Not everyone is blessed with a family member that knows how to bake breads, simmer a tomato sauce, or cook up a perfect rack of lamb. Some people discover the joys of cooking all on their own, and have to learn how to cook through television shows, cookbooks, and any cooking advice that they can glean from online sources. Although it is unfortunate that anyone should have to go through life without a close relative to guide them through a traditional family recipe, there is hope for those of us who have had to learn it all on our own.

The internet has been famously good to three things. Cats. Food. Miley Cyrus. When you need cooking advice, turn to any cooking advice these three online sources have to offer and you will be a pro in no time at all.

1. Videos

Online cooking help is widely available on any of the thousands of food blogs and food websites. What is rarer, is finding cooking advice online in the form of a video, and it is the videos that can sometimes be most helpful. There is no better way to learn how to bone a chicken than by example. If you have never assembled a lasagna before, again, an online video is the best way to learn.

2. Recipes

I am a firm believer that there is no better judge for a recipe than a picture of its results. This point is arguable, because of course the picture of a final project indicates nothing of the taste of the food. However, we eat with our eyes before we eat with our other senses. If something looks good, it is usually going to taste even better.

For this reason, I recommend browsing for recipes with the aid of online curating sites, like Pinterest, or Food Gawker. On Pinterest, food is the fourth most popular category. About a tenth of all the content on Pinterest is food! Once you have found appealing recipes, you can read through their instructions, and usually you can also read through comments on those recipes by people who are planning to cook the dish or who have already done so. Comments are a great way to get cooking advice online. You will discover many tips and tricks this way.

3. Podcasts

Several famous chefs, and hundreds of not famous cooks, host cooking talk shows online. You can get amazing cooking advice online from their podcasts! A quick search online will get you lots of suggestions and quick summaries of the most popular podcasts out there. My own personal recommendation is to find The Splendid Table for non stop advice and recipe ideas.

So take a small venture into the world of online cooking advice. The worst thing that could happen is that you might ruin a pasta dish or two, but you will have learned something in the process! Push yourself to try new recipes, new techniques, and learn everything you can. You will find that even though you do not have a personal mentor in your own kitchen, there are hundreds online waiting to help you out.