Cooking Myths

[Adam Balic]

OK I was nearly correct. The storage sugar in beans is Raffinose (also in sun-chokes), not starch. This isn't broken down by the human enzymes and does go on to the bowel to be broken down to by bacteria to make gas.

Raffinose is water soluble, so soaking it may remove some of the sugar. But I would think that most of the Raffinose would remain in the bean, even after soaking.

[CathyL]

I'm not sure is the overnight soaking is enough time to activate the pulses enzymes and break down the complex sugars (starches) into simple-farty sugars. I would guess yes. Must depend on the type of pulse as well.

Same thing happens with Sun-chokes (Jerusalem artichoke), God's fartiest veggie, weird sugars not fit for mammalian enzymes.

That's fascinating, Adam. I love Jerusalem artichokes but I always roast them in chunks or slices until they're quite brown and caramelized. Nary a fart. Is that because the roasting breaks down the complex sugars, or because I have a cast-iron gut?

[Peter B Wolf]

cold water comes to a boil faster than hot water.  that one has always baffled me.

Tommy, Cold water contains more oxygen then warm/hot water. It's this oxygen getting "freed" faster on the bottom of the pot where the heat is the strongest, turning to tiny bubbles of steam, so making the water "roll", our interpretation of "boiling". Hot water, as you very well described, sitting in that tank being heated - loosing oxygen, when now brought to a boil the "roll" will not be as fast, as the oxygen bubbles are deminished, the "roll" takes longer. But, the funny part is that the temperature of 212F will be reached just as fast in warm water as in cold water. It's the "rolling" boil that keeps us waiting.

Ok, all you experts: I stand corrected, as always.

[Big Man]

Here's one: A watched pot never boils.

I've actually disproved this one many times.

(Waiting for the smug scientific bastards to explain this one.)

[tommy]

But, the funny part is that the temperature of 212F will be reached just as fast in warm water as in cold water. It's the "rolling" boil that keeps us waiting.

i just don't see this as being the case.

[gknl]

cold water comes to a boil faster than hot water.   that one has always baffled me.

Tommy, Cold water contains more oxygen then warm/hot water. It's this oxygen getting "freed" faster on the bottom of the pot where the heat is the strongest, turning to tiny bubbles of steam, so making the water "roll", our interpretation of "boiling". Hot water, as you very well described, sitting in that tank being heated - loosing oxygen, when now brought to a boil the "roll" will not be as fast, as the oxygen bubbles are deminished, the "roll" takes longer. But, the funny part is that the temperature of 212F will be reached just as fast in warm water as in cold water. It's the "rolling" boil that keeps us waiting.

Ok, all you experts: I stand corrected, as always.

I think it's that hot water cooled to the same temperature would take longer to boil than never heated water, but the main thing in boiling water is getting it to the boiling point which is all about heat transfer. The greater the temperature differential, the longer it takes to heat up. But I could be wrong too.

[Gifted Gourmet]

What about eccentric habits that have been passed down from generation to generation?

For instance, do you really need to scorch milk? No, it's probably a holdover from days before pasteurization. Today it's not really necessary, but it still lives on in many recipes.

Which "old wives tales" remain with you although you know that they are no longer valid today?

Related but old thread from June 2004: Food Superstitions

[oraklet]

i'm not sure, but that thing about scorching the milk has, i've been told, to do with something chemical going on when milk is at near-boil. something that will prevent, to some extent, crystallization in an ice cream.

[therese]

For instance, do you really need to scorch milk?

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We always called this scalding milk, not scorching (though it's pretty easy to scorch if you don't watch it).

[Milagai]

i'm not sure, but that thing about scorching the milk has, i've been told, to do with something chemical going on when milk is at near-boil. something that will prevent, to some extent, crystallization in an ice cream.

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i've also heard that boiling or scalding or whatever

breaks down lactose to some extent so that makes it

easier for lactose intolerant people ...

also i've heard it does something to the proteins?

making it easier to digest?

i'd love to know whether these are facts or ficts.

milagai

[BarbaraY]

It seems to me that the eggs for custards and ice cream blend in better if the milk is scalded. Custard cook a bit quicker, too.

If it scorches I feed it to the dogs.

I had always heard that one shouldn't salt beans at the beginning of cooking but one day it occured to me that cooking them with ham hocks added salt and didn't harm them so why not add salt at the start of the cooking?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Ochef.com

Scalding served two purposes, to kill potentially harmful bacteria in the milk, and to destroy enzymes that keep the milk from thickening in recipes. Pasteurization, however, accomplishes both of those goals, and since almost all store-bought milk in Western countries is pasteurized these days, scalding is essentially an unnecessary step.   Shirley Corriher, the noted food scientist, baker, and author of Cookwise (Canada, UK), says she does scald milk before using it in breads, however. She says there is a protein in the whey that marginally reduces the volume of a loaf of bread as it rises and bakes.

and yes, I did use the wrong term in choosing "scorching" over "scalding", therese ... but you got the drift of the comment ...

[therese]

and yes, I did use the wrong term in choosing "scorching" over "scalding", therese ... but you got the drift of the comment ...

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Yep.

As recently as the early 80's milk from local farms in Italy was still scalded routinely prior to use to prevent potential infection. Pasteurization was initially developed to prevent transmission of bovine TB to humans.

[curlywurlyfi]

I was reading Alice B Toklas's cookbook over the weekend + all her recipes state very firmly that sauces must be stirred in one direction only. What's all that about then?

[jayt90]

I have a friend with a moderate case of OCD. He always rinses a pot, pan, or utensil with a stream of water to remove germs before using it over heat.

[Carrot Top]

I was reading Alice B Toklas's cookbook over the weekend + all her recipes state very firmly that sauces must be stirred in one direction only.  What's all that about then?

Maybe Alice was into Feng Shui?

It's good to stir the spirits in the right direction, you know. Don't want to upset things.

[tryska]

I had gotten a recipe from soemone here a while back for and Indian spiced asparagus risotto. He was quite adamant that the risotto should be stirred widdershins (counterclockwise, right?). I have no idea why.

the risotto was pretty good, tho.

[kelautz]

Okay, I got one for ya. You know all this hoo-ha about putting roasted red peppers in a bag, or under an upended bowl or something so that the charred skins get loosened by the steam? Baloney. I roasted some peppers and just left them out on a plate to cool one time. They peeled just fine, no difference. Try it, you'll see.

Same goes for the calumny that you can't roast red peppers on an electric burner, only gas. Sure you can. Just put a little rack over the electric burner then the peppers. I use a cake rack. Works just fine, better, even. An electric coil provides even heat across the entire diameter of its size. Gas burners tend to be hot in a ring, so you have to move the peppers around more.

[SuzySushi]

I was reading Alice B Toklas's cookbook over the weekend + all her recipes state very firmly that sauces must be stirred in one direction only.  What's all that about then?

Maybe Alice was into Feng Shui?

It's good to stir the spirits in the right direction, you know. Don't want to upset things.

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Hmmmn... in Switzerland, it's traditional to stir fondue in a figure 8. That makes sense, though: if it's stirred in one direction only, the cheese tends to glop up around the spoon.

[YoChefGregg]

When using milk in baking, scalding denatures a whey protein that weakens gluten.

[Patrick S]

This anecdote is not really an old wives tales, but is similar. When I was very little, my grandmother induced a metaphysical panic in me when she told me that the water wouldn't boil if we kept taking the lid off and peeking at it. I asked how the water knew we were peeking? "It just does," she said, not willing at that time to explain things like thermodynamic or the laws of physics. So for a little while I was left thinking that the water knew when we were peeking, and was just shy about boiling when anyone was looking. It was childhood animism at its finest.

[andiesenji]

I grew up in a house with a very superstitious cook who had a long list of things one should or should not do in the kitchen at various times of the day or year. Certain tasks were not to be done by the other women who worked in the kitchen during their menses. (churning buttermilk or making cheese, for instance.)

No man was allowed in the kitchen while cakes were baking.

Liquor or wine bottles had to be opened outside or in the butler's pantry, never in the kitchen. They could then be brought into the kitchen. With beer it didn't matter.

(It just so happened that Livingston county was a dry county, no beer or liquor was sold retail, however there always seemed to be plenty around.)

Sauces and puddings were always stirred clockwise and never leave the spoon in the pan unless it was moving.

The water in which the first spring vegetables were cooked had to be poured out in the kitchen garden otherwise the crop would be small.

If anyone spilled salt they had to say "Blessings Be" three times and toss a bit of salt over their left shoulder. (apparently to blind the Devil).

If silverware was dropped on the floor it meant company was coming for dinner.

If someone dropped a plate and it didn't break it meant they were going to receive some pleasant surprise. If the plate broke it meant they were going to lose something.

If a bee flew into the kitchen it meant properity for the coming month.

If the fire went out completely in the big wood/coal kitchen range it had to be completely emptied of ash and a twist of paper containing salt and pepper and a piece of chicken feather had to be burned in the firebox before the new fire was laid and lit.

An egg was roasted, chopped very fine and tossed out into the yard at the time of the new moon, for the "little people".

[andiesenji]

There are lots more. Every culture has its own and some are very strange indeed.

I think there was a book with all the old household superstitions published some years ago.

The Farmer's Almanac used to list some odd ones.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I liked them all but thinking about this in particular:

No man was allowed in the kitchen while cakes were baking.

Probably because they might open the oven and ruin the cake to taste it ... or was it their personal magnetism? I forget now ...

[SuzySushi]

This anecdote is not really an old wives tales, but is similar. When I was very little, my grandmother induced a metaphysical panic in me when she told me that the water wouldn't boil if we kept taking the lid off and peeking at it. I asked how the water knew we were peeking? "It just does," she said, not willing at that time to explain things like thermodynamic or the laws of physics.  So for a little while I was left thinking that the water knew when we were peeking, and was just shy about boiling when anyone was looking. It was childhood animism at its finest.

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OHHHH!!!! So that's what they mean by "A watched pot never boils." We never bothered covering the pots when putting up water to boil, so I could never figure that one out! As a child, I made sure to turn away from the stove!!!