How to be a good cook overnight?

Does it sound unplausible? How can one become a good cook overnight?
I reiterate this. Yes, anyone can make delicious foods if he or she reads this blog.

There is a very simple cooking principle. All ingredients in the world develop their best flavors at the temperature 120-180 degrees (C). So, cook all ingredients at those temperatures. That simple.

steak                            vs                        steamed meat
oven-baked bread                                   steamed bun
fried chicken                                           steamed chicken
baked sweet potato                                 steamed sweeet potato                     

Which one do you prefer? Left or right? Lopsidedly most prefer the left. You can guess the difference. The left is cooked at 120-180 whereas the right is not. That is the difference of flavors.

Probably, you would think that you already cook at 120-180 degrees but wonder why your foods are not delicious. What I am about to say may come as a surprise. Most people cook things under 100 degrees. Really? Yes, really. Oh, aren't your fried chickens tasty? Perhaps, fried foods are one of few things you cook at 120-180 degrees. It is not due to the frying method itself. It is due to the fact that whole chicken pieces are cooked at 120-180 degrees

Here I will telll you 1) why nice flavors come out at 120-180 degress, 2) how most people don't achieve such flavors and 3) what you can do to develop those desirable flavors.

1. what happens at 120-180 degress?

The reasons why such favors are developed at those temperatures are:

1. 1) sugar, which is contained in most ingredients, develop its best sweetness at the range. This is called "caramelization"
2. 2) protein sees an explosion of flavors when amino acid and sugar in it get together at 120-180 and create a significant chemical reaction, developing hundreds of different great flavors. This is called "Maillard reaction" or "browning reaction".

Unfortunately, flavors are not just there for us. We have to develop flavors. Someone like myself captures maximum flavors ^^ and is considered a good cook by others. But, most people end up getting only 0-10% of those and are left frustrated to eat untasty foods.

2) Why do most people fail to capture nice flavors? How am I so sure that most people fail?

From what I have observed, don't they use the below?

a

b

"What is wrong with those pans? They will easily achieve a high temperature" is something that is on top of your mind, right?

However, that is not the case. Most ingredients contain a lot of water and are most likely to be kept at a refrigerator, which is 2 degrees. Even if you preheat the pan at 250 degrees, the temperature goes down far below 120 degrees once the ingredient is placed on the pan. If there is water coming out of the ingredient, the maximum temperature the pan goes to is 100 degrees.

both are stir-fried for 3 minutes

Non-stick pans do not retain heat well. Particularly, the pan (a) has such a thin bottom. The pan (b) has quite a thick bottom. As such it holds heat better than the other. But, there is always some water coming out of steak, seafood and some vegetables and it takes a quite long time to cook. Look at the difference of caramelization in above picture. There is another problem. Another cooking principle is to keep the inside of ingredients tender and moist. However, the time spent on a pan, the more dehydrated.

3) Then, what is our solution?

It seems quite self-explanatory. Aluminum pans don't work. They are great when frying eggs and red pepper paste and so on. But, they don't work when we make steak or etc.

Get a pan with a good heat retention, i.e. non non-stick pans. Stainless steel pans (3+ ply bottom), cast iron pans, carbon steel ones and copper and etc. They can easily overcome the initial shock from cold ingredients and keep things on the pan at 120-180 degrees. You can check this out if you follow my youtube videos. Even if I have a lot of watery vegetables with beef, there is little water coming out of on the pan.

Most restaurants use stainless steel pans, cast iron pans or carbon-steel woks and etc. That is why things are tasty when we eat out.

Do we have to buy a new stainless steel pan or a cast-iron pan? NO. You already have one. I am sure that most houses have at least one stainless steel pot (with a 3+ ply bottom). That should more than work. It is even better than a Chinese wok as it has a more area and wider bottom.

But, some people still have some reservation for those pans and pots. They are too heavy, it is not easy to wash those, or things stick to those pans and etc. It is true it is heavy. But, the pan (b) is equally heavy and very expensive. Washing a stainless steel pan is even easier than a non-stick pan. Things do stick to those pans. But, it takes only 3 minutes' preheating to prevent that.

Don't you give a priority to the performance first when you buy other things with all other factors being extra? But, why don't you when it comes to cooking? It is a difficult and sad thing to eat untasty foods.

As long as you have a pan or a pot to keep ingredients at 120-180 degrees, you have nothing to worry about cooking. The way anything you fry is delicious, anything you stir-fry on a pan will be delicious. You don't study recipes anymore. Steak, pasta, stir-fried rice...you name it. They will put some restaurants to shame if you only consider the flavors. That should save you a lot of money earmarked to eating out. Let's be honest. You didn't cook a lot not because you are too busy. You didn't because what turned out was so untasty, right?

My conclusion: cook with your idle stainless steel pots, and eat delicious foods, save money and live healthy!!!