Avoid Overcooking Your Food With This Simple Timer Habit

If there is one thing that is sure to ruin a dish every time, it is overcooking it. We've all committed this culinary cardinal sin at one point or another, whether it's leaving a steak on the grill until it's dry and tough or turning buttery scallops into rubber by cooking them too long. Yet, you can easily avoid overcooking food by using a timer. 

When folks let pride get in the way of making kitchen tasks simpler by using a timer (not that I would know anything about that...), they are really just increasing the likelihood that dinner will be a dried-out disaster. Even Ina Garten has to do this crucial step every time she uses the oven. Like Garten, some folks have no problem with relying on an alarm to keep them honest. But for some, distractions can pull them away from a meal in progress. They might think that their trusty timer will come to the rescue before anything overcooks, but if you aren't around to hear the timer go off, your dish is just as ruined as if you had not used it in the first place. 

Thankfully, one simple trick can help you avoid overcooking food even if you decide to start taking on other tasks around the house while whipping up a meal. Most people don't go anywhere without their phones within arm's reach, and if that sounds like you, setting a timer on your cell could be the best way to avoid an unappetizing meal. There are even smartphone apps that allow you to keep track of multiple dishes at once.

Whether it is because of an email you forgot to shoot off or a household chore you want to knock off your to-do list, it's easy to get distracted while waiting for food to cook. Setting a timer on your phone will tell you when to rush back to the kitchen and pull your fare off the heat, but there are plenty of dishes that you need to pay attention to throughout the cooking process so they come out just right. A timer will bring you back, but it won't prevent you from walking away.

The trick is to motivate yourself to stay nearby. Pasta company Barilla has tried to help folks remember when to remove various dried pasta shapes from boiling water by creating specialized Spotify playlists that run for the exact amount of time your pasta should cook. Not only does it act as a reminder for when the noodles are al dente, but it keeps you close so you can give the pot an occasional stir as you dance to some killer tunes.

You can make your own playlists for go-to dishes in your rotation. If you know the veggies in your famous chicken and biscuits require exactly 8 minutes on the stove to tenderize, pick out a couple of your favorite jams that take that long to play through and enjoy the tunes while watching your pan. A little music can help you avoid walking away, ensuring dinner will be just as good as if it had been studiously monitored by a professional chef.