8 Common Cooking Myths You Probably Believed Were True
Updated: Mar. 23, 2021
With plenty of cooking myths out there, it's about time we
uncovered the truth. Read on as we debunk 8 popular cooking tips.
Unlike urban legends, cooking myths tend to sound pretty
convincing. (Ever heard of any of these about poached eggs?) Many have been
written in cookbooks and passed down for generations, so you’d think they’d
have to be true, right? Wrong. Let’s separate fact from fiction as we debunk
the most popular cooking myths. Read on to see if you’ve been fooled by some of
these-I know I have!
Myth #1: Alcohol burns off when cooked.
It’s common knowledge that alcohol burns off from heat, leaving
behind only the flavor of the liquid itself. Is it true? Yes. No. Maybe.
Reality: Heat does reduce alcohol’s potency (so you’re not
getting anyone drunk with Grandma’s famous rum cake recipe),
but the alcohol doesn’t completely cook away. It will if you heat it long
enough, but that would take up to three hours in most dishes.
Myth #2: Hard boiled eggs are easier to peel
if you add vinegar to the water.
There are a lot of tips out there for making hard-boiled eggs
easier to peel. I’ve tried every trick in the book, from using acidulated water
(the kind with vinegar added) to poking holes in the shells and everything in
between.
Reality: It boils down to water temperature. Start your eggs
in boiling water and you’ll make a better hard-boiled egg that’s also easier to
peel. And when you’re finished, use ’em up in with these recipes that call for hard-boiled eggs.
Myth #3: Salted water boils faster.
I actually remember my mother telling me this when I learned to
cook: “Don’t forget to add salt to the water or it’ll take forever to boil”
(right after she told me a watched pot never boils).
Reality: Adding salt raises the boiling point of the water,
so it does make your water hotter but it’s not going to boil any faster. The
main reason to use salted water is to season the food you’re cooking in it.
Myth #4: Rinse your pasta to stop the cooking
process.
Some things need a rinse or an ice bath to prevent them from
overcooking (like blanched vegetables or hard-boiled eggs). The question is,
will pasta overcook if you don’t rinse it in cold water?
Reality: Pasta doesn’t have much carryover cooking, so there
is no need to cool it down before tossing it in hot sauce. Rinsing pasta
actually does some damage by removing the starchy coating that helps the sauce
stick to it. The only reason you may want to rinse your pasta is to cool it
down for pasta salad.
Myth #5: Cooking removes nutrients from
vegetables.
Many people believe that eating vegetables raw is the best way
to get their nutrients. If you expose the vegetable to heat, the vitamins and
minerals will break down and make the vegetable less healthy, the thinking
goes.
Reality: Most vitamins are not too much affected by heat
from boiling or steaming, and cooking vegetables might actually make some of
them easier to digest. Boiling water-soluble vitamins (like vitamin C and B)
does remove some nutrients into the water, but most remain.
Myth #6: Lard is unhealthy.
Even the word itself-lard-is off-putting to most people. At one
point, I started calling it “pork butter” on my restaurant’s menu to prevent
that “Eww, gross” reaction.
Reality: Lard has less saturated fat and cholesterol than
butter, and unlike partially hydrogenated vegetable oils it has no trans fat.
Lard makes the best pie crusts and
tortillas, so don’t be afraid to use it! (Or use olive oil for super convenient
tortillas).
Myth #7: Searing meat seals in the juices.
I’ve heard this one over and over (and believed it for a while).
Every TV personality will tell you this, making it so commonly known it’s
impossible that it’s a myth…
Reality: According to Harold McGee, food scientist
extraordinaire and author of On
Food and Cooking, searing meat actually forces it to lose moisture,
making the meat less juicy. Searing does produce a delicious crust and creates
texture, but the best way to seal in the juices is to rest your meat for five
minutes before slicing.
Myth #8: Marinades tenderize meat.
Marinades are really common, especially for tough cuts of meat.
But do the acidic components of the marinade really make the meat more tender?
Reality: It’s true that acidic ingredients denature proteins
(change their structure), but most marinades don’t actually penetrate deeper
than the meat’s surface. The real reason to use a marinade is to flavor your food and help it retain
moisture.
Now that we’ve debunked the most common “mythconceptions,”
it’s time to put your knowledge to work. Start by making the best homemade pasta or a big, juicy steak like the
ones below!
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