Persistent culinary myths

Insect Overlord

You're the one who made the same mistake 4 times, tbf...

MissFlitworth

Guys - not the spot for spelling fights. And in general, not the spot for pointing out people's spelling and grammar errors (i'm not even sure if that apostrophe in people's should be there, tbf).

We're a community of people typing on phones on the bus, half an eye on spelling & half on people having a scrap in the seat beside us / people whose first language isn't English / people who have difficulties with spelling etc. Don't make the baby cheeses cry

The Hill Billy

Lord Riverside wrote: »

that must be some brush.

Bog-standard mushroom hunter's knife with brush...

Old Perry

MissFlitworth wrote: »

We're a community of people typing on phones on the bus, half an eye on spelling & half on people having a scrap in the seat beside us / people whose first language isn't English / people who have difficulties with spelling etc. Don't make the baby cheeses cry

this is brillient. gve me a rite larf after a long enuf day.

Tarzana2

Melendez wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Being able to laugh at oneself is an attractive quality. Seemed like she was joking to me!

syklops

the beer revolu wrote: »

Having tried many different beers in stews, that's my observation. It's the only beer that's given me unpleasant flavours in stew.

I, by no means, hate Guinness. I've drank much of it in my time and still occasionally drink a pint bottle. I just find it annoying that beef and Guinness seems to be have become a workd wide classic when, for me, it works less well with beef than most other beers.

I also suspect that many of the advocates for the concept haven't actually tried other beers in similar recipes.

I don't want to sound pedantic, but surely this is not a myth but simply a difference in opinion. I personally love the dark caramelized color and flavour it brings to a beef and stout pie/stew, which you don't get to the same extent if you use an ale or lager.

Day Lewin

Culinary myth: pouring oil on top of troubled water calms it down.

Oh no, wait - that's the pasta controversy surfacing again ---

moving swiftly on...

Here's one that you often see in starry-eyed cookbooks: that raw spinach should be given a shake through in water and then cooked in whatever drops of water are left clinging to the leaves.

Every single time I've ever tried this, them leaves glued themselves down to the bottom of the pot like wallpaper.
I've found that I have to add at least a cm. of boiling water to let the poor leaves float a bit. They don't take much cooking, mind. Quick boil and drain, rough chop, (drain again) then butter or cream, and salt, pepper, nutmeg. Shake to melt. Glory.

unkel

Frozen meat should be eaten within 3 months. Nonsense. As long as it is kept at -18C or colder at all times, meat doesn't really go off

I remember a program where some scientists ate mammoth meat that had been in the permafrost for a million years. It wasn't nice, but nobody got sick.

rubadub wrote: »

it's sterile, some guy ate 50 year old canned chicken a few years back and scientists were confirming its fine.

Many decades ago a friend of the family owned a canning factory. We didn't really believe him but he used to say any canned food is fine for 100 years. Unless there was a dent in the can. He was probably spot on

smallgarden

My understanding with freezing is that the meat will lose quality so taste, texture etc will be affected. Its safe to eat from a microorganism point of view. See it as a best before rather than use by

Tarzana2

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Bog-standard mushroom hunter's knife with brush...

Gawd, I love that this actually exists!

On the eating raw mushies subject, I didn't know this was a thing until a few years ago when I got a pizza in a restaurant with raw mushrooms on. And it was deliberate. Not for me though, I love an aul cooked mushroom.

testaccount123

syklops wrote: »

I don't want to sound pedantic, but surely this is not a myth but simply a difference in opinion. I personally love the dark caramelized color and flavour it brings to a beef and stout pie/stew, which you don't get to the same extent if you use an ale or lager.

Guinness is an ale. I tend to agree with the beer revolu, Guinness tends to introduce acrid flavours to a stew IMO. I think its the roasted (unmalted) barley in there. There are better stouts and porters to use in stews.

Not really a 'myth' though.

Markcheese

katemarch wrote: »

Culinary myth: pouring oil on top of troubled water calms it down.

Oh no, wait - that's the pasta controversy surfacing again ---

moving swiftly on...

Here's one that you often see in starry-eyed cookbooks: that raw spinach should be given a shake through in water and then cooked in whatever drops of water are left clinging to the leaves.

Every single time I've ever tried this, them leaves glued themselves down to the bottom of the pot like wallpaper.
I've found that I have to add at least a cm. of boiling water to let the poor leaves float a bit. They don't take much cooking, mind. Quick boil and drain, rough chop, (drain again) then butter or cream, and salt, pepper, nutmeg. Shake to melt. Glory.

I always spin dry the spinach- then chuck some butter in the pan -then the spinach seems to work -

fussyonion

Markcheese wrote: »

I always spin dry the spinach- then chuck some butter in the pan -then the spinach seems to work -

Heh, I imagine you there spinning it with your hands.
Or throwing it in the tumble dryer.

Markcheese

smallgarden wrote: »

My understanding with freezing is that the meat will lose quality so taste, texture etc will be affected. Its safe to eat from a microorganism point of view. See it as a best before rather than use by

I remember a few years back a lot of eu intervention beef sitting in " deep chill" in warehouses for years- literally . A couple of years later entering the fresh food chain-

Lord Riverside

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Bog-standard mushroom hunter's knife with brush...

Bog standard is right hill billy, can't see how that would get all the manure off a mushroom without washing it. Some people would eat anything I suppose.

fussyonion

I haven't read through all the comments but anyway...

I used to wash mushrooms, but I stopped because they made my dish too watery.
Anyway, I buy pre-packed mushrooms and they're clean enough.
I haven't died yet from eating unwashed 'shrooms!

Spanish Eyes

Eggs past their use by date are gone for good.

Not true. Do the water test.

(may have been said already, if so, sorry)

I WAS DISTRACTED BY THE PASTA THING!!

fussyonion

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Eggs past their use by date are gone for good.

Not true. Do the water test.

(may have been said already, if so, sorry)

I WAS DISTRACTED BY THE PASTA THING!!

I always do the water test.
Had an egg this morning with a BB date of August 22nd.
Twas fine.

The Hill Billy

Lord Riverside wrote: »

Bog standard is right hill billy, can't see how that would get all the manure off a mushroom without washing it. Some people would eat anything I suppose.

If a mushroom had grown in anything that couldn't be removed by that brush, I wouldn't eat that mushroom.

Lord Riverside

The Hill Billy wrote: »

If a mushroom had grown in anything that couldn't be removed by that brush, I wouldn't eat that mushroom.

It can't remove any particles finer than the bristles, and it won't.

Tarzana2

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Eggs past their use by date are gone for good.

Not true. Do the water test.

I've saved manys the egg from waste using this test. For fried eggs though, old eggs aren't great though, even if safe to eat. The yolk gets too spready.

Yogurts are also frequently fine well past stated use-by date, the key sign to know if they're ok is if the lid hasn't bulged.

Faith

Lord Riverside wrote: »

It can't remove any particles finer than the bristles, and it won't.

Mod: Fine, you don't eat unwashed mushrooms so. Now stop dragging the thread off-topic with this.

Also, a reminder to everyone that food safety advice is not permitted. Some posts are, again, very close to that line.

Lord Riverside

Ok, but as you can see, we've demonstrated it's a persistent culinary myth that a dry brush will sufficiently clean raw food, especially a food grown in manure. It doesn't.

Day Lewin

That's not the kind of culinary myth that this thread is intended to reveal.

We can't quiz everyone about their beliefs regarding food, and then triumphantly agree or disagree.
There used to be a widespread recommendation - in 19th century cookbooks - that mushrooms ought to be peeled: but nobody does that any more. Apparently a lot of the flavour resides in the skin.

Now, POTATO skins - I grew up believing that the skins were poisonous. Seemingly not so, nowadays the scrubbed and smashed-down version is very popular with fashionable chefs!

I also learned in my childish schoolyard that if you swallow an orange pip, a baby orange tree will grow in your stomach and eventually put roots and branches out through your skin.

This isn't true, either. :-)

hdowney

katemarch wrote: »

That's not the kind of culinary myth that this thread is intended to reveal.

We can't quiz everyone about their beliefs regarding food, and then triumphantly agree or disagree.
There used to be a widespread recommendation - in 19th century cookbooks - that mushrooms ought to be peeled: but nobody does that any more. Apparently a lot of the flavour resides in the skin.

Now, POTATO skins - I grew up believing that the skins were poisonous. Seemingly not so, nowadays the scrubbed and smashed-down version is very popular with fashionable chefs!

I also learned in my childish schoolyard that if you swallow an orange pip, a baby orange tree will grow in your stomach and eventually put roots and branches out through your skin.

This isn't true, either. :-)

My mam still insists on peeling the skin of large flatcaps such as Portobello shrooms. Mind that may be more to the it's tough as old boots to eat with the damn skin on!

Spanish Eyes

Tarzana2 wrote: »

I've saved manys the egg from waste using this test. For fried eggs though, old eggs aren't great though, even if safe to eat. The yolk gets too spready.

Yogurts are also frequently fine well past stated use-by date, the key sign to know if they're ok is if the lid hasn't bulged.

If they pass the water test in my house they are great for omellettes, fritatatas and quiches etc. Boiled eggs too.

I love eggs. So versatile.

And just to add I've eaten yogurts weeellll past the use by date too. Still here.

So much food would be saved if use by dates were pushed out a bit I think!

TheChizler

The rotten floating egg test is another one, plenty of fresh eggs float, and rotten eggs can both float and sink depending on storage conditions/type of egg. It's anything but reliable.

Day Lewin

Yes, I use eggs of all vintages cheerfully, the freshness makes a difference to how they poach and whether the yolks break but I think the staler ones taste great - stronger, eggier.
Lifelong committed egg devotee and only once - exactly once in many decades - did I see one bad egg. It was stinky and sort of black inside. Clearly not edible.

There are numerous myths about eggs, that I have never tested. Mostly about the alleged "freshness" and often too about telling a hard-boiled from a raw (without looking)
Spinning them.
Putting the broad end to the tip of your tongue, if it feels warm the egg is fresh. [Weird or what?]
That if you place a raw egg carefully between your palms at the exact centre, and PRESS firmly inwards, the egg will not crack. Owing to its elliptical shape strength. I have tested this...(very messy. Disproved!)

And so forth.

EITS

I do find the spinning the raw eggs work, well, hasn't not worked so far haha

syklops

This thread is rapidly turning from the cooking myths thread into the "cooking beliefs that I disagree with" thread.