Taste at every stage using lots of clean spoons
Taste your food repeatedly as it cooks (avoiding raw/undercooked animal proteins) so you know what to adjust and when.
Keep many spoons close by so tasting is frictionless. Taste at each stage to learn what the dish should taste like as it develops, then adjust with salt, acid, herbs, etc.
The short version
- Taste early and often.
- Use tasting to decide what to adjust next.
- Avoid tasting raw/undercooked animal proteins.
What you need
- tasting spoonsKeep many on hand
How to do it
- 1
Keep a large supply of clean spoons near your cutting board/cooking area.
Make them easy to grab so you actually taste often.
Watch this step - 2
Taste the food at every stage of cooking.
Do not taste raw or undercooked animal proteins.
Watch this step - 3
After tasting, adjust as needed (e.g., salt, acid, herbs).
Small adjustments are easier than big fixes at the end.
Watch this step
What goes wrong
Only tasting at the end
Taste at each stage so you can adjust gradually.
Tasting unsafe items (raw/undercooked animal protein)
Taste components/sauces safely; wait until proteins are properly cooked.
Why it works
Frequent tasting creates a feedback loop that prevents underseasoning and helps you correct course before it’s too late.
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