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    15 "Bad" Cooking Habits You Need To Stop Doing, And 14 Good Ones That'll Make You A Professional Chef

    Stop pressing down on your burger while it cooks! It squeezes out all the juices, and your burger will be dry.

    We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the worst cooking mistakes people make in the kitchen and which good habits they should have instead. Here are the must-read results.

    Some responses also come from Reddit.

    1. Bad habit: "Stop pressing/smashing your burger patties (or any food, really) while they cook. That literally squeezes all the juice out, and you'll be left with a dry burger."

    Alton Brown cooking a burger
    Food Network

    "Leave it the hell alone, and let it cook."

    —kingdietrich

    2. Good habit: "Always cook your meatloaf on a baking sheet instead of in a loaf pan. Loaf pans trap all the grease and fat and will make your meatloaf soggy."

    Ina Garten cooking meatloaf
    Food Network

    "Just free-hand form a loaf on a baking sheet so everything drains away and the meat can actually get nice and browned."

    —blackzephyr