Neat article.

Alton Brown did a complete show on smashing cooking myths. He took on the searing meat, washing mushrooms, and adding oil to the cooking water.

I love these kinds of things.

Here's another bunch....

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Myths

Grainlady, I notice that it is a "myth" that you cannot fry in olive oil :) I have been using it for chicken and fish, glad to know that I am not totally nutso ... LOL !

Good links Mom and Grainlady.

I've wondered about the deep fat frying in olive oil myth. My Greek grandmother always fried her homemade loukoumades (honey dipped donut balls) and thiples (honey soaked dough spirals) in olive oil. That's what she did in Greece, and that's what she did here.

I saw that Alton Brown episode - I've always rinsed mushrooms. Who has time to wipe them off with a towel? I also fry in olive oil. The searing meat test was interesting too. But myths persist - all the TV chefs still tell you to "let the meat rest so the juices draw back in."

LOL Gina, I saw an episode recently that said to "wipe" strawberries, not to rinse. Uh huh ... I am rinsing the shrooms and the fruit :)

Oh, yes, esp the strawberries. Wasn't there an e coli break out a few years ago as the strawberries were being grown in fields with sewer run off...I wash everything!

I never wash mushrooms - I just wipe them with a paper towel or a brush. The ones I get from Gelsons have no dirt on them at all, as them have been wiped clean before I buy them, but never dunked in water.

Texas chili does not contain beans or tomatoes - that is simply how chili is made traditionally in Texas. People in other places can make chili however they want, but if they add beans or tomatoes, it won't be Texas chili.

People who try to debunk myths are often as silly as the myths they try to debunk IMO. Some of the myths are either valid or have historical significance. If they want to debunk myths, why not debunk religious myths? I think those who try to remove them have problems with cultural tolerance.

I do rinse fruit. Actually, most of the fruit I eat I grow myself, and so I don't have to be that concerned, although I do still wash or wipe oranges that I pick, even if I use them only for juice.

Lars

Great info!

Thanks for sharing both those interesting articles.

Alexa

Or other myths, such as "Mushrooms waterlog into a squishy sponge if you even show them the sink!" is, and always has been, absolute BS, so it's a myth well worth debunking.

I live dangerously and have never washed a strawberry. I will when I'm serving them though. I eat a quart a week too.

Gina W - I think you misinterpreted the searing myth. "Let the meat rest so the juices draw back in" is not a myth in my experience. Cut a steak right off the grill and you'll get a lot more juice all over your plate than if you let it rest a few minutes.

Lars - I'm not following your point. I think these myth busters are trying to be helpful. It's a lot easier to rinse mushrooms than to brush them - not all of us get clean mushrooms. I haven't seen any myth in this discussion or linked threads that have some historical significance that we need to protect.

I sometimes rinse mushrooms....but then I often find that even after rinsing they need to be brushed. I have a mushroom brush that works well.
Linda C

About mushrooms...I live near Kennett Square-the mushroom capital of the world and let me tell you...I see some mighty dirty mushrooms.
I basically rinse my shrooms under warm running water and set on a towel lined plate to air dry a few minutes and they are fine. I do the same with berries.

I do have a tip for guacamole. I recently started to store the guac in a sandwich bag. I press out all the air I can manually. "Sometimes" the top will begin to turn so I snip the bottom of the bag and scoop from that end.

Cheers!
Susie

Yikes, I wash mushrooms. I am a gardener and I buy compost from the mushroom farm AFTER it has been used for growing. It still smells strongly of the horse corral even at that point. I will wash them everythime, thanks.

Picnics and mayonaisse - the fact that warm mayonaisse won't make me sick is going to take a while to get used to. My mom has always made a big deal about getting sick from that, she probably got it from her mom.

I'm going to set my self up as a big mouth know-it-all here!

1. Mayo won't spoil if you never put a dirty knife in the jar. It's what's on the dirty knife and transfers to the mayo that contaminates the mayo, causing spoiling. Nevertheless, keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, regardless of whether they contain mayo or not.

2. Personal experience: I've washed hundreds of pounds of mushrooms for cooking, salads, veggie trays and have never seen a water-logged one! What do they look like? How can you tell?

3. Oil in the pasta water: What's the point? To prevent the pasta from sticking to the pot or to itself? Seems like the oil is supposed to make the pasta slippery, so the sauce won't "stick" to the pasta, either. I've used both methods and the only difference I can see is that I have to wash the oiled pot after cooking. Pasta cooked in boiling, salted water pours right out of the pot, leaving nothing behind.

4. Olive Oil for frying: I do it all the time, though I've never deep-fried in it (I seldom deep fry anything.) I use gallons of olive oil, wish it wasn't so darn expensive!

5. I'm with you, Lars: Debunk religious (and political) myths. But it's also a lot of fun, and far less dangerous, to debunk cooking myths. I'd love to be on a debunking team.

6. Tomato seeds? Of course. That'll be the day I "seed" my tomatoes!

My only credentials: I'm a state-licenced sanitarian and a very good cook! Though, if you have to seed tomatoes and dust mushrooms to be a gourmet, I'll never make the grade.

Sherry

3. I never oil my pasta water and I always have a film of starch left after I pour out the pasta. Always requires a wash.

5. Debunking kitchen myths may help people become more efficient or better cooks. Debunking religious myths (not an original thought by any means by the way) does little more than upset people. I'd stick to the former, esp on a cooking forum.

No credentials here.

It is a total myth that garlic sprouts will make a dish bitter. Not true at all. The only time garlic is bitter is if it is burned or if it is rotten. If it is neither one of those, it is perfectly good to use.

I seed my tomatos when I want a nice, smooth sauce.

Seeding tomatos by removing the seeds and the thick gel that surrounds them also drops the acidity of the sauce quite a bit because that gel is very acidic.

Oops! I shouldn't have written "dirty" knife in my post. I meant "used" knife. Don't double-dip utensils in the mayo jar! Once the utensil has touched other foods or surfaces, it's contaminated.

I agree about the garlic sprouts. I've used plenty.

Sherry

I wash not just rinse every fresh vegetable and fruit that enters my house. Even ones we just peel.
I use diluted LOC
I've had two stem cell transplants and my body would not tolerate any form of bacteria in it's weakened state.
I was not allowed to eat black pepper for a year after my transplant...was told there is a lot of dirt in it.

For those of you that have read my posts know that my cooking experience is what one would call changeled, LOL!

However, the following things I cook at least twice a week.

Mushrooms - I used to clean with brush, but thought about, if God wants rain to drench them, it's alright for me to wash when dirty!

Olive oil - I switched to olive oil ONLY, some time ago because of it's health benefits and have never seen any problem! Actually it does a better job at general frying, other than peanut and lard. Lard is hard to beat for frying chicken but olive oil does 95 % as well and won't clog your arteries. Olive oil vs peanut, I couldn't ever see the difference.
One thing about olive oil I did find, a regular good brand (Bertolli) fried better to me on heavy things like Chic fried steak and fried chicken, than extra virgin! The extra virgin was a lot better with light things like stir fry, fish scallops, basically any type of seafood. I have NO idea why. Don't knock it, regular is a LOT cheaper.

Pasta- Mainly (practically only), spaghetti. I listened to everything everyone said about cooking it, and did it all, and slowly found out! Putting oil in the water does nothing but slightly let less sauce stick to it, if it makes you feel better do it!
The biggest thing in my opinion is freshness of noodles and learning when to stop cooking and drain and cool.
Those sales where you get 2 for buying one and 60% off, and whatever just aren't worth it (to me),check the expiration date. Knowing when to stop cooking it is something no one can tell you! I could say what everyone else does but it won't help you till you have cooked a lot of it OR know a really good pasta cook that will spend a couple hours with you cooking test batches and testing continuously as you go to show you the differences. It's odd, but once you have done it right, you just don't forget!!
I had both, lots of pasta cooking experience and a friends mother who taught me in about an hour, including arm punches. This might sound like a little thing to you but it is the #1 most important thing!!

So how does someone who doesn't know how to basically cook learn this much about certain things!
I only know how to do a limited number of things well/OK, so they are all I basically cook! Where you might cook spaghetti 2 or more times a month, I cook it (the noodles) at least twice a week.

Grainlady, thanks for that link, I learned a lot!

Change

I have a friend who "used to" soak mushrooms to get them clean....when invited for dinner you would find a sink full of mushrooms soaking....and they DO absorb water. And they DO take longer to brown/cook with all that water in them....and if you soak shrimp in water too long to thaw....they too absorb water.
Bertolli does not advocate cooking pasta with oil....nor do they advocate rinsing the pasts....but if you want your spaghetti to hole for even 10 minutes you best rinse it and add some oil.
I have argued for years that mayo won't poision you.....back when grandma would make it out of raw eggs, perhaps....but today's mayo has so many preservatives in it it's pretty well shelf stable.
Linda C

The best french fries that I have ever had in my life were eaten while we lived in Greece. They were all done in olive oil. Ummm - makes my mouth water.

"I have a friend who "used to" soak mushrooms to get them clean....when invited for dinner you would find a sink full of mushrooms soaking....and they DO absorb water. And they DO take longer to brown/cook with all that water in them...."

Well, repeated tests by a number of people, including Alton Brown, indicate that mushrooms pick up roughly 1 to 2% extra weight by water after being immersed.

That hardly qualifies as being waterlogged, which has always been the claim.

Yes, it may take a few seconds longer for a mushroom so soaked to cook properly, but that's true for ANY piece of food.

Dip a chicken breast in water and throw it in a pan to cook. It's going to take longer to brown.

Same with any other vegetable.

That's simple physics.

So what if it does take a few seconds longer for them to brown? Is the world going to end because of it?

But the claim has always been that mushrooms will "waterlog" if they're even shown a sink, much less introduced to water, making them unsuitable for anything other than the compost heap.

Absolute rubbish.

Mushrooms are already akin to 80% water by weight. A quick dip in water isn't going to change that to any significant degree.

I feel so liberated by this news about mushrooms! I always rinse mine quickly, but I always feel guilty about not using the mushroom brush in the back of the drawer, or wiping with paper towels, or peeling them (I have a friend who did that). I have to say I never really noticed any difference anyway -- but now I don't even have to feel second-class about it. Thank you!

I liked what changeling said about mushrooms being out in the rain while they are growing, too. But then again, cows get wet in the rain, too, but tell that to your suede shoes!

Be careful about the hot/cold water thing, though. Whether or not hot water boils faster than cold, do NOT use water from the hot water pipes for drinking or cooking. Even in newer homes, harmful minerals can leach. The EPA and several other sources all advise using only cold water for cooking and drinking.

Oh, and it definitely is true about a covered pot boiling faster. My brother timed it and said it made a BIG difference, so now I do it, too, and although I didn't time it, I can tell he was right.

Peel mushrooms? Yeah, I'll get to that right after seeding my tomatoes. Not bloody likely. I wash it all, including bagged lettuces (now that it's nearly flipping impossible to find head lettuce in the grocery) and eggs (but only right before using them.)

Hmm...I might disagree with the one about scalding the milk. I think scalded milk tastes sweeter and richer than nonscalded milk. Maybe something to do with scalding it starting to caramelize the sugars present in milk? I do know if I drink milk that has been scalded I'm nowhree near as uncomfortable 20 minutes later as if I'd drank some from the carton (that is, unscalded.)

Some really interesting stuff on those two links!

"I'm Chiquita Banana and I'm here to say..... Never, every put bananas in the re-fri-ger-a-tor, oh no, no, no..." Guess she lied to us all those years... LOL

Salting meat... I use to do it before, during and after cooking... LOL. Now I can only add salt to stuff on my own plate and, for me, everything seems dryer...

As for mayonnaise turning potato salad to poison on a hot summers day, I've heard that it's the onions that cause the problem... Whatever, I won't eat potato salad unless it's COLD... lol

Rita

rita what kind of onions - LindaC's '@ss onions' ROFL (her typo on another thread)

"I liked what changeling said about mushrooms being out in the rain while they are growing, too."

Commercial mushrooms are normally grown in racks in caves or darkened buildings.

Do they get wet?

Those that we buy in the grocery stores are supposed to be grown in sterile soil. I don't know how they wet them, from above or below.

""
Those that we buy in the grocery stores are supposed to be grown in sterile soil. I don't know how they wet them, from above or below.""by beverlyal .

Now that is an intelligent question!

My neighbor is a mega farmer for the Mushroom growers in Pennsylvania, he provides the "Hay" necessary to produce th e growing medium for the mushroom growers. This is composted into "MOUNTAIN SIZED PILES" that are then blended to create the compost that create the mushroom beds. These mixtures literally cook themselves by interaction with raw components which produce heat! In Short "COMPOST". This is the "sterile environment that "beverlyal" is referring to.

I have always washed mushrooms...I'm so sure I'm going to eat dirt with my mushrooms...yeah right...When I heard someone say you aren't supposed to wash mushrooms I just said to myself "if you want to eat dirt that's fine but I'm not!" HAHA! Not washing mushrooms is like picking up a piece of candy off the sidewalk and putting it in your mouth!

Compost is made from animal do do and other organic matter. I wash dem mushrooms!

Dan

The warnings about mayonnaise come from a time when people routinely made their own at home. The mayonnaise one buys in the store is so laden with preservatives etc., that you could slather it on a ham sandwich and leave the sandwich in a hot car for a couple of days...and when you ate it and got sick, it would be because of the ham.

If you are old enough to have brown bagged your lunch to school without benefit of blue ice packets, just think about it. How many times did your tuna/egg salad/ham salad or other mayo laced sandwich travel to school on a warm morning and spend hours in a hot cloakroom or desk before you ate it? How many times did you get sick?

I've often wondered about how many rice-cooking instructions require that you saute the rice in butter before cooking. What's that for except extra calories? Equal parts rice and water, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes and let sit for 5 or 10...fluff. Perfect rice.

There was one "myth" I discovered to be true, early in my cooking life. Piercing a potato before baking. I forgot to do it once, and when I stuck a fork into the potato to check it for tenderness, it exploded. Potato everywhere, and I just about had a heart attack!

One sautes rice in butter or oil to bring out a nutty flavor in the rice. The oil allows for the flavor conversions to take place at the higher cooking temperature that occurs when sauteing in oil.

Dan

Well, there's a decent explanation. I know I do that to lentils and grains at times to change the flavor of the finished dish. It's interesting to do with couscous as well. But the recipes never mention that, they just tell you to do it.

Browning rice in a little oil is one of my secret techniques used in making a brown seafood jambalaya. The developed flavor of the sauteed rice can be controlled to be rather subtle and not overpower the delicate seafood taste. It changes the texture of the cooked rice a bit too, which gives it a different mouth-feel. I think that it is an underused cooking technique because many cooks do not understand WHY it is done.

Dan

Do you sauté white rice till it's golden brown? And, do you do it for ordinary rice that you might serve as a side dish?

Sherry

Rice for pilaf is also browned in a bit of oil until golden & nutty smelling.

/tricia

Danab

Thanks for the tip on rice, I didn't know that.

I have to disagree with the salt to dried beans not making a difference because before I knew better I put salt in the beans as soon as I began to cook them...I was telling my Mom that they took forever to get tender and she told me "don't add the salt until after they are tender". This cut the cooking time down at least an hour! I have cooked more pots of dried pintos in my life than I could count! My EX used to be addicted to pinto beans. I could have cooked him beans for every meal! He loved them!

Correction to my earlier post.....above should read ......."secret techniques used in making a WHITE seafood jambalaya"......not brown.

FYI....A brown jambalaya's flavor comes from the deep browning of the onions and the meats. A white jambalaya's flavor comes from the toasting of the rice and the delicate flavors of the seafood. A red jambalaya's flavor comes from the browning of the tomatoes, the added herbs/spices , and the seafood.

Sherry,

When making a WHITE shrimp jambalaya I usually brown ordinary rice to a light golden color to get the flavor that I am seeking. I have also experimented with toasting rice sprayed with Pam in a skillet and find it works OK.
I also will use the aromatic type rice in making the white jambalaya. My favorite is Jasmine or Popcorn rice. I never brown my rice to serve as a side dish.

Just for added information: I add a bit of butter or oil to the pot when cooking a pot of rice that is almost filled to the top. I do this to help break the starch froth that forms and can overflow the pot. A bit of butter helps prevent the spillover onto the burner and adds a good additional flavor component. For a whiter cooked rice product add just a tad of vinegar.....I like to use a bit of rice wine vinegar. It has the right acidity and a bit of sweetness that I like.

Dan

rachelellen, I liked the story on the baking potato, I pierced them just because I was just told to do it!
However 1 day I got the bright idea of putting some eggs into the microwave (mine is under cabinet model) so I did. It really did sound like a good idea!
Live and learn, it blew the door open and blew eggs all over the adjacent wall frig, and everything in between.
I now cook eggs by another method, LOL, now, not then!

LOL! I bet you do! :D

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