I want to let you into a secret.....

For anyone who does not cook much or does not know how to tackle a recipe there is a secret I want to share with you.

Top chefs and the people who publish recipes try them a lot before they publish them. So what ever is published has been practised and practised, modified and worked out how to do it. All my recipes have pencil notes at the side - 'needs lemon' says one. A favourite for bonfire night, treacle toffee recipe says 120 degrees ( on a sugar thermometer) a bit soft and chewy at first but sets harder overnight.



It matters how accurate your oven is, if it's hotter at the top or in the middle. That means that if you try to cook a pastry dish or cake, it will brown too much on the top before the middle is done. What type of tray you use to cook a pie matters. Metal or ceramic will produce a different result. Metal is a better conductor of heat and will produce a more even result. Ceramic is thicker and sometimes the cooking time is longer. What shape are the bun tins for the muffins, straight sided or wider at the top.


How old are your pans? How thick or thin are the bottoms of them? If they are uneven (old) on the bottom they will produce uneven results. It even matters if your pan is the same diameter as the gas flame or the electric ring. If it is bigger than the flame or base you will have the food not being cooked round the edge of the pan.


I used to know of a top chef that always took a sugar thermometer with him to check the temperature of unknown ovens he was using. Even if an oven door does not shut properly the temperature of the oven is not going to be the same.


Microwave ovens can have a place in today's kitchen of busy families but they do not do what an oven does or produce the same results.


So if your recipe does not turn out how you thought it would have a look at how your equipment is working - or not.


Just try a recipe out, keep practising it until it comes out how you want it to. That's what top chefs do. Everyone starts at the beginning. Try it out, have some fun and then OH YES eat it!