowly create a smooth paste. That's the theory anyway. As with most theories, in cooking and in life, they don't always pan out. But before you despair, try to fix this classic kitchen disaster with a few tips from NDTV Food.

Stop those floury bits as soon as you spy them by crushing them or use a strainer to take them out. Another great technique is to let your lumpy sauce cool down, and then give it a blast in the blender before transferring it back to your pan, ready to heat up. If you add some ice cold water in place of milk, this can also help disperse the clumps of flour too. Of course, you only want a splash, as Nigella Lawson advises, and you then need to give your mixture a vigorous whisk to create that sought-after smoothness as your sauce loosens up and any lumpiness disappears.

Have you ever struggled to whip cream up? Sometimes it feels as if you're putting your all into it only for your cream to wind up with not much more than a bit of froth. Since you're simply whisking one ingredient, you may be wondering what you're doing wrong, and more importantly, how you can do something that results in soft, fluffy whipped cream. The Countertop Cook offers a simple yet effective fix.

Temperature is everything, so make sure your cream has been kept cool for at least a few hours before you start whisking it. To make things even colder, you can also chill your bowl and whisk in the freezer for around 15 minutes so that the heat of the whisking doesn't warm up your cream. If you're trying this on a sunny day, then the humidity outside may impact your results, too. Place your bowl of cream in ice water so that it doesn't just stay runny as you whisk. Other good tips include not adding any sugar until you have some peaks forming, using the low settings on your electric mixer, and stopping once you've whipped firm peaks, or your cream could turn grainy and flat again. 

Roast beef that's melt-in-the-mouth is sublime, but what do you do if your meat is a little overdone? If it's only slightly overcooked, you may get away with it by dousing your beef in lashings of gravy. However, if it's past serving in this way, and you need some culinary wizardry, then Our Everyday Life has some pretty useful tips. 

Try shredding the meat, and then mix it with a tomato sauce. Heat this in a saucepan with some peppers and onions and serve in a sandwich. You can also serve your shredded beef between bread with some gravy. Or try frying your shredded beef in a skillet with some Mexican seasonings to make a filling for a taco shell or tortilla.

You can also dice your beef to cover how much it's overdone. Our Everyday Life suggests making a roast beef hash, adding in some moisture with some beef broth. Even bigger cubes of meat will also work in other dishes, like shepherd's pie. To make your pie juicier, Kick Ash Bucket suggests marinating the beef in the fridge for a night first. Alternatively, add enough liquid to cover your meat halfway and tenderize it in a slow cooker. A few splashes of something acidic such as lemon juice or vinegar also helps the meat become softer.

Some like it hot, while for others, even a few chili flakes can have them gasping for a cold glass of water. How much chili you like in your food is a personal choice, and it can sometimes be tricky to get it right. You might be best letting whoever's eating add in some hot sauce to the finished dish. However, if you've been a bit overly generous with your chili, and what you've made is way too spicy, then you need a fix to bring your dish back into balance again. And Southern Living advises that what you do next depends on what dish you're cooking.

If you've made a spicy stew, add starch such as rice, potatoes, or bread to counteract the heat. Meanwhile, to mellow the intensity of spicy flavors in a stir-fry, sprinkle in some sugar. If you're making a seafood dish, such as a chowder, then a few drops of something acidic, like lemon juice or vinegar, can temper the heat. Perhaps the best solution if your chili is too fiery is to add in something creamy to soften the spiciness. Try cream, milk, yogurt, or coconut milk.

Creating a colorful cobb salad elevates a green side into a full-flavored entrée and the perfect lunch for summer days. It's also fun being creative and putting together different ingredients to mix with a zesty or creamy dressing. However, your salad is only as good as your lettuce, so it needs to be crisp and fresh. Wilting lettuce is not a culinary mistake or a reflection of your cooking abilities, but it's still a kitchen disaster. Luckily, if your leaves are looking limp, you can revive them. Cook's Illustrated explains how.

Lettuce droops in the way that flowers do because of a lack of moisture. If you leave a lettuce to languish in the bottom of your fridge for too long, it will inevitably start to look a little crumpled. Cut the head of your lettuce in half and tear up the leaves — this allows more water to get inside the vegetable. Plunge the torn-up leaves in icy water for around half an hour. You can also try adding some cider vinegar to the water, which is a traditional remedy. However, you may find it leaves an aftertaste on the leaves. 

If you love shrimp then you also know there's nothing worse than if they're cooked for too long. What could be a succulent seafood morsel turns rubbery, chewy, and tasteless. Overcooked shrimp can ruin a dish — and you may not always be able to simply toss them and cook some more fresh. The good news is that you do have options beyond just the trash can.  

Try these tricks from Worthy Recipe. To soften cooked shrimp, put them in a marinade of rice wine, egg white, cornstarch, and baking soda. Leave the marinating shrimp in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes before draining them and thoroughly drying. However, if it's too late and the shrimp are too far gone to eat whole, then take off the heads and chop them up to make a shrimp dip. You can also use your overcooked shrimp to make a broth. 

When you've been roasting meat, there's something so satisfying about using the juices to make homemade gravy. It's the same with soups; they're really worth the effort if you take the time to make your own. However, what's not so appealing is a film of oil floating on the top. The taste of oil that's separated leaves a greasy aftertaste and can overpower the rest of the flavors. While it may seem impossible to take the oil out, since it's mixed up with the rest of the liquid, it's actually relatively easy. Follow a tip from B+C Guides – hold a paper towel with both hands and lower it to the surface of the soup or gravy. It will instantly absorb the oil, drawing it out of the liquid. 

Another technique, revealed by celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, is to use ice cubes. Throw in a few ice cubes and the fat will cool down and stick to them. All you need to do then is to fish out the cubes and throw them away. Another way to remove solidified fat is to leave your fatty liquid in the refrigerator for a night. You can then pick off the hardened fat that's risen up and has created a crust on top of the liquid and throw it out so it doesn't dissolve back in when you heat your gravy up again. 

If you know anything about chocolate, then you'll know that melting chocolate, whether in a bain-marie or the microwave, is a fine art. The mantra running through your head is that you don't want to overmelt it, which is another way of saying you don't want to burn it. If you do, then there's nothing to be done. Or is there? Not only can you fix chocolate that's browning in a pan after melting, but this is exactly what you want to do to create super delicious chocolate crumbs (via SBS). Keep your cool as your chocolate takes the heat, and try it yourself.

As your chocolate melts in a pan, it will start to seize up and the texture will change. With white chocolate you'll see a noticeable color change. You don't want to burn the chocolate, but as it seizes, stir it and give it a shake so it starts to crumb. It'll look like it's sticky at this stage. Turn the heat off and let your chocolate cool on baking paper. Chop the bits up if you'd like them to be a bit more crumb-like and use as a topping for ice creams and other desserts. If you do want to soften seized chocolate though, then add in some butter, milk or cream that's been warmed, or a tablespoon of hot water. Stir the mix and your clumpy chocolate should start to look smoother (via Our Everyday Life). 

There's nothing nicer than a wonderful pie filling encased in a golden-brown pastry. However, a common issue is that sometimes your top crust and your pastry bottom don't bake at the same rate. The result can be a nicely toasted hat and a case that's not quite cooked enough. The problem is that if you cook your pie longer, then the top may burn. What to do? Wonder How To has the answer — and in fact there are two ways to cook the base of your pie longer without burning the lid.

The first solution is to cover your pie with aluminium foil and put it back in the oven for around 12 minutes at 425 to 450 F. Bake the pie on the bottom shelf so that the heat is more intense underneath the pan than on top. Solution two is a little different. Take off the pastry top and the filling, so that you can bake the crust on the bottom alone. You'll also have a better visual on when it's ready. Once cooked, add your filling and crumble the pastry lid on top. This is a great method if the top of your pie wasn't looking its best either. 

With so many varieties of fish, and so many recipes to choose from, creating a seafood dish at home can be such a joy. Until something goes wrong, that is. One of the biggest disasters you can face when making fish is overcooking it. Forkfuls that should be flaky, soft, and succulent can taste dry with a texture that's mushy or a bit rubbery. Thankfully, the versatility of fish lends itself to a fix here, with some great suggestions courtesy of Culinary Choice.

As a rule of thumb, pan-fried fish take a few minutes per side. And if you're frying then don't add too many fish at the same time. This lowers the temperature and lets the oil seep in, so you'll be left with greasy, soft fish. If it's too late and you're looking at a dried, overcooked fillet, then flake it up and add it to a healthy bowl of grains such as quinoa, couscous, or orzo. Add some vegetables, including greens, and a simple vinaigrette or a tasty dressing. Some other ideas include disguising overcooked salmon, for instance, by mashing it into some fish cakes, or adding tuna to a salad. Meanwhile, remember for next time how to test if your fish is cooked just right: Twist your fork into your fish at an angle where it's thickest, and if it flakes off then it's ready. 

Do you love a boiled egg that's perfectly cooked so that the white is soft and opaque, and the yolk is runny enough to dip your toast in? Everyone has their own method for boiling an egg to perfection. Some like to add the egg to water that's already boiling, while others favor heating the water up with the egg already submerged. But what can you do if you crack open an egg only to find it's not quite cooked enough and is too soft inside? After all, you've already broken the shell and you can hardly just toss it back into the water. Amazing as it sounds, even in this case where there's a cooking disaster, there's a fix. 

This idea comes from Stack Exchange. To cook your egg more, so that the white is not underdone but you can also still keep the yolk nice and runny, wrap your egg in plastic wrap. At the top of the egg twist the wrap tightly by spinning. You want to make sure it's really tight because otherwise the contents of the egg will leak out into the water. Secure the twisted top by tying it into a knot. You can also use string if you prefer. Lower the wrapped-up egg into the water to cook a little longer until the inside is just right. 

It's a lovely idea to imagine that every meal is delicately prepared in a calm kitchen environment with plenty of time and a mindful approach. It's not that this isn't achievable, and such is the joy of cooking sometimes. But not always. Sometimes you're simply trying to bang out a dish for your dinner during the week or rushing to cook a family meal. You might become distracted, or mess up trying to multitask, and leave dishes close to burning. If a dish has disintegrated beyond all recognition, then it probably can't be saved. But if it's potentially salvageable then you need a go-to fix. And Epicurious offers exactly that, a fix that even professional chefs in the industry use. 

If you're baking or toasting food such as nuts, breadcrumbs, cookies, pie cases, or whatever's in the oven that is on the brink of burning, your first job is to get it out of the heat. Transfer whatever is cooking onto a cool tray and quickly thrust it into your freezer. It stops the cooking in its tracks, immediately. This means that your food can't burn either. The secret is in the extremely low temperature of the freezer, which is dramatic enough to counter your overly hot and nearly-burnt food.