The meat was done, all ingredients were in the pan and I changed the heat from no.9 to no.5 so it could braise. Then I left the pan with the stew for what it was to do something else. Planning to return in half an hour or an hour to stir and judge the status of the stew.
At 10:30PM I was upstairs and a subtle scent of meat met my nose. “The stew!” I thought. Only wondering how long I had left it, but sure it wasn’t half an hour or an hour. I had lost track of time, doing something else. And when I entered the kitchen, the scent was a bit stronger and I knew that the stew was burnt… Heavily.
Reflecting on this: what did I learn?
Some problems don’t occur immediately, not even after 200% or 300% the time that you’ve set for it. So the risk of the problem seems low: that’s why there’s no bell ringing in your head. The risk just was never high enough to be a red flag automatically. But the thing is: There’s no degree in ‘burnt’ food. Black. White. It’s either good, or burnt. And when it’s burnt it’s inedible. There’s no sliding scale. So being too late is incredibly impactful. You ruin the food.
So (how) could I have done this better? This probably just happens every once in a while: Then I am more cautious for a while. Then caution fades. It happens again. Then start at one.
The impact of burnt food is quite low. I need to eat something else. But let’s assume this story is a metaphor. And the other stuff might just be more impactful.
Time to figure out if you have more burnt food in your life.