'I'm a Michelin-trained chef – there's a basic mistake that home cooks often make'

Cooking isn't as easy as it looks.

Many of us suffer fails in the kitchen – whether it be burning toast, overcooking pasta or breaking poached eggs. But there is a way to improve on all of these errors.

Michelin-trained chef Poppy O'Toole revealed it's all about slowing down and being more confident. She believes flapping around and doubting yourself is a recipe for disaster.

Not only can it lead to you overcooking ingredients by dithering, it can also see you slip up on recipes. Poppy exclusively told us: "I think that one of the biggest mistakes people make in the kitchen is not having the confidence to just go for it.

"For example, when people see 'fry in the pan for eight minutes', people get a bit scared and they want to touch it and turn it over, but we're looking for that caramelisation so it's about just having the confidence to leave things alone."

Poppy also says to give yourself plenty of time to get things right – even when "busy" – as rushing is never going to produce high quality results.

The pro cook has to tell herself this advice often too – and revealed a recent case of her taking the time to do everything properly. She made a bechamel sauce and let it bubble away for 30 minutes, rather than rushing it as she normally would.

As a result, she had the "best" bechamel she'd ever made. It was "beautiful", "perfect", and "silky smooth", so putting extra love into the process was definitely worth it.

Poppy O'Toole has partnered with McCain for the launch of its all-new range of air fryer fries, which is exclusively endorsed by Ninja, and comes in Deep Ridge Crinkle Cut and French Fries. The air fryer range is available now for £3.20 at Tesco, Asda, Iceland and more.