Food myths that are useless/annoying, but are "common knowledge"

[jameshig]

Such as cooking something on high heat to "seal in the flavor/juices." This is just not the case. Anything else that makes you cringe when you hear it? How did this stuff become "common knowledge" and accepted as truth?

[mamachef]

Jello, gummi bears and the like containing gelatin made from animal protein (e.g., horse's hooves, etc.). They used to, manymanymany years ago, but they are Kosher now and couldn't be if that were the case.

[kmcarr]

Sorry, but Jello does indeed contain gelatin which is extracted from animal collagen. Bones and hides are the primary sources (hooves are not a good source of collagen, they are predominantly keratin). The kosher designation is not universally accepted.

[AmyH]

Kosher gelatin is typically made from fish bones, thus making it kosher and "parve" (neither milk nor meat). There are some other kosher brands of gelatin that use agar (from plants) as a thickener so they are vegetarian.

[craigcep]

Jello brand jello is made with an animal-derived gelatin. In the strict sense of vegetarianism, it is not vegetarian; there is an animal origin to the gelatin. The kosher status stems from the idea that once anon-kosher product is not longer food (that is, a dog wouldn't eat it), it loses any sort of non-kosher status even when it's reconstituted. Mainstream kosher does not accept this as it applies to gelatin because it becomes food again.

[John Manzo]

Is gelatin halal? I've been getting contradictory reports about this.

[guilty]

I believe that there is Halal gelatin just like there is kosher gelatin.

For the record, kosher gelatin can be (and sometimes is) bovine-derived. Craigcep has the right explanation; it's so removed from the original source that it's considered not to be dairy or meat. In (some forms of) kosher law, that is; usually it's a different story to vegetarians.

Jelly beans and gummy bears often have pectin (which is plant-based) instead of gelatin, but that's not 100%.

[Veggo]

That hot water freezes faster than cold water? Let's not go there, it is an endless circle jerk.

[Quine]

In the same vein; adding oil to pasta boiling water makes the cooked pasta not stick.

[goodhealthgourmet]

or adding salt to the cooking water makes it boil faster. *theoretically* it would raise the boiling point a few degrees...if you added 30 ounces (3.5 cups!) of salt to a gallon of water.

[Jack Flash]

The salt is added not to make it boil faster, but as a means of seasoning the pasta itself.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Jack,

Goodhealthgourmet uses "salt raising boiling point" as an example of a myth, so you two actually agree.

[MichelleRenee]

I avoided oil for a long time and was always a big pasta eater. In my experience, adding olive oil to the water really does keep it from sticking together, as well as to the sides of the pot.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I think so. Not sure if it is really true, but I feel it is true.

[thew]

it also keeps the sauce from sticking to the pasta

[ScubaSteve]

no, but the oil will prevent proteins from forming foam and boiling over.

[alkapal]

oil in pasta water will also impede the sauce's adherence to the pasta.

[John E.]

Nah, when you pour the pasts and water through the colander, since the oil is on top of the water, most of it goes straight through and into the sink.

[linguafood]

But enough is left for the pasta to not properly be coated by the sauce. Oil is utterly superfluous.

[John E.]

You're probably right. My mother not only put the oil on the water, but she sprinkled a little olive oil on the spaghetti after she drained it and put it back into the kettle so it wouldn't still together. There really wasn't much problem with the sauce not sticking though because she served the meat sauce American style with about a cup of sauce per plate on top of the spaghetti.

[porker]

What if its an olive oil and garlic "sauce"? Would the oil facilitate the sauce's adherence?
{;-/)

[MichelleRenee]

It also simply tastes good! To my taste buds, anyway. And I never have the problem with the sauce sticking to the pasta. I eat a ton of sauce on my pasta, it's more like soup. I don't use more than maybe a tablespoon at any rate.

[Caroline1]

If you just reduce the temperature (but not stop the actual boil) you will NOT have boil-over and you will NOT need oil on the water.

[weewah]

I thought that was supposed to keep it from boiling over as easy. I don't do that but I remember my Mum doing it. Pasta just doesn't stick so easy, if your paying even occasional attention.

[Ruth Lafler]

Also, cold water boils faster than hot water.

[mpjmph]

And the opposite, hot water freezes faster than cold.

[Soop]

I think that's a myth. People have done a lot of experiments to prove this one way or the other.

[mpjmph]

I know it's a myth... There's no way hot water in a container (ice cube tray) can freeze faster than cold water in the same container when exposed to the same conditions.

I think the myth started because people will use hot water when making ice cubes to get a clearer finished cube.

[thew]

it's clear when you think about it (the idea not the ice)

lets say we have water at 2 temperatures: 50F and 200F

we put them both in ice trays and into the freezer.

It will take X amount of time for the 50F tray to be fully frozen.

it will take the hot tray Y amount of time to get to 50F.

so to get to fully frozen the hot tray MUST take X + Y amount of time. assuming neither takes zero time to happen (or somehow reverses the flow of time) X + Y has to be greater than X

(this same logic applies to boiling cold and hot water as well)

[mpjmph]

Yes. That is what I was saying. It is physically impossible for hot water to freeze faster that cold water under the same conditions.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I also didn't think it is possible, but I am more open minded on this topic now. It seems impossible from a thermal energy argument because there are more heat in hot water than in cool water, but that is not according the cooling process and the way ice is formed.

The argument has to with the fact that 75F water which was fast cooled down from 100F is not the same as the 75F water from room temperature.

I am not saying that I know this for a fact, but I can see the arguments for this effect:

http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=AJPIAS000074000006000514000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-it-true-that-hot-water

http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servl...

[haggisdragon]

I can't believe it, but I read that entire article on the Mpemba effect, Chemicalkinetics. The issue is far more complicated than it appears on the surface!

[Henny Penny]

We did this in chemistry as an experiment. My brain never did really wrap around it, as it implies that heat has acceleration associated with it, but it ended up being true, for some values of "hotter" water.

[ds_mod]

Don't be so sure of yourself on that one. Truth is, there is a condition (common to many of our freezers) in which hot water filled ice trays will freeze faster than cold--especially if you use the old metal trays. If your freezer is heavily glazed over with ice buildup and you set the two trays on that same "skating rink", the hot water tray will melt the sheet of ice it sits on somewhat, and then "bond" to it as it cools. This results in higher conductivity whereas the hot water tray effectively "loses" its heat faster to its surroundings than the cold water tray--so much so (in the right conditions) that it actually freezes first. Tried it when I was a kid. Saw it happen.

[Henny Penny]

Not why it happens. We conducted the experiments in controlled calorimeters

[Chris VR]

My dad actually explained this to me last weekend, and why this myth goes back to when freezers first became commonplace. In the early freezers, the compartments were very small, and the thermostats were at the top. When people put in ice cube trays with hot water, the trays went near the thermostat, which sensed the heat and lowered the temperature of the freezer, which made the water freeze more quickly. So that's why hot water made faster ice cubes than cold water.

[thew]

thats a different statement than hot water freezes faster than cold. put the 2 in the same freezer side by side. i assure you the cold will be frozen 1st

[Chris VR]

Well, the myth I was debunking was that ice cubes made with hot water froze faster than ice cubes made with cold water. It was a pretty commonly held belief, sez my dad.

[thew]

and like so many common beliefs false

[Chris VR]

Yes, that was the "debunking" part.

[John E.]

Yea, I've never understood why that belief persists. That would be like saying that ice water will come to a boil in a kettle faster than hot water from the tap.

[Henny Penny]

The opposite isn't true--in fact, the theory implies that if the cold water is at temp x and the hot at x + y, then the time it takes for the hot to get from x + y to 100C will be shorter than the time it takes for the cold to get from x + y to 100C.

[John E.]

When I signed up for this site I was told there wouldn't be any math.

[porker]

Apparently it was added with the format change. Not to worry, it doesn't apply if you were a member pre-change.

[Karl S]

But in that case, you will need to pass the exit exam if you want to leave.

[hill food]

no no no this isn't just Sartre version 2.0 - we're not just three in this.room,

there is no exit.

[lilmomma]

John E
You just made me LOL! Seriously!

[MinkeyMonkey]

That is pretty interesting, thanks for sharing!

[Soop]

Oh sorry, I thought you were stating it as fact. Doh!

[weewah]

Not to mention how the heat oozing off it warms up the freezer...

[foreverhungry]

From a thermodynamics perspective, it's plain physics and cooling curves - all else being the same, the greater the temperature difference (delta T), the greater the time needed to achieve the desired temperature.

The key is - all else being equal. One way that hot water forms ice cubes faster than cold water is that hot water evaporates faster. With a faster evaporation, the water quantity decreases - and a smaller amount of water will freeze faster than a larger amount of water.

So if forming icecubes that are relatively shallow, but have a large surface area, it's possible to get them to freeze faster than by using cold water. But then of course, you'll have smaller ice cubes!

The devil is in the details, and how the ground rules are established.

[haggisdragon]

Evaporation is but one of a few important mechanisms to consider! Others being: thermal conductivity of the vessel, type of refrigeration, and the possible role of super cooling.

[hill food]

and of course filtered water boils faster as there's less of it

[gfr1111]

Here is what some scientific type explained to me. (I certainly do not vouch for its validity, have never carried out the experiment myself, and agree that it seems counterintuitive.):

Hot water freezes faster than cooler water because the freezer is at a relatively low temperature, so ice crystals form quickly. Hot water has more energy than cooler water and, therefore, as each crystal is forming, the molecules of water can move around more easily in the hot water (i.e., zipping around in nano space), aligning into the proper positions to form a crystal much faster than cooler molecules can, since the cooler molecules move much less quickly.

According to the guy who told me this, it is the intensity of the cold that is the key. That is, if your freezer is really cranked down to be intensely cold, this freezing proposition will work better. It won't work as well in a freezer just below freezing because slow freezing gives the less hot (warm) water molecules more time to rearrange themselves into crystals. Therefore, the stark contrast between the freezing of the less hot water and the hot water is not as great.

I find holding forth on a subject about which I know nothing, other than what I was told, uncomfortable (which didn't stop me from doing it), so I end with Sir Thomas Moore's remark from "A Man for All Seasons": "I trust I make myself obscure."

[John E.]

If you live in a cold climate here is a fun thing to do (kids love it). When it's cold outside ( -5 or colder) take a saucepan if boiling water outside and fling it into the air. The boiling water vaporizes instantly so the water never reaches the ground/snow because it turns to steam. It has to be a calm day for this to work as you don't want the steam blown back on you. As long as you're outside at minus 5 or colder, blow some soap bubbles. They freeze instantly and you can catch them with your hands or they land on the ground and resemble a deflated balloon..

[red_delicious63301]

"let's not go there. It's an endless circle jerk" . . . This made me laugh so hard I spewed coffee out of my mouth . . .

[onceadaylily]

That pasta is done when it sticks to the wall. Which was fun, for five minutes in my youth, but not very helpful.

[porker]

Hey, I always thought it was the ceiling!

[onceadaylily]

No, I think that was mashed potatoes . . .

[taos]

When it sticks to the wall it's done. When it sticks to the ceiling, it's over done.

Learned that one cooking for roommates in college.

[bornagainitalian]

throwing a cork in the pot w/ the octopus to make it tender

[Quine]

OMG never heard that one! Any particular cork? or just the one from the 5th bottle ya drink?

[c oliver]

Batali and others claim that's true. In writing.

[ScubaSteve]

i've tested the cork thing and it works.

[Caroline1]

My question is how long do you have to boil just an octopus before it's tender and how long do you have to boil an octopus and a cork before the octopus is tender? When I used to live on an ocean and cook octopus frequently, I found the ONLY reliable way to make octopus tender was to hold it by its head and beat the hell out of its tentacles against a very hard surface. And then hold it by its tentacles and beat the head if you want it tenderized too. Fried, boiled or eaten raw, it was tender.

[linguafood]

The trusted Greek method. Brings back memories of octopi being slammed against the boardwalk on many a Greek island. And the smell of them drying (? resting?) in the sun spread out like eagles.

Only to be grilled over charcoal fire & served with quartered lemons. Tasty stuff.

[FoodFuser]

Since this author is often touted as a God, his insights on octopus cooking are very interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/din...

[Pipenta]

Could be, this is not a matter of physics or chemistry, but an offering to Cthulhu, the Old Ones and other tentacled overlords who might look askance at cephalopod consumption (by anyone or thing other than themselves, of course). Superstition, because if you really wanted to appease them, you'd hand over the full bottle of wine.

The tradition no doubt started when folks, back in the day, getting impatient for an octopus dinner after a long unexpected wait, stormed the kitchen only to find a pot of boiling water, a cork, no sign of the cook. The terrifying sight of unexplained giant sucker marks on the walls and ceiling probably prompted them to offer a cork sacrifice whenever octopods were thrown into the pot.

On the other hand, the cork might provide a distraction for an octopus to puzzle with before he realizes he's being boiled.

[alkapal]

i believe that the tentacled overlords here have not been appeased. i feel the squeeze! http://www.ectomo.com/wp-content/uplo...

[ZenSojourner]

OMG! The "G" standing for Great Cthulu, of course.

[ZenSojourner]

Hmmm, yet another piece of the puzzle of Puerto Rican Style Pulpo . . . . I am going to try that recipe one of these days . . .

[rabaja]

I think that one works, actually.

[Bill Hunt]

Hey, at least it give the octopus something to play with, before the end comes about.

Hunt

[ZenSojourner]

That aluminum cookware causes Alzheimer's. It doesn't.

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scr...

[Chemicalkinetics]

:) We don't know it does not. We only cannot prove it does.

[ZenSojourner]

We also don't know that breathing oxygen doesn't cause Alzheimers, by those lights.

LOL!

[Chemicalkinetics]

:) Yes. We don't know it. Maybe enameled cast iron cookware do not either.

[taos]

Everyone I've ever known or heard of who has gotten Alzheimers has breathed oxygen. Therefore, breathing oxygen causes Alzheimers.

Simple logic! ;-)

[acorniv]

Actually, there is a strong correlation between oxygen *deprivation* and Alzheimers. People with arrhythmia, COPD, sleep apnea and other medical conditions that lower the amount of oxygen that gets to the brain have a higher incidence of it. Atril Fibrillation and Alzheimers are particularly closely linked, and both can be caused by poor mineral absorption. Minerals like potassium help relax muscles so the heart pumps better.

Sadly, the medical industry tends to medicate arrhythmia without addressing mineral absorption, so we see far more Alzheimers than we would if they addressed root causes.

[MichelleRenee]

Interesting info I know I need to look into. My mom died of early-onset Alzheimer's six months ago at the age of 52. No Alzheimer's in her family history as far as anyone knows. My family has been researching what might have caused it for a while now, with no answers yet. I've never heard of the potassium concept, or the other correlations. Thanks for posting that!

[almansa]

It might be worthwhile to look into Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or its variant, vCJD. Both are the result of ingesting malformed proteins: the former often in the case of consuming wild animal brain - especially squirrel (a la Brunswick Stew); the latter we know as Mad Cow Disease. They affect the brain in a very similar manner to Alzheimer's. Call me a cynic, but it's not possible that we've avoided vCJD in this country. I would imagine that our agricultural corporations would do anything to avoid the diagnosis.

[MichelleRenee]

Thanks almansa! The symptoms were shockingly similar to what my mom experienced, but hers was about a 6 year decline from the first noticeable symptoms, which, from what I read, is different from vCJD where it takes 1-2 years at the longest to become fatal. We also donated some brain tissue to research. No autopsy, from what I know of, but if they found it wasn't Alzheimer's, I'd hope they would have informed us of that.

[acorniv]

I've done micronutrient testing through Genova diagnostics, and it showed my children and I digest proteins and fats very poorly. they suggested finding a center that tests for congenital metabolism defects. My doctor has a meeting with the doctors at the lab tomorrow. It is interesting that you mention proteins. Mineral deficiencies like magnesium and zinc are closely tied to protein malabsorption.

My cousins, and other relatives descended from my paternal grandfather all have diseasses that are caused by magnesium deficiencies. Most migraines are (though fat chance you will ever find a doctor who knows that). Atrial fibbrillation can be. Most people do not get enough magnesium to begin with, but I take litetally hadfuls of it and still test severely deficient in it. I know heart patients who get magnesium by IV every week until they stabilize. Ironically, when my son was born I had preeclampsia, which was treated with magnesium sulphate. They kept giving me more and more (this was 20 years before we knew I don't absorb it) until it was well over a lethal dose for a nurmal person. It did little to help my blood pressure, even after my son was born, but it did make me so light sensitive I could not see well enough to change his diaper for 6 months. Why they never looked into this further is beyond me. My doctor kept saying I handled pregnancy very strangely, but never gave the first though a to why, and this was supposedly THE high risk OBGYN in San Francisco at the time.

[Bill Hunt]

You know, while dining on food cooked in aluminum cookware, I read an article on this - however, i cannot remember what it said.

Hunt

[Andy Poodle]

LMAO!

[John E.]

Adding milk to the beaten eggs makes omelets 'watery'.

[jameshig]

it also actually toughens up the eggs, something to do with the lactose interfering with the protein chains. Point it, it doesn't make them fluffier- on my top 10 also.

[ZenSojourner]

The idea that milk toughens eggs is also a myth. In fact cream is supposed to make them even fluffier. I have some cream in the fridge, I may try this tomorrow.

Cooking them over high heat, now - that'll make them tough.

[onceadaylily]

I use cream, but don't think it makes them fluffier than when I use whole milk. It just makes them taste all the more delicious. But I've never used the cream with that comparison in mind.

[c oliver]

I don't think omelettes are supposed to be fluffy.

[ZenSojourner]

I do. I like them light and fluffy!

You must like them the "other" way - slimy and undercooked, LOL!

Milk improves them cooked That Way too. Honest. Hey, CI said it so it MUST be true, right? Or was that another thread . . . . >:D

[onceadaylily]

Sorry, I did misread that, and just responded to a more generic 'fluffier egg' as the responses to that post trickled down to me. Frankly, I don't like omelets.

I add the cream to the eggs that are either scrambled or used in frittatas, and was just noting that the eggs are never watery with the addition.

[cajundave]

Yes but cooking over high heat will seal in the juices!

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

Hard for me to say whether adding milk or cream makes them fluffier, but I know that adding cream makes scrambled eggs incredibly delicious.

[ZenSojourner]

And that's what counts the mostest!

[weewah]

I have deep fried eggs in bacon grease. They had all these lacy crispy edges and were AMAZINGLY good.

Can't do that every day.

[alkapal]

yep, crispy edges are the best, with a nice gooey yolk, and whites cooked through, but not tough. perfect over some buttery stone ground grits. and yeah, you can't eat that too often.....

[MichelleRenee]

My favorite fried eggs are fried in coconut oil. OMG sooooo good!

Never used milk or cream in my scrambled eggs, but it seems to me that a dab of water helps make them fluffier. I think it might only have something to do with thinning the eggs to allow more air to get in them when whipping them up. I dunno.

[jmckee]

Actually, eggs can coagulate more than their fair share of runny matter. So adding milk gives them more to work on, and does not toughen. I make the creamiest scrambled eggs in town, and I've been adding milk for years.

[Andy Poodle]

whether or not milk/cream makes eggs creamier, you can't tell the difference. But they definitely increase the mass.

[Veggo]

The avocado pit in the guacamole yada yada....

[John E.]

The only part of the guacamole that the pits keeps from turning brown is the guacamole directly under the pit (air doesn't reach it and oxidize it).

[iluvtennis]

My mother-in-law just told me this one! I did it with the last batch i made...thanks for clearing this up, but i'll probably just let her keep believing it.

[John E.]

I wasn't saying the guacamole pit thing was a myth. It's true, the only part of the guacamole that won't turn brown because a pit is included is the guacamole that is directly underneath the pit, thus not allowing air to reach it.

[iluvtennis]

Then it is basically a myth because she thinks it keeps the entire batch fresh...unless the pit is gigantic, then leaving it in is not doing much good.

[Veggo]

The shark fin soup and the ground rhino horn that makes a man more virile in Asia...

[haggisdragon]

Don't forget the seal penis, cobra heart, bird fetus, swallow vomit, etc.

[Bill Hunt]

Hey! Those have always worked for me. Bite your tongue. Now, pass the ground rhino horn mead.

Hunt

[porker]

Putting the avocado pit in the guacamole to keep it from discoloring.
The 5 second rule.
Dropped bread always lands on buttered side (oftentimes accompanied by the 5 second rule above).
Cooking pork beyond well-done to prevent trichinosis.
The 'restorative' properties of...lets see, oysters, celery leaves, asparagus, figs, etc etc (let alone the likes of rhino horn, bear paw, and the likes - look, eat a viagara and save a rhino).
Carrots are good for your eyes.
Milk is good for you (I wouldn't mind this one so much, just that when someone offers me a glass, I turn it down (I simply dislike milk). Then sometimes they insist, then I say no, I don't like milk. "but its good for you" they'll say and THAT makes me cringe.)

[Veggo]

seems we think alike - you can be my wing man any day, or vice versa..

[John E.]

Milk is a good source of calcium, which many people, particularly women are short on, but a lot of other foods are also a good source of calcium.

[porker]

I'm starting to cringe...hehe

[Cachetes]

Good call, John. And with calcium supplements coming under increasing scrutiny, women who previously avoided milk and other dairy need to take this one seriously.

[goodhealthgourmet]

not to get too off-topic here, but it's the combination of Vitamin D + calcium that prevents bone loss, not just calcium on its own. and yes, people need to look beyond dairy for sources of both - calorie for calorie, kale & chard are better sources of calcium than milk, and salmon & sardines are good sources of both calcium and Vitamin D.

[ZenSojourner]

Eeeeew! Those are not alternatives for me. Yuck to all 4.

I'll stick with the milk, which, btw, is "fortified" with Vitamin D.

[toodie jane]

...fortified with an eensy amount of D. Not nearly anything close to what we might need. I use a D3 sublingual supp besides drinking keifer.

[goodhealthgourmet]

kefir is a double bonus - you get the D and probiotics. love the stuff.

you could also move to a sunny climate and spend plenty of time outdoors - then you wouldn't even need the supplement! :)

[MichelleRenee]

While carrots won't necessarily improve poor eyesight, they do contain nutrients that are good for your overall eye health. So I'm not sure that's a myth, per se. Just that maybe people take it for the miracle food that it isn't.

And so true about the vitamin D and calcium! But I also read before something about iron and vitamin C regarding calcium. I can't for the life of me remember what it is now. Something like iron affects calcium absorption. Or maybe it was the other way around. And I think Vit C helps iron absorption, so it's recommended that you eat your vit D and calcium combo in a separate meal than your vit. C and iron combo. Don't quote me on this because I might be completely off-track here. If I'm wrong, please do point me back in the right direction.

[goodhealthgourmet]

re: the carrots, yes, my point was that people erroneously jump to the conclusion that because they contain nutrients that are important for eye *health* eating them will result in good vision.

and to clarify, calcium inhibits iron absorption and Vitamin C enhances it...so yes, Calcium/D should be taken about 2 hours apart from iron/C. and just to make it more complicated, high doses of zinc can interfere with Calcium absorption, so if you're supplementing zinc, take it with the iron & Vit C.

[phantomdoc]

Vit C increases calcium absorbtion too. Take vit c all the time. Calcium at bedtime.

[MichelleRenee]

Ah! I knew it was something like that. Thanks for the clarity!

[c oliver]

How do you define the "5 second rule"?

[porker]

if food is dropped, it is still safe to eat if picked up within 5 srconds.

[c oliver]

That's a little humor not a rule. I read here that someone would throw out anything after it fell on the floor. When I asked if that includes the $100 piece of meat, I got no reply :)

[Michelly]

I'd just slice off the part that hit the floor. (If I cleaned the floor every night AND the meat hit a low-traffic spot, I would consider the 5 second rule, but I don't clean the floor every night -though I do sweep- and my DH works in the garden, then tracks in the dirt, and of course there's the 11-yr-old).....nah, just cut off the bad part.

[c oliver]

Nah, just cook it!

[tatamagouche]

Ha, I'm with you, c oliver. I'm terribly incautious in restaurants & at home. I get sick a couple of times of year, I never know what from, and I never much care. It's like the joke in The Devil Wears Prada about being one stomach flu away from my goal weight. :)

Is anybody else as cavalier as me about food poisoning? I hope I'm not alone...

[Karl S]

Everyone else who was is....DEAD!

[tatamagouche]

Ha. What won't kill me will make me stronger. Time will tell...etc. etc.

[porker]

I wouldn't call it "cavalier", but I never worry or obsess about it.
I remember going to Mexico for the first time and trying to eat "safe" all the time. Just no fun and I got sick anyway...now I'll eat just about anything anywhere. Yeah, I get sick (maybe a day or two out of commission) then its clear sailing.
Of course someone's going to say how dangerous it was in this or that instance, how they almost died, etc etc. I guess this is where a touch of cavalier comes in for me - until that happens to me, I'll keep up my heathen ways.

[tatamagouche]

Here's to us! (Toasting with roadside pulque)

[MichelleRenee]

Well, to those of us who've ever eaten fast food or at a restaurant, chances are good that we've all eaten some questionable foods at some point in our lives! (Especially if you're not very nice to your server. The things I've seen people do... you probably don't want to know. Makes me as nice as can be to anyone who's serving me food!)

I'm with you, whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger. A little challenge to our bodies once in a while keeps our immune systems in working order.

[weewah]

You are not alone.
I eat raw: egg yolks, lamb, beef, pork, elk, and deer and of course all sorts of seafoods. But not poultry. Even I don't dare.

I won't refrigerate fried chicken if it's just overnite. It ruins the skin and seems to dry it out. I don't refrigerate pastries. The fridge is DEATH to the quality of pie crust and pastry.

And of course - soft butter must be available at all times! Kept in a butter-dish it is good unrefrigerated for a long time. I have read up to 30 days, but I wouldn't know as it's never gone rancid on me.

[hill food]

I'm in that some things raw or unrefrigerated camp. mom tried to microwave her leftover fried chicken the other day after a few days in the fridge. yeesh. talk about a death sentence.

[alkapal]

microwaved any-kind-of-chicken just plain stinks (literally).

[thew]

when i need a simply poached chicken for something thighs done in 8 minutes in the MW are fantastic

[hill food]

thew, I'd probably use a different method, but yeah for something simple like that I can understand it, but already breaded and fried? uh uh.

[thew]

i used to use different methods. i like this one.

[alkapal]

i *meant* re-heated chicken in a microwave stinks, not cooked from raw. your poaching sounds fine.

[Dave5440]

tatamagouche--
I am just like you , except I never get sick, case of the trots every once in a while but that's it, and it's like homeless people eating out of dumpsters you can build up an immuity to it , I'm certainly sick of the eewwhh and yuck crowd

[tatamagouche]

Yeah, it's been months since I wrote that, and I'm still here!

[jchamberlain]

What if you drop it on a pile of cow manure?

[alkapal]

what, are you cooking with cow patties in your kitchen?

[thew]

plenty of kitchens around the world do just that.

[jmckee]

You've obviously eaten my mother-in-law's cooking.

[Lizard]

http://sadtrombone.com/

[Bill Hunt]

That, or camel-dung fires.

Hunt

[thew]

i remember on one of my long journeys across india , spending a few weeks in the kulu valley, when a good friend turned to me on bright himalayan morning over breakfast "If you haven't had toast cooked on a cow shit cook fire, you've never had toast"

[FoodFuser]

Your friend is right. And "Buffalo chips" are even better. Where cow patties are more of a "splat" 6 to 8 inches around, buffalo doo-doo is more fusiform, and literally has "chips" that when dried can be separated from the log. Each disc is a little larger than an Oreo.

Here in Oklahoma, I'm fortunate to live close to a large wildlife preserve that is a refuge for native prairie vegetation and has a herd of about 1000 buffalo. When I'm there, it's easy to collect a trashbag full of chips. The smaller size gives more control over the fire. They are a great conversation piece at backyard BBQ's, and especially instructive for school kids as a history lesson about times when the chips fueled a lot of prairie pioneer's fires.

Cow patties are better for throwing, though, A lightweight discus. Several local festivals celebrate their tossing, and spawn some pretty funny phrases on the commemorative T-shirts.

PBS' "Globetrekker" had a neat segment about a village in one of the "-stan" countries, where farmers had a great closed system of cow to patty, which they stored in huge enclosed stacks and used it to cook and also heat their homes through the deep cold winters.

[Bill Hunt]

Also think about it. The University of Colorado football team is called the Buffaloes, and their mascot is "Chip."

Hunt

[Phood]

Perhaps the difference is native food/grasses versus purina cow chow?
Just a thought...

[hill food]

ok I have a supply/source and need to ask some questions. new thread under General.

[acorniv]

cow patties, cow ( or buffaloo) chips, meadow muffins, prairie pastries, road apples, desert donuts; always loved all the culinary names for livestock poop.

They were a big part of camp cooking in my childhood. My dad was an archeologist so we'd camp for 6-8 weeks at a time, and that is where I learned to cook (I'm still out of place in an indoor kitchen) . When you're in places where kindling is scarce, a meadow muffin is a welcome sight. Never noticed they flavored meat though
( ewwww!). I think that only happens if they're gathered fresh. Nice thing about droppings is there are always plenty of sun cured ones around, so why use fresh ones?.

[alkapal]

i like the term "meadow muffin."

sun-cured meadow muffin....the "new" mesquite? LOL!

[MichelleRenee]

I'll try just about any kind of food, but I think feces might definitely be my limit!

[goodhealthgourmet]

"Carrots are good for your eyes."
~~~~~~~
carrots may not give you x-ray vision, but dietary carotenoids do help protect against macular degeneration and reduce the likelihood of developing cataracts, and Vitamin A is essential for light detection by the retina...and that final point is probably the source of the myth that eating carrots will *improve* your vision.

also, trichinella spiralis dies at temperatures above 140 degrees F, so you actually can prevent trichinosis infection by cooking...or were you saying that people take it *too* far?

anyway, i'm with you on the avocado pit and the 5-second rule!

[porker]

Cringing again...
I know, I know
But why carrots, why not spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cantaloupe, and winter squash? I just find it annoying is all when I hear "Carrots are good for your eyes"...

As for the trichinellosis....yes, cooking above 140 will kill the parasite (cooking to 130F for 30 minutes or 132F for 15 minutes will also do the job as well as properly freezing). I guess what annoys me is the notion that all pork is infected and thus all pork should be cooked to a an extremely high degree, like a shoe leather pork chop.
I think hog farming has come a long way and commercially available pork is safer than it once was. In the late '40s, the US had 500 cases reported per year. Between 1997 and 2001 (latest dates available) it averaged less than 20 per year.

[c oliver]

I worked in parasitology at CDC in the mid60s. Even then they were saying there was no danger of trichinosis in commercially available pork.

[ZenSojourner]

"no danger" - they were wrong. I know someone who was infected then because a butcher did not clean the meat grinder between grinding pork for sausage and hamburger. He actually didn't eat undercooked pork, but undercooked hamburger which had been infected by the raw pork left in the meat grinder.

[c oliver]

Sorry, I should have said "little" danger. I will never eat overcooked pork.

[ZenSojourner]

Again, Personal tastes vary. I will never eat anything UNDERcooked, and if there's any pink anywhere -

it's undercooked! LOL!

[c oliver]

To me, overcooked pork is just so dry. You're probably not into seared fish either, are you? :)

[ZenSojourner]

I'm not into fish. Period. LOL!

[jeanmarieok]

I thought I hated pork, when my mom cooked it. Then I started cooking on my own, and realized that she was dreadfully overcooking it to kill off anything bad. Really, I would have just stopped serving it, it was borderline inedible.

[Parrotgal]

I think you and I are the only ones left on earth who feel that way! I don't want shoe leather, but pink makes me shudder, and red? Forget it! In restaurants I always say I want it "the second the last bit of pink disappears." To me that's medium.

[ZenSojourner]

Yeah, this idea the cooked all the way through = shoe leather just shows that people don't REALLY know how to cook a steak. It takes more time and a gentle touch, that's all.

[ricepad]

If there's no pink, it's well done by most every standard.

[jgg13]

if there's no pink anywhere, it's overcooked.

[goodhealthgourmet]

that's what i suspected you were saying about the pork, which is why i asked if you just meant people overdo it. re: the carrots, i agree, in fact, i always try to encourage clients to venture *away* from the carrots and try *other* vegetables that are high in lutein and Vitamin A...but the fact still remains that carrots are beneficial for eye health. so it's not a myth, it's just annoying that people think it's the ONLY good eye food, or that it's the only reason to eat them!

[lagatta]

Indeed. I hate cooked carrots - are carrots shredded into salads just as good in terms of lutein and Vitamin A, or are those enhanced by cooking?

How about sweet potatoes? Seems to me those were high in those nutrients?

[hungryabbey]

Vitamin A is fairly stable in heated conditions, so raw carrots are good too. But lutein is not so stable, unfortunately.

Sweet potatoes are also very high in vitamin A.
So are a lot of fruits and vegetables though.. I remember in first year nutrition, we had to analyze our diet with special software.. I think one day I ate a hand full of carrots and 1/2 a sweet potato and I was at like 300% of my daily needs for Vit A.
If you eat a lot of produce, you're probably getting enough.
Just remember its fat soluble, so you will need SOME fat to absorb it properly.

[thew]

why carrots is an interesting story

in WW2 the british were trying to cover up their invention of radar, and needed a cover story as to why they were suddenly shooting down more german planes at night. so they said they were feeding the pilots carrots to improve their night vision. the story stuck.

[Pipenta]

Very interesting thew. I'd read that the Brits fed their pilots bilberry extract to sharpen night vision. Is this a myth based on the same situation? Could you provide a citation? Not because I doubt you, rather because I am going to look into it.

Bilberries are pimped by the healthfood industry as vision support suppliments. With this in mind, I used dried bilberries as a flavoring component for a vodka infusion I made last year. Do you this mean it does me no good at all? Then I will have to keep drinking it simply because it is delicious. As a matter of fact, if consumed in excess, it has been known to blur vision. ;)

[thew]

i could look for a citation, but i was told this long ago, so it wouldn't be any citation you couldn't find yourself

[John E.]

After just a rudimentary google search:

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history4.html

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient...

[MichelleRenee]

Lol! Nice!

[thew]

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient...

[AnchovyBourdain]

I read a long time ago that the carrot/eyes myth was actually wartime propaganda to hide the fact that radar was still a new invention used by few...the way aim was perfect in nighttime for some airmen baffled enemies.
http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient...

[thew]

i said the same to porker a month ago

[AnchovyBourdain]

Ah, i hadn't read the whole thread before replying, my bad.

[porker]

Hey, don't drag me into this thing...

[Bill Hunt]

Now, both my opthamologist and a opthamological researcher, at wife's hospital, have indicated that kale IS good for eye health. That might not be "eyesight," per se, but eye health can be important too.

Hunt

[goodhealthgourmet]

the docs are right - the lutein & zeaxanthin in kale (and avocado, egg yolks, spinach, squash, corn, collards, broccoli, brussels sprouts, tomatoes and peas) help protect against oxidative damage, which can ultimately lead to macular degeneration.

[Henny Penny]

There are lots of recommendations to cook pork to 160F.

I'd always stir-fried pork or done little porkchops. The first time I did a loin (very recently!) I followed this advice. NEVER AGAIN!

[Dave5440]

goodhealthgourmet --
The carrots also help to prevent nightblindness in smokers, smoking can affect a smokers eyesight very rapidly something about the chemicals eliminate vitamin A , at least that's what I remember

[jfood]

Dropped bread always lands on buttered side

the butter adds weight to one side and causes this. Add to the a cat always lands on its feet. Ergo if you tie a piece of buttered bread on the back of a cat and throw it out a window it spins continuously? :-))

[Caroline1]

EDIT My god, WHY am I reading AND responding to a six month old thread? I'm outta here!

[John E.]

I recently was chastized for pointing out to somebody the exact same thing just a few days ago.

[goodhealthgourmet]

don't sweat it - people have gotten cranky with me for pointing it out too, even when i just do it to let them know that the person who asked for that restaurant recommendation or recipe or whatever may not reply because the request was made 6 years ago and their CH history shows that they haven't posted anything for the past three...

[BobB]

Hey, it's only six months old. I've seen seven, eight, even nine YEAR old posts get resurrected out here!

[linguafood]

but... but... but dropped bread lands on the buttered side like 9 times out of 10. it makes sense to me, b/c that side would be the heavier one. no? (just outing myself as a non-natural scientist)

[mpjmph]

Dropped bread lands buttered side down most times b/c it gets pushed off the counter or slides of the plate such that one edge starts falling while the other is still supported, causing rotation. Try it with a book - lay it front cover up on a table and push it over the edge. It will rotate in the air and most likely land front cover down. On the other hand, if you hold your piece of toast butter side up and drop it straight down, it will probably land butter side up :)

[linguafood]

I'd do the book thing to prove it, but not the sandwich. I just got done cleaning up after a dinner party '-)

Thanks for the explanation, tho!

[ricepad]

To make this truly empirical, you'd have to butter one side of the book, first.

[GraydonCarter]

"You know it’s a good recipe if it starts with a stick of butter."

[nkeane]

its a combination of weight differential from buttered to non-buttered side and common counter heights. try it from twice the height some time and it will land butter side up most times.

[mpjmph]

You're correct about counter height, but it is the rotation caused by sliding off the surface that makes the toast flip, not the weight differential. If you drop a slice of buttered toast straight down without rotation, it will not flip. Likewise, if a piece of un-buttered toast falls with rotation, it will flip. From the Institute of Physics: http://www.physics.org/facts/toast-to...

[nkeane]

I was not arguing the cause of the rotation, just why it lands the way it does once rotation has started. Another point, although minor, is that having a denser material(butter) on one side of the toast will offset the weight and the rotation will be eliptical in nature....albeit a tiny amount.

[Bill Hunt]

I think that to be certain, one would need to do the experiment with the buttered bread from about 10,000 feet. Then we'd know for sure, that the landing was not due to the cyclic revolution, and the normal height, from which most buttered bread is dropped. While those "in kitchen" tests might show what would happen in everyday life, we really want to get to the bottom of this.

Hunt

[hill food]

what I want to know is: what side does it land on if it's NOT buttered?

[ZenSojourner]

We need comparative testing to find the difference between butter and jam as well.

[Bill Hunt]

You know, I did an experiment with my wife's new European toaster (cost me over US$200), and I fired four slices into the air. Obviously, I did not dare put any butter into that toaster, but did mark one side with a "B," so that had to work. I placed this in the stairwell, which is 22', and let 'em rip. Unfortunately, two had the "B" on top, and two had it on the bottom. Now, there were probably two, that hit the ceiling, but I cannot tell you which was which, as I was ducking for cover, and then my wife came home, so I could not do a second experiment. Inconclusive is my ruling...

Hunt

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

Sounds like a job for Mythbusters!

Actually, no, wait, it doesn't. We need to figure out a way for the toast to impressively explode on impact.

[Bill Hunt]

Yeah, if Corey could somehow rig some nitro into the toast, and then fire a 50 cal. round into the toast... but wait, we need some sort of robot, and then Jamie needs to be hit in the head, or similar.

Hunt

[hill food]

umm does the ink of the 'B' have a causal effect? just asking.

[porker]

At first I was wondering if ink was used or not - perhaps it was a simple impression of B on the bread, but that too might have a causal effect, which led me to think that marking of any kind (butter or otherwise) might alter the outcome.
So I'm thinking virtual bread and butter...
However, the Observer Effect may still muddle the outcome.

[Bill Hunt]

You know, just compressing the bread to form the "B" might have had an effect -aerodynamics, or perhaps weight distribution... Never thought of that.

Hunt

[hill food]

what is the sound of one slice flopping and if not observed did it happen and if it didn't, then what sound did it not make?

(jeez, you'd think I still smoked pot with a post like that.)

duuude.

[Bill Hunt]

Now that is too transcendental, even for me...

Maybe I need another glass of wine, and then can ponder it better, or maybe not. [Grin]

Hunt

[kmcarr]

"Sounds like a job for Mythbusters!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They already did it:

Status: BUSTED.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_W3ZY...

[Snozzberry]

Mythbusters actually did this, over complicated buttered toast-tossing rig and all. Their findings were similar to Hunt's.

[hill food]

I'll need to read the lab notes.

[Rasam]

Well the carrots story is not just a myth: Any food rich in Vitamin A (as are carrots) helps prevent night blindness (a Vit A deficiency disease) ....

[therealdoctorlew]

The bread thing is 100% true. It always falls buttered side down, unless you buttered the wrong side.

[porker]

Ahhhh
Think I'll start buttering both sides, just to be sure.

[ricepad]

Wrong solution. Drop first, then butter.

[porker]

I'm afraid I'd drop it wrong.

[Bill Hunt]

That will take to 100% for sure, unless the bread falls on the cat.

Hunt

[nkeane]

the question everyone is missing is, who are all these butterfingered idiots dropping the toast? (pun intended)

[ZenSojourner]

No, no, no, no, we need more research! For instance, if tying the buttered white bread toast to the back of a cat causes a black hole, would tying a piece of buttered pumpernickle toast cause a white hole?

And how is the result affected by the color of the cat? Would a black cat make a white hole more, or less, likely? Would a long-haired cat spin more slowly, so that we only get a quasar?

So many research possibilities, so few cats . . . .

[porker]

What if you dropped a buttered cat, upside-down into a black hole from the height of a standard countertop?
OK OK, "height" might not be the correct word...swap out with "corrected distance"

[Bill Hunt]

Great line and well within the spirit of most of my answers.

I bow to greatness,

Hunt

[hill food]

nah this is something for the Royal Bureau of Standards and Measures in Greenwich, England. and isn't it the "measured distance" not corrected? corrected implies the interference of the human hand.

[postemotional1]

There's more than 1 way to skin a cat...

[phantomdoc]

Try finding one that the cat likes.

[Soop]

The carrots make you see better in the dark thing was British propeganda during the war apparantly. Part of the whole "dig for victory" campaign.

[foreverhungry]

No, that's not a myth. Carrots are very rich in beta-carotene, which is converted to retinal, which is used in the production of rhodopsin. Rhodopsin is the visual pigment used in low-light vision. It's well known that night-blindness can be caused by Vitamin A (or retinal) deficiency.

Now, that's not to say that if you ate a kilo of carrots per day you'd be able to see in the dark like a cat, but the link between carrots, Vitamin A, retinal, and night vision is clear. No myth there.

[John E.]

The myth part is that the pilots eating carrots made their night vision good enough to find and shoot down German bombers at night. Without the advent of radar, their success rate would have been a tiny fraction of what it was.

[foreverhungry]

Ah, yes. That would be quite some bunk. Sorry, didn't realize that was the particular myth at hand.

[taos]

Well, milk is good for. It's not magic food but it has some nutrient value (protein, calcium, vitamin c ...)

And carrots have beta carotene which does help vision. It helps prevent night vision and prevents cataracts.

[AndrewPF]

I hear you on the milk thing. It pisses me off when people make health comments to others based on personal choices. I used to smoke and people would tell me "it's so bad for you!"

Think I didn't know that?

[Cherylptw]

The only way to flavor pasta is to add salt to the cooking water...I never add salt to my pasta water.

[The Professor]

It's not the only way to add flavor but it is a very good way. This one's not a myth (okay...maybe the "only way" part)

[Chemicalkinetics]

People will dislike you for saying that.

[Cherylptw]

The odds are that not everyone in the world likes me so I can live with it....

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

Oh, you should try it, it truly works. It's much like salting a piece of meat before cooking versus after. Just throw a tablespoon or two in once the water's boiling. You'll never look back.

[haggisdragon]

Why don't you?

[ZenSojourner]

Well I don't because there's a crap load of salt in everything already. No need to add to it. Plus if I salt to MY taste, no one else can eat it.

[linguafood]

AFAIK, there's no added salt in pasta. Unless I'm overlooking some strange brand here.... pasta water should be as salty as the sea.

[kmcarr]

Here is a myth that absolutely needs to be dispelled..."pasta water should be as salty as the sea."

While there is some variation among oceans, the average salinity of the Earth's oceans is 3.5%. This means that every kilogram of ocean water (approximately 1 liter) will contain 35 grams of salt. This includes all the dissolved salts but the vast majority of that is sodium chloride. Suppose you were boiling up some pasta for tonight's dinner and you are using 6 liters of water, if you want to make that water "as salty as the sea" you would need to add 210 grams (6x35) of salt. To put that in standard American measurements that's about 1.5 gallons of water and nearly half a pound of salt.

Yes, pasta water should be liberally salted, but if it were truly "as salty as the sea" the resultant pasta would be completely inedible.

[linguafood]

Oh, alright already. NOT AS salty as sea water. But pretty damn salty. 1 tablespoon won't do it, 2 probably won't do it either.

[Chemicalkinetics]

kmcarr,

I completely agree with you. I don't think most people think throughly before they make statements. Things such as adding salt increases boiling point. Technically, yes, but practically too little to make a difference. Add salt to water to the same saline level as sea water, that is very false as you explained.

There is also another point. Sea water is not drinkable, as sea water actually dehydrate the person. Do you really need your pasta to be that salty? Just think about it for a second.

[Pipenta]

So what you're saying here, is, pasta water should only be as salty as an estuary?

[alkapal]

there ya go, "estuarine" in the year of a wet spring.

[mpjmph]

But not as sulfurous...

[KaimukiMan]

i believe the word is brackish

[Bill Hunt]

So what you are saying is that the water should be fine for a redfish to live in, but a speckled trout would probably head the other way?

Hunt

[ZenSojourner]

oh, you eat you pasta au natural? No tomato sauce? No pasta sauce? No pesto?

[linguafood]

No, I generally don't. But pasta cooked in unsalted water is, by definition, less flavorful than pasta cooked in salted water. Duh.

[ZenSojourner]

We'll have to agree to disagree, then, won't we?

Duh! LOL!

[linguafood]

You, I, and millions of other people.

[Ruth Lafler]

Disagree about what? Pasta + salt by definition has more flavor than pasta without salt, because it tastes of both pasta and salt. Whether you like the flavor is a different thing.

Adding salt to pasta water does season the pasta, since as the pasta cooks it absorbs water (surely you've noticed that) and if there's salt dissolved in the water, that's absorbed as well.

[beachmouse]

There are some soba and udon noodles that are made with a good amount of salt. My husband is somewhat salt-sensitive. If I have to stray from my usual no-salt Hakubaku brand noodle for some reason I always have to check to make sure the alternate noodle is salt-free.

[thew]

no, theres a crap load of salt in everything that has a crapload of salt. if you don;t eat that crap, then you are not overdoing the salt

[Becca Porter]

Exactly!

[Bill Hunt]

Well, we won't have to worry much longer. Both NY and CA are attempting to ban all salt, so ND can't be too far behind.

Soon, no salt anywhere - until they pry my "gourmet salts" from my cold dead hands...

Hunt

[thew]

bill, sorry, NY is not attempting to ban salt. one malinformed lawmaker in NY tried to win election points by proposing a bill that had zero chance of being taken seriously, except by a bored 24 hour news cycle, and less chance of that of actually becoming law.

[Henny Penny]

I used to be like you. Then I discovered that most food is undersalted during cooking, causing me to want to oversalt it after. I use far less salt now that I cook with it!

[hill food]

same here, but I tend to pour a little into my hand rather than use a shaker, I'm still cautious, and it's so easy to add a bit of salt later, but I have learned the value of some salt added in from the start.

[haggisdragon]

It is considered good practice to season judiciously throughout the cooking process. Adding salt to the pasta water is just part of that process.

[ZenSojourner]

or not . . . as for any seasoning, when or if to add salt is entirely a matter of personal taste.

[AndrewK512]

There is a correct and incorrect way. Adding salt to pasta after cooking and you'll just have pasta and salt. Adding it to the cooking water, which is absorbed by the pasta, which thus properly seasons the pasta throughout, is a much more beneficial way. Your cooking water should taste like properly seasoned water to have the right effect.

[porker]

Can you be more specific which method is 'correct' and which is 'incorrect' ?

[ZenSojourner]

I think his point was that those of us who don't put salt in the boiling water are doing it "wrong". Those of us who do it that way do so because that's how we prefer to do it. There is no "wrong" as far as I'm concerned, it's just a matter of taste.

[Soop]

Yeah, I don't bother. It's not like I eat plain pasta anyway.

[Bill Hunt]

If you're using regular "kitchen salt," then in the water it goes. If you are using "French Grey," or "Hawai`ian Red," then sprinkle atop, once cooking is complete.

Hunt

[MichelleRenee]

I try not to eat too much salt and never added salt to my pasta water. I'm fortunate to not know what I'm missing. And anyway, I use my tomato sauce liberally. And often eat the leftover sauce with a spoon (when it's homemade.)

[TongoRad]

Don't wash or rinse your mushrooms. Or even have them within arm's length of the sink, fer God's sake! ;) I think that one was invented by the guy selling those dopey mushroom brushes...

[Michelly]

I agree. I remember what mushrooms are grown in, and I take them & head for the sink.

[NE_Elaine]

I took a cooking course at the neighborhood natural foods store and the woman teaching the course tried to teach us that we should brush the dirt off the mushrooms and then peel them. I actually tried it the next time I made stuffed mushrooms, but quickly abandoned the effort and ran for the colander.

[small h]

I think that particular bit of whimsy comes from mushrooms tendency to absorb water. If you soak them in water. Which is not how I wash mushrooms (and I always wash them).

[linguafood]

yah, but alton brown did a test once where he washed the shrooms in water, after having weighed them, and then weighed them afterwards. i think the absorption was below 1%.

[small h]

So they don't absorb water even if you soak them? Unless Brown just swished them around a little. I'd like to know how the mushrooms fare if they're left submerged for 10+ minutes. Just for my own information.

[TongoRad]

I don't remember all of the details, but I'm pretty sure he did a soak. I usually just rinse, myself, but I don't think it'd matter either way. My method of cooking mushrooms, more than 90% of the time, is to do it on high heat. There is a lot of water in them to begin with, and if your pan is hot enough and not overcrowded the released liquid will just steam away as it's cooking, leaving concentrated mushroomy goodness behind. And no dirt ;)

[Becca Porter]

I am also pretty sure he soaked some.

[linguafood]

I don't remember the details either, as this was a long time ago and my memory _just_ isn't what it used to be '-)

I've never had to soak shrooms that long, but I've used my salad spinner for dirtier ones such as chanterelles, after swooshing them around for a while, using several cycles of water. Never was a problem.

[Bill Hunt]

"I don't remember the details either, as this was a long time ago and my memory _just_ isn't what it used to be '-)"

You must be cooking with aluminum cookware...

Hunt

[linguafood]

Well, I've certainly ingested organic materials that allegedly have memory-lapsing properties.

Wait, what?

[Bill Hunt]

One night, I put my Portobellos into a nice marinade. Came back in a few moments (a few too long), only to find that they had absorbed the entire contents of the Pyrex. I could not cook that moisture out of them on the grill. Learned a lesson on some mushrooms' absorption capabilities.

Hunt

[small h]

It's possible that your mushrooms were on the dry side, making them extra-spongy. I marinate portobellos before I grill them and I've never had that problem - there's always plenty of marinade left over for brushing the mushrooms while they grill. Did you use a basic oil/vinegar/herb mix, or something else? Because if it's "something else," I'd like to know so I can avoid it in the future.

[Bill Hunt]

In my case, it was a Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter marinade. I do have to admit that I did take a nip, or two, so the "control" might have been corrupted a bit.

Hunt

[thew]

lets say they do absorb some water - guess what - they are already full of water - and when you start sauteing them you cook the water out - so bottom line is, worst case scenario, you saute 30 seconds longer.....

[almansa]

I roast about 50 lbs of mushrooms every day and I always soak them first. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, it doesn't matter. And the best part about it is the residual liquid after roasting. Right now I'm making sorbet with some.

[FoodFuser]

We must ask: To what glory does the daily fungi output go?

[hill food]

yeah really almansa, you can't just post a statement like that and not follow up even if it is sort of OT

[almansa]

Sorry, I got lost in the thread. I serve the mushrooms very simply - sometimes with basil, sometimes with a compound butter, and always with a reduction of the mushroom juices. Other juice uses: I just braised 7 oxtails in said juices. This was the sorbet base, along with an herbed port syrup and some egg whites. I've clarified the juices for a consomme; set them in a savory panna cotta; used them for a mushroom aioli w/ poached eggs and grapeseed oil; jellied them for Knox blox; certainly used them as the base for a sauce; I can't even remember all the stuff. They're just liquid gold as far as I'm concerned.

[hill food]

sounds great, but that's only half the answer - 50 lbs of mushrooms a day? 50?? is that a typo or is there a commercial bulk demand out there for roasted mushrooms?

I should try it, closest I've ever done are stuffed and baked.

[AndrewK512]

I just wipe down cultivated mushrooms, they barely have any dirt. But when I have wild mushrooms I always wash them. Brushing the dirt out of the gills of a chanterelle or morel is insanity.

From experience, I prefer not to wash mushrooms. It doesn't ruin them, it just means you won't spend a lot of time evaporating excess water later.

[Pipenta]

I spend a lot of time in woods and forests for my work. I have to tell you, I'm a lot more comfortable with the dirt from the woods than any "dirt" generated by big agriculture. Methinks you're putting your scrubbing efforts to work on the wrong 'shrooms.

[alkapal]

um, why exactly does "big agriculture" have an incentive to use "bad dirt" for cultivating mushrooms? that makes no sense. it is sanitized, which your forest floor ain't.

[Ruth Lafler]

If you'd ever smelled a commercial mushroom farm you'd know. There was a big Campbell's mushroom facility (for sale now if anyone is thinking of getting into the business) on a route I travel frequently and you could smell it for a quarter of a mile away.

[John E.]

Does it smell earthy and musty or does it have more of a manure odor?

[Ruth Lafler]

Definitely a manure odor!

[Bill Hunt]

At a favorite inn of ours, they have a mushroom field in their garden. They use fallen trees, and the Tennessee dirt. Not sure if they "sanitize" that dirt, but kind of think not.
http://www.blackberryfarm.com/

Hunt

[epabella]

"big agriculture" have an incentive to use "bad dirt"

i'd feel safer eating the forest floor than anything 'sanitized' by monsanto and their genetically modified ilk.

[Chemicalkinetics]

It does not make sense to compare the dirt in a rain forest to that of modern commerical farming. The comparison should be between modern commerical farming and ancient small scale farming. People used to (some still use) animal feces for fertilizer in ancient farming.

[AndrewK512]

I'm not so concerned about the quality and composition of 'dirt' as much as how wild mushrooms taste gritty and dirty when uncleaned and many farmed mushrooms don't.

[Bill Hunt]

I always run mine through the dishwasher, using the sani-wash function. Takes the work out of it. Now, my dishes (in the same wash cycle) do come out with grit on them, but hey, a soft cloth takes that off nicely.

Hunt

[celtic_tiger]

That one was clearly invented by chefs who wanted to torture their staff.

[onceadaylily]

Baking soda in the refrigerator to absorb odors. Googling this food myth, I was instructed by one website that it is "better to wrap your food and clean the fridge once in a while". Gee, thanks internet, I've been meaning to call my mom.

[jameshig]

As to the baking soda, I think I saw this on mythbusters that because only the top surface area is exposed, what can be absorbed is minute.

[onceadaylily]

I dumped half a box in the cat pan, and it did not help at all. I do admit there is a significant difference between last night's broccoli and the contents of said box.

[ZenSojourner]

OMGosh, I sure hope so!

Much as I dislike broccoli, its still better than kitty litter, LOL!

[Bill Hunt]

With the cat box, you must feed the baking soda to the cat. That will help.

Hunt

[onceadaylily]

True, but I suspect safeguarding a cat's tongue during seizure makes the cost of fresh cat litter seem paltry. She's a rescue kitty from a bad home. She bites when she's feeling *affectionate*.

It would likely be easier to feed her the leftover broccoli, and let her sulk quietly for a few hours.

[Bill Hunt]

"She bites when she's feeling *affectionate*."

You know, I understand exactly what you are saying. Our little Kermit was originally a rescue kitten, and then his foster "parents" could not keep him, so we did, as Tom Cat had just died. Poor Kermit was an odd little guy, and was never friendly with our Bulldogs, though they would have loved to play with him. Now, he did live to be just shy of 24, so I guess that all was not bad.

The image on his headstone has him ready to bite someone. No baking soda for Kermit either.

Hunt

[onceadaylily]

She sleeps on my lap a few times out of the year, and I am almost afraid to breath when she does. The care of a being made difficult by cruel hands requires an infinite amount of love, patience, and humor, and is always worth it. I would love to have a French bulldog, but I think our Olive would certainly get the better of a dog known for both its curiosity and lack of aggression.

She likes sushi, and shows an alarming interest in dirty martinis (or, ahem, rather the drink made from vodka and olive brine, served prettily in a glass that often serves a 'martini'), which requires vigilance on my part . . . but who leaves a martini unattended for long?

I would have loved to meet a cat named Kermit.

[hill food]

sometimes I wish CH had a 'like' tab the way Facebook does.

[onceadaylily]

And I would *like* your profile. Whenever I've had to apologize for snapping at my boyfriend, I begin by saying, "I've uncranked my pants."

[hill food]

(shucks)

[Bill Hunt]

Hey, it almost is starting to sound like "Chemistry.com" [Even bigger grin here]

Hunt

[Jack Flash]

It's the olive. Some cats go crazy for olives, olive wood, etc. It has an effect similar to catnip. We have an olive wood cheese board, and one of our cats goes crazy on it - licking it, rubbing himself on it, and drooling all over it.

[alkapal]

mmm, that's appetizing!

[MichelleRenee]

I thought my cat was the only one who likes alcohol. We can't walk away from a gin and tonic in my home or my kitten will dip his little paw in and lick it off numerous times. He also likes cigar smoke. Go figure!

Is sushi okay for cats? Mine eats almost anything and goes nuts trying to get my sushi, but he's never tried it yet because a.) I'm selfish with my sushi and b.) I wasn't sure if it was healthy or not. I'd give him a piece if I knew it wouldn't hurt him.

[Snozzberry]

There shouldn't be a problem, as long as it's occasional, and it's not tuna. Don't know why, but non catfood tuna can cause fatty liver disease in cats.

[onceadaylily]

Tuna can cause a vitamin E deficiency in cats (if part of a regular diet), which can cause *many* problems. The commonly dispensed knowledge is that a little bit of such every now and then shouldn't hurt her/him.

Michelle, I have acquiesced to feed my begging, yowling, flirting, pleading cat a piece of sushi on more than one occasion. Each time, she sniffs it, and then promptly whips her head up to give me a 'what the hell?' look before she haughtily struts away. And I am then left with a deconstructed bite. She gives the same treatment to sardines, oysters, and edamame. And, sometimes, chickpeas.

But, I would say that if you are only getting sushi once in a while, a bite will likely do that cat no more harm that an occasional cheeseburger does for you and I. Or pie. I would not want to be deprived of pie simply because people love me.

[hill food]

a friend's cat had a twisted urinary tract (or something, it's been awhile) and her vet brother told her 'wet' food for cats isn't always the best way, at least not all the time. she thought she was being a good indulgent person. turns out they need a 'high ash' diet (whatever that means) and it's best delivered through dry. I forget the brand he recommended, but it's also one of the cheaper ones.

but a little here and there won't hurt. and certainly fresh won't.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I think baking soda dos absorb odors, just not very good at it.

[Roarasaur]

The best thing that aborbs odors is activated charcoal. at least when I was looking this up anwyays a year ago

[ipsedixit]

Celery has negative calories

Excess salt increases blood pressure (for those w/o blood pressure issues)

Margarine is healthier than butter

Potato soaks up excess salt (or sugar) in soups or stews

Salting meats (and beans) before cooking makes them tougher

Gum remains in the stomach for 7 years

Searing meat "seals in" juices

[goodhealthgourmet]

ipse, you hit almost all the points i wanted to jump back on to add. there's just one missing...Coca-Cola burns a hole in your stomach lining.

[tatamagouche]

Now...you're *sure* it doesn't? I drink 6-10 diet sodas a day and I'm pretty sure I'm half dead already.

[goodhealthgourmet]

well, that much artificial sweetener may shorten your life in other ways, but it won't eat a hole in your stomach lining ;)

[weewah]

Pepsi and Pop-Rocks (candy) mixed in your stomach will cause it to explode.

[ZenSojourner]

oh oh oh, I've got one!

Eating green apples will make you have periods if you're a girl
Eating a watermelon seed will make a watermelon grow in your stomach

I guess that's 2

And another one - swallowing Pop Rocks whole will make your stomach explode!

[goodhealthgourmet]

the way we learned it when i was a kid, it was eating/swallowing Pop Rocks with *soda* that made your stomach explode :)

[ZenSojourner]

Hey it was a long time ago. I have trouble remembering what I had for . . . .

what were we talking about?

[AndrewK512]

It could certainly give you a stomach ache.

[Whosyerkitty]

That's up there with eating raw dough gives you worms. What kind they are and where they actually come from was always a mystery. However, I will admit I told my daughter this today. Not because I was afraid she'd get worms. I just didn't want her to eat the raw dough.

[thew]

why not tell her the truth, then?

[Chemicalkinetics]

I think excess salt intake increases blood pressure for anyone including healthy people. This does not mean reducing salt intake for a patient will reduce blood pressure. I think once the salt intake exceed your kidney capacity, then the blood pressure will go up. I will check on that later.

[ipsedixit]

"I think excess salt intake increases blood pressure for anyone including healthy people."
__________________________________________________________________

Source? Or citation?

Even the connection between excess salt intake and people with high blood pressure issues is tenuous. There is correlation perhaps, but no causation necessarily.

For example:

"High dietary sodium has been adduced as a cause of hypertension and its target organ damage for millennia; yet careful observations using sophisticated techniques have revealed only a weak relationship between sodium intake/excretion and blood pressure in the general population."

From: http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstr...

[Chemicalkinetics]

Interesting. However, I must point out that there are many literatures which indicates a solid relationship between salt intake and hypertension (high blood pressure). Here is a 2009 article by Feng He et. al. from the Journal Hypertension. Needless to say, Hypertension is a journal focuses on high blood pressure researches. In its discussion section:

"First, our study is the largest double-blind trial of modest salt reduction which also involves a large number of black and Asian participants. The study demonstrates that a modest reduction in salt intake, as currently recommended,10,11 causes significant and important falls in BP in all 3 ethnic groups of individuals with mildly raised BP. The results in Asian participants (94% were of South Asian origin) are of particular interest, ....."

http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/54/3/482

Also from the Journal Hypertension, Nikolaos Tzemos et. al. in 2008 suggested QT dispersion lengthen with high salt intake. In its discussion section: "The major findings of this study, which is the biggest of its kind, were that oral salt loading in young normotensive individuals was associated with reduced vascular NO bioactivity, impaired left ventricular myocardial relaxation, and increased electrocardiographic QT dispersion.... "

http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/51/6/1525

QT interval:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7zQULPNQ7FQ...

[gfr1111]

Thank you, Ipsedixit!

I'm going to show that article to my salt-paranoid, fat-paranoid girlfriend. It's gotten to the point where she doesn't want me adding ANY salt to her food, which makes life difficult for this amateur cook. (Incidentally, my doctor is also skeptical about the relationship between salt and hypertension.)

[Dave5440]

gfr1111--
My doc told me it's not the salt per say that increases my blood pressure , but the increased blood volume that the salt causes ,

[jmckee]

Jeffrey Steingarten has done a great deal of research on this issue; the piece is in one of his collections. The salt / BP connection is fallacious.

[ecustard]

I lost all faith (not that I had much) in anything Jeffrey Steingarten has to say when I saw him on a local television program and he didn't know how to pronounce Oscar Meyer.

[alkapal]

or spell it right?

[ecustard]

I'll concede you a partial touché. But spelling isn't the same as pronunciation of a name, "Oscar Mayer," that was drummed into American heads for decades via song on both TV and radio, at least here in the northeast where Jeffrey has spent most of his life.

Well played nonetheless.

[Chemicalkinetics]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNddW2...

La la la la la

:)

[Tripeler]

So does that make him an Oscar Meyer weiner?

[alkapal]

oscar MAYER weiner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNddW2...

poor old jeffrey must never have watched tv if he mispronounces oscar mayer.

[linguafood]

or he is too busy eating good food.

[alkapal]

for his entire life? ;-).

everyone knows about oscar mayer. well....almost everyone.

[linguafood]

i wouldn't have noticed the misspell, but i'm a furrner. and i've never had a single oscar mayer product. not in the 10 years i've lived in the US.

[onceadaylily]

I can't hear that name without that jingle running through my head. I suppose it's a US childhood thing, those commercials accompanied by Sesame Street, and the Electric Company. During commercial breaks I would either daydream about my crush on Spiderman, or sing along with the jingles, depending on my mood.

Sometimes a hot dog is just a hot dog . . . sometimes it's an association that makes one google Freudian latency (and furrner) . . . BRB.

[alkapal]

the last oscar mayer product i bought was their all beef bologna, and it was horrible! i know they weren't always bad.....

and i had the pleasure of viewing the weinermobile LIVE and in person a few years back, on pennsylvania avenue, in d.c.'s freedom plaza. "LOOK, it's the Weinermobile!!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wienermobile

>>>>
"""Vanity license plates

YUMMY
OUR DOG
IWSHIWR
OH I WISH
WEENR
WNRMOBL
BOLOGNA
RELSHME
LIL LINK
BIG BUN
WNR MBLE"""<<<
~~~~~~
i also had a weinermobile "whistle" when i was a kid. whatever happened to that thing? maybe it's in this guy's collection: http://www.357.com/chris/wiener/whist...

[porker]

We were on a bit of a roadtrip/foodtrip a few years ago (a BBQ festival in Buffalo NY and a Pizza Pilgrimage to NYC) and driving Interstate 90. Somewhere between Syracuse and Rochester I spotted it;
"Hey, HEY look, look, look on the highway, going the other way. Look, look, LOOK, its the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile! LOOK LOOK LOOK"
I may not remember who had the best ribs in Williamsville, nor what toppings I had at Bleeker Street Pizza, but seeing that weinermobile (it was a sunny day with scattered clouds, temps in the low 70s, grass in the median) made the trip.
The wife, not so much.

[butterfly]

I've never eaten a single Oscar Mayer product, but had the same pavlovian burst of happiness in response to a random weinermobile siting (I-10 in Florida). I got so excited that I ran into the grassy median.

[John E.]

Several years ago I was walking in downtown Minneapolis with a young intern (no jokes) and we saw the Weinermobile parked in front of a hotel. I burst into song, a bit louder than she would have liked, and sang the jingle. My intent was not to embarass her, that was just a benefit.

[ecustard]

I worked with a guy who later drove the Weinermobile and one day I got to go inside it. One of the high points of a relatively long and eventful life.

[Bill Hunt]

Though at the risk of going OT, did you ever read Dave Barry's Weinermobile article? Worth it, if you have not already seen it. Link: http://www.pair-of-dice.com/luke/maze...

Hunt

[hill food]

ha! once back in my youthful indiscretion phase I was driving through KS somewhat stoned and as I drove under an overpass on I-70 a Wienermobile was passing overhead. middle of less than nowhere somewhere west of Topeka.

[epabella]

"he didn't know how to pronounce Oscar Meyer"

absurd

[ecustard]

Yeah, it was absurd that he tripped up on an American icon of hot doggitry.

Curiously enough I was a regular on a TV show on the same network, The Metro Channel in NYC, when he had the "New York Eats" show with Ed Levine. It was on this show during an episode devoted to hot dog taste testing that he stumbled on Mayer while live on the air.

[MichelleRenee]

There was a poor man traveling by foot down a dusty road, when suddenly a genie appeared and promised to grant him three wishes. The first wish was for all the riches he'll ever want. The second was for a horse-drawn cart to carry him and his riches to his destination. He didn't know, yet, what to use his 3rd wish for. So he loaded his cart and drove on down the road. As he was driving, he was so happy at his great luck that he began to sing the first song that came to his head, "Oh I wish I was an oscar mayer weiner..." *POOF*

[hill food]

MichelleR: now that IS a food myth I'm fairly sure.

[Karl S]

Sodium-sensitive hypertension is a minority of primary hypertension cases, on the order of 25-30%, but doctors often lazily treat every case of hypertension as sodium-sensitive.

[foreverhungry]

But the physiology underlying salt and hypertension is pretty clear: increase salt consumption, and that causes an increase in blood serum osmolarity. To bring the osmolarity back down within "normal" levels, one method (in addition to ion excretion) is to pump more liquids into the system. Great for bringing serum osmolarity back to normal, but now you have increased volume in the circulatory system. Increase the volume and you tend to increase blood pressure.

It's not quite as cut and dry as that - chronic hypertension arises not from a few high sodium meals here and there. But chronically high salt intake does cause hypertension in some segments of the population, and the basic underlying mechanism is simple chemistry and physics. The details get much more complicated.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Agree. As I mentioned earlier, Fei He et. al. in 2009 demonstrated a link between sodium diet to hypertension across different ethnicity groups.

http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/54/3/482

The conclusion here: "...The study demonstrates that a modest reduction in salt intake, as currently recommended, causes significant and important falls in BP in all 3 ethnic groups of individuals with mildly raised BP..."

A large segment of hypertension patients are sodium sensitive. Williams and Hollenberg stated "One large segment of the hypertensive population--approximately 60%--has in common an increased blood pressure sensitivity to salt intake. "

http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstr...

Hypertension is just one of the many issues with high salt diet, but that is a discussion for another day.

[Sra. Swanky]

The potato thing is a myth? I've been leading a misled life!

[goodhealthgourmet]

yes, it is a myth. i *know* there are still some CHers who claim it works for them, but i've yet to see evidence that it does...and scientifically it doesn't really hold water.

the only thing that REALLY corrects over-salting or too much sugar (or too much of *any* ingredient, really), is to add more of everything else to adjust the proportion.

[KaimukiMan]

which is exactly what adding the potatoes does. the potatoes absorb a relatively high percentage of water, and along with it some of the salt. The question is how much are you expecting the poor potato to do? If the salt box fell into the stew, too bad so sad. If it was just a little over the edge, and you add a fair amount of potato, you have a chance.

[jmckee]

This is almost a litany. I want to shout AMEN.

[toodie jane]

Actually , Adele Davis wrote that salting beans or other starches before cooking lengthens the time it takes water to penetrate the surface or skin.

From "Let's Cook It Right": "Soaking legumes is unnecessary if the dry legume is quickly rinsed under running water and dropped into rapidly boing water so slowly that the boiling does not stop. As in popping corn, the starch grains burst and break the outside covering of the legume. After the covering and outside starch grains have burst, water is absorbed rapidly and the cooking time is shortened. When all the beans or grains have been put into the water, the heat should be lowered immediately (to)...a simmering temperature to prevent the protein from becoming too tough."

"If salt, fat or molasses is added at the beginning of cooking, the cooking time is prolonged. Fat coats the outside and prevents moisture from passing readily into the legume. The acid in molasses toughens the outside covering. Salt attracts water away from [repels?]the legume rather than into it."

Also:"The trick to cooking rice or pasta and any other starchy food so that each grain or particle of it remains separate, is to drop the food so slowly into boiling liquid that boiling or simmering does not stop." I find her technique works very well with rice, white or brown.

[ZenSojourner]

She may very well have written that, but that doesn't make it so.

http://captious.wordpress.com/2006/05...

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

I salt my beans before cooking. It just makes them more delicious.

[alkapal]

acidic tomatoes also retard beans cooking -- as well as salt at the beginning.

[Karl S]

Salt doesn't - myth that has been busted; actually, beans that are brined have a richer flavor and cook no longer. Acids do retard cooking of tough cellular walls.

[alkapal]

i didn't think that the salt myth has been busted. at least not according to the united states dry bean council:

"Salt: best afterwards
It is important to add salt and acids such as lemon juice or vinegar after cooking; if not, cooking time may have to be extended due to hardening of the beans. Allow around 20 ml. of salt for every 500 g. of dry legumes." http://www.beansforhealth.com/faq/BeanPreparationandRecipeTips.aspx#FAQ2no10

on the other hand, i see many have discussed their success in "brining" beans. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/5947...

i guess i'll have to try that brining. i do know one thing, fat will help them soften (like it does for collards)! ;-).

[Becca Porter]

CI puts salt in their bean soaking liquid. I do too now.

[Karl S]

The bean council on the salt issue is not current with the science.

[Karl S]

What softens beans (and other tough tissue) is an alkaline substance like baking soda. BUT you don't want to use alkaline water later in the process because it's unpleasantly in taste and texture.

[alkapal]

fat softens them, and it *tastes* good.

ps the bean council is full of beans, is that it? perhaps we should let them know?

~~~~~
the role of fat in cooking ingredients is amazing -- and i learned it first-hand when making a "vegetarian" pot of collards at the same time as the traditional pot, with hog jowl. the un-fatted version took a LOT longer to cook. (i don't think i added oil, because at that time i didn't realize how important fat was!).

[Pipenta]

The Bean Council may or may not be full of beans (I always assumed that expression ascribed liveliness from caffeine via coffee), there's no way to tell from the statement. But it does seem they are full of baloney!

[Bill Hunt]

"Celery has negative calories"

I think that this depends on how much chewing one must apply, to eat that celery.

Same with the mystery meat served in my high school cafeteria. The more you chewed it, the bigger it got. Finally, after 30 mins. of heavy chewing, one gave up - calories burned, and none taken in.

Hunt

[goodhealthgourmet]

eating at night causes weight gain. and on a related note, there's the supposed "fat-burning" power (or negative-calorie impact) of foods like grapefruit, celery, cucumber...or cabbage soup!

decaf coffee contains no caffeine.

fresh produce is always more nutritious than frozen.

all alcohol burns off during cooking.

eggs are bad for you...and in the same vein, eating foods high in dietary cholesterol will raise your cholesterol.

you should eat according to the USDA Food Pyramid.

[hungryabbey]

those are all of my favourites, especially the night eating one.
I eat most of my calories after 8 pm, and cant gain a pound. Its just that usually.. the things we tend to eat at night (alcohol, chips, ice cream etc) are high calorie. Thats what can cause weight gain. Your body doesnt know what time it is, it just knows what calories you're giving it.

[John E.]

Eating at night causes weight gain if it's snacking in the evening after eating a full meal at suppertime after lunch and breakfast. If it's eating supper at 10pm instead of 6pm, then no, it doesn't cause weight gain. The eating at evening causing weight gain is really about unecessary snack calories.

[goodhealthgourmet]

you're preaching to the choir here. my point was that people typically make the overarching nonspecific statement that eating after a certain time (8 p.m. appears to be the most commonly trumpeted witching hour) leads to weight gain.

[hungryabbey]

Right. If it were true, when you go across seas and the time changes, you'd be in serious trouble (you better tell your body "its ACTUALLY only 6 pm here.. so I can have this salad").
Uh it drives me crazy. And its celebrities like Oprah that has made that myth so famous.

[postemotional1]

Eating at night often causes a food baby as abdominal muscles are stretched to hold the food and there is little movement during sleep to counteract the effects of late night eating.

[goodhealthgourmet]

you lost me with this one. why would abdominal muscles be "stretched to hold the food" only at night? a food baby can result from *overeating* at any time of day or night.

[onceadaylily]

I think PostEm1 was just noting that a lack of activity at night (and usually, and importantly, a lack of hydration during the sleeping hours to aid digestion) after a large meal was *more* likely to make the food baby than it is during the day. I'm have a habit of eating late, and then leaving the dishes, and going soon to bed with a book. On the nights I eat earlier and remain a bit more active, my system feels little need to remind me of what I would look like if I ever chose to have a child. I think I would be very pretty as a pregnant woman, but looking in the mirror and knowing that the roundness is pasta . . . less pretty.

[porker]

Oh yeah, another annoyance: the notion that being "natural" makes something good for you. Egad.

[ZenSojourner]

I teach an intro psych course where every semester I have at least one student (usually more) who won't believe that "natural herbal remedies" can interact badly with each other, different meds, or not be good to take while pregnant. Because they're natural, they're good for you. No matter what.

Well water's good for you too but you don't want to have to try to breathe it.

[Chemicalkinetics]

We call that drug-drug interaction. Many compounds can have CYP inhibition, which can then alter the plasma exposure and half life of the compound in our bodies.

:)

[porker]

Radon is also 100% natural...

[Chemicalkinetics]

I have a better one. Aluminum is entirely natural and it is the most abundant metal on Earth.

:)

I have a feeling that the same people who are into natural rememdies also worry about aluminum poison.

[jgg13]

yeah, but see, all of the aluminum we use was processed by man. aluminum itself would be perfectly fine to ingest, but we had to go and ruin it.

:)

[Chemicalkinetics]

You are correct. Say no to industrial farming aluminum and say yes to organic aluminum

:)

For clarification.: By organic aluminum, I don't mean in scientific term, like organic complexes of aluminum. I mean "organic" as in a social/political term, as in organic cotton or organic chicken.

[Ruth Lafler]

As is arsenic and many other poisons. This drives me crazy -- my philosophy: if the substance is capable of affecting the working of your body (and if it isn't, why take it?), it's capable of affecting it negatively.

[Henny Penny]

Yeah, I just offer them some all-natural arsenic, in its original form!

For some reason, they turn me down.

[hill food]

or rhubarb greens dressed in a nutty hemlock vinaigrette.

[Terrieltr]

As is salmonella.

[thew]

or people who eat herbal remedies, and then say they wont take drugs

[Mestralle]

There was a woman at a old employer who was convinced that asbestos in the office was making her sick. When the testing was done, it turned out that the levels on the balcony (it was converted studio space) due to naturally occuring deposits were about twice as high as those indoors (though both were within accepted guidelines).

[alkapal]

or you don't want to drink too much water. it can kill you.

[John E.]

I'm not attempting to stalk you but I did hear of a time when someone did die from drinking too much water. Here's the link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/0...

Of course, that's an extreme case.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Oh yes, I remember this news.

[John E.]

Radio stations are known for doing incredibly stupid stunts. This is one of the few times though where they actually killed one of their listeners.

[porker]

I think there was a case of water intoxication death with a college hazing a few years back as well.

[weewah]

That was Chico State in Ca. The hazers were drunk and the 'hazee' was given a gallon jug of water and told to drink as much of it as he could get down. He became delerious, collapsed and died soon after. The hazers didn't bother calling 911.

[alkapal]

that radio station contestant's death is how i learned of water intoxication.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Well, people often do irrational things. If you remember, there are/were trends like going to oxygen bars and colon irrigation.

[thew]

and there was one report from a rave where a girl on mdma died from drinking too much water. of course in the news this was reported as death from XTC, not death from water.

(just say no to H2O)

[Henny Penny]

My grandmother accidentally gave my great-aunt a case of water intoxication.

[Pipenta]

Re Porker's comment: Oh yeah, another annoyance: the notion that being "natural" makes something good for you. Egad.

Perhaps not. But being natural often makes something more delicious than the processed synthocrap that many of my young friends gobble down with great enthusiasm.

Gack!

Hmmmm, let me see, Cato Corner's Hooligan or Velveeta? Ashley's bittersweet hot fudge sauce or some crap in a jar from Nestlés?

I'll choose natural every time!

[thew]

cato corners for eating as cheese. velveeta when texture and fatiness and a smooth melt are more important than the specific taste)

[porker]

I'll choose the tastier one...

[weewah]

Egad

Gack

Gadzooks!

[Bill Hunt]

Maybe not, but it often makes it more expensive.

Hunt

[silkenpaw]

Like botulinum or diphtheria toxins, for example. 100% natural. Very bad for you.

[al b. darned]

Items made with mayonnaise, such as potato salad, cause food poisoning.

This is false for items made with commercial mayo because commercial mayo is made with pasteurized eggs that are free of Salmonella and other types of bacteria. Other ingredients such as vinegar and lemon juice provide a high acid environment, which slows or prohibits entirely the growth of these types of bacteria. Salt, another ingredient in commercial mayonnaise also acts to quell the growth of bacteria.

OTOH, home made mayo can still kill you if you get "bad" eggs.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

Quite correct. The potatoes are by far the more likely culprit in potato salad.

[Becca Porter]

or the macaroni...

[porker]

I don't think its the mayo thats making people sick... or even the potatoes themselves...

[GraydonCarter]

It is the chicken in chicken salad that goes bad in the heat, not the mayo. I don't know how potatoes could go bad. I suppose at a picnic, just about anything you leave out in the sun can get too warm to be safely eaten.

[jimdub]

Actually Cosmic Jester, you are correct The most likely culprit is the potatoes and a little bug called bacillus cereus. B. cereus also is found on rice dishes left out too long...

[MichelleRenee]

Not to mention that it depends on how the food was prepared. If the cooked potatoes touched a contaminated surface/utensil/hand it could make you sick. But it's not the food item itself, just what contaminated it.

[goodhealthgourmet]

al b darned, thanks for posting this - i knew we were forgetting a big one :)

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

I thought of two drink myths that drive me bonkers.

1) Mixing liquors will result in a worse state of inebriation than drinking one type of alcohol. There is a grain of truth in this, but it's only because if you're mixing liquors you're likely to drink a lot more.

2) Vodka should be kept in the freezer for better martinis. No, vodka should only be kept in the freezer for doing shots. Martinis and all other mixed drinks rely on the dilution of melting ice to round off the edge that the alcohol brings. If the vodka is kept in the freezer, it won't dilute, and your martini won't be sublime. Of course, one really should be using gin instead of vodka in their martinis, but that's another post entirely...

[Cachetes]

I always thought that mixing liquors in the wrong order would make you vomit. Liquor-beer, never fear, etc. Though, likely, drinking beer first lessens one's comprehension of how much liquor they are later taking in, thus leading to aforementioned vomit. Or so I've heard...

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

There is some truth that the order you consume different drinks will affect your rate of alcohol consumption. If you go in knowing that you're going to have, say, a single beer, a single glass of wine, and a single martini, it doesn't matter which order you have them. However, if you don't ration your booze and start with beers, that will set your brain to quaffing anything in front of you, no matter how strong it is. If you start with the martinis, you'll sip that slower than you would a beer and continue to sip through through the night, drinking less than someone who started with beers.

[KaimukiMan]

except if i start with beer, i tend to drink more of that, get full/quench my thirst, then slow down (for the most part) on subsequent drinks.

[Bill Hunt]

One of the contributing factors can be the degree of sugar in a particular drink. The sugars can affect one's absorption of the alcohols.

Hunt

[BobB]

There's more rhyme than reason to those old sayings. The first one I heard was when I was living in Germany: "Wein auf bier, das trinken wir; bier auf wein, soll nicht sein." (Loosely, "Wine on top of beer, that we drink; beer on top of wine, should not be done.)

[hill food]

I like a friend's motto: "Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor, never fear"

just jam both feet on the accelerator (so to speak) and deal with the aftermath tomorrow in other words.

[Sherri]

JK, The French are adamant about not mixing grain and grape; no whiskey then wine with dinner. Brandy & soda is fine but nix the grain-based liquors.

I'm sure we've all know some of those holier-than-thou types who eschew hard liquor thinking they're "just drinking wine". Although by the time they're onto the after-dinner Cognac, they're as sloshed as somebody having martinis.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

And French tradition explains what, exactly? The source of your alcohol doesn't matter a whit. Alcohol in beverages is always the same molecular ethanol, whether it comes from grapes, barley, rice, potatoes, apples, you name it.

[small h]

My blood isn't nearly smart enough to tell whether the alcohol entering it comes from wine or whiskey. Maybe French people have really smart blood.

[The Professor]

You're right...vodka shouldn't be kept in the freezer for Martinis, only for shots.

After all, a Martini isn't a Martini at all unless it is made with gin.
LOL
;-)

[Pipenta]

JK,

One I hear all the time is "I can't drink gin because I have an allergy to juniper berries."

To which I say, albeit more politely in person: No you don't Pavlov, you dummy. At some point when you were younger, you drank yourself stupid on some gin-based concoction and got yourself horribly sick and now you have a negative conditioned response to the smell of junipers because they are strong and distinct and volatile and they make your body remember that time you spent the night hugging the toilet like it was a long-lost friend and the next morning wishing you were gonna die. So here, champ, have a madeleine and pass me the Tanquerey!

[Ruth Lafler]

Sorry, I have to disagree. I'm allergic to juniper (allergy tested by my allergist, not just supposition); I used to drink gin and tonics. I have allergic asthma and I used to wheeze when I drank gin and tonics. I never made the connection -- I'm not sure I even realized gin was made with juniper -- until someone said something and it clicked. I switched to vodka tonics and stopped wheezing. If people say they throw up because they're allergic, then you can be annoyed because throwing up is not an allergic reaction (although it may be a sensitivity) and I get annoyed when people use the term "allergic" to mean anything that makes them feel bad. But really, what skin is it off your nose -- that just means more gin for you!

[butterfly]

I don't know about juniper allergies, but throwing up certainly can be one of the symptoms of a food allergy. My son is allergic to eggs and--in addition to rashes, wheezing, tingling, and itching--he would have severe stomach pains and throw up immediately after eating something that contained eggs (and still it took us forever to make the connection). Food allergies are very odd and variable, which is one of the reasons they are so underdiagnosed (and probably also why so many people with hypochondriac tendencies think they have them when they don't).

[alkapal]

i'd say throwing up after gin means that you have... a "gin allergy." LOL! http://myconcordia.ciss.com.cn/myconc...

[hill food]

I referred to it as "a touch of the cocktail flu" but then it never had anything to do with the exact imbibation.

[Basiorana]

My fiance and his entire paternal line are all very allergic to juniper. I know it's an actual allergy, because I had a soap made with gin that he reacted to, and he got a rash after falling on my mother's juniper bush. Juniper allergies are actually pretty common. When he consumes something with juniper, his throat closes up a little and when it reaches his stomach he becomes violently ill, as his entire intestinal track becomes inflamed.

[hill food]

that makes sense as juniper is toxic and has to be heavily processed before even some of us can tolerate it.

[Aramek]

I searched the thread, and didn't see this one!

Both my brother and my roomie went to Culinary School (yet I do all of the cooking) and my roomie very firmly believes that you can't ever wash mushrooms, that they'll soak up all the water.

To me, this is a myth on par with the whole "seal in juices".

Complete, and total myth. For no matter how long you soak them, too! Whether 5 seconds, or 30 minutes in the water, both show the same, negligible water gain.

So, use your "brush" if you want to waste your time, I'll wash mine.

[ricepad]

It's way upthread...Aug 21 at 4:52 PM by TongoRad.

[Aramek]

Aww, I even did a Ctrl-F for Mushroom. :(

[al b. darned]

I saw Alton Brown dispel both of these myths on one of his shows.

[John E.]

I have a friend that insists that the skinny asparagus are more tender than the thicker asparagus. I much prefer the thick asparagus.

[The Professor]

I think your friend is right. But in the end it's all a matter of personal preference. I like the texture of the skinny asparagus much better (as long as it's not cooked to the point of mushiness)

[John E.]

I've always found the thick asparagus to be more tender. Both have the outer fiberrous skin but the thicker asparagus has more of the tender inside part. (Plus it's real easy to overcook the skinny ones).

[Ruth Lafler]

I agree. The thinner the asparagus, the higher the ratio of skin to tender insides.

[John E.]

To each his own, but I guess I didn't articulate my point very well. Here is a website and quote that does a better job of it:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/a...

Thick or thin? If you've have some experience growing or cooking fresh asparagus, you probably know that this is a vegetable that breaks the rules. Thin does not mean young and tender. Thick does not mean old and tough. While thick or thin spears can be equally tasty when asparagus is very fresh, and spears that are old will be tough, woody and tasteless, regardless of how thick they are, when buying fresh asparagus, choose the thickest spears. When everything else is equal, fat asparagus is more tender than skinny asparagus. Both have firm, fibrous strands outside, but thick spears have more succulent, tender pulp inside.

[Ruth Lafler]

I was agreeing with you!

[Chemicalkinetics]

He wants you to agree with him one more time.

[The Professor]

and I'll disagree with all of you. LOL.
;-)

[Chemicalkinetics]

LOL :)

[John E.]

Sorry. I didn't read it right. I thought the story/web page said the thicker the asparagus the more tender insides there are. Anyway, I'm one of those that likes the thicker asparagus and is willing to peel the bottom two inches. That way you can cook fewer spears per person.

[Catherine C in NYC]

I hate the myth that you should wash chicken before you cook it. Not only does cold water seem somewhat ineffective against salmonella and the like, but studies have shown that this can actually splash bacteria all over the place (not that I have any references handy). Besides, the heat from the cooking method will kill any surface bacteria on the chicken. For some reason this one really drives me crazy--it's just so useless.

[Jack Flash]

I rinse chicken not to ward off bacteria (obviously), but simply to physically clean it. Sometimes, there's stray bone fragments & other detritus left over from the butchering process that I just don't want in my finished product.

[c oliver]

Me too. So I don't think it's a myth.

[dave_c]

There was a CH thread about washing chicken done in a UK study... but I mainly wash chicken to get rid off bag gunk.

I don't know how the study came up with water splashing in a 3 foot radius. That seems like a myth to me. :-).

[Ruth Lafler]

Yeah, I'm with you on washing off the "bag gunk" (which goes off a lot more quickly than the actual chicken).

[Bill Hunt]

In a serious moment here - I always bring the chicken to the grill in one Pyrex and then place it into another one, or clean the original very, very well.

Hunt

[Bill Hunt]

Like the mushrooms, I always run the chicken through the dishwasher on the sani-wash cycle.

Hunt

[ZenSojourner]

That'll work! Cleaned and cooked all in one go!

[Bill Hunt]

Yes. Now, I DO have to remember to take out the little basket of Jet-Dry... [Grin]

Hunt

[John E.]

When we need to wash many pounds of potatoes we frequently do them in the dishwasher (minus detergent and Jet-Dry).

[Bill Hunt]

Yeah, that Jet-Dry has gotten me too many times. Gotta' remember to remove that.

Hunt

[hill food]

a friend's mom did that with collard and dandelion greens! (minus the soap)

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

Oh, so that's where your chicken gets such a lovely lemon note to it...

[toodie jane]

said to me as a child to get me to eat something I shunned:

toast crusts will make your hair curl --isn't that a GOOD one??

[Whosyerkitty]

Geez, I thought my family was the only one with THAT nonsense. Was your mom from Iowa?

[Bill Hunt]

Now, the question that begs to be asked, did it?

Hunt

[MichelleRenee]

My mom always said the crust grows hair on your chest. I always thought, "well I don't want THAT!" lol

[porker]

eating peanut butter after midnight grows hair on your palms.

[ricepad]

I *knew* it wasn't caused by what my father told me....

[al b. darned]

LOL!!!

[thew]

those aren't mutually exclusive.....

[goodhealthgourmet]

ick!

[ipsedixit]

I've always been told that that other activity made your palms hairy ...

[AnnCook]

These might be relegated to farm life, but my mother always told me -

To put a quarter on the bottom of a jar or bowl when I'm hand-making cream or butter.

Never to cook turkey on a Monday because it'll always turn out tough.

and my favorite....

Brown eggs are the best because they have more protein and flavor.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

I know why to do the quarter in the jar when making butter... when you stop hearing it clank around, you're done.

And I love the difference between white and brown eggs: White eggs are laid by chickens with white earlobes, brown eggs are laid by chickens with red earlobes. And if you get your hands on an Araucana chicken with blue earlobes, you guessed it, that bird's going to lay blue eggs.

[Rasam]

And I have a hypothesis about not cooking turkey on Mondays - wasn't that the traditional day (in the pioneer US) to hand wash the entire family's laundry? So your attention is not on the cooking?

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

You know, I think you're right on the money there. I just looked around for confirmation, and apparently the term Blue Monday refers to the dismal nature of having to spend all day doing laundry, and to the bluing solution used to keep clothes looking white. So yes, roasting a turkey on a Monday when you're normally concentrating on the laundry would be a recipe for disaster.

[Pipenta]

And if they are americaunas (half breed araucana + whatever, and most of them are because full-blooded araucanas have reproductive issues and are very hard to come by, which is a pity because they have eggs that are a much stronger blue than the mixed breeds), the eggs will be either blue, green, white or pinkish brown. But not from the same chicken. A given chicken only lays one color eggs.

Maran chickens lay eggs with such dark brown shells that they look like chocolate! But the color of the shell has no impact on the flavor.

Emu eggs are a marvelous dark, dark, dark cobalt color.

[Karl S]

there is one advantage to brown eggs: when, as is frequently the case, you are mixing them with white ingredients, it's much much easier to tell when you've gotten a shell fragment. And, because the inside of the brown shell is white, it still works if you are mixing it with beige ingredients.

I've relied on this many, many times.

[jgg13]

Another advantage, as the local egg council commercials burned into my psyche as a child, "brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh!"

Of course, that also is likely a myth ;)

[taos]

As far as I can tell, the only difference between brown and white eggs is geography. Where I live in New England, most of the eggs are brown. I've noticed in other parts of the country, most of the eggs are white. It doesn't seem to matter if the eggs are local, organic, free range, vegetarian-fed, cheap or expensive. The color seems to be determined by geography. I'm guessing it has to do with different breeds that are prevalent in different parts of the country.

[John E.]

You are correct when you say that the only difference between white and brown eggs is the color. The reason is different breeds of course, but the actual reason for New England to have more brown eggs is likely because the customers like them better. The growers will fill the demand. If customers started to ask for white eggs, then more white eggs would start appearing in the stores.

[almansa]

Brown eggs are cheaper before Easter.

[MichelleRenee]

I know it's purely psychological, but I feel like brown eggs taste better and just feel more fresh. I like an egg of any color, but opt for brown when I can. Makes me feel like I'm livin' on a farm.

[hill food]

our neighbor's are sometimes green and even a pastel turquoise

[Andy Poodle]

I have a friend who has ducks. They eat the duck eggs like they were chicken eggs. They have green, blue, and orange tints...like easter eggs or something.

Brown eggs DO taste better than white eggs. I was told by my grandfather that brown eggs don't get "candled", though. I guess that is or once was a method to check the quality.

[thew]

candling was to check if an egg was fertilized or not

[John E.]

If the Rhode Island Reds eat the same feed as the hens that lay white eggs, the taste and nutrition of brown and white eggs is exactly the same. The only difference is the color and what the hens eat.

[St.Ridiculous]

1.) Season your pasta water. No one likes flat, doughy tasting pasta. There's no real measure. (indicative of water hardness / other mineral contents). However, it SHOULDN'T be "salty" but taste markedly of salt. kapeesh?
2.) Thicker asparagus is usually marked by being more tender, but in most restaurant applications, you would cut more off, or literally peel the bottom half of your veg to reveal the softer innards. You always want thinner asparagus, this is a good sign of seasonality, as well as a developed flavor (not scraggly, but thin)
3.) Certain varieties of mushrooms should never be washed. primarily due to the loss of ESSENCE from them... do some research to find out which ones can be washed with no problem (ie button, porcini, and shitake) and the ones that you'd be doing severe injustice to by all measure of the laws of nature (ie chanterelles, and other aromatic assortments)
4.) Bananas ARE slightly radioactive --- FACT.

[porker]

Isn't EVERYHING slightly radioactive?

[Pipenta]

You mean besides bananas?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_e...

[porker]

Yeah, besides bananas...
"Radioactivity is present everywhere (and has been since the formation of the earth)."
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environm...

[ZenSojourner]

"I'm not uptight -
not unattractive -
Turn me LOOSE tonight -
I'ma radioactive!"

[porker]

And don't you stand
stand too close
you might catch IT.

Reputed to be written after 3:00am at the Electric Banana - coincidence?
Kinda freaky now that I think about it...

[linguafood]

I never heard that rinsing chanterelles (and those are DIRTY mofos) washes away the flavor. As mentioned upthread, I have no qualms throwing them in my salad spinner for a good sloshing around, and then spinning them dry.

Chanterelles in particular release such a nice broth when sautéed (in rendered speck with onions, of course), you basically already have your 'sauce' to go with them. Just add a spoonful of crème fraîche & some chopped parsely - et voilá: dinner done.

[haggisdragon]

yum

[linguafood]

Yum indeed. If only I could get chanterelles in these parts. And I always thought PA was the mushroom state....

[c oliver]

I've never washed any mushroom any time. And haven't used a brush on them in about 40 years. Still here to tell about it.

[TongoRad]

Well, I have been rinsing them for at least 20 years with no ill effect. It's not so much that I'm concerned about bacteria, but not having any dirty flavors in there. Also, the brushing routine seems so needlessly tedious. In the vast majority of cases I'd say that rinsing isn't harmful.

I am willing to carve out an exception for chanterelles, though. All I need is for somebody to provide me with a steady supply so that I may gain some real world experience with them ;)

[Karl S]

That rice is hypoallergenic as compared to, say, wheat.

It depends on where you live. In Asia, rice allergies are more common than in the West. Et cet.

[acorniv]

My kids had allergy testing and my dd came out with few sensitivities, but was allergic to all the things that you start with with a food elimination diet, LOL. Rice was one.

[Sooeygun]

Heard a myth today on the local morning show, yet again - sugar makes kids hyperactive

[Ruth Lafler]

You will never be able to convince people that's not true, despite the numerous studies that have proven it's a myth.

[ZenSojourner]

Citations, please. The studies I've seen show no link between diagnosable ADHD and sugar. There is a link for some children between sugar ingestion and a temporary state of hyperactivity.

[Ruth Lafler]

If you google "sugar hyperactivity" you'll get plenty of them. Here's one: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/mai...

This article points out that if the parents know their child has had a lot of sugar, their perception of their child's behavior is affected. I'll note that in the example you gave, you knew your child had eaten sugar and you were *expecting* some kind of adverse behavior and assumed that the behavior you observed was caused by the sugar.

[ZenSojourner]

Ruth, I'm a trained professional. My son NEVER behaved like that - ever - unless he had had a sugar overload. Also note that I could smell it on him. He metabolized sugar differently in a way that he thankfully outgrew.

And I'm sorry, but a WebMD page isn't going to cut it here. Give me PEER REVIEWED professional articles that show there is NEVER any possibility of sugar sensitivity in some children. Because the ones I've read show that there is such a link but only in a minority of children.

[Chemicalkinetics]

"I could smell it on him"

You actually think you can smell sugar overload?

[goodhealthgourmet]

if the person has a metabolic imbalance, absolutely.

[alkapal]

i recall that a diabetic's sweet smell from missing an insulin shot was a clue in a murder mystery on law & order.

"""A fruity odor to the breath occurs as the body attempts to get rid of excess acetone through the breathing. This is a sign of ketoacidosis, which may occur in diabetes. It is a potentially life-threatening condition.""" http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/en...

[Chemicalkinetics]

Alkapal,

Are we talking diabetes now? Since you are talking about insulin shot, then it must be type 1 diabete and not type 2. It is a serious condition. Having ketoacidosis (diabetics) is the last thing I will relate to a child being hyperactive or eating too much sugar.

Type 1 diabetic patients actually feel tired and weak because they cannot effectively use the sugars. You won't hear about diabetic patients being hyperactive.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/art...

I guess what I am saying is that I just don't see how a "sugar overloaded and super hyper kid" have much to do with diabetics ketoacidosis

[alkapal]

i'm not talking about kids and sugar overload.

if you notice, i was referring to good health gourmet's post, and riffing on the ability to smell "metabolic imbalance." i think diabetes also counts as a metabolic imbalance, no?

[Henny Penny]

I think if she can smell it on him, hyperactivity is her LEAST concern.

[aggiecat]

I was always convinced that it was NOT the sugar that caused my Little Brother's hyperactivity, it just gave him waaaay to much fuel to do whatever crazy hyeractive thing he was charging around doing. Hello, streaking nekkid thru the neighborhood at 3 yo. Although the crash and burn at the end was always a welcome respite.

[Ruth Lafler]

I would never say that there is never any possibility of anything -- individuals react differently to all kinds of things. Perhaps your son metabolized sugar differently. But that doesn't mean that "sugar makes kids hyper" it means that your son had a particular condition where he reacted abnormally to sugar.

[c oliver]

Agree. We can all get a little overactive with too much sugar. And an individual can have an extreme reaction to anything. But, yes, after years of study there appears to be no link between sugar intake and true hyperactivity.

[mpjmph]

Here's a meta-analysis of studies looking at the relationship between candy and hyperactivity: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/87...

None of the studies reviewed found any relationship between sugar or candy consumption and hyperactivity.

[jgg13]

If you want something that's from a "PEER REVIEWED professional article", you're not going to get something that says there is "NEVER any possibility" of anything, really. Just sayin'.

[Henny Penny]

Bet I could feed your son sugar and he wouldn't "react like that." I make it very clear that if anyone believes that sugar makes them "crazy/hyper" that they don't need the treat/birthday cake/whatever. Funnily enough, every child always assures me sincerely that this is not a problem THEY suffer from. And funnily enough, they don't.

There is NOT a study that shows that there's a link in a small minority of children. It's impossible through the studies that have been conducted to prove that there ISN'T one. HUGE difference.

It's the idiot parents standing around and talking about how the kids will get all "hyper" who convince children of this.

[hill food]

I'd think that a lot is just kids are hyper to begin and with no stimuli, but I can understand why some don't want to boost that. (but dang I wish I still had that energy)

[almansa]

One of my kids, who is naturally "energetic," cannot have processed sugar dissolved in liquid in large amounts (soda, sweetened juices). He goes way beyond hyper, bordering on out of control. My friend refuses to serve him the "fresh squeezed" juices at his restaurant anymore.

[ZenSojourner]

Well dang it, I don't have access to medical journal databases from here, and my son's account doesn't have access at his university because he's a PolySci major who normally wouldn't need online access to the medical journals. It's not worth my time or the effort to go into town to the med school library just to debunk this particular partial myth.

I say partial myth because research has consistently shown no reliable correlation between diagnosable ADHD (attention deficity hyperactivity disorder) or ADD (attention deficit disorder) - only one of those terms is currently technically in use and I can never remember which one. But basically sugar is unlikely (very unlikely) to be the cause of ADHD/ADD. We can only say it's unlikely because you can't disprove a connection, but any connection is so tenuous as to be dismissable. It's all correlational as far as I can remember, which can't show causation.

The vast vast majority of studies are done on a population of ADHD/ADD children. There have been studies that have shown that some children - a small minority - who cannot be diagnosed with ADHD/ADD do have trouble metabolizing sugar and do show behavioral changes, usually characterizable as "hyperactivity" to a lay population. Most (I say most because it's possible when working with a small minority like this that some get missed) seem to grow out of it before the age of 5.

My son seemed to grow out of it around the age of 4. Somewhere between 3 and 4 as far as I can recall.

Many food allergies and sensitivities in small children are known to result in behavioral changes. This does not translate to those children being "hyperactive" in the sense of having a diagnosable disorder (namely ADHD/ADD). Most children either grow out of it (more likely gradually lose the sensitivity with exposure) or else they develop full-blown allergies which are recognized as such.

It has nothing to do with ADHD/ADD, which is how many lay people think of "hyperactivity". So if that's how you're defining "hyperactive" it's true there's probably no connection. However, for the minority of children with food sensitivities, there are noticeable behavioral changes on ingestion of the substance to which they are sensitive which to all intents and purposes looks just like "hyperactivity" and in fact is, it's just not related to ADHD/ADD. Or autism, or any of the other things that parents are grasping at dietary straws to explain.

Some children really are sensitive to sugar, or certain dyes, or chocolate, or strawberries, or what have you. But this is not the explanation for ADHD/ADD or autism or a host of other things parents would like an explanation for. They're just glitches in the functioning of a child's metabolism which usually smooth out with time and occasionally turn into actual allergies. It's a developmental thing that fortunately only a minority of children have to go through.

One of my younger brothers was born with a sensitivity to nearly everything, including breast milk. He nearly starved before they found something he could eat. However, his system eventually "learned" how to metabolize foods, including dairy, just fine. By the time he was about 3 or 4 - about the same time my son stopped reacting to sugar overload - he was eating normally, and he has no food allergies now. Fortunately most children don't have these problems, and even more fortunately, for the minority who do, it isn't as broad in spectrum as it was for my brother. And most fortunately of all, most children who do go through this also get over it.

[GraydonCarter]

Aren't ALL boys between 3 and 5 extremely active?

[Cachetes]

I think part of it is kids' perceptions as well. My son knows that when we pull out the cupcakes or ice cream, it's a special treat. He proceeds to get excited and jump around before he even as a bite of it. Parents' misconceptions and kids' excitement together, and bam, time to medicate your kid for ADHD.

[thew]

what a lot of hooey. sometimes my kid does indeed get way more out of control with sugar. not always, and i understand the difference between a momentary reaction to a change in brain chemistry and a syndrome that needs treatment.

sugar is a drug. (and i do not use the word drug as some negative bogeyman) it effects your brain chemistry. that is a fact. it does not cause hyperactivity. it does change behavior to a small degree. less than methamphetamine. more than eating, say, sand. so what?

[acorniv]

Because of the way thestudies were conducted. There are a few things they need to do, like allergy testing andmicronutrient testing ( for malabsorption) and diabetes testing. The children used in those studies are typically healthy, but the kids with problems with sugar are not. It's a farce.

[thew]

no, it's just the low end of the speed spectrum.....

[ZenSojourner]

That's true, but only for SOME kids. Keeping in mind, of course, that "hyperactive" and having ADHD are totally different things.

My son was so sensitive to sugar when he was little that it was scary. For example, I gave the daycare strict instructions to scrape the icing off before letting him have cake or cupcakes, which they served whenever a kid had a birthday. They told me they would.

HOWEVER.

I came in to pick him up one day and I could smell it on him. There was something about the way he metabolized sugar. I could literally smell it on him, the way you can smell garlic on some people.

So I said to the worker, "Whose birthday was it today?" She told me, then it occurred to her to wonder (and ask) how I knew. I just said, "You didn't scrape the icing off Kevin's cupcake, did you?" She uncomfortably admitted that she had not. This was just about an hour after the birthday party so I knew what I was in for as soon as I got home. If it had been an hour or two earlier than that, they would have had their hands full at the day care center. Keep in mind my son was normally a quiet well-behaved articulate child. He was not quite 2 when this happened, maybe 16 or 18 months old.

Shortly after we got home, he began to pound his head on the wall. I moved him away from the wall, and he started to pound his head on the floor. The kid was bouncing off the ceilings. He was pinging so badly I couldn't believe it myself, it was the worst reaction to sugar I'd ever seen, even for him. I had to put him in his swinging chair to keep him from hurting himself. It took the rest of the evening for it to wear off, and/or for him to wear himself out so that he finally fell asleep.

Thank god he grew out of it, but he really couldn't handle a sugar overload AT ALL when he was little.

[Bill Hunt]

I think that overly loud restaurants make kids hyperactive, regardless of their sugar intake. However, it could be that they mixed their alcohols???

Hunt

[acorniv]

If they want to do studies on this, they should hang out at a Boy Scout camp. We proved one boy ( and later, his brother) were allergic to sugar, and it sure did make them hyperractive. His parents refused to believe it, and his mom would send him with literally a trunk full - like 30 pounds of candy for a week at camp. He worked on my son's lengthy Eagle project, and showed up sober the first day. We were astounded. I asked what he had for breakfast and he said potstickers. I told him how impressed we were with how well he did, and asked if he could do that every work day. He agreed, and stuck to his promise. He liked himself and the project so well, that he decided to become an archeologist. ( they wove an intricate mat for a. Archeological museum). After the project ended, I took his dad aside and told him of the agreement and how incredibly well he did, and said that i really thought his son was allergic to sugar. He looked over at his typically out of cntrol son, watched him for a few minutes and then smiled and thanked me and said he'd look into it. I can just imagine thebattle royale that insued with his sugar pushing wife, but by then I had both the son and his dad on my side. Or rather, on the side of the boy's well being. He recently got an Eagle award himself :-).

The studies on this subject did not take into considereation that some people are allergic to sugar. It merely studied average joe's. And came to a very wrong conclusion.

And now people are spreading rumors far and wide and parents and doctors are completely ignoring the possibility that sugar is indeed causing hyperactivity. It is truly a travesty.

Years ago, I fit shoes on children, and many times saw moms give kids candy to 'calm them down'. It always had the opposite effect. And the parent could never understand. Sometimes I think that happens because the kid got fussy because he needed a meal, I leanred back then that sugar sould always be allowed to bind to a fat beforebeing digested. So Zi gave my kids reeses peanut butter cups or ice cream, etc. Sweets that had fats too.

[dave_c]

1) Worms come out of pork (raw or cooked) when soaked in coca-cola or vinegar.

2) When cooking, pressing down on a burger or steak "seals in" the juices.

[GraydonCarter]

I always wondered how the worms got in there in the first place.

You put some hamburger in an airtight container and maggots appear within days. How did they get there? The air? The hamburger?

[small h]

Spontaneous generation. What else could it be?

[Bill Hunt]

Radioactivity?

Hunt

[John E.]

I realize this post is a couple weeks old, but if you put hamburger in an air-tight container and maggots appear within days, that means a fly landed on the hamburger and laid eggs before the hamburger was put into the airtight container.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Did you forget your education about Spontaneous Generation?

http://www.allaboutscience.org/origin...

[virtualguthrie]

I don't know why but it drives me crazy when people say that bbq ribs should "fall right off the bone," or that "it's all about the sauce."

[Chemicalkinetics]

Hmm, I agree. I don't think bbq rubs fall right off the bone should be the only criteria. I have rarely heard "it's all about the sauce". I have heard "it is all about the rub."

[dave_c]

I was just about to post the opposite... lol!

Myth: Good BBQ ribs shouldn't fall off the bone/should have "bite".

I think it comes down to what you like, but the "ribs should have bite" criteria is mainly a judging criteria for cook-offs. It's just a way to spread the points out... sort of like a presentation criteria.

I do agree that good ribs should not rely on sauce.

[observor]

First and foremost should be the quality/flavor of the meat itself, followed by texture, with the rub and or sauce acting as an accompaniment, in my opinion. You're eating ribs, you're not eating sauce, so how could it be all about the sauce? I think the meat should have a minor "bite".

[chefathome]

For ribs it's all about the layer of bark.

[MichelleRenee]

I LOVE my rib meat falling off the bone. And I never had ribs without sauce, but I love sauce. I realize this must sounds like blasphemy to you folks, but that's just how I like 'em. Fallin' off the bone and dripping in some good BBQ or Jack Daniel's sauce.

[Karl S]

Here's another one: vegetable oil is "healthier" than cream or butter.

If you have problems with cholesterol that is sensitive to butterfat, yes. But otherwise, no.

Per unit of volume, butter has 80% of the calories of oil, heavy cream has less than 50% and lower-fat creams even less.

So that vinaigrette, unless made with disproportionate amounts of vinegar and/or water, typically has more calories per unit of volume than a "creamy" dressing.

[foreverhungry]

Problem is the "per unit volume" qualifier. You tend to use greater amounts of the creamy dressing than a vinaigrette. The thickness of the creamy dressing make it more difficult to thinly coat a salad, so folks tend to use more of it. Also, many dressing recipes I've seen tend to use more vinegar proportionally in vinaigrettes than in creamy dressings, so there's more of the "fat" substance in the creamy dressings.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Right. The infamous example is cream cheese on bagal vs butter on bagel. Although cream cheese has less fat and cholesterol than butter in a per unit fashion, people put so much more cream cheese on a bagel than they would using butter.

I have regularly seen people put this much cream cheese on bagel:

http://www.thethriftymama.com/wp-cont...

Have you seen anyone put that much butter in comparison? I haven't.

[alkapal]

dang straight! make mine veggie cream cheese on a toasted sesame bagel, please.

[thew]

there used to be a peanut butter ad, skippy perhaps, (with marie osmand, i think) that told us that it had less fat per ounce than butter. even as a kid i saw through that.

[Karl S]

The opposite is true for me, actually. That is, I tend to use less creamy and more vinaigrette. And the creamy dressings need less vinegar to give flavor than the oil-based ones.

[foreverhungry]

"And the creamy dressings need less vinegar to give flavor than the oil-based ones."
Precisely. That's part of the issue. Creamy dressings use less vinegar for equal volume. So what's the vinegar replaced with? A fat agent.

Vinaigrettes tend to have more vinegar proportionally, which mean less of the other stuff - oil.

But the real health consideration, which you did mention above, is the saturated vs non-saturated fat issue. A couple tablespoons of olive oil is unlikely to cause health issues - see the Mediterranean diet. But the equivalent of saturated fat, for some people, that's a different issue.

[Chemicalkinetics]

See. I am not sure that is the main difference between Mediterranean diet vs US diet. I think we (Americans) simply eat in much larger portion than they do.

[MichelleRenee]

Creamy dressings also tend to have more sugars, and often it's in the form of high-fructose corn syrup....

[foreverhungry]

The myth that mayo can cause spoilage of potato salads.

False. Commercially made mayo is high in acid and contains preservatives. When's the last time anyone's had a jar of Hellman's go bad in the fridge. I use mine so infrequently that it takes me about a year to go through a jar. Never had any issues.

Rather, it's poorly washed potatoes that cause food-poisoning related issues - a bacteria commonly found in soil, and thus on tatie skins

[linguafood]

as mentioned further upthread.

[Ruth Lafler]

Except the potatoes have to be cooked -- usually boiled for at least 20 minutes -- before you can make them into potato salad, which should kill all the bacteria. But perhaps there's some cross-contamination, since most people probably aren't as conscious about potatoes as they would be about meat.

[Karl S]

No, bacillus cereus spores can survive the boiling point, which is why starchy foods that are boiled like rice and potatoes are breeding grounds.

[Ruth Lafler]

Wow. those are some tough bugs!

[Bill Hunt]

Probably have to irradiate them. Maybe with a radioactive banana?

Hunt

[hungryabbey]

When packages state "TRANS FAT FREE", the naive consumer thinks "Oh, yay, its fat free!!"

OR

When a package reads "fat free" or "low in fat", the consumer thinks its low calorie or diet food.

Unfortunately, fat is flavour. You take out fat, you need to replace the flavour. Usually its either with sugar or salt, and often, the fat free version is almost just as high in calories as the original.. and if its replacing fat with sugar and/or salt, I'd argue that the full fat version is healthier.

[goodhealthgourmet]

we could devote an entire thread to the topic of misleading and misunderstood package labels, but that's not myth as much as shady business practice, communication breakdown, or ignorance.the ones that piss me off the most are packages that are legally allowed to make claims like "zero grams trans fat PER SERVING" because a single serving contains less than 1 total gram...so people think that when they eat the product they're not consuming *any* trans fat. really, how many average Americans actually limit themselves to a single serving of any packaged junk food in a sitting?! very few, and many go back for MORE.

[hungryabbey]

Good point.

[dave_c]

Another myth that is useless... The floating egg test - "Eggs are bad when they float and should be thrown out."

A floating egg just means it has a larger airsac which is most likely due to age. The egg may be older, but it's not bad.

[alkapal]

if the egg weighs the same as a duck -- which floats like wood -- then is it a witch -- or just a "bad egg"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU...

[Chemicalkinetics]

Ha ha ha. If she weighs the same as a duck.... ha ha ha

[celtic_tiger]

All food is waiting to kill you as soon as you turn your back.

EVEN THE SLIGHTEST RED SPECK MEANS A SALMONELLA MONSTER WILL CLIMB OUT OF YOUR FOOD AND STRANGLE YOU, AND YOU WON'T EVEN BE ABLE TO CALL FOR HELP!!!

[ZenSojourner]

Dun-dun
Dun-dun
Dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRrggggllleee

[linguafood]

Ha!

[celtic_tiger]

/eets fase

[Bill Hunt]

Help! I've eaten, and can't get up!!!!!

Hunt

[Indirect Heat]

Basically anything concerning high fructose corn syrup. It's all useless/annoying.

High fructose corn syrup is basically the same as sucrose (sugar). They're both equally bad for you.

[epabella]

"High fructose corn syrup is basically the same as sucrose (sugar). They're both equally bad for you."
sure, but it comes from unsustainable monoculture strangling north american petroleum-based industrial agriculture. that's what makes IT "all useless/annoying" (to put it that way).

[Jack Flash]

And it tastes terrible.

[foreverhungry]

No. There's some evidence suggesting that HFCS is processed by the body differently than some other forms of sugar. The research is still in its infancy, but there's some interesting preliminary data so far.

It wasn't too long ago (a decade) that people believed a calorie was a calorie was a calorie. That if you ate 500 calories of protein, carbohydrate, or fat, it didn't matter. Today, we know better - the body process difference food types very differently.

It also wasn't too long ago (a few years) that people believed that given the exact same meal, it didn't matter when in the day it was eaten. Today, we know better - the same meal eaten immediately after exercise goes to repair damaged muscle and replenish glycogen stores, whereas eaten 4 hours before exercise, more of it will go to fat.

Only time and research will tell, but early research so far suggests HFCS may in fact be worse than other sugars.

[Indirect Heat]

Wrong. Fructose and glucose are metabolized slightly differently. News media have done a terrible job communicating this to the public. Sugar (sucrose) is 50% fructose, 50% glucose. HFCS is 55% fructose, 45% glucose. They're damn near identical, and once they're in your bloodstream, they are 100% identical.

[foreverhungry]

Yes, I know the constituents of the various sugars. And I understand sugar uptake mechanisms in the small intestine epithelial lining. But some research studies show that sucrose and HFCS are "seen" by the body in different ways. I'm not saying it's conclusive. And I'm certainly not saying that the media has it right. But some very well done research studies have raised some interesting results. That's all.

To say that HFCS and sucrose are seen in the same way is at minimum premature, and most likely incorrect. The real question is exactly under what circumstances those differences are seen.

[John E.]

Do you have any links to these studies?

[foreverhungry]

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/4/537?ijkey=3a74469113059287563c0dbc3f9b874276f46666

(note that in this paper, they talk about fru's uptake by GLUT-5 not being insulin dependent, and thus has different effects on satiety and on lipogenesis.

)

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstr...

(this one shows differences in serum lipid profiles between consumption of fructose versus glucose).

There are studies out there that show no metabolic or endocrine affects of fructose vs glu or suc. But there are studies - good ones - that do show affects. That suggests that under specific circumstances, HFCS can behave differently than other sugar sources. And it's those circumstances - maybe in combination with high fat diets, or times of high stress (high cortisol levels), that can affect insulin sensitivity, satiety, ghrelin levels, and lipid profiles.

Interesting stuff - but way too early to form definitive opinions.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Thanks. There are alot of research works which show glucose effects to be different than fructose effects. No question that they goes through different pathways. There are many studies which shows glucose to be healthier than fructose. Both of the studies which you cited really focus on glucose vs fructose. However, that is not the real world choice since our choice is rarely about pure fructose vs pure glucose.

The real question that most people talk about is between HFCS which has about 55% fructose and 45% glucose versus sucrose from table sugar. Sucrose is a disaccharide, which is neither glucose or fructose.

http://www.pharmas.co.uk/blog/wp-cont...

Once sucrose is hydrolyzed then it becomes 50% glucose and 50% fructose. I think almost everyone agree that "55% fructose" is really not very different than "50% fructose". The real question is before sucrose undergoes hydrolysis.

One major conclusion point of the second article you cited is: "Results from a short-term study suggest that consuming HFCS- and sucrose-sweetened beverages increases postprandial triacylglycerol concentrations to the same degree as fructose alone " In other words, it suggests that HFCS, sucrose, pure fructose are equally bad when it comes to triacylgylcerol elevation.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I do have an article which is more about HFCS vs sucrose. It is an in press article from the Journal: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?...

It shows SD rats maintained on diet rich in HFCS gain more abnormal weight than sucrose.

In its dicussion, it states that:

"In Experiment 1 (short-term study, 8 weeks), male rats with access to HFCS drank less total volume and ingested fewer calories in the form of HFCS (mean = 18.0 kcal) than the animals with identical access to a sucrose solution (mean = 27.3 kcal), but the HFCS rats, never the less, became overweight. In these males, both 24-h and 12-h access to HFCS led to increased body weight. In Experiment 2 (long-term study, 6–7 months), HFCS caused an increase in body weight greater than that of sucrose in both male and female rats. This increase in body weight was accompanied by an increase in fat accrual and circulating levels of TG, shows that this increase in body weight is reflective of obesity."

[foreverhungry]

CK - I get what you're saying about sucrose being a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. True, the papers do focus on glucose v fructose, and you're right - that's not very real world because sugars tend to be consumed as disaccharides. But I don't think it matters, because once cleaved into monosaccharides, GLU and FRU are taken up by the intestinal epithelial via different transporters - GLUT 2 and GLUT 5. GLUT5 appears to react to insulin very differently than with GLUT2, suggesting that fructose then is metabolized (not meaning digested) differently than glucose. The result (hypothetically for now, until research can be more definitive) is that a diet that contains 10% more fructose can, over the long haul, have metabolic effects. It's an interesting question, at any rate, and probably doesn't deserve to be in the "myth" category.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Ah, I see what you are getting at. Thanks.

[MichelleRenee]

Interesting studies. One of the (many) reasons for my staying away from HFCS is that there are claims that it reduces your belly's "I'm full" sensor, causing you to eat more than you normally would without it.

I think HFCS belongs in this myth category as the way the corn industry promotes it to be healthy and the same as sugar. Because studies are being conducted with results pointing to a different conclusion than the one plastered across our TV screens once a day, the corn industry's advertisement should be considered a myth.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Michelle,

I see what you are saying and, to be honest, I don't know enough about the metabolism of HFCS. However, my impression is the other way, I feel most people more or less incline to believe HFCS is worse for us. Either very bad or little bad, but almost always worse.

"the one plastered across our TV screens once a day, the corn industry's advertisement should be considered a myth."

I don't remember there was any HFCS ads on TV. I have seen the Wisconsin Cheese ads and the California Cheese commercial, of course the avocado TV ads... etc.

[MichelleRenee]

I think they're still pretty new. The first one I saw was about a year ago. They're sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association (CRA). The first ones tried to paint the people who say it's bad as moronic sheep who just repeat what they hear. They've evolved into a kind of public announcement-type advertisement. But I think they're still pretty offensive, especially as there's no concrete proof that it's not worse for you than other sugars. As of yet, any evidence seems to point the other way. I don't know how they're allowed to advertise like that on TV.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I might have seen one then, but it is far and in between. It wasn't as proliferated as the cheese commercials. Are you talking about this one? I saw maybe twice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVsgXP...

[hill food]

oh ck, they are all over primetime network TV these days.

[Henny Penny]

A professor friend of my mother's in nutrition recently did a diet of nothing but ice cream and candy bars as a stunt to show how much really does depend on the calorie being a calorie. He lost his goal, which was, I believe, 10lbs.

Of course, what you eat can affect your hunger levels, which in turn affects how much you eat. He never had an argument against that, just that, as far as your body is concerned, the total calorie count is more important than where it comes from for weight gain/loss. (He also did not question that such a diet would be terrible for you over the long term!)

[foreverhungry]

I dispute that. There's excellent research that shows that under specific circumstances (such as if the meal is post-exercise), different "calories" are processed different ways. That is, if we're talking about a gram of glucose, fat, or protein, those macromolecules don't all get processed in the same ways. That leads to different results down the line - being packaged as a fat store, which means you're likely to be hungry again sooner, or packaged into glucose for immediate use for your minute-to-minute energy needs, or, in some cases, send to muscles for tissue repair (such as post exercise).

Can you lose weight on ice cream and candy bars? Sure. But this shows absolutely nothing, since its also possible to pack on serious poundage eating nothing but apples and kale. That stunt does nothing to show that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. And there's a large body (no pun intended) of research to show that all calories are not the same.

[goodhealthgourmet]

assuming that Henny Penny is talking about Mark Haub from KSU, the point of his experiment wasn't to illustrate that "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie" (which, as you said, is not the case), but to show that overall calorie *restriction* is they key to weight loss even if you're eating nothing but crap.

in case you want to read more of the details:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/...

[bkalafut]

Sulfites being the source of red wine headache. There are more sulfites in white wine (or dried apricot) yet because of the warning--put on the bottle for the benefit of the rare few who truly do have sulfite sensitivity--silly people think that sulfites must be the cause of their red wine symptoms.

[MichelleRenee]

Hmmm. And I always only drink red wine because white wine gives me a headache. I always thought it was because it has more sugar (which, for all I know, could also be a myth.)

[bkalafut]

Two related myths:
Margarine is healthier than butter.
Butter is healthier than lard.

Both claims are known to science to be false. Yet many who eat butter or (worse still) margarine are afraid of lard rendered from pork.

[John E.]

Isn't it common knowedge now that marjarine is more unhealthful for people than is butter?

I think it will be a long time before most people believe that lard is less healthful than butter.

[bkalafut]

"I think it will be a long time before most people believe that lard is less healthful than butter."

Attitudes near you must be very different than attitudes near me.

[John E.]

I don't know if they are or not, but the word 'lard' seems to be loaded with negatives and 'butter' is not.

[Rasam]

This is not from a health perspective, but as a (dairy and egg consuming) vegetarian, butter is acceptable to me, but lard is not.

Lard is taken from a dead animal, butter is not. So the idea of lard is much more negative for me, compared to butter.

[John E.]

Yeah, that does make a lot of sense. I would have to agree that pork fat is probably at the top of the 'do not eat' list for a vegetarian, even one that eats dairy and eggs.

I guess it's true that lard has less impact on cholesterol than does butter, but I'm still not spreading it on my toast pancakes (even if I hardly ever eat pancakes).

[Indirect Heat]

If I were a vegetarian, I would make an exception for pork fat. Mmmmmm.... pork fat...

[Rasam]

John E:
The vegetarian "will not eat" list isn't ranked in that way - it's all equal - if it was once a living animal, do not eat (whether it's lard, chicken, offal, prime whatever, etc.) no matter how gross / tasty / healthy / whatever.

There's all the bazillion other tasty / healthy / gross / whatever plant based foods to eat.

Indirect heat:
if you made an exception for pork fat, you wouldn't be a vegetarian, so your point is what?
(another food myth: that vegetarians are swayed, other than to laugh, by Simpsons quotes).

[John E.]

I guess it makes sense that all animals are treated the same because if they were not, it really wouldn't make sense.

I used to work with a woman that said she wouldn't eat pork. She wasn't Jewish or Muslim, more like an Evangelical Christian, but somehow her church apparently mentioned that pork was 'dirty' (Old Testament) so her family didn't eat pork...except for ham. She also ate pepperoni pizza. Go figure.

I have never watched the Simpsons, so I missed the point on that one, but that's ok.

[thew]

probably 7th day adventists

[John E.]

Not even close. I know where she went to college and it certainly wasn't that.

[porker]

"...if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?" Vincent in Pulp Fiction after Jules comments,
"Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals"

Pork always getting a bad rep...{;/)

[John E.]

Yeah, I agree. We had pork steak tonight. Last night we had cassoulet that included pig's feet.

[The Professor]

She ate ham?
Then no matter how she tries to spin it, she eats pork.

That's reminds me of "vegetarians" that eat fish or chicken (unless those animal products have been reclassified as vegetables while I was out of town).

[FoodFuser]

I can see the glee over ghee, for the humane reasons.

But are there ways to love the lard, that comes from hand-petted pigs kept as pets? They were friends, and then they rendered their meat and their fats.

[Rasam]

"They were friends, and then they rendered their meat and their fats."

Gollee FF, that's a view worthy of famous Dr. Lechter :)

Do you "have" friends for dinner ;)

[FoodFuser]

Farm-raised kids have a rather accepting perspective about placing beloved pets on the center of the dinner table.

But then, as with Lechter, we may also have a singular affinity for a fine Chianti. Only with offal, of course.

[linguafood]

Mmmmmmmfarm-raised kids! Their liver is fantastic.

[thew]

i prefer them from the wild

[linguafood]

too stringy.

[thew]

you need to braise the wild ones. but the flavor beats the farm ones. but then i prefer sirloin to filet as well

[FoodFuser]

Open to all methods, but when it comes to hepatics that beg a more gentle treatment, I'm more for a quick steam or simmer.

[linguafood]

i'm a friend of frying, myself.

[Soop]

I think you've got lard/butter the wrong way around in this post.

"I think it will be a long time before most people believe that lard is less healthful than butter."

Many people already believe lard is less healthy than butter.

[John E.]

Yep, good catch.

[chefathome]

Margarine is also known to exacerbate macular degeneration. My Mom has this horrible disease and has been told to never, ever eat margarine again. And as MD is genetic we have been told the same. Not that I would have to be told, anyway as I LOATHE margarine for many reasons.

[hill food]

really? never heard that one (and don't need corroboration cause I would just rather use butter or olive oil or canola or whatever) but a backup reference link would be cool if it's convenient

[chefathome]

Sure - I'll check with my Mom and get back to you. I also read it in a magazine article - will try to find that as well.

EDIT - this quote is taken from a long article from http://pingueculae.com/index.php/vita...

"Margarine interferes with the circulation and with the synthesis of gamma linolenic acid. Avoid eating margarine, Crisco and hydrogenated fats. They are all toxic and they interfere with the synthesis of this essential fatty acid. Gamma linolenic acid along with selenium are needed to maintain normal vasculature of the retinal vessels. A study in Australia people who use margarine and sun bath have a 700% higher incidence of malignant melanoma than those who sun bath and use butter. There is also a higher incidence of lung cancer in smokers who use margarine compared to butter."

There are those who believe it is an urban myth as well but, as I despise margarine anyway, I'm taking the ophthalmologists' advice to Mom.

[hungryabbey]

Even further then healthier, I know a lot of people who think margarine is "low fat" where butter is not. So they think they are opting for the low calorie spread when really they are exactly the same calorically.. and as John E said.. Butter is actually more healthy overall.

[Basiorana]

I use margarine because I have to (it's cheaper) but keep butter for toast. I KNOW it's healthier because I use a teeny tiny bit on my toast because I know how expensive it is!

[hill food]

one does what one has to. I just use so darn little of either (butter is preferred or rendered fat), I can write off the difference. but (what is a an accepted acronym for Everyone's Mileage WILL Vary)

EMWV, there. world peace. done.

[Henny Penny]

Depends on whether you choose lite margarine. Lite margarine is much less calorie-dense than regular butter. Actually, the fat contents of margarine vary dramatically from brand to brand.

I cook with butter, but I still use margarine as my primary spread.

[GraydonCarter]

The fastest way to thaw a turkey (or duck) is by soaking it in a water bath. Myth.

Alton Brown demonstrated that barely running cold water over it works best::
http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season...

See "Convection"

[John E.]

I never really thought of the water bath idea as the fastest, just the easiest way to thaw out a bird faster than just leaving it in the refrigerator.

[thew]

barely running water IN a water bath

[Dave5440]

My tap water is 38 F right now, it would take a long time to thaw a turkey right now,

[porker]

Cavemen ate dinosaur eggs.
They were 65 million years apart...

[Isolda]

Didn't see this one: You have to scald the milk before using it in a yeast dough. I did this for years before I realized that the recipes I was using were probably written before pasteurized milk came into widespread use. The bacteria in the milk would have been more likely to kill the yeast. I wasted a lot of time waiting for that scalded milk to cool enough to mix with the yeast.

And I don't want to start a debate, but when did carbs (and gluten) become evil? I can understand if someone has a wheat allergy or celiac disease, but for the rest of us, what's wrong with a plate of pasta?

[John E.]

I'm not much of a baker, but I don't think the milk scalding is actually to kill bacteria anymore but it is needed to change the protein structure of the milk so the bread isn't so dense. My mother used to say it helped lighten the loaf.

[FoodFuser]

Same thing with making yogurt: bringing milk proteins to above 180 F helps the yogurt set thicker. The microwave makes that easier with no scalded proteins at the bottom of the pan that was in contact with the eye of the stove.

[Soop]

Yeah I don't know either.

I think people just love going to extremes: If too much carb/gluten is bad for you then NO carbs/gluten is good for you. I'd imagine that there's little difference between the health benefits of "moderate" and "none"

[MichelleRenee]

I think the idea that gluten is bad for you doesn't just come from the allergies, celiac disease and other afflictions that are exacerbated by wheat and/or gluten, but from the evidence that these afflictions are much more common than once thought, or maybe than they used to be, and that they're also tricky to diagnose. I try not to eat too much processes wheat or gluten simply out of a fear of those illnesses, and the fact that I feel a whole lot better eating bread or pasta made from sprouted grains.... I think gluten is just one of those things that a lot of people might tell themselves "better be safe than sorry."

[Basiorana]

A couple of quack doctors figured out they could bilk parents out of a lot of money by claiming autism was exacerbated by gluten, and sell diet books and gluten-free food products. Completely bogus, of course, there is no link. But any kid will seem different if you radically change his diet... Anyway, I think that was turned into "gluten is bad for the brain!" somehow.

Carbs was Atkins. I HATE Atkins!

[hill food]

Basio,you should look around for Margaret Cho's comedic account of being on Atkins.

foul, unappetizing and hilarious.

[goodhealthgourmet]

foul, unappetizing and hilarious.
~~~~~~~~~~
an apt description for most of her comedy :)

[onceadaylily]

+1

[NicoleFriedman]

Don't dismiss this so easily. God forbid you have a child with autism and you will try anything. I agree that until several studies show consistently that this works, that the link may be minimal to nonexistant. (Just like the link between autism and vaccinations) However, everyone's bodies are different and the fact is we don't fully know what causes autism. A parent knows their child. If a GF diet helps, you can't say it doesn't.

[goodhealthgourmet]

thank you, Nicole. i've witnessed the benefits of a GF/CF diet in numerous kids on the spectrum, and in some of them the improvement is truly remarkable. i've had parents hug me while crying tears of joy after i worked with them to make the transition. that's NOT to say *every* child will benefit, but there's absolutely no denying the successes i've seen. i wish someone would do formal empirical studies, because right now the anecdotal evidence obviously isn't sufficient to prevent people from dismissing it as a "myth."

[foreverhungry]

Apologies if this one was already posted:

When making coffee, use cold water because it's more oxygenated.

What difference does it make, since you're going to heat the water anyway, and it's going to given up O2. Starting with cold, warm, or hot shouldn't matter, oxygen wise.

(though it might depending on what's going on in your water heater....)

[Soop]

Are you sure about this one? I always thought this made sense, as when I used to drink instant coffee, the second coffee in quick sucsession would taste terrible.

At the time, I thought it was down to the granules disolving in the last of the old coffee, but then the oxidation thing made more sense. Could have been something completely different though.

Anyway, the science seemed to make sense.

[foreverhungry]

The oxygenation argument, though, doesn't make sense. Water holds specific amounts of dissolved O2 at given water temperature - and colder water holds more dissolved O2 than warmer water. If you cool water, it holds more dissolved O2 from the atmosphere. As you heat it, it loses that O2. So it doesn't matter if you start with cold or hot water. Once you heat it to a given temperature, it will hold a known amount of O2, which is less than cold water would hold. So the starting temp doesn't matter - only what the final temperature is.

On a slightly different, yet related note, I'm not even sure what the level of oxygenation of the water would mean for the quality of a brewed cup of coffee, unless one argues that the dissolved O2 in the water interacts with compounds in the ground coffee to affect flavor. Given that there's plenty of O2 in the atmosphere surrounding the coffee grounds during the brewing process, I don't see how dissolved O2 specifically would affect brewed coffee.

However, I could see how hot water from your old water heater, that has a bunch of sediment in it, would affect brewed coffee.

[Ruth Lafler]

Ah, the sediment in the water heater myth! Yes, there is sediment in water heaters. Since matter cannot be in two places at the same time, the fact that the sediment is in your water heater means that it cannot be in the water coming out of the water heater! And where did the sediment in the water heater come from? It came from the cold water coming into the water heater. Therefore, the fact that there is sediment in the water heater proves that there is *less* sediment in water from the water heater than there is in water from the cold tap. Water out = water in - sediment.

The reason people (even plumbers) believe that there's more sediment in hot water is that they can see the sediment that collects in the water heater over time, while of course you can't see it in the water that flows out of the tap.

[foreverhungry]

Not quite. Fill my bathtub with cold water. Fill my bathtub with hot water. The water looks different. Cold = clear, hot = slight reddish brown.

The sediment doesn't come only from the cold water coming into the heater, it comes from the interior of the heater - ever seen one after 10 years of use? Sediment accumulates in the water heater, and then after many years of use, sediment starts coming out of the water heater. Not in big chunks, mind you, but enough to discolor the water, and enough to taste. At least in the older Twin Cities houses I've lived in. I can see mine coming out the tap.

Sorry, no myth there. Now, whether it actually affects coffee quality, that's a different question.

[Henny Penny]

Depending on what your pipes are made o and the mineral content of your water (which can be very corrosive), it might not be a bright idea to eat/drink hot water from the tap, as minerals like lead and copper will be leached from the pipes at much greater rates when using hot water.

[MichelleRenee]

That's what I read, too. I only use cold water and heat it up if I want it hot.

[Shazam]

I always thought it was due to off-flavours that could be picked up by the hot water (old pipes, whatever). Depends on how good your plumbing is, I suppose.

[Soop]

This sounds like the (true) warning about legionaires disease in water storage tanks in old buildings.

[Henny Penny]

Not old buildings. Legionaire's disease is a risk when the water heater is kept too cold. Age (and therefore potential contamination) add to the problems, but the kicker is when the water heater is below 140F.

If you have kids, though, the risk of Legionnaire's is fractional compared to the risk of serious burns with hot water. Still, with my new indirect hot water tank, I'm having a Hoby mixing valve installed so that the water in the take is 140F and the water at the tap will be 105F.

[almansa]

I think I've perused this thread enough that I'm not repeating someone's contribution: the notion that one should season (salt) meat after cooking rather than before. Not only is the supposed science behind this reasoning absurd - that the salt will draw out much desirable moisture - but it is one sure way to go about preparing a never-better-than-average steak. I think most people will agree that a steak tastes better on the outside than on the inside. Most people are familiar at this point with the maillard reaction - the browning, as it were - and the more proteins one can draw to the surface are of the steak, the better the reaction. Salt accomplishes this like nothing else can.

[foreverhungry]

"I think most people will agree that a steak tastes better on the outside than on the inside."

I won't agree with that statement. A high quality steak - and in my opinion that means a high quality grass fed ribeye - should have an outstanding beefy steak. The entirety of steak flavor should not be based on the Maillard reaction. Steak should have an inherent beefy and complex flavor.

I also question the assertion that salt can draw more proteins to the surface. How exactly, does salt draw proteins to the surface? The proteins are in place. The only thing possibly being drawn to the surface is moisture. And even that, with salting a steak before cooking, I believe is minimal, unless your making a salt crust.

The key to preparing a better-than-average steak is starting with the correct better-than-average chunk of meat. Past that, one only needs the proper heat and cooking method. Salt can enhance, yes, but not necessary for an excellent steak.

[nkeane]

the moisture that is drawn to the surface is protein laden. Not all proteins are bound as you say.

salt before grilling, but only 10-15min before.

[Soop]

And add some rosemary :)

[foreverhungry]

Not to be argumentative, but the logic just doesn't hold water (sorry for the pun). For 2 reasons:

1)Is there some protein associated with moisture drawn out by salt? Sure. A minuscule amount - especially given that you are talking about salting for 10 - 15 minutes. But given that the entire exterior surface of a steak is protein and moisture, saying that the amount of protein drawn out enhances the Maillard reaction is like saying that pouring a glass of water into Lake Superior affects its volume. It does not in any meaningful way.

2) To properly crust a steak and obtain the Maillard reaction, you need to start with a dry steak surface - any moisture on the steak surface, especially if cooking the steak in a hot pan, will steam the surface rather than properly sear it. To do that, you blot the surface of the steak immediately before cooking - I think most folks would agree that's standard practice. If you blot the steak, and there are unbound proteins drawn out by moisture, wouldn't they just get blotted away and end up int he paper towel?

[Soop]

Really? I always pan-fry with the meat having been marinaded in olive oil. Have you got any links with info on crusting a steak? It's never occurred to me.

[foreverhungry]

Interesting. The thing with olive oil is that it has a relatively low smoke point - high 300's for your run-of-the-mill, not-small-batch-high-quality-extra-virgin, which I assume you'd use something that's super-expensive to pan-fry steaks. Canola, corn, and peanut go into the low to mid 400's. So unless you're pan-frying over medium heat rather than high heat, you might be hitting olive oil's smoking point.

In theory (well, and practice), you don't need any oil or butter to pan-fry a steak. Heat an all-clad or cast iron skillet over high heat until it's super hot, salt and pepper a steak, plop it in, and don't touch it for a couple of minutes, until the sides start to brown. Try to move it before that, and it'll stick. Wait the proper time, and you'll have a Maillard / caramelized exterior that's not sticking. After that, some folks flip and finish, or some flip and stick the pan in the oven at 400 to finish. Either way works.

But in any case, you shouldn't *need* olive oil or anything else on the surface if you have a high quality piece of meat. To me, marinades don't do a whole lot except mask the flavor of the meat. Sometimes, that's ok, when the meat is going into a dish that has a lot going on, like tacos. But when it's just slab-o-meat, I prefer to taste the meat, and not anything else.

I don't have any links, and at the end of the day, whatever works best for you, well, works best for you. Try experimenting with different techniques - that's what I've done to find the results that work best for my taste buds, and that might not work best for everyone else's.

[Soop]

I used to grill (broil) them, and now I barbeque them or pan fry in a dry LC frying pan.

Of course it depends on the steak; sometimes you can finish them under the grill if they're thick enough. But going back to the mailard reaction, the steak doesn't stick to the pan, but I can get the caramelisation in parts without overcooking the steak, even thin ones. But it's not a crust in a sense of some char-grilled steaks I've had out, that have almost a crisp shell.

You're right of course, I can cook steaks "perfectly" because they end up exactly how I like them, as can you :)

[chefathome]

+1 - SO TRUE. Same goes for browning meat for any reason, even before using in stews, etc. MUST BE DRY for Maillard.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Nkeane,

Not sure what salt does, it seems to enhance the cooking. However, I don't know if salt specifically draws proteins to the surface. If anything, salt draws water out to the surface because it absorbs water. Of course, then the salt can lyse the cells and cause the water to flow back.

[FoodFuser]

The chef who shared the secret of soaking his strip steaks in oil, rosemary, garlic, and peppercorns for five days got my attention, and my thanks.

At such high prices, why not get that puppy up to the best it can be? Ribeye replaces strip but rosemary garlic and peppercorn and oil still mingle and marry in the ziploc bag with the pre-pierced piece of meat. The results are outstanding.

The steaks are lovingly massaged in the ziploc each morning and eve. This event builds as continuing rumbling foreplay throughout the full five days, until finally consummated with the fire from charcoal.

While I do not sense the imminence of the "Apocalypse, Now", then, or forever, I must say that "I love the smell of marinating steaks in the morning." And as Robert Duvall could've' uttered in the movie: "Charlie don't grill."

[foreverhungry]

I've been on a bit of meat kick lately, so forgive what might seem as proselytizing. But I really don't understand why folks would want to marinade, sauce, spice, etc. a piece of meat if what they want to do is eat a high quality piece of meat. To me, the strength and amount of sauce increases as the quality of the meat decreases (or quality of any main ingredient). Fresh wild caught salmon? Plain, please, perhaps with some high quality finishing salt sprinkled on top. Fresh homemade pasta? Olive oil, S&P, and some fresh Parmesan. An excellent grass-fed ribeye? Dusting of salt after cooking. If it's the star of the dish, why add other flavors that bury it? I completely understand adding flavors that compliment, and I'm not saying everything needs to be eaten naked. But given the extreme rarity of eating a steak whose quality makes you think you've reached nirvana, then wouldn't one want to taste only the nuances and complexities of that chunk o meat? Much like one won't mix a fine scotch with ginger ale, I don't get why folks want to mix an excellent steak with extremely assertive flavors like rosemary, garlic, and peppercorns. To me, the only reason is that the steak itself is a flavorless grain fed commodity steak that we're all used to eating. In which case, the oil-rosemary-garlic-peppercorns becomes a fancy A-1.

[Soop]

Firstly @ Food Fuser, I was gonna say I marinade my steaks for as long as possible in oil, salt (and herbs if using), but I didn't want to say anything (not that I would change my mind, as I love the result). I recently marinaded some chicken breasts with lemon and thyme ready for the BBQ. Obv you can't marinade in an acid for too long, but if I had more time, I'd like to get the herb to infuse more. To this end, I've made up a batch of rosemary and thyme olive oils.

@ ForeverHungry, I used to feel the same. I love steak (new years resolution some years ago was simply "eat more steak") I still feel strongly about overpowering sauces like peppercorn steak, which IMO has no place on a quality steak.
However with regard to the herbies (thyme and rosemary are great because the beef can really handle the strong flavour), they're more subtle.

As much as I like pure steak, sometimes you want coffee, sometimes you want tea :)

[foreverhungry]

I agree with you completely. My only point is, if I'm grilling (or pan-frying) a supermarket steak, or a steak from a butcher that I know isn't going to be excellent, then I'll be more likely to use herbs or rubs. I have nothing against that, and do it often. But on the occasions that I find a really high quality grass-fed steak, I go with the simplest preparation possible.

To use your chicken breasts as an example - if cooking the industrial-raised, commodity, bland, and steroid-plumped chicken breasts you get in a supermarket or standard butcher, then I'll rub or herb the heck out of it. There, the chicken breast is really more of a protein source and vehicle for flavor. But on occasion, I get a free-ranged chickens from small local farmers. Those chickens I tend to cook as simply as possible, because I want the pure chicken taste. Nothing wrong with either approach - it just depends on what you have available.

[Soop]

Pretty much all the beef over here in England is grass-fed, so I guess I'm kind of spoiled for good beef.

As for the chicken, while I do agree... Well, it was my girlfriends request firstly, but secondly, it was a really really good free range devonshire red which I jointed, and the legs went into a cassoulet the next day. But even with the lemon, you really notice the difference in flavour from the packs of pre-packaged sections. Whenever possible, I'm going to do the same thing in the future - I even think something like that would have an impact in something like a curry, the distance is so great.

And you get free stock from the carcass :)

[foreverhungry]

Buying good quality chickens, and then using the carcass to make stock, was something I started doing a few years ago. Especially with the fall and winter approaching, I'll have several gallons of stock in the freezer (just bought a chest freezer, will have it on Sunday), and difference when making risotto and soups is profound. I've even make "specialty" chicken stocks, like one from a smoked/grilled chicken. The stock had a very smoky taste to it, which worked great in soups like a corn chowder, and Mexican-flavor based stews.

But on point - I've been reading about Highland beef, and have been wanting to get my hands on a Highland ribeye. I've heard it's one of the best steaks one can eat. I haven't had much luck finding one yet in the states. Have you much experience with Highland beef?

[Soop]

Aberdeen Angus is probably the most famed of these,so you might have more luck searching for that. It's been a while since I ate one, but TBH, I don't think there's really much difference in high-quality steaks around the UK these days.

I'm racking my brain, but I'm not really sure if there's anything I can offer to help. If you ever plan a holiday over here though, let me know and I'll be more use!

Good to hear an American that likes the taste of grass-fed though!

[foreverhungry]

Angus is an interesting topic - and one that's ideal for this "myth" thread. I've read that in Britain, a steak can be labeled as "Angus" if it's at least 50% Angus.

I've read from a reputable source that in the US, a steak can be labeled "Angus" if it comes from a black cow. Yes, you read that right. The reasoning (from what I read) was that Angus cattle tend to be black. Huh. Nevermind that there are some purebred Angus that are brown (dun?) because of a recessive gene, or that there are several other cattle breeds that are black.

If true, that might explain why people in the US pay top dollar for Angus beef, yet the steaks can be terrible.

If someone knows for a fact this isn't true, please post up. As hard as it is to believe, it wouldn't surprise me that the Dept of Ag would have such a nonsensical regulation.

Soop - my quest is for Highland beef. Once I can assess its deliciousness, I'll let you know...

[Henny Penny]

Chickens in the US are not treated with steroids or hormones.

Yet another myth.

[almansa]

Nope, but they're blanket fed antibiotics and chilled in a cesspool.

[almansa]

While I'd love to steak-off, I can accept that you're simply not part of the most. But as someone else mentioned, there are plenty of peptide chains just waiting to show themselves off if you give them a chance. Foreverhungry - do you like steak tartare without any dressing? That would be steak with an inherent beefy flavor.

[foreverhungry]

I've never had steak tartare with dressing. My mom made it on a regular basis, using a couple of eggs, parsley, some Worcestershire I think, and S&P. Nothing else I think. I loved it, but haven't had it in a few years. I agree that that is a way to get big beefy flavor. Now I think I'm going to have to put it on my menu within the next few weeks...

[John E.]

"I think most people will agree that a steak tastes better on the outside than on the inside."

I agree 100%. I realize your post is several months old, but I recently found your premise to be true. We had steaks the other night and since the temperature outside was in the single digits, we ate them inside. I would have to say that the steaks we ate last summer outside on the backyard deck were much better.

[Henny Penny]

My MIL swears that if you eat bananas on an empty stomach, you're courting a heart attack.

[FrancoD]

Yogurt is the perfect diet food... not the case... :) its actually pretty fatty!

[goodhealthgourmet]

there's plenty of excellent fat free and low fat yogurt out there.

[NicoleFriedman]

Absolutely. The diet trap (I think) is the high levels of sugar in some of the brands (especially Dannon's low fat). Personally I prefer Fage plain greek yogurt which I mix into fruit and splenda. Years ago I was an idiot; I ate Dannon light believing that was what yogurt tasted like. Now that's deprivation. It's watery with a strange aftertaste. I can't eat that stuff anymore.

[MichelleRenee]

Here's another one: that bottled water is better for you than tap-water. Might be the case in some circumstances, but as a general rule, this one goes in the myth pile.

[phantomdoc]

Do not go swimming until an hour after eating is wrong.

Never combine cheese with fish is wrong.

[MichelleRenee]

I have a few more:
-Food combining? Some people swear by it. I'm not sure there's any evidence that it matters all that much. Anyone know about this?
-Alkaline diet. This, too, I'm not so sure about. These two diets seem a little complicated and annoying to me, no matter how good they might be for you.
-Fasting. I never once felt good when I fasted, and I've experimented with a couple different methods. Again, some people swear by it. I always thought those people were maybe a bit austere and enjoy self-deprivation. My body rebels against it.

[hill food]

MR fasting can cause a slightly euphoric sensation in some extreme situations. you have to give it at least a few days (mine was involuntary - coming out of a bad near-death food poisoning, nothing sounded good, not even clear broth. lasted about a week, boy was I loopy - but that might be a different kind of fast, not certain foods at certain times, instead just starvation)

[MichelleRenee]

Drugs, brain chemistry, loss of oxygen--those things can cause a euphoric sensation, as well. So does exercise... I think I'll go with the latter and make sure I eat an adequate amount of healthy foods every day. Seems to be, overall, much better for one's health than not eating for days on end. To each their own! Fasting is not for me.

[hill food]

yes, given a choice, I'll take your method. was just pointing out there are many paths. yikes thinking about that.