10 Common Food Myths Debunked
Digg
ShareI've taken on several kitchen and food-related myths and misconceptions to see if there's any truth to them, including as "Can Hot Sauce Really Clean a Copper Penny?", "Is Margarine is Better for You Than Butter?", "Does Searing Meat Seal in the Juices?", "Does Alcohol Burns Off During Cooking?", "Does Decaffeinated Coffee Actually Contain Caffeine?", "Does Cold Water Boils Faster Than Warm Water?", "Will Pork that is Slightly Pink Will Make You Ill?", "If You Boil Vegetables, Will All the Nutrients Will Be Taken Away?", "Can You Bake a Potato in a Microwave Oven?" and "Does Adding Salt to Water Makes it Boil Faster?" Read on to see if they be busted or proven correct...
Myth #1: Hot Sauces Can Clean Pennies
Truth: Sort of. But it's not the chemical "heat" (called capsaicin, which is what makes hot sauces and peppers hot) that does the trick. It is the presence of vinegar and salt in the sauce. Other condiments that contains those two components, such as ketchup and mild taco sauce, can clean pennies just as well, if not better. In fact, some extreme hot sauces that are more pepper-based than vinegar-based are not very effective at cleaning old pennies.
Pennies get dull over time because the copper in the pennies slowly reacts with air to form copper oxide. Pure copper metal is bright and shiny, but the oxide is dull, dark and greenish. When you place the pennies in a salt and vinegar solution, the acetic acid from the vinegar dissolves the copper oxide, leaving behind shiny and new-looking pennies. The copper from the copper oxide stays in the liquid.
Myth #2: Searing A Steak Seals in Juices.
Truth: Busted. Juices can still escape a fully-blackened outside layer of meat. But that doesn't mean you have to stop searing steaks or fillets, as it actually can add a lot of good flavor. When the meat's surface comes in contact with a super-hot grill or skillet, beef proteins will recombine with sugars to trigger the Maillard Reaction, which delivers the outside crust's deliciousness.
Myth #3: Pork that is Slightly Pink Will Make You Ill or Kill You.
Truth: False. While you should always cook pig meat to a temperature of 160°F to kill off anything potentially harmful, a fully-done pork roast can still have a slightly pink center.
Myth #4: Alcohol Burns Off During Cooking.
Truth: Not entirely accurate. While the longer wou cook an alcohol-filled recipe the less booze it will contain, it still have signifigant traces rum, wine, or beer left in the food. A fast flambe or simmer with alcohol may only burn off half or less of the hootch that's in the mix.
Myth #5: Margarine is Better for You Than Butter.
Truth: Incorrect. They're about the same in the amount of fat grams and calories. Butter contains saturated fat that, when eaten in excess, can raise "bad" (LDL) cholesterol. Magargine often contains trans fats - which can also raise "bad" LDL cholesterol, and decreases the "healthy" HDL cholesterol.
What to do? Eat butter or margarine sparingly. If it's necessary to cook with larger amounts of butter or margarine, you can look for trans-fat-free margarine brands in the "lite" or "reduced fat" varieties (and thoroughly look at the nutrition labels to know exactly what you're getting).
Myth #6: Fresh Produce is More Nutritious Than Frozen Produce.
Truth: Wrong. Fresh produce spends more time being shipped, sorted, packaged, and sitting on your supermarket displays than frozen fruits and vegetables. Because of this the produce is exposed to more differences in temperature and lighting conditions which can decrease some important nutrients. Frozen (and even canned) food is processed and packaged and comes to it's "preserved" state much quicker than their fresh counterparts.
Before you decide to ditch the fresh stuff, keep in mind that frozen produce can very often contain added preservatives, sugars, and salt, not to mention it rarely tastes as good as unfrozen fruit and vegetables.
Myth #6: If You Boil Vegetables, All the Nutrients Will Be Taken Away.
Truth: Sort of. While some the water soluable vitamins (such as B and C) may get "cooked out", some of them will remain in the veggies. Minerals like iron as well as natural fiber won't be effected by boiling at all. If you're really worried about getting out all you can out of vegetables, steam, microwave, or roast them.
Myth #7: Cold Water Boils Faster Than Warm Water.
Truth: Totally debunked. Let's say you have two pots of water (one cold, one warm) on the stove over equal-sized burners with equal temperatures. During the time it takes for cold water to become merely "warm", the warm water is already becoming hot, so there is an "extra" amount of time required to get to the boiling point.
COLD WATER to BOILING
C + W + H = B
WARM WATER to BOILING
W + H = B
Myth #8: Adding Salt to Water Makes it Boil Faster.
Truth: Salt will actually raise water's boiling point above 212°F (just as it decreases it's freezing point below 32), thus taking it a bit longer to boil. In spite of this, the few seconds of time added by salt is most likely too small to notice.
Myth #9: Decaffeinated Coffee Contains No Caffeine.
Truth: Another myth busted. Depending on the cup size and amount of grounds brewed, decaf varieties can contain between 8 and 32 milligrams of caffeine. Regular coffee has around 100-150 mg of caffeine per cup.
Myth #10: You Can Bake a Potato in the Microwave
Truth: False. It's true that you can cook a potato in a microwave oven, but technically it is being "steamed" by the internal moisture and not being baked. True baking requires a long, dry heat and it will produce fluffy insides and a crispy skin on a potato.
Related Articles:
FireTalkers: Busting Chile Pepper and Hot Sauce Myths with Dave DeWitt
Comments
2008-12-10 19:36:37
2008-12-29 08:33:34
2009-03-24 09:15:27
Very true, but you still shouldn't use hot tap water to cook anything, because of the (hazardous) mineral content from your water heater.
Add Your Comment: