# Foods you prefer cooked "wrong" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 13, 2024, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787 "2024-03-13T03:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/21 "2024-03-13T09:59:40Z")
Soft, fatty, juicy bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/22 "2024-03-13T10:03:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t always require salt on my food. IMO, you should never have to add salt to a finished dish - if you have to reach for a salt shaker it means the food was underseasoned while cooking. For that matter, there are certain dishes, like lasagna, where there’s enough salt present in the cheese and sausage and tomato sauce that I don’t find any need to add salt while I’m cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/23 "2024-03-13T10:03:48Z")
Rind on. If you like squid (I do), there’s no reason to dislike bacon rind. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/24 "2024-03-13T10:04:53Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > IMO, you should never have to add salt to a finished dish - if you have to reach for a salt shaker it means the food was underseasoned while cooking If you’re cooking for yourself, fine; if you’re cooking for other people, not really. Salt level in food is a preference and is not the same for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/25 "2024-03-13T10:07:53Z")
I hate restaurants that serve bland unsalted food, expecting me to salt to taste. I assume the chef doesn’t know how to season food. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/26 "2024-03-13T10:10:56Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > …my son adores rare meat and whenever a server asks him, “so how would you like that burger/steak cooked?” his stock answer is: “as rare as you are legally allowed.” My dad used to say “Just pass it once over a light bulb.” mmm ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/27 "2024-03-13T10:22:48Z")
Ugh. I prefer my scrambled eggs solid, not still liquid, TYVM. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/28 "2024-03-13T10:24:03Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > I also don’t do crispy bacon. If I can pick the bacon up, hit it on the plate and it shatters, it’s basically burnt. If I can cut it with a knife and bend it easily, it’s just right. I prefer bacon still flexible and not so dried out it turns to powder in my mouth. It needs to still have some moisture to properly convey flavor to my tongue. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/29 "2024-03-13T10:56:41Z")
On long distance hiking trails it’s not uncommon for some hikers to have ramen noodles uncooked, and with some topping like peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/30 "2024-03-13T11:00:50Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Ugh. I prefer my scrambled eggs solid, not still liquid, TYVM. I prefer my scrambled eggs a few blocks away, and nowhere near me. I cannot eat eggs, and I’m sick and tired of every diner having a “two eggs any style and \_\_\_” breakfast. If they can make me a BLT, and they usually can, great. But every breakfast involving “two eggs, any style” can go to hell, as far as I’m concerned. On a few occasions, I’ve been left with just coffee, juice, and toast. Everything else involves eggs. Get this through your thick heads: some of us cannot eat eggs. Stop pushing them at us. I can make a nice breakfast out of the _a la carte_ selections in most diners’ menus, such as toast, cereal, hash browns, bacon or sausage, juice, coffee. A BLT is, in my opinion, a breakfast of champions. Yeah, it costs more than the so-called “two eggs any style and \_\_\_,” but at least it’s something that I can actually eat. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/31 "2024-03-13T11:03:13Z")
I like white fish like Albacore Tuna in water, White Fish, etc. I like salmon, but I don’t like “oily”, so I cook my salmon twice as long as the directions say. Instead of 20 minutes at 325, I cook it 35 minutes at 350. Takes out the oily/slimy component but leaves the flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/32 "2024-03-13T11:20:03Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I sometimes buy salt-and-shake potato crisps (chips) and eat them without sprinkling on the salt sachet. I have never heard of this before. Where do they have these magical snack packets? > [@Smapti](#): > > IMO, you should never have to add salt to a finished dish - if you have to reach for a salt shaker it means the food was underseasoned while cooking. > **[3.9M views · 28K reactions | Don't Ask For The Salt | Chef! | Classic British...](https://www.facebook.com/BritBoxUS/videos/dont-ask-for-the-salt-chef-classic-british-comedy-streaming-now-on-britbox/396006365068189/)** > > There are two types of people - those who ask for salt and those who wouldn't dare. Which type are you? > Lenny Henry's Chef! is now streaming on BritBox. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/33 "2024-03-13T11:32:13Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I’m constantly bombarded with recipes proclaiming “Tired of rubbery scrambled eggs? Use this one simple trick for perfect scrambled eggs!”. What’s shown in the picture is, to me, as appetizing as a slime mold. And yet that appears to be the “gourmet” way of doing things. Give me the rubbery scrambled eggs. Yeah, apparently my preferred way of eating eggs is considered “overdone” these days. Too bad, they’re my eggs and that’s the way I want them. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/34 "2024-03-13T11:46:49Z")
I’ll make pancakes in a thick, cake-like fashion fort my wife and daughter, but when it comes time to pour mine out, I add more milk so that I get thin, crepe-like pancakes. Gimme soft thin crepe-like pancakes with melted butter and real maple syrup any day. Another thing I don’t understand is not thoroughly mixing the batter. “Leave some lumps in,” as all the recipes seem to say, is to me a recipe for deposits of unmixed dry materials in the finished pancakes. Alton Brown is the worst about this – on TV, he says to just take three turns with your mixing spoon, leaving great gobs of unwetted flour/sugar/salt/baking powder alongside the liquid ingredients. Me, I mix ingredients to be a smooth batter, whether cake-like or crepe-like. And I always add vanilla. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/35 "2024-03-13T11:50:41Z")
It’s been mentioned before – and not just by me – that the directions for preparing ramen noodles are just nuts. The makers apparently think it’s a soup. It isn’t. Instead of the two cups or whatever ridiculous amounts of water they want you to put into it, I just put about a half inch of water into a saucepan – barely enough to cook and be fully absorbed by the noodles – and when boiling add noodles, strips of chicken or pork, mushrooms, and whatever else. I use only about two-thirds of the flavour packet, and ideally the noodles will be done when there’s almost no water left in the pot. They are then anointed with soy sauce and, as the mood may suggest, some Huy Fong chili garlic sauce. I will say, however, that for all pasta in general, the concept of _al dente_ is IMHO important. I’ve learned to be careful when making spaghetti not to overdo it. It’s one reason I prefer to stick to a specific type and brand once I get the timing precisely right. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/36 "2024-03-13T11:58:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > On the other hand, I prefer blond soft-in-the-middle French omelettes to the browned style you usually get in diners, YES! I absolutely hate American-style omelets. Well, hate is a strong word, but they are not my preference. For me, it’s green beans. I like them stewed for hours to mushy goodness. Now, it’s not technically “wrong” – there are styles of green beans from the Mediterranean area (as one example) that are cooked this way. But everyone these days seems to go for a cooking them so they can still retain their crispness. This is not to say I haven’t found versions of this I enjoy; it’s that when left to my own devices with a bag of green beans, I’m going to essentially stew them nine times out of ten (the tenth time might be a Sichuan-style green bean stir fry.) Mashed potatoes – once again, not sure if this is “wrong” but I prefer my mashed potatoes hand-mashed with a potato masher and/or fork (instead of a ricer). I like them with texture, a little lumpy. I do not prefer creamy whipped-style potatoes with a boatload of butter and cream (and sometimes cheese, horseradish, etc.) I add some butter and, often, nothing else. Sometimes a splash of milk. Sometimes some dill. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/37 "2024-03-13T12:08:29Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s been mentioned before – and not just by me – that the directions for preparing ramen noodles are just nuts. The makers apparently think it’s a soup. It isn’t. Quoi? Of course it’s soup! You can eat it either way. I like my ramen as soup most of the time. Oh, wait, this is the doing it “wrong” thread. Now, I could have sworn that some manufacturers give recipes for both: either if you want noodle style or soup style. I’m not sure how as a kid I would have known otherwise, but I seem to remember “use the whole packet” if you want soup and “use half a packet” if you drain the cooking water. Or maybe I hallucinated it as the Top Ramen and Manuchan ramen both only give the “2 cups of water” instructions. I swear someone used to list both instructions! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/38 "2024-03-13T12:08:37Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I have never heard of this before. Where do they have these magical snack packets? > **[Walkers Salt & Shake 6 Pack | Walkers UK](https://www.walkers.co.uk/our-range/walkers-crisps/salt-and-shake)** > > Our classic crisps are the nation’s favourite. Everyone has a favourite delicious and mouth-watering flavour. They are, apparently, the descendant of the original Smith’s Crisps, where Mr Smith used to serve them with a small portion of salt in a twist of paper ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/39 "2024-03-13T12:13:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Mashed potatoes – once again, not sure if this is “wrong” but I prefer my mashed potatoes hand-mashed with a potato masher and/or fork (instead of a ricer). I like them with texture, a little lumpy. I do not prefer creamy whipped-style potatoes with a boatload of butter and cream (and sometimes cheese, horseradish, etc.) I add some butter and, often, nothing else. Sometimes a splash of milk. Sometimes some dill. I’m with you on that one - and again, I’ve had hate mail about how I mash potatoes - I really prefer them sort of coarsely-mashed and fluffy, because I most usually intend to enjoy them with gravy and I want them to soak it up a bit. ‘Cheffy’ pommes-puree where it’s basically a soup of potato and butter do not combine well with gravy and honestly, they just seem a bit like baby food to me. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/40 "2024-03-13T12:17:01Z")
My mother had a deathly fear of trichinosis, and as a result overcooked the hell out of pork chops until they were not quite crunchy, but thoroughly desiccated. As a result this childhood standard became normal to me. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I necessarily prefer desiccated pork chops over properly prepared ones, but I don’t find them to be unpleasant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787.md?page=3)