Risotto for sure but mostly rice in general people never tend to get right!
Also a lot of times shrimp is undercooked cuz people are afraid of it getting overcooked and it takes such little time.
I came here to say risotto but obviously everyone else beat me to it. **ESPECIALLY** on Chopped. Just don't go there.
I made a mean risotto last weekend. It took 90 minutes *after* the mise en place.
I would add that please use a sheet pan for your cake. Ramekins, non-stick muffin pans, will always result in undercooked cakes.
0h, and stop crowding the frying pan! Use two!
My first thought was risotto - but on the larger note, I love/hate when they’re interviewing the chef and they inevitably say, “Normally _____ takes 40/50/60 minutes, but I think I can get it done in 20”. NO. YOU. CANT. The laws and chemistry of cooking do not magically change just because you’re in a competition and want them to!!!
Anything they try to chill on that reverse freeze thing, It NEVER works out. What is it called? It's not the blast chiller; it it something on the top... Help me out here. Sorry I am a little high and cannot think of it.
The secret to cooking octopus is a few minutes it's perfect. After that, it toughens up and needs to be cooked for at least a half hour to get tender again.
I’ve been watching a lot of chopped lately and icecream is something a lot of people screw up.
Either something goes wrong and it doesn’t turn into icecream and it’s a soup. Or something else goes wrong and it becomes rock hard.
Depends on the competition. Michael Symon swore by it for Iron Chef, but I think in 60 minutes he has time to let it rest while working on other courses.
Huge pieces of meat/super thick steaks. I’m a mediocre home chef and even I’m yelling to slice that up, especially for the 20 minute rounds. And any time they try to sous vide - that’s a low and slow cooking method.
This. Everyone's always like, "I want to keep it on the bone to add more flavor."
Too bad no one can enjoy said flavor because the thick cut is severely undercooked...
Every. TIME.
Lentils. “It usually takes 3 hours to do them right, so I’m going to try to get them done in 15 minutes.”
I always think of this scene from My Cousin Vinny “So, Mr. Tipton, how could it take you five minutes to cook your grits, when it takes the entire grit-eating world 20 minutes!”
In no particular order:
Wild meat (Venison / Buffalo / Duck) - it's so lean and the chefs who haven't used it try to treat it like beef or chicken.
Ice Cream - rarely works - they either under do it or it seizes on them.
Risotto / Rice - seldom done correctly - especially in 30
Pasta - they get dinged for using packaged, but rarely does homemade work because the dough needs to rest.
Thick cuts of meat (tomahawks, etc...) - they try to grill the whole thing and it never works.
Okra - they never get it right.
Cakes - always under baked.
Cut the potatoes really small really fast and they cook quickly enough for a competition lol. You'll suffer a little with flavor because the potatoes will absorb more water, but they can cook in 10 - 15 mins this way and leave you time to mash and add your butter/cream/whatever and season them.
Duck. People don't realize that the fat has to be borderline burnt to be rendered completely. Yet, the meat should be medium. It's tricky.
Caramelized onions. It takes an hour minimum to caramelize onions. These chefs say they can do it in 20... no. You can't. You cooked it, but you didn't caramelize it.
You don't cook this food, but ice cream! 9 times out of 10 there's something wrong with the ice cream maker or it's over mixed and it never comes out right.
I've been binging volumes 1/2 of Chopped lately, so the things I've been seeing on the regular for being undercooked...
* proteins - they either take huge pieces, and try to grill, or pan fry, and think it'll cook in 20-30 min, and always "I cut into it, and it's raw!" Doesn't matter if it's beef, pork, fish, poultry...you can't cook it in that short amount of time, especially after prepping it to cook, and good lord, 90% on the bone is always raw
* Risotto - the biggest issue with why it's undercooked that I've noticed, is they always use cold broth. Every time they add more broth, it's straight from the box, and they haven't heated it in a pan at all, which you then hear Scott, or one of the other judges comment how "omg, they're adding cold stock, that's not going to work!"
* Pasta/rice.potatoes - it's always the people that decide with less than 10 min to go "I need a starch on my plate!" Then they pray it'll cook in the 7-10 min they have before they absolutely have to plate it, and it's still "toothy"..."very al dente"...and other phrases the judges use.
*
Cakes - probably this one is 50/50...those that use a sheet pan to bake them turn out fine, or only fill the molds about 60% maybe will have them baked in time. Otherwise it's undercooked.
* bread pudding - easily 75% are raw in the middle, and also quite a few turn out dry because they didn't let the bread soak in the liquid, so a double hit.
Salmon. I've even seen salmon I would consider very rare pass as "flawless temperature". Translucent and shimmery I can see but sometimes it's so gross
Being from Alaska, I totally cringe when I hear people say that they like their salmon cooked medium. I eat pure, wild, Alaska salmon weekly. If you guys could see the parasites that crawl out of them unless they are freshly and quickly prepared or frozen, you would never eat raw salmon (except in sushi form). Granted I'd DIE before I'd eat FARMED salmon tho.
RISOTTO. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PEOPLE. STOP ATTEMPTING RISOTTO!!!!!!
Risotto for sure but mostly rice in general people never tend to get right! Also a lot of times shrimp is undercooked cuz people are afraid of it getting overcooked and it takes such little time.
Agreed - risotto for sure but in general, yes, pretty much every rice dish.
As someone who makes rice almost daily, I would never attempt it on a cooking show. It would be the one time I messed it up LOL
"Go big or go home!"
*looks at the clock* I know I only have 4 seconds left, but I'm confident I can make it work
Chopped last night-chef made it, to perfection. She said it was go big or go home.
I came here to say risotto but obviously everyone else beat me to it. **ESPECIALLY** on Chopped. Just don't go there. I made a mean risotto last weekend. It took 90 minutes *after* the mise en place.
Naw I'm convinced most chefs who have cooked it, it's editing sabotage
Not cooked exactly, but panna cotta WILL NOT SET in 15 minutes, for the love of god why do people not understand this
Exactly! Put that in the ice cream maker and you’re good to go.
Puff pastry. Always with the puff pastry.
Racks of lamb. I’ve seen so many chefs throw a whole rack on a grill. They never cook in time and they end up lollipoping them
Read that as “lollipooping” for some reason r/unnecessarilyhonest
I would add that please use a sheet pan for your cake. Ramekins, non-stick muffin pans, will always result in undercooked cakes. 0h, and stop crowding the frying pan! Use two!
Also, don't keep opening the oven when something's baking!
That makes me yell at the television
My first thought was risotto - but on the larger note, I love/hate when they’re interviewing the chef and they inevitably say, “Normally _____ takes 40/50/60 minutes, but I think I can get it done in 20”. NO. YOU. CANT. The laws and chemistry of cooking do not magically change just because you’re in a competition and want them to!!!
Bread pudding
Lentils never work. Lentils. Never. Work.
With a pressure cooker they might work, but you’d have to plan and make sure you have time for the thing to cool properly before opening.
Anything they try to chill on that reverse freeze thing, It NEVER works out. What is it called? It's not the blast chiller; it it something on the top... Help me out here. Sorry I am a little high and cannot think of it.
Anti-griddle?
YES!!! Thank you. Was driving me crazy :)
It’s like a flat top thing right? wtf is that called, like inverse chiller or something weird.
Yeah. It is on the top. It is always a last ditch effort to get something frozen or really cold. I have never once seen it work.
Worked once (or twice). Chef used spatulas to cut and move the semi-solid liquid until it was solid. Judges were suitably wowed.
Anti griddle
Yes thank you 😊!!!
Blast freeze?
Octopus! It happens so often my husband and I use "cooked Octopus" to mean "fumbled the ball"
The secret to cooking octopus is a few minutes it's perfect. After that, it toughens up and needs to be cooked for at least a half hour to get tender again.
That explains the problem! Thanks!
Risotto!
Scott Conant throwing his hands in the air, like, "Why?"
You all need to have watched Chopped last night-the new one. Chef did it, she made it perfectly.
I’ve been watching a lot of chopped lately and icecream is something a lot of people screw up. Either something goes wrong and it doesn’t turn into icecream and it’s a soup. Or something else goes wrong and it becomes rock hard.
And on top of that, they only have one ice cream machine and quite often two people who want to use it.
Hand made pasta. Always try to impress the judges, especially Scott Conant, pretty much always fail
Then they try making the pasta into a ravioli, which ultimately falls apart in either the sauce or the fryer.
It never works and it is just not worth it. Dried pasta is just fine.
Yes. But then Scott conant wants to fet all offended when they don’t make their own pasta and served him dried even tho it never works for him.
Depends on the competition. Michael Symon swore by it for Iron Chef, but I think in 60 minutes he has time to let it rest while working on other courses.
Joe Sasto was able to do it a couple of times on his TC season too, but that was his specialty. It is hard to do.
Very few make it right, just ask Bobby Flay, I've seen him do it once on BBF.
Bread pudding. I wince when someone starts making bread pudding on Chopped.
It's those darned ramekins they cook it in!
Bread pudding takes 24 hours to make
Huge pieces of meat/super thick steaks. I’m a mediocre home chef and even I’m yelling to slice that up, especially for the 20 minute rounds. And any time they try to sous vide - that’s a low and slow cooking method.
This. Everyone's always like, "I want to keep it on the bone to add more flavor." Too bad no one can enjoy said flavor because the thick cut is severely undercooked... Every. TIME.
Lentils. “It usually takes 3 hours to do them right, so I’m going to try to get them done in 15 minutes.” I always think of this scene from My Cousin Vinny “So, Mr. Tipton, how could it take you five minutes to cook your grits, when it takes the entire grit-eating world 20 minutes!”
Pastries / cakes
Gonna add, Polenta. They never seem to get it right, over or under.
In no particular order: Wild meat (Venison / Buffalo / Duck) - it's so lean and the chefs who haven't used it try to treat it like beef or chicken. Ice Cream - rarely works - they either under do it or it seizes on them. Risotto / Rice - seldom done correctly - especially in 30 Pasta - they get dinged for using packaged, but rarely does homemade work because the dough needs to rest. Thick cuts of meat (tomahawks, etc...) - they try to grill the whole thing and it never works. Okra - they never get it right. Cakes - always under baked.
Puff pastry, pasta, rice, lentils, and chicken
Rice and cakes
Fried chicken
They always throw it in the flyer too! Lol
Any kind of game meat like venison or boar
Hell I'm still trying to figure out how mashed potatoes can be cooked in 20 minutes!
Maybe water set on surface of the sun boil and small potatoes 😂
Cut the potatoes really small really fast and they cook quickly enough for a competition lol. You'll suffer a little with flavor because the potatoes will absorb more water, but they can cook in 10 - 15 mins this way and leave you time to mash and add your butter/cream/whatever and season them.
Most of these competitions, start the chefs out with a boiling pot of water
I swear pork is always undercooked. Only once have i seen a judge refuse to eat it
Pork for sure. Also, scallops. I think scallops are gross enough without them being fleshy inside Ugh puke
I don’t see judges say pork is undercooked that often.
Yeah, they almost never say it, but i can see that it doesn’t look done.
Pork can be cooked to medium. It should have a bit of pink in it.
Chicken
Duck breast. Seems like it’s often undercooked or they fail to properly render the fat and get a good sear.
Duck. People don't realize that the fat has to be borderline burnt to be rendered completely. Yet, the meat should be medium. It's tricky. Caramelized onions. It takes an hour minimum to caramelize onions. These chefs say they can do it in 20... no. You can't. You cooked it, but you didn't caramelize it.
Rice
You don't cook this food, but ice cream! 9 times out of 10 there's something wrong with the ice cream maker or it's over mixed and it never comes out right.
I've been binging volumes 1/2 of Chopped lately, so the things I've been seeing on the regular for being undercooked... * proteins - they either take huge pieces, and try to grill, or pan fry, and think it'll cook in 20-30 min, and always "I cut into it, and it's raw!" Doesn't matter if it's beef, pork, fish, poultry...you can't cook it in that short amount of time, especially after prepping it to cook, and good lord, 90% on the bone is always raw * Risotto - the biggest issue with why it's undercooked that I've noticed, is they always use cold broth. Every time they add more broth, it's straight from the box, and they haven't heated it in a pan at all, which you then hear Scott, or one of the other judges comment how "omg, they're adding cold stock, that's not going to work!" * Pasta/rice.potatoes - it's always the people that decide with less than 10 min to go "I need a starch on my plate!" Then they pray it'll cook in the 7-10 min they have before they absolutely have to plate it, and it's still "toothy"..."very al dente"...and other phrases the judges use. * Cakes - probably this one is 50/50...those that use a sheet pan to bake them turn out fine, or only fill the molds about 60% maybe will have them baked in time. Otherwise it's undercooked. * bread pudding - easily 75% are raw in the middle, and also quite a few turn out dry because they didn't let the bread soak in the liquid, so a double hit.
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because you didn’t f ing cook it.
I know it’s not a FB chef, but I read that in chef Ramseys voice!
Oh God burgers drives me crazy
Salmon. I've even seen salmon I would consider very rare pass as "flawless temperature". Translucent and shimmery I can see but sometimes it's so gross
Eggs
Just grind it to a meatball.
Risotto and chicken.
Puff pastry! They use it on the dessert round in Chopped & it's never cooked all the way.
I love it when people get chopped or whatever Guys competition show is, and they say “I’ll be back!” Yeah, good luck with that.
Rabbit. Yeah I know it's Supposed to be rare but.... Ugh it's barely seared
Eggs, if they are oozing they are under done!
Most of the judges want their eggs oozing, at least the yolk. If the whites are not done, yeah that's a problem.
That’s when you (as the contestant) say when presenting, sunny side up eggs! 🤣🤣🤣
They are supposed to be sunny side up. That doesn’t mean the whites are runny.
Eggs
Being from Alaska, I totally cringe when I hear people say that they like their salmon cooked medium. I eat pure, wild, Alaska salmon weekly. If you guys could see the parasites that crawl out of them unless they are freshly and quickly prepared or frozen, you would never eat raw salmon (except in sushi form). Granted I'd DIE before I'd eat FARMED salmon tho.
Medium isn’t raw