25 Cooking Myths That Are A Waste Of Your Time And Ingredients

The point of learning new information is to gain new knowledge. This, in turn, helps refine ideas and concepts that we need to apply to existing processes in order to make them more efficient. However, when it comes to some practices, like cooking, for example, people still opt for the traditional route. Despite the advances made in science to prove otherwise, most amateur and even some professional cooks may be prone to practicing kitchen habits that are no longer relevant.  Recently, a Redditor asked, “What misinformation about cooking, that a lot of people seem to believe, bothers you the most?” Netizens responded with their pet peeves stemming from cooking advice that has been debunked, and we’ve listed the top favourites in the gallery below. 

#1

Image source: anon, David Eubanks/Flickr People in general have very skewed ideas about food safety. No, leaving a freshly cooked dish on the counter for two hours will not poison you. .

#2

Image source: ellasaurusrex, Nicolas Barbier/Unsplash People freaking out about expiration dates. Use your senses. Food can't read a calendar. 99% of the time you will KNOW that something has gone bad. Mold, slime, stinks, etc. It seems like half the posts in all the food subs are someone asking how to use something because "it expires tomorrow". No. It doesn't.

#3

Image source: Zealousideal_Let_975, Michael T/Unsplash People who still hang onto the idea that fat is bad. Fat is a vital nutrient necessary for cellular function. Its terrible we have given this nutrient the same name as bodyfat. Which I might add is ALSO important to have.

#4

Image source: Peeeeeps, George Redgrave/Flickr Not to store bread in the fridge. Sure if you're eating it fresh the fridge does change the flavor and texture some, but if you're toasting the bread like I do 99% it makes absolutely no difference. I'd rather have my fresh baked bread last over a week by putting it in the fridge than have it go bad in 3 days.

#5

Image source: 101bees, EyeEm/Freepik Gatekeeping food. Why get mad when someone uses bacon in their cabonara? I don't like prosciutto and I'm not going to go searching the city for guanciale to make one pasta dish. Bite me.

#6

Image source: Still-View, ulrich22/Freepik Using gloves for everyday cooking/food prep. What are we doing, people? Just wash your hands.

#7

Image source: Joe1972, Freepik/Freepik My pet peeves are all ingredient related. - Low fat is NOT necessarily healthier, especially not low fat high sugar - GMO does not mean its bad for you - Frozen does not necessarily mean its low quality. - Many "organic" products are in fact terrible quality. Use your common sense when selecting produce.

#8

Image source: sephora__addict, Karolina Grabowska/Unsplash The prep time in any recipe is generally severely understated.

#9

Image source: WillowandWisk, Diana Light/Unsplash That you only salt/season at then end of cooking. I've seen this hundreds of times, but seasoning throughout completely changes the end result as opposed to only seasoning at the end of cooking.

#10

Image source: JAKFONT, v.ivash/Freepik That msg is bad for you. Point blank. Oh. And that it's added solely to make you hungry again so you order more? (That was the tale in my parts of canada, anyways).

#11

Image source: CelerMortis, Getty Images/Unsplash The sanctity of recipes. For baking, yes you should follow it very closely because changes could ruin the meal. But for cooking you can riff, double certain spices, omit others. Trust me you cannot ruin a chili by doubling the suggested paprika.

#12

Image source: UteLawyer, Pablo Merchán Montes/Unsplash The belief that salt is inherently unhealthy.

#13

Image source: Careless_Ad_9665, Kai Hendry/Flickr My family calls margarine butter and uses it in recipes that call for butter exclusively. They absolutely will not use real butter and it WILD to me. Mashed potatoes? Margarine. Brownies? Margarine. Baked potatoes? Margarine. Biscuits? Cornbread? BUTTERCREAM ICING????

#14

Image source: MyNameIsSkittles, EyeEm/Freepik That cooking at home costs more No. You went to the store and bought every ingredient new, of course that costs a lot. People don't cook like that every meal. You need to use the leftover ingredients you bought for the cost saving to kick in.

#15

Image source: Zeravor, Pour vegetable oil on a frying pan/Freepik You cant fry in Olive Oil, you absolutely can and anything potato related tastes godly. (Talking about panfrying not deepfrying).

#16

Image source: globster222, Freepik/Freepik Adding a single bay leaf to a gallon of stew isn't gonna do anything. A single clove of garlic isn't enough. Whatever the recipe says, double it.

#17

Image source: Abiclairr, Towfiqu Barbhuiya/Freepik Washing chicken… unless you’re in a country with very low safety standards for butchers, most meat is perfectly safe to cook without being cleaned, you’re just wasting time and potentially contaminating your kitchen sink and counters with pathogens.

#18

As a cajun, my pet peeve is people making random recipes and just slapping “cajun” on the front of it as if using any sort of seasoning beyond salt and pepper makes a dish cajun. Cajun cooking includes a huge swathe of recipes that have been passed down through our culture for hundreds of years and is more than just cayenne pepper. Image source: vDUKEvv

#19

Image source: JudahBotwin, Tatiana Cantus/Unsplash Cooking to time instead of doneness or temp.

#20

Image source: spectregalaxy, stu_spivack/Flickr “Sauté the minced garlic for a minute or two” PLEASE DO NOT DO THAT. Burnt garlic smells gross and lasts forever. ? saute it until it smells good. Like 15 seconds. Tops.

#21

Image source: heart_blossom, AdamsBest/Flickr My current pet peeve is "red velvet" cake that's nothing but regular cake with food coloring added. That's not red velvet cake at all ??.

#22

Image source: Thel_Odan, Richard Masoner/Flickr The not washing your cast iron pans with soap irritates me so much. Wash your pans and don't be gross. I wash mine with soap, water, and chainmail then I throw it on the stove top with a dab of oil and heat it up until it smokes. Never had problem with rust or my seasoning failing.

#23

"Bone broth". You are not a culinary genius. We have had a perfectly serviceable term for "bone broth" for many years now. We call it "stock". And the distinction isn't really that important for home cooking - I don't care that you made your hamburger helper with *beef broth* instead of *beef stock*. Yes, if you're making something that's stock-forward, like, say, pho, you absolutely need to crack a few cowbones. But generally speaking, boxed broth or boxed stock are both (a) fine for home cooking, and, (b) fairly interchangeable if you don't need the collagen. Calling stock "bone broth" tells me a lot about your tick tock habits. Image source: Illustrious-Panic672

#24

Image source: litvac, Freepik/Freepik That tomato sauce needs sugar or else it’s too acidic. No it doesn’t. Traditional sauces don’t use it. Add a carrot or something if you’re that worried.

#25

Ingredient gate keeping in general, with my biggest pet peeve being "You should only use salt and pepper to season your steak." Sorry, but rubs and seasonings are absolutely delicious (looking at you Spade L). So don't be afraid to branch out from the norm and try some stuff even though that's not the "right way" to do it. Image source: ArmoredHippo