But I cant cook!?

Many people say that they can't cook. It's not really all that hard - people have been cooking for centuries.

Here are some reasons why people can't cook and tips to make your cooking experiences easier.

1. Wrong pans and utensils will make you burn things. There are many cheap pans, and many cheap pans that cost a lot of money. If the pan is cheap it will not distribute the heat evenly, it may heat up real quick instead of developing a slow even temperature.
Look for pans that are thick. The thicker the better, there are stainless steel pans that are bad because they are very thin. Stainless heats up too quickly if it is thin. The same thing for aluminum. And the same thing for bakeware, thin bakeware will burn the outside of the baked goods before the inside is done.
Note there is a difference in baking times between bakeware that is reflective on the outside or dark on the outside. The shiny one will reflect the heat, the dark one may absorb it too much.
Learn to work with your own utensils, if your cookie sheet has a dark bottom - lower the temperature by 25 degrees.
Do not use non-stick pans or plastic(nylon) utensils. Even the best non-stick cookware will end up scratching with everyday use. Once this surface has been compromised, there is no hope, food will keep sticking in the parts where the coating is gone, and, when you try to scrub it clean, more non-stick stuff will come off. And the utensils will melt into your pan if you accidentally forget and leave them sitting in there. Then you have melted plastic, nylon in your food. Don't leave these things sitting in cooking food.
Use your lid. Part of the science of cooking, keeping pots covered: saves energy, cooks faster, heats the kitchen up less. If you are braising something, you brown it quickly in a skillet (no lid) then add a small amount of liquid to cover the bottom of the pot, then cover to steam it. The lid should be loose so that the steam can escape slowly. When you are boiling something put a lid on. When you are cooking rice, put the heat as low as it can go and don't take the lid off. If you are cooking a soup or stew or something with a sauce that you want the water to boil off - then don't use a lid. Cover things that go into the oven like roasts and casseroles. This will keep the steam in and help cook the food and keep it moist. Things will be dry and take longer to cook if you bake them uncovered. If you want things to brown, bake uncovered for the 15 min of cooking time.
Note this stuff about covering things in the oven does not apply to baked goods like cakes and pies.

2. Too high. If you are the kind of person that wants (or has) to timeshare cooking with other things, then use low heat, for most things. The high setting should only be used to boil things like potatos and pasta. Use simmer for soups, stews and other things once they come to a boil. Frying (even deep frying) does not need high heat, med-hi is usually good for frenchfries etc. And use med for things like pancakes and eggs. If you use higher heat trying to speed things up, they will turn out wrong.
Ovens can be very tricky. The thermostat may be off and things will cook too slow, slower than the recipe says it should or it never seems to brown. If this happens try to up the temp by about 25 degrees. And if the oven seems to be cooking too fast, lower the temp by 25 degrees. Ovens can have hot spots. Make sure that it is not overloaded and that there is good circulation around all sides of the dishes in the oven. Usually things the top rack will cook more on the top and things on the bottom rack will cook more on the bottom. So it is good to either put the dish in the center of the oven or to switch racks halfway through cooking. Yes,you really should preheat. unless you are warming up some foil wrapped (unfrozen leftovers.
The same thing goes for microwave ovens - too high power will cook things wrong, especially if they are frozen. Sometimes 6 minuter (with stirring) at 70% is better than 2 min at 100%.

3. Too little oil. People may be trying to cut fat, but you need enough oil or butter or grease to cover a pan at least a quarter of an inch deep if you want to brown things,. Especially, meat, fried potatos, hash, eggs, etc. Pancakes and other griddlecakes need oil for the first batch but then only add more if they start sticking. You even need oil in non-stick stuff as well. The food just won't crisp up like you want it to, and will burn and stick instead.
Baking requires an oiled pan as well. Use butter or grease, and coat the pan well, especially in corners, it will make cleanup easier. If I am cooking with butter, I save the wrapper from the stick and use the butter stuck on it to grease the pans. When making cookies, you usually don't have to grease the sheet inbetween batches if you scrape the cooled crumbs off with a spatula.

4. Too little water. When you boil things (unless otherwise directed in a recipe) you want to - bring water to a boil and then add the food (and some salt) then cover. There must be enough water to completely cover the food or it won't cook right. Stir frequently. When cooking pasta, make sure to use at least a 2 quart pot for 1-2 servings and a larger one for more. Pasta needs a lot of water to cook in, and will take longer if there is too little water. When you bake something covered (roast or casserole), make sure to add a quarter to a half a cup of liquid to help steam the food done. And if things are soggy and fall apart - it may be because they were cooked too long in too much liquid.

5. Poor planning and organization. Experience is the only way. But you will learn how to time each dish of the meal to be done at the same time. This is necessary because some foods do not hold well under low heat, or go weird if you try to reheat them. So you will develop a rhythm to the cooking.

Usually I start boiling the water for the starch(potatos, rice, pasta).
Then I start browning the meat and while it's browning I prepare the starch for cooking (peel and cut potatos, or measure and add rice).
If I'm cooking a raw vegetable, I start water boiling for it too.
Now the meat dish is in the braising stage, I add liquid and the rest of the ingredients, cover and put it on simmer.
Then I can cut up the vegetable and put it in the boiling water or open a can of veggies and put it on simmer
(There's usually a lull at this point to take a break if you want.)
Turn the rice off, or drain and prepare the potatos or pasta.
by this time the meat dish should be done. (make gravy if you are having it).
food is ready.

6. Bad substitution can mess up your cooking and is often a result of poor preparation. Make sure you read the recipe ahead of time and that you have all the ingredients that are asked for (especially with baked things) Many things that you think could be substituted will not work - 'soft butter' or margarine for real butter. Other substitutions just don't taste the same - pinto beans in a Cajun Redbean and rice recipe. And some substitutions are possible if you know how (use the Joy of Cooking - they have a great table of substitutions) like cocoa and butter if you don't keep baking chocolate.

7. Bad Seasoning. Follow the seasonings suggested in the recipes to begin with, then experiment. The recipes have the right blend of seasonings to compliment the ingredients. If you want to experiment or improve seasonings, check out the page on seasoning food.
Don't think that more is better or you will overseason the food.

All of this will not help if you do not read and understand and follow every step of the recipe until you are familiar enough with it to make your own variations.

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