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Kitchen Myths, Debunked

Home cooks, prepare to have some cherished kitchen myths debunked.

Do you stir your risotto continuously? Use plastic cutting boards to ward off food poisoning?  New Scientist Magazine has officially debunked many of the kitchen tips passed down to you.

According to science journalist Sam Wong: “It turns out that many top tips make very little difference, while others undermine flavour or even increase the risk of food poisoning.”

Want creamy risotto?  Dr Matt Hartings, who teaches chemistry of cooking at the American University, and US chef Kenji Lopez-Alt, say that the trick isn’t constant stirring. Just try washing your rice beforehand and you’ll get that lush creaminess.

Here’s one that some will find sacrilegious:  Searing your steak may not provide the juiciest result. Cook identical steaks to the same internal temperature and you’ll find the one that is roasted then seared is often juicier than one that is seared then roasted.

That’s because higher heat makes the muscle fibres contract more, forcing liquid out. A cold steak will take longer to sear in a hot pan than a steak that has been warmed in the oven, so loses more liquid.

One cooking rule that wasn’t busted:  Rest your meat.  As the muscle fibres cool, they will widen and hold on to more juice.

The old saw about waiting for your leftovers to cool before they go in the fridge?  Busted.  Putting leftovers in the fridge asap will stop bacteria from multiplying.

Finally, those plastic chopping boards aren’t any safer than wooden ones. E.coli and salmonella die on wood, but not on plastic – especially if the plastic has knife cuts.

COOKING MYTHS

Via Daily Mail

 

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