Shoutout to the old line cook who told me to trust my nose over timers

I used to set a timer for everything on the grill and never pulled anything early. Then this guy I worked with at a spot in Austin kept saying the smell tells you more than the clock ever will. He told me to pay attention to when the fat starts to render and the sugars caramelize, not when the buzzer goes off. One night during a rush I pulled a steak three minutes early because it smelled exactly right. The chef said it was the best medium rare he'd seen from me in six months. Now I still use timers for backup but I trust my nose way more. Has anyone else had a mentor give you something that simple that actually stuck?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai8392d agoTop Commenter

Old timer at my first kitchen job told me the same thing about fish. He said if it smells like the ocean it's fresh, if it smells like low tide it's trash. Changed how I worked completely. Timers are for rookies who haven't learned their senses yet. Nose knows better than any beep.

sean481d ago

Is it really that serious though, @kai839?

mason_murray81d ago

The cool thing about nose training is it rewires your brain for other stuff too. I started trusting my nose with produce and now I can tell when avocados are perfect without squeezing them.