Charlotte’s Tips

Time for some more kitchen myths.

Avoid aluminum cookware because of Alzheimer’s disease – False

This myth started a few of years ago when medical researchers found elevated levels of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. One possibility was that the raised aluminum level was responsible for causing the disease. People exposed to too much aluminum, from their jobs or their cookware, they would have a better chance of coming down with this disease. People started avoiding aluminum cookware. Some still are – unnecessarily. Research has failed to show any connection between aluminum exposure and Alzheimer’s. It’s believed that the elevated aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients is a result of the disease process. In other words, high aluminum levels do not cause Alzheimer’s, but rather Alzheimer’s causes high aluminum levels.

You must use a serrated knife to slice ripe tomatoes – False

You can use a serrated knife for ripe tomatoes but it’s not necessary. If you find yourself turning to a serrated knife for slicing tomatoes it’s probably because your straight-edged knives are not sharp enough. Using a well-sharpened regular knife will make paper-thin slices from a ripe tomato – in fact, many people use this as a test for a knife’s sharpness.

Lobsters scream with pain when boiled False

This one is false on two counts. First of all, pain doesn’t just happen automatically – it is the result of specific receptors, nerve pathways, and brain regions all cooperating to convert certain physical stimuli into the perception of pain. Lobsters and other crustaceans are not vertebrates and simply do not have these nerve pathways and brain regions (they don’t have a real brain at all).

The “scream” that lobsters sometime emit when dropped in the boiling water? Lobsters have no throat, no vocal cords, no lungs, so they cannot scream. The noise is caused by air trapped in the shell. When heated it expands and forces itself out through small gaps, causing the sound.

Hot pan, cold oil False

Many people say this the best way to prevent food from sticking to the pan when sautéing or stir frying. The idea is that you heat up the pan first then add the cold oil and almost immediately add the food. This works of course, so it is not a myth in that it is untrue. It is false to think that this is the only way to prevent sticking. What you really have to have is “hot pan, hot oil”. That’s what you are actually getting because the cold oil heats up almost instantly when added to the hot pan. You’ll get the same results if you heat the oil along with the pan rather than adding the oil at the last minute.

False: Use water instead of milk when making scrambled eggs and omelets

I’m sure you’ve heard that using milk when making scrambled eggs and omelets results in tough eggs – that you should use water instead. Scrambled eggs made with water don’t have as much flavor and do not come out as fluffy. They aren’t soft as those made with milk. Cream is even better.

False: Sushi means raw fish

People think that “sushi” is means raw fish. The term actually refers to vinegared rice which is made by dissolving sugar in vinegar (usually rice vinegar) and tossing with the just-cooked rice. Sushi refers to vinegared rice served with other ingredients which may or may not include fish (which in turn may be raw or cooked). The rice itself is referred to as shari. Raw fish served by itself without the rice is called sashimi.

I’m sure you have heard of a lot of these and believed them to be true. Well here’s the real truth.

This is going to be some of the new content I spoke of earlier. I’ll be posting a couple of these at a time. I hope to keep it as a regular feature.

FALSE: Searing the meat seals in the juices. If searing did seal in juices, then the seared meat would lose less weight during cooking than the non seared piece. Actually, both the seared and non seared meat lost about the same amount of weight. So if you are searing meat for that reason, you’re wasting your time. But if you are doing it for the flavor, continue to do so. When the proteins and sugars in meat are exposed to high heat (searing) chemical reactions take place that result in lots of new flavors. Those flavors, both in the browned meat and in any pan juices, make searing an important step in some recipes.

FALSE: A box of baking soda in the fridge or freezer absorbs odors. This is a marketing ploy by the people who make baking soda. The truth is that baking soda is very poor at absorbing odors. Lots of people have spent lots of money to put boxes of baking soda in their fridge or freezer with no real effect. Activated charcoal works better but is expensive. The best thing to do is wrap your food well and keep your fridge clean.