5 Silly Cooking Myths You Should Never Believe

Even the most experienced chef can fall for most of these pervasive and ridiculous myths. Many of these cooking myths have been promoted as well-meaning culinary advice over the years; and have become a bedrock to many cook their meals. By now, you already know that lobsters don’t scream during cooking, that screeching sound is caused by the air trapped in the lobsters’ shell or stomach. There are more and more hilarious myths out there and if you want to know them, keep reading!

1. Alcohol doesn't burn off.

Complete alcohol burnoff is one of the countless cooking myths that experiments have proved to be false. According to studies published by the USDA, the alcohol retention for recipes that include alcohol as a primary ingredient is 40%. Also, another experiment proved that a Grand Marnier sauce boiled over hot steam could retain 83-85% of its alcohol.

2. Adding salt to water makes it boil quicker.

Another cooking myth to stop believing is that salted water boils faster. Many cooks also are convinced that watching water makes it boil slowly. Well, that's a whole bunch of mumbo-jumbo and is not true. Putting salt inside water increases the boiling point, thereby making it hotter. But it doesn’t make it boil faster.

3. Cooking removes nutrients from vegetables.

Some people hold on to this myth. According to many, cooking your vegetables breaks down the vitamins and minerals, making it less healthy. However, such isn't true because most vitamins aren't affected by heat. Apart from water-soluble like vitamin C and B which release some of their nutrients into the water, most of these nutrients don't get modified by cooking.

4. Rinsing pasta stops it from cooking.

Just as you rinse some things to stop them from overcooking, does the same apply to pasta? Will it overcook if not rinsed in cold water according to popular belief? The answer is NO! Pasta doesn't have much carryover cooking, which means there is no need to reduce the temperature unless perhaps you want to make a pasta salad.

5. Salt will break down your yeast.

Another popular cooking school myth is that salt kills yeast in food. But that is not true. Salt acts as a desiccant but won't affect the yeast in food. So, you don't need to worry about salt touching it if you bloom or add it to the dough, just the way everyone likes it.

If you're a fan of the kitchen and you have been hanging onto these lame cooking myths, now is the time to forget them.