One of the hardest disciplines to master in the kitchen is to leave that oven door alone. I’ve had more less-than-perfect outcomes than you could shake a stick at, all from knowing good and well that I shouldn’t open that door but…just…can’t…stand…to…wait! Aw man! So the cake falls, the biscuits are flat and doughy, the cornbread didn’t get that killer crust on it. Oh, you can salvage what’s left, as many times I have, but the finished product is never as good as if we’d left well enough alone.

There are a lot of kitchen-isms where this same principle applies. The crock pot that can’t come to a simmer because the lid keeps getting picked up; the eggs that would be a beautiful big ... (Continued)