Top 10 Cooking Myths

- Busted!

Everything you thought you knew about how to cook was wrong! Well, not everything, but we are sure that these 12 cooking myths will leave you surprised

Myth 1: Olive Oil is better.Part of the myth is indeed true! Olive oil is good for the heart because it contains the good fatty acids. But that is no reason to use this for cooking since the fatty acids breakdown in heat! In fact, the other common oils like groundnut oil, rice barn or coconut oil have a greater resistance to heat.

Myth 2: Searing meat seals the juice.Sorry, we know you’ve been doing this a lot, but it is not true! Searing doesn't retain moisture in the meat. In fact, it can drive out the water!

Myth 3: Olive oil doesn't let you fry deep.Which means that Italians have never deep fried? Obviously not true! What is true, as mentioned before, is that olive oil has a lower smoking point for its fatty acids and deep frying could change the flavor.

Myth 4: Adding salt to water, cooks the food fasterNope. Firstly, salt does influence the boiling point of the water, but the amount of salt you'll actually need for that mechanism to start off is huge! So, that little salt you add probably no impact.

Myth 5: Oil absorption can be reduced by frying the food at high temperature.Again, not true. The greasy surface has little to do with the overall oil the food has absorbed. This is because the greasiness comes from the excess moisture the food releases at a relatively lower cooking temperature.

Myth 6: A wooden cutting board is bad for raw meat. Wood is just fine, as long as you keep it dry and sanitized. If you can use it for every other food, what’s wrong with meat?

Myth 7: Oil in water prevents pasta from sticking!This one is so widespread, it almost seems controversial to call it a myth! But then think about it! Adding oil to boiling water only surfaces the oil back on top. It does nothing to keep the pasta from sticking! Rather, stirring pasta well during the preparation can be a better idea.

Myth 8: Salt makes watermelon taste sweeter! This is partially true, but not in the way you think it is! Adding salt to a watermelon causes you to salivate in excess, and hence making your taste buds sharper to the sweet juice that's oozing out. The salt however, doesn't have any direct action on the watermelon.

Myth 9: Alcohol evaporates when cooked. No, it doesn't. Alcohol takes three hours of constant heating to get completely evaporated. The usual cooking doesn't involve the necessary heat and time for this process to even begin in the right sense!

Myth 10: Adding salt to beans makes them tough.Sorry again! We know you've been doing this a lot. But salting has zero impact on the toughness of cooked bean! Salting can make them cook more quickly though.

Myth 11: Remove the chicken skin before eating! I know you've read many posts about how that could mean havoc for your diet, but recent studies have shown that the skin contains similar amounts of fat and calories as its skinless part.

Myth 12: Microwave cooking robs the food of nutrients!Well, heating does impact food nutrition, but then which preparation doesn't use heat? Microwave is just another way of heating and has no extra impact on the nutritional value of food.

Feels like you’ve been lied to? Well, cooking is an activity riddled with myths and suggestions. Find your own way into authentic cooking! Take a short term course in culinary arts and unravel more such myths and make amazing original food. If you are in Bangalore, you just got luckier. AIMS is offering a short term diploma in Italian cuisine where you’ll get a chance to learn from Italian chefs live!