Searing Meat Actually Makes It Lose More Juices
That beloved cooking tip about searing meat to “seal in the juices” is one of the most persistent kitchen myths, despite being scientifically debunked over a century ago. The myth that searing “seals in the juices” is an antique that just won’t go away, even though it has been debunked many many times. This theory was first put forth by Liebig around 1850. Experiments to test the theory were carried out as early as the 1930s and found that the seared roasts lost the same amount of moisture or more. Generally more liquid is lost, since searing exposes the meat to higher temperatures that destroy more cells, in turn releasing more liquid.
The roasted steak lost 13 % of its weight while cooking, while the seared and roasted steak lost about 19 % in a controlled experiment by Alton Brown. Food scientist Harold McGee clearly explains that the crust that forms around the surface of the meat is not waterproof, as any cook has experienced: the continuing sizzle of meat in the pan or oven or on the grill is the sound of moisture continually escaping and vaporizing. The real reason to sear meat is for flavor development through the Maillard reaction, not moisture retention.
Washing Raw Chicken Spreads Dangerous Bacteria Around Your Kitchen
Countless home cooks still wash raw chicken before cooking, believing they’re removing harmful bacteria or debris. This practice is actually counterproductive and dangerous. Salmonella, Campylobacter and other harmful bacteria live on raw chicken. Washing or rinsing doesn’t remove this risk, it worsens it by helping the bacteria spread. When you add water through washing or rinsing, you give these bacteria a way to travel throughout your kitchen.
Recent scientific research using high-speed cameras has shown exactly what happens when you wash chicken. Here, we use large agar plates to confirm that bacteria can be transferred from the surface of raw chicken through splashing. Additionally, we show that faucet height, flow type, and surface stiffness play a role in splash height and distance. Using high-speed imaging to explore splashing causes, we find that increasing faucet height leads to a flow instability that can increase splashing. The USDA found that Even when consumers think they are effectively cleaning after washing poultry, this study shows that bacteria can easily spread to other surfaces and foods. The best practice is not to wash poultry.
The high levels of E. coli DH5α detected in the sink and on the salad lettuce suggest that microbes transferred to the sink from the chicken, packaging, or contaminated hands are a larger cause for concern than is splashing contaminated chicken fluids onto the counter. Among chicken washers, 26 and 30% of the lettuce from the prepared salad was contaminated for the control and treatment groups, respectively. Modern poultry processing already cleans the chicken thoroughly, making home washing completely unnecessary.
Adding Salt to Water Doesn’t Make It Boil Faster
Your grandmother might have sworn by adding salt to make water boil faster, but science tells a different story. Adding salt raises the boiling point of the water, so it does make your water hotter but it’s not going to boil any faster. This kitchen myth stems from a misunderstanding of basic chemistry principles.
In reality, salt actually increases the boiling point of water through a process called boiling point elevation. However, the tiny amount of salt we typically add when cooking pasta or vegetables has virtually no effect on boiling time. Adding a teaspoon or dash of salt to your pot of boiling water won’t make any discernible difference in boiling time (even though it will make your pasta taste delicious!). The real reason to add salt is purely for seasoning the food you’re cooking in it.
Adding salt actually raises the boiling point of water. The amount of salt we add to cooking water, however, is way too low to make a discernible difference to the things cooked in it. So while your salt won’t speed up dinner, at least it’ll make your pasta taste better when you finally get to eat it.
Rinsing Pasta After Cooking Ruins Your Sauce
Many home cooks automatically rinse their pasta with cold water after cooking, thinking they’re stopping the cooking process and preventing stickiness. This practice actually removes something precious from your pasta. But that starchy water residue that too often gets rinsed away is actually good for your pasta dish and can help sauce and seasonings stick to the noodles. It also adds a little desired “oomph” to the flavoring and texture.
The starchy coating on properly cooked pasta is what allows sauces to cling properly, creating that perfect marriage of flavors we all crave. Many people I know seem to like to cook their pasta, then shock it. And that, firstly, doesn’t stop the cooking process as quickly as one would assume, and – secondly – washes off all that nice starch covering the outside of the pasta. This, in turn, leads to thinner sauces, lack of sauce-pasta adherence, and to a drying of your pasta.
The only time you’ll really want to rinse your bowl of pasta in cold water is if you’re making a pasta salad to avoid a gummy consistency. For hot pasta dishes, skip the rinse and embrace the starch – your taste buds will thank you.
Using Vinegar or Baking Soda to Make Eggs Easier to Peel
The internet is filled with tricks for making hard-boiled eggs easier to peel, from adding vinegar to the water to poking holes in the shells. Most of these methods are completely useless. Boiling eggs in water with a splash of vinegar does not make it easier to peel them when they’re cooked.
Food scientists have tested numerous egg-peeling methods and found that most popular tricks simply don’t work. There are a lot of tips out there for making hard-boiled eggs easier to peel. I’ve tried every trick in the book, from using acidulated water (the kind with vinegar added) to poking holes in the shells and everything in between. Reality: It boils down to water temperature. Start your eggs in boiling water and you’ll make a better hard-boiled egg that’s also easier to peel.
The simple truth is that egg age and cooking method matter more than any additive. Fresh eggs are naturally harder to peel because the pH of the egg white is lower, making it bond more strongly to the shell membrane. Starting eggs in already-boiling water, rather than cold water, is the most effective technique that actually works.
Storing Coffee Beans in the Freezer Ruins Their Flavor
Many coffee enthusiasts believe freezing coffee beans preserves their freshness and extends their lifespan. This practice can actually damage the delicate oils and compounds that create coffee’s complex flavors. Some people will tell you to keep your coffee beans cold or even to freeze them to preserve their freshness and extend their life. Those people do not represent the National Coffee Association, whose website states: “To preserve your beans’ fresh roasted flavor as long as possible, store them in an opaque, air-tight container at room temperature.”
Coffee beans are naturally porous and can absorb moisture and odors from the freezer environment. When you repeatedly remove beans from the freezer for daily use, condensation forms on the cold beans, introducing unwanted moisture. The repeated temperature changes cause the beans to expand and contract, potentially damaging their cellular structure.
Professional roasters and coffee experts overwhelmingly recommend storing beans at room temperature in an airtight container, away from light, heat, and moisture. Your morning cup will taste significantly better when your beans haven’t been subjected to the harsh freezer environment that breaks down the delicate aromatic compounds you paid good money for.
Acidic Marinades Actually Tenderize Meat Less Than You Think
The culinary world is filled with advice about using acidic marinades to tenderize tough cuts of meat. While acids can have some effect on proteins, their tenderizing power is greatly exaggerated. It’s true that acidic ingredients denature proteins (change their structure), but most marinades don’t actually penetrate deeper than the meat’s surface. The real reason to use a marinade is to flavor your food and help it retain moisture.
In actuality, they can make meat mushy. To tenderize meat, you have to break down muscle fiber and collagen, the connective tissue that makes meat tough. While acidic ingredients do weaken collagen, their impact is confined to the meat’s surface – and if left too long, acids turn the outermost layer of meat mushy, not tender. To minimize mushiness, we use acidic components sparingly and only for short marinating times.
Professional chefs understand that Neither one permeates the meat very deeply. A day later cut it open – only a very shallow outer layer will be dyed. Marinades adhere to the outside and permeate into the meat fractions of a millimeter, but they flavor, not tenderize, the meat. In general, still, the old-wife’s tale of marinades “penetrating deep and tenderizing” is a myth. True tenderness comes from proper cooking techniques, meat selection, and temperature control rather than lengthy acid baths.
Alcohol Never Completely Cooks Out of Food
One of the most widespread cooking misconceptions is that alcohol completely evaporates during cooking, leaving behind only flavor. This belief leads people to serve dishes with significant alcohol content to children and recovering alcoholics, thinking the alcohol has disappeared. Heat does reduce alcohol’s potency (so you’re not getting anyone drunk with Grandma’s famous rum cake recipe), but the alcohol doesn’t completely cook away. It will if you heat it long enough, but that would take up to three hours in most dishes.
Scientific studies have measured actual alcohol retention in various cooked dishes with surprising results. A study published by the USDA found that in cooking various recipes that listed alcohol as a major ingredient, the alcohol retention percentage was more than 40 percent. Even after lengthy cooking times, substantial amounts of alcohol remain in the final dish.
Your grandmother’s Rum Cake or that red wine in the sauce won’t get you sloshed, but there’s nothing you can do to food with alcohol in it, short of rendering it inedible, that will remove all the alcohol. This means that dishes prepared with wine, beer, or spirits should be clearly labeled for guests who need to avoid alcohol for health, religious, or personal reasons.
Using Screaming Hot Pans for Searing Creates Toxic Compounds
Many cooking shows and recipes call for heating pans until they’re “smoking hot” for the perfect sear. This practice is not only unnecessary but potentially harmful to your health and your food’s flavor. Using a screaming hot pan for searing. You can’t cook higher than the smoke point of your oil. All you’re doing is tripping your home’s smoke detectors, creating acrid oxidized fats that’s terrible for you and tastes bad. Maillard reaction only needs around 300-330F. Plenty of room below the smoke point to get a nice sear without breaking down your oil to acrid flavors.
When oils are heated beyond their smoke point, they break down into harmful compounds that can be toxic when consumed regularly. These degraded oils also impart unpleasant bitter and acrid flavors to your food, exactly the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve with a good sear.
Professional chefs understand that proper searing technique involves controlled high heat, not maximum heat. The Maillard reaction that creates those desirable flavors and aromas happens at much lower temperatures than most home cooks realize, making the dangerous screaming-hot approach completely unnecessary for achieving restaurant-quality results.
Removing Tomato Seeds and Gel Eliminates the Best Flavor
Many recipes instruct cooks to remove tomato seeds and the surrounding gel before cooking, claiming this prevents bitterness or excess moisture. This practice actually removes the most flavorful part of the tomato. We made two tomato gratins, one with intact tomatoes and the other with the seeds and jelly removed. We found that the gratin with the intact tomatoes had a richer, deeper flavor. This is because the seeds and jelly actually contain three times the amount of flavor-enhancing glutamic acid as the flesh.
The gel surrounding tomato seeds is packed with umami compounds that significantly enhance the overall taste of your dishes. Also called glutamate, this is the compound that supplies the savory quality known as umami in many foods. Sometimes removing seeds may be necessary, but it should be last resort. When you discard the seeds and gel, you’re literally throwing away the most intense tomato flavor components.
Professional chefs rarely remove tomato seeds unless absolutely necessary for textural reasons in very specific preparations. The myth that tomato seeds are bitter likely stems from underripe tomatoes, where the seeds haven’t fully developed their complex flavor compounds. With properly ripe tomatoes, the seeds and gel are flavor goldmines that should be embraced, not discarded.
The kitchen is filled with well-intentioned advice that’s been passed down through generations, but science has proven many of these cherished techniques actually work against us. From spreading bacteria by washing chicken to throwing away the most flavorful parts of tomatoes, these outdated practices persist despite contradicting modern food science. The next time someone insists you need to rinse that pasta or sear that steak to “lock in juices,” you’ll know better. Sometimes the best cooking tip is knowing which advice to ignore completely. What other kitchen “wisdom” have you been following that might actually be working against your culinary goals?
