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    Kitchen Myths – Facts and Fiction About Food and Cooking
    Kitchen Myths – Facts and Fiction About Food and Cooking
    Kitchen Myths – Facts and Fiction About Food and Cooking
    Ebook103 pages55 minutes

    Kitchen Myths – Facts and Fiction About Food and Cooking

    By Peter Aitken

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    About this ebook

    The world of food and cooking is full of falsehoods—things that are commonly believed to be true, but in fact are not. These kitchen myths may come from a TV chef, a cookbook author, or your mom, and many people find it hard to give up long-held beliefs. The author, a retired medical school professor, punctures and deflates dozens of myths, always with an emphasis on sound scientific principles and credible evidence. Illustrated throughout with the author’s own photographs, this book is an enjoyable read and will surely improve your culinary skills and knowledge.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPiedmont Medical Writers
    Release dateApr 1, 2013
    ISBN9781890586263
    Kitchen Myths – Facts and Fiction About Food and Cooking
    Author

    Peter Aitken

    Peter Aitken was the UK National Mirror Coach and has seen plenty of his charges triumph on the world scene, winning gold medals at the Mirror World Championships. He has also coached sailors to win the Cadet and 420 World Championships and has worked with some of the best sailors in the world.

    Read more from Peter Aitken

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      Book preview

      Kitchen Myths – Facts and Fiction About Food and Cooking - Peter Aitken

      Kitchen Myths: Facts and Fiction about Food and Cooking

      Peter Aitken, PhD

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Health and Nutrition

      A high-protein diet is bad for your kidneys.

      Compared to sugar, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is worse for your health.

      Fruit should be eaten only on an empty stomach.

      Aspartame causes health problems.

      Eating grilled meat increases your chance of cancer.

      Brown eggs are more nutritious than white eggs.

      A craving for a specific food is your body’s way of telling you that it needs a nutrient that’s present in that food.

      Raw vegetables provide enzymes that promote healthy digestion.

      The thin layer of gray flesh on salmon should be taken off.

      Organic food is better for your health.

      Drinking fruit juice is just as good as eating fruit.

      Brightly colored vegetables have the most nutrients.

      MSG is bad for you.

      Avoid aluminum cookware because of Alzheimer’s disease.

      Food Safety

      Microwave cooking is radiation and makes foods poisonous.

      Put hot food that you want to cool right in the fridge.

      Vinegar that has developed a sediment in the bottle should be discarded.

      For safety, wash raw chicken before cooking.

      You can scrape surface mold off of home-canned jams and they will be safe to eat.

      Green spots on raw potatoes may be unsightly but are safe to eat.

      You must cook pork to well-done for safety reasons.

      Ground beef that’s brown at the center is spoiled.

      Foods such as chicken salad made with mayonnaise are prone to quick spoilage.

      Ingredients

      Remove the seeds from hot peppers to reduce the heat.

      Never put bananas in the refrigerator, they’ll become inedible.

      Kosher salt tastes better than regular salt.

      Use only the leaves from cilantro.

      Replace your vanilla extract at least once a year.

      Just-squeezed lemon and lime juice taste the best.

      All salt measures the same.

      Fresh shrimp are better than frozen.

      Garlic that has started to sprout is perfectly OK to use.

      You must scald milk before using it in certain recipes.

      All fruit will continue to ripen after picked.

      Toast black peppercorns before grinding for best flavor.

      The best scallops are pure white.

      Kosher meat is higher quality.

      Acidic marinades make meat tender.

      Soak rice before cooking for best results.

      When using tomatoes for cooking, discard the seeds and jelly for best flavor.

      Salted butter is better for baking.

      Don’t wash raw mushrooms because they will absorb water.

      Fresh seafood is always better than frozen.

      Myths about dried beans.

      Let picked tomatoes sit in the sun for best ripening.

      Grass fed beef is superior to regular beef.

      Organic food tastes better? Not always.

      A rare hamburger is potentially dangerous.

      Coffee labeled fair trade is the highest quality.

      When you add alcohol to a recipe it all evaporates during cooking so there is none in the final dish.

      Aside from the color, cremini mushrooms are no different from the white ones.

      A worm in an ear of corn means you can’t eat it.

      All thickening agents are created equal.

      When sautéing food in olive oil, use extra virgin oil for the best flavor.

      Food Storage

      You should not store coffee in the freezer.

      Bread becomes stale by drying out.

      It’s OK to store flour and other ground grains in the pantry.

      Frozen chicken lasts more or less forever.

      Store tomatoes in the fridge for best flavor.

      Butter must be kept refrigerated.

      Odds and Ends

      Cold water boils faster than warm water

      To keep coffee hot longer, add milk just before drinking.

      Real chili cannot contain beans or tomatoes.

      A box of baking soda in the fridge or freezer absorbs odors.

      You feel drowsy after Thanksgiving dinner because of the tryptophan in the turkey.

      All ice cubes are created equal.

      Different areas of your tongue are sensitive to different tastes.

      Live lobsters scream with pain when boiled.

      Eating bananas makes you more attractive to mosquitoes.

      If you put the avocado pit in the bowl, guacamole won’t turn brown.

      You cannot eat so much that your stomach bursts.

      Sushi means raw fish.

      Techniques

      Searing meat seals in the juices.

      For best results, use an uncovered pot when blanching vegetables.

      Add oil to pasta cooking water to keep the pasta from sticking.

      A pinhole in a raw egg will prevent cracking while boiling.

      Use water instead of milk when making scrambled eggs.

      With onions, slice, dice, or use the food processor—it’s all the same.

      Add raw potatoes to already-boiling water.

      When grilling a burger, flip it only once for best results.

      You can keep meat moist by cooking it in a stew or braising it.

      Adding salt to the cooking water keeps greens green.

      Tear basil, rather than cutting it, for best flavor.

      Hot pan, cold oil to prevent sticking.

      Don’t salt meat before cooking.

      You can make a baked potato in the microwave.

      Salt your scrambled eggs after cooking for best results.

      A food processor grinds meat as well as a traditional meat grinder.

      The best way to measure flour is the dip and sweep method.

      When baking muffins, fill empty cups with water for even baking.

      When making a meringue, you must not get even a tiny speck of yolk in the egg whites or they won’t beat up properly.

      Salt beef for hamburgers before grinding it.

      You must/must not salt pasta cooking water.

      An electric mixer makes the best mashed potatoes.

      Cut and serve meat as soon as it is done.

      When baking bread, internal temperature is the best way to tell if the loaf is done.

      You cannot deep-fry in olive oil.

      Equipment

      Heating a pan prevents food from sticking by closing cracks in the metal.

      You cannot do serious cooking in a microwave.

      You can’t wash

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