Things that make you mad as the cook-

[riverrat56]

So I thought it be fun to share things that get us a little worked up when cooking for people, either at a resturaunte or at home.

For me it's-

People asking for ketchup after I put a steak on their plate

Boiling brats before cooking them

Anything "well done"

And people who can't figure out when somethings done except by cutting it open

What else drives people nuts in the kitchen?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Quote:

Anything "well done"

yup, times 2~~~~

For me, its when I ask when the food should be done, people arrive late, and there is thus a "New" done time.. NOPE...

[Dark Cloud]

Wow, if I think about this I may be typing a long time! Everything you said plus many more...

I have worked in my fair share of restaurants and lucky for me I had all or a fair share of the controll of the kitchen...

The simple things bothered me the most - People that cant cut uniform onions, tomatoes, ect...

My all time gripe is folks squishing a burger, steak, or whatever on the grill with a spatula!!! Leave it alone!!! it only needs to be flipped once!!! One place I worked I had a rule - the only thing allowed to be touched with a spatula was eggs. Tongs for everything else.

From a dining standpoint I cant stand it when people season or sauce stuff without tasting it! If it was cooked right it probably dosnt need salt, pepper, or butter...

And people who only eat one thing at a time, ie - 3 or 4 things on your plate and you eat all of one then the other, then the other... Mix it up! Take a bite then try something else. Typically things are paired together for a reason...

Oh, and people who wont try things. You only live once, how could you know you dont like something if you never tried it or when you did you were 11, or it was cooked/handled wrong! - Heres a good story for that one... My bro-in-law will not try anything new. According to him he knows what he likes and thats that. So they are over the house for a small cookout - burgers, a few salads, and chips. We always have veggie burgers in the house cuz he will eat those if what were having dosnt look good. So he hates venison and will not eat pork - just so happens the burgers were venison ground with BACON! And he decided they looked good without knowing what was in them. 3 or 4 times while eating the burger he commented how good it was!

[MuleShack]

Too many cooks in the kitchen...

I know it is a cliche but it is also reality!

[Dark Cloud]

Too many cooks in the kitchen...

I know it is a cliche but it is also reality!

Yep! I do most of the cooking at our camp and every once in a while have to wig-out and kick everyone out of the kitchen. I've done a fancy steak dinner for 140 people with two mindless waitresses and a useless cook, I can handle pancakes and sausage for a dozen guys, lol...

[RebelSS]

A certain person in my family who insists cooking their steak on aluminum foil on the grill because they "don't want that smokey burnt taste"...!@#@*&!

[reinhard1]

i do all the cooking at home, at deer camp, and even for some neighbors at times when they have friends and relatives over. no problem, i love to cook and always trying something new. but when the food is done i expect people to be ready to eat. and also if you put something on your plate i want to see a empty plate. good luck.

[Shack]

Rebel me also! When it does come to chicken or chops it does not taste bad and actually tastes so good I can not say much of anything. Now steak is another story. She sprays non-stick grease on the foil also. The chicken and chops get the brown edges and do stay tender.

I do not cook much, but when I do I also can not stand the "other" cooks in my cooking area. When I am cooking a breakfast for 2 or 10, get the heck out of their and let me do it! That or grilling. The one time 11 years ago I burnt some steak and I hear about it every time I approach the grill with a plate of food to cook.

When I was a cook at Bridgman's years ago, I could not stand lousy dishwashers. You're slanging the grease amidst a Sunday morning rush and if the dishwasher could not get you what you needed, it backed up the whole process. I was a dishwasher before becoming a cook. I got the cooks what they needed, before they needed it. Besides that, I can not stand crabby or stuck up waitresses or a manger or owner that does not know his way around they kitchen in some fashion but comes in like he/she does.

[McGurk]

-A crowded kitchen (Shack just beat me to it)

Our house is a modest rambler that has a smallish, yet very usuable kitchen (due to my design and remodel last year). It is also where everyone wants to hang out and talk when we have company. I don't mind the comraderie and conversation, but when I'm cooking and people are constantly having to move out of the way due to me trying to work the different dishes (usually about 5 things at once!), it gets frustrating. I know part of it is wanting to see what's going on and including me, but frankly when I'm cooking; I'm working! Not that I don't want them around, but the sooner I can be done; the sooner I can honestly relax with them.

-Hot food on the table and no-one wants to eat

I HATE that no-one wants to go first, and you have to practically prod them to get started. More with dinners with drinking than other meals, I suppose.

-lack of valuable feedback

I like to cook and eat, and appreciate constructive criticism when they're eating. I need more than "That was great!" or "Best (whatever) ever!" as I'm striving to get better. My wife understands this, and we usually critique eachothers dishes for the better.

-The ridiculous amount of Sugar used in every MN dish ever made

Self explanitory.

[SkunkedAgain]

All great points.

Mine is that "the cook" is the cook. Everyone always has some advice to give while someone else is cooking. I don't mind hints and tips, since we all can continue learning. However, I don't like folks trying to tell me how they do it or how much they add while I'm making the meal. If you wanted the meal done your way, you should have volunteered to be the cook.

Give advice to novices as they cook, they need it. Experienced cooks you should wait and see what they do, and then offer feedback afterwards.

[Harmonica Bear]

-

-Hot food on the table and no-one wants to eat

I HATE that no-one wants to go first, and you have to practically prod them to get started. More with dinners with drinking than other meals, I suppose.

Is there anything worse? or more disrespectful? Drives me up a wall.

[fishinchicks]

-A crowded kitchen (Shack just beat me to it)

Our house is a modest rambler that has a smallish, yet very usuable kitchen (due to my design and remodel last year). It is also where everyone wants to hang out and talk when we have company. I don't mind the comraderie and conversation, but when I'm cooking and people are constantly having to move out of the way due to me trying to work the different dishes (usually about 5 things at once!), it gets frustrating. I know part of it is wanting to see what's going on and including me, but frankly when I'm cooking; I'm working! Not that I don't want them around, but the sooner I can be done; the sooner I can honestly relax with them.

This is what convinced my hubby to move a wall out to make my kitchen bigger. We now have a peninsula that separates me from my guests. I get to stay in "my" area, and they can visit with me in "their" area.

I hate when the family will only complain about what I serve them, yet offer no suggestions as to what they would like on the menu.

I hate when wait staff act like you just asked them to kiss a pig when you ask to alter something from the menu (ie, hold the fries, just bring the other stuff or no cheese sauce on the asparagus). I would prefer they hold the fries or chips instead of them going to waste, since I won't eat them. It won't ruin the presentation...

I hate when people push food on you when you politely say "no thanks". I just lost 45 pounds, and I intend to keep it off. My mom is the worst food pusher out there!

I love it when the kids come and ask to cook with me, and then feel confident enough to make meals for the family.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Crappy knives!

[RebelSS]

One more....I worked in a butcher shop right out of high school, so I learned to appreciate a good cut of meat and how to cook it. 30 years later, and I condsider myself way up there when it comes to slooow smoking and barbecuing a good slab of pork...I learned from some of the best.

So, I've been doing this beautiful slab of pork for about 2 1/2 hrs, hickory smoke rolling out of the cooker, made the 'tato salad, beans, garlic toast, etc., and the girl friend is expected for dinner at 5:00...and shows up at 5:45...I'm doing the slow fume...to cut to the chase: "Well, why does it take you so long to cook it?" "I can do it on my gas grill in 15 minutes"... PS - She's no longer my girl friend.

[McGurk]

Crappy knives!

+1!!!

[reinhard1]

the art of smoking and done right like you have learned over the years is something to admire, your girlfriends remarks are good reasons for her departure. honestly i had to laugh after reading your post but at the time i'm sure it wasn't funny. good luck.

[Dark Cloud]

Crappy knives!

When we go to either of my sisters or my girlfriends parents, I bring my own knifes.

[birdswacker]

My mother in law is a firm believer in buying only generac items which is fine sometimes. But when Thanksgiving comes around spend an extra $5 on the little stuff so you don't have stuffing soup and potato clumps with the dessert dry turkey.

[waskawood]

I was making kraut and ribs on the grill for the family. It was truly a labor of love. I grilled this for hours and it looked devine. Things went south when I couldn't find the paprika so I asked my wife. She said, "in that unmarked plastic contained on the shelf. Are you blind?" I like lots of paprika so I used plenty. The time had come to eat and of course my son-in-law was first to eat. He stated the the ribs and kraut was kind of spicy. To make a long story short, the paprika was cayenne pepper!!!

[Mr.Seaguar]

Heres a suggestion about the times when food is ready and no one will go first. Ask someone ahead of time for a big favor, to go first the second I say dinner is ready or the blessing has been given whatever. I have seen enough of everyone watching so I run to the start of the line and say this, I`m too tall to be Bashful...he was a dwarf. I get to eat first and a laugh.

I am one of those people who eat all of one thing and Im not gonna change. I dont like when my food touches each other either. I can live with meat touching potatos but I still dont like it. I dont eat stuff that runs. Gravy, jello, soggy salads, all out of the question. Bloody steaks and things like hot beef/turkey are OK, but they get a plate to themself.

[SkunkedAgain]

I always tell people to dig in, and when they don't within a few seconds, I lead the charge. There is no reason to wait around for some silly notion of manners.

[reinhard1]

at our house it's me, my wife and my wife's mom. i serve them and i usualy eat last but i want them ready to eat. when i cook for a group at my house [family and friends] i usualy eat as i cook so in most cases i eat first this way. you know a nibble here and there and tasting this and that to make sure everything is fine. good luck.

[Burchoid]

So I thought it be fun to share things that get us a little worked up when cooking for people, either at a resturaunte or at home.

For me it's-

People asking for ketchup after I put a steak on their plate

Boiling brats before cooking them

Anything "well done"

And people who can't figure out when somethings done except by cutting it open

What else drives people nuts in the kitchen?

I always used to cook raw brats on the grill, and they turned out great. Boiling them in beer first with a whole onion thrown in there is wonderful tho!!! Keep the onions for toppings and grill the brats golden after a quick boil.

If you do a bit of research you'll find this method is typically preferred!! This is the fist season I've tried it this way and I like it better.

I 100% agree with the rest of your rant though!! I do have to add that I can't stand all the unsolicited advice when it comes to roasting a turkey... I have it down to a science, an art even, yet people still insist on telling me what they think I'm doing wrong (even though they are wrong, according to culinary experts).

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

1) Ketchup with steak.

1a) Cooking prime rib to a perfect medium rare, having a couple people ask to have theirs cooked 'well done', and then talking about how it isn't very tender....

[picksbigwagon]

people being late drive me nuts......don't even get me started on the M-I-L turkey dinner, she makes it a day or two ahead of time and then "reheats" it on thanksgiving day for 2 hours in a hot oven, worse thing ever!!!!

I have learned over the years after many big holiday meals made by me for my wife's family that go straight to the fridge, they are grazers, snack all day long talking about a great dinner and then saying, oh I am not hungry.....

With camp outs, two of us do the cooking, we split the meals up equally and the other guys do the dishes. It works out really slick that way......