Kitchen Myths

My sister emailed me a link to an NY Times article on kitchen myths and I thought it was intriguing enough to cast a few observations on it, though I wish someone would do a “Mythbusters”-style assault on this subject. Obviously I can’t cover all of them, but here is what I’ve observed. And what’s so scary about this whole thing is that a tiny bit of common sense alone is sufficient to debunk some of the myths—a degree in physics is not required:

1. Oil in pasta water prevents it from sticking

The few times I did this I noticed a few things; for one, the pasta stuck no matter how much oil was in the water, but only because I didn’t stir it. Figure it out: pasta is made of flour. If you mix flour and water in the right concentration, you have a pretty good glue (I did when I was little). If you put two strands of pasta together in hot water and they’re touching, the first thing that’s going to happen is that the gluten on them is going to swell in the water, becoming sticky, especially in the first few seconds of cooking. Since they’re next to each other, the strands are going to bond unless they are physically separated and water is allowed to come between them. This is the also the reason that one is taught to use lots of water to boil pasta. If you use less water, you can still make decent pasta, but you are going to have to be a hell of a lot more attentive to keep it from sticking because of the larger quantity of parts per million of gluten particles.

What I found out from adding oil to the water is that it helped to keep the water from boiling over (probably by interfering with the bubbles’ ability to explode quite so vigorously on the surface).


2. Throwing a piece of spaghetti on the wall will tell you if it’s done

After decades of making pasta I’ve discovered some things. First, never go by what they tell you on the label about how long to cook the pasta. Second, never walk away and leave while the pasta is cooking. All you have to do to make sure you make perfect pasta is to have plenty of water, salt it as much as the sea, stir it vigorously until the water has regained enough boil to mix it up by itself, and keep tasting the pasta after the 6-7 minute mark (depending on the thickness of the pasta). Then, drain it while it’s still quite a bit underdone and don’t for god’s sake rinse it in cold water (unless you’re going to bake it in the oven later) and without shaking it completely dry just deposit it in a container. And this is only if you’re not serving it immediately (which few of us do). The pasta will continue to soften in the next few minutes by the steam generated by its own heat and will be perfectly al dente by the time you serve it.

Of course, the old wall myth is kind of tortured, so I won’t even dignify it here.

Note that all of the above does NOT refer to fresh pasta (almost a totally different species).

3. Peeling and removing the seeds from tomatoes make for a better sauce

Okay, I’ll bite: maybe. But not peeling and not removing the seeds makes a perfectly decent sauce that only a Cook’s Illustrated taster would moan about.

4. Searing the meat seals in the juices

Okay, this hoary old wives’ tale is admittedly long in the tooth, but it stands to reason that no matter how brown it gets, there is no magic “force field” that is going to develop that will prevent it from losing its juices. And one thing that I am still skeptical about is the theory that if you let meat “rest” it will reabsorb its juices instead of letting them all run away by carving it immediately. Have you ever seen a steak that has “rested” for 5 minutes? There is more juice on the plate than ten seconds after it came out of the pan . . . I believe the more rational reason is that the heat can redistribute itself through the cut and possibly finish warming the last inner holdouts in the case of medium rare. Otherwise, I really don’t think that resting the thing, unless it’s a large roast, is strictly necessary.

5. Don’t wash mushrooms

One word for this theory: bullshit. Maybe for Adrian Ferra—not for the rest of us.

6. My personal pet peeve: Microwaves cook food from the inside out.

Absolute unmitigated horseshit. How many of us have tried to thaw a huge frozen block of something only to find that the outside is boiling hot but the inside is still happily glacial? There is a severe lack of knowledge among cooks about how microwaves work. I won’t pretend to be a physics expert, but I do know that microwave ovens ONLY HAVE ONE SETTING: HIGH. Yes, you read it right. All those stupid little buttons on the microwave panel that say “Defrost” or “Baked potato” are a royal crock of shit. The only setting you can mess with is how long the microwave delivers its burn. In other words, imagine boiling a cup of water. If you put it in for two minutes on maximum, the microwave will just blast away with no break for two minutes. If you put it on four minutes with Medium, the microwave will blast in precise increments, on/off, for exactly half the time. Blast, rest. Blast, rest (just listen to it one day!) The water will boil, but at twice the time.

So, there is NO “low power” microwave setting. The key ingredient is time.

And what about that myth about the ant surviving the microwave? It’s not a myth.

7. A sharp knife will prevent accidents.

Oh, how gloriously true. Witness for the prosecution: a green pepper. Witness for the defense: a dull paring knife that Grandmother used. Verdict: Emergency.

8. Let the food come to room temperature before you put it in the refrigerator

Don’t.

I’m sure you have your own kitchen myths. Post ‘em in Comments and let’s see if we can’t debunk them!