Trust Your Senses, Not Just the Timer

A recipe timer is a guess written by someone who has never stood in your kitchen, with your stove, your pan, your piece of meat. The oven, the altitude, and the thickness of your cut all change the real cooking time. Numbers are a starting point, not a verdict.

Look at the color, listen to the sizzle, smell the moment the garlic turns from raw to fragrant, press the meat to feel how it gives. The dish will tell you when it's ready long before the buzzer does. Cooks who rely only on the clock burn things that were done minutes ago.