21 Basic Cooking Skills That Will Give You Next-Level Adulting Points

Why you should be doing this: For the beginners out there, your first instinct might be to keep the stove on full whack so that your food cooks quicker. But this doesn't necessarily work out because the heat of the pan can become waaaaaay too intense for your ingredients. It can quickly turn your beautifully chopped garlic into a blackened mess or ruin your exxy salmon fillet.

How you do this: Once your pan is nice and toasty, turn down the heat to more of a medium simmer and then adjust if needed.

Why you should be doing this: If you're using a recipe, chances are you're making something that you don't want to screw up. Read it once to make sure you've got all the necessary ingredients and utensils, and once more to avoid seeing steps like "leave chicken to marinate overnight" when you're halfway through.

How you should be doing this: Read, don't skim, the recipe. And if you can, print out a copy so you're not getting goo on your phone or tablet.

Why you should be doing this: Yes, mandolines look scary AF. But if you use them properly, you'll soon become ADDICTED to this piece of culinary technology. By using one, you'll be able to have consistent, paper-thin slices in no time at all. Think homemade potato chips, fresh slaw and ribbons of zucchini — all without needing to fiddle around with a sharp knife.

How you should be doing this: Always use a hand guard or cut-resistant glove to avoid any nasty accidents in the kitchen. And go slow with cutting the fruit and veg against the blade — it's sharp for a reason!

Why you should do this: Baking is all about being precise with your ingredients, which is hard to do with a set of measuring cups and spoons. Digital scales are inexpensive, tidy and make it way easier to follow recipes.

How you should do this: Buy some digital scales now!

Why should you do this: If your pasta dishes are kinda bland, then you're probably not salting the water you cook it in. By doing this, you'll flavour the pasta from the ~inside out~ as it'll absorb the water while cooking.

How you should do this: Once your pot of water has come up to the boil, add 1–2 tablespoons of salt. Give it a mix, then add your pasta.

Why you should do this: Moisture is the killer to all things green and healthy and good for you — and there's a whole lot of that in the fridge. By reducing this as much as possible, this will extend the life of your fresh veggies and herbs and keep them nice and crisp.

How you should this: Obviously this is not the most environmentally-friendly technique, but it does work in a pinch! Grab your fresh produce, wrap it up in some good quality paper towels (that will absorb excess moisture), place it a re-sealable bag and voila! You could even try substituting the paper towels for beeswax wrap.

Why you should do this: Onions are hard enough to cut, especially with all those slippery, little layers. But keeping the root intact will hold them all together, giving you a more uniform cut and a convenient hand grip.

How you should this: First off, peel the onion. Then cut it lengthwise (leaving the root intact), so you have two halves. Chop off the steams, then slice horizontally and then vertically to get an even dice.

Why you should do this: Whether it's a breast or thigh, most chicken pieces have a "small" and "large" end. Since the larger end is much thicker, it takes longer to cook, meaning that the thinner part of the chicken gets dry. But if you take the time to pound out and slice your chicken to an equal thickness, it'll not only cook faster, but more evenly!

How you should do this: Butterfly your chicken breast or thigh and then pound to an even thickness between sheets of glad wrap. Slice into desired pieces of equal size and cook.

Why you should do this: If your food is regularly turning out so-so on the flavour front, it's probably because you're not seasoning enough. Salt, pepper and acids like lemon will add a whole other dimension to your dishes and you need to CONSTANTLY be adding them throughout the cooking process.

How you should do this: There aren't any hard rules for this, so just taste as you go and don't be afraid of adding more than you think is necessary.

Why you should do this: Rolling the citrus fruits softens and loosens the membranes in the fruit's flesh that holds all that sweet, sweet juice.

How you should do this: Before cutting, press and roll your citrus fruit on a firm surface like a countertop. Then slice or peel as normal.

Why you should do this: This may surprise you but a dull knife is actually more dangerous than a sharp one! That's because it requires more pressure to cut into something, increasing the chance of the knife slipping and cutting your poor, little fingers.

How you should do this: There's a couple different ways to sharpen your knives. You can use a whetsone, sharpening steel or even an electric knife sharpener.