# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/161 "2024-03-19T14:43:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It’s not just a cuisine thing, it’s got a streak of toxic masculinity running through it too. This is so true. It used to be that “real” men, “manly” men, ate their steak well done. John Wayne was a great example of this. Only savages ate “bloody” meat. Now, somehow, we have reached the societal opposite, where sophisticates soft-brag that they like it “black and blue.” And the toxic males all say “Just slap it hard and put it on the plate.” I’ve no idea what drives these changes, but it would make for interesting research. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/162 "2024-03-19T14:47:56Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > There is an episode or YouTube video from America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Country where they ask all the chefs if they just use olive oil at home regardless of what the recipe calls for, and there answers were pretty much, yes, they all do that. I recently had to explain to a couple of the homies that if the recipe says “vegetable oil” extra-light olive oil (which I buy in CostCo volumes and use for everything) will, in fact, work. Why anyone would think it isn’t vegetable oil I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/163 "2024-03-19T15:28:03Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I usually prefer my steaks closer to well-done and I absolutely don’t do rare. Slightly more than medium is the coolest I’ll go. And I don’t want any pink in my hamburgers, no matter how sterile your kitchen is. Same here! I don’t mind if the steak has pink in the middle, but only pink. If it’s bleeding, I’m not a happy camper. I’d horrify a chef at a fancy steak restaurant. And moist poultry always weirds me out, too. I keep thinking it’s undercooked. Since learning to brine the thanksgiving turkey, I’ve finally found a way to have moist turkey that I know is fully (overe)cooked. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/164 "2024-03-19T15:32:52Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I recently had to explain to a couple of the homies that if the recipe says “vegetable oil” extra-light olive oil (which I buy in CostCo volumes and use for everything) will, in fact, work. Why anyone would think it isn’t vegetable oil I have no idea. Well, if you want to be pedantic, olive oil doesn’t come from a vegetable (it’s a fruit). Corn oil comes from a grain. Soy oil comes from a legume as does peanut oil. Canola oil would qualify as vegetable in nature, since rapeseed is a brassica 🙂 . That’s the only true “vegetable” oil I can think of offhand. But yeah, basically oil is oil. It may affect the flavor of what you cook, and depending on the usage, the different burning points may come into play. But if I’m making a cake that calls for a third of a cup of oil, it’s gonna be soy, canola, olive… whatever we have on hand. > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > It’s quite off-topic, but I was amused to discover that there is, or at least was, a California town called ‘Weed Patch’. I say, where do you live… ?? There is definitely a town called Weed! We stopped at a rest stop there, 2 years ago, on a trip south from Oregon (where there were weed dispensaries on every corner). This amused us. We also drove through SNOW to get there. In May. ---
**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 19, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/165 "2024-03-19T15:47:29Z")
I just use Extra Virgin for most things. It imparts some of that olive oil flavour to the food, but in most contexts, I find that enjoyable - it can even be interesting for cooking sweet things like pancakes. As far as I understand it, the arguments against using olive oil break down to: **It has a strong flavour** - which can be true, but if you like that flavour, that’s a feature, not a bug. It’s not really that strong usually (there is a spectrum of flavour even with genuine EVOO.) **It has a flavour that is not appropriate for cuisine from [x region]** - totally get that for authentic food cooked within that region, or any attempt to cook something fully-authentically-x anywhere else, but otherwise, _when food crosses borders, all bets are off._ Cuisine is not a fully-solved problem and you’re allowed to mix and match, make changes to suit your local palate or the local availability of ingredients, etc. **It breaks down at a low temperature and becomes carcinogenic** - this is simply false (albeit very widely repeated). People conflate ‘smoke point’ with breakdown of long chain fatty acids; they are not the same phenomenon - olive oil is one of the most resistant oils to this kind of breakdown (the smoke point is indeed low, but that’s not related). **Cooking makes it taste horrible** - Maybe. Can’t say I have noticed this problem. **It’s too expensive to use for frying** - I mean, maybe, but unless you’re a person who is standing there wailing _‘I like to fry with olive oil! Also, I don’t understand where all my money has gone!’_, then this is a nonexistent problem. ---
**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 19, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/166 "2024-03-19T15:55:47Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Well, if you want to be pedantic, olive oil doesn’t come from a vegetable ‘Vegetable’ in vegetable oil doesn’t mean that; it’s _vegetable_ as opposed to _animal_ or _mineral_ (or _synthetic_, I guess). Besides, all of the things you listed are members of the vegetable kingdom, so olive, corn, soy, peanut, olive are all vegetable oils. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/167 "2024-03-19T16:09:57Z")
> **[Why can't you cook foods in motor oil?](https://www.quora.com/Why-cant-you-cook-foods-in-motor-oil)** > > Answer (1 of 22): Why can't you cook foods in motor oil? > > Who says you can’t. Millions of people eat food cooked in some motor oil every day—despite it being a deadly compound to humans. In fact, I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, that none of the... Hehehe… ---
**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 19, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/168 "2024-03-19T16:27:52Z")
Extra virgin oils are the only ones I have around as I use olive oil for flavor and sunflower for general use. That’s pretty much my oil dichotomy. I typically have Frantoia ($30/L) and California Olive Ranch 100% (same price) around. And then Ukrainian sunflower oil at $4-$5/L. The olive oil definitely imparts flavors. I’ll use it for sauteeing veggies, making tomato sauce, pouring it on bread of pizza, that sort of thing. I once tried making mayo with 100% evoo and good god was that something I could not stomach. But, yeah, it is good for a lot of things and its flavor is the point of using it. Whether that flavor works with what you’re cooking is up to you. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/169 "2024-03-19T16:38:19Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > if the recipe says “vegetable oil” extra-light olive oil (which I buy in CostCo volumes and use for everything) will, in fact, work. This is exactly what I do. A large jug of Costo olive oil lives on my counter, just far enough away from the stove to keep it from being exposed to heat when I turn the stove or oven on. I rarely even use butter, just occasionally ghee in Indian food. On a recent visit, when for some reason I mentioned this (I think because his dad uses butter all the time, to my mild disapproval), my adult son said, “Well, then, using olive oil for everything is the right way to cook, because your food is always delicious.” Why thanks, kiddo! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/170 "2024-03-19T18:45:37Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It used to be that “real” men, “manly” men, ate their steak well done. John Wayne was a great example of this. Only savages ate “bloody” meat. Now, somehow, we have reached the societal opposite, where sophisticates soft-brag that they like it “black and blue.” And the toxic males all say “Just slap it hard and put it on the plate.” I thought the pendulum had swung back among a certain subset of self-proclaimed “manly men” ever since a certain politician revealed that he ate his steaks well-done with ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/171 "2024-03-19T18:55:27Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > olive oil lives on my counter There’s something to be said for a distinction between regular and extra-virgin olive oil. Extra-virgin is what you want if you are using it for a salad and want that specific flavour. Regular is good for most frying or saute phases of mediterranean dishes. I like to have both in stock. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/172 "2024-03-19T19:14:11Z")
Agreed. I keep extra virgin for salads. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/173 "2024-03-19T21:15:50Z")
Oh, I know - I was just being a brat! 😀 I suppose one might use mineral oil (years back, a colleague told me he saw a recipe that recommended doing that in salad dressing to save fat / calories; I suspect the results would be regrettable). Or animal oil; whale oil being the only one that I know of offhand, but that’s hard to find. Plus that would likely taste vile. > [@Mangetout](#): > > I just use Extra Virgin for most things. It imparts some of that olive oil flavour to the food, but in most contexts, I find that enjoyable - it can even be interesting for cooking sweet things like pancakes. There are recipes for olive oil-based cakes; I’ve made one such recipe several times when a dairy-allergic relative was in town. The websites claim that the flavor shines through, somehow, though personally I’ve never noticed it. The results were tasty, in any event. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/174 "2024-03-19T21:19:09Z")
Storing them separately is one thing. But that doesn’t mean you have to cook them separately. For my noodle dishes, I actually use just enough broth to be absorbed entirely into the noodles. The microwave makes this very easy. And the noodles actually tend to dry out a bit in the fridge, even when covered with a lid. I don’t think I’ve ever deliberately made chicken noodle soup. But I definitely prefer there to be chicken flavoring in the noodles. ---
**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 19, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/175 "2024-03-19T21:19:32Z")
Yeah, I think even if you used a food safe mineral oil (like the stuff they use for salad bowls or glazing confectionery), the digestive results of ingesting anything more than a trace might be… explosive. I’d say chicken fat (schmaltz) is an animal oil - it’s pretty much liquid at room temperature - if coconut oil is oil, then I’d say any kind of fat is oil - it’s not a chemical distinction as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/176 "2024-03-19T21:21:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The problem is that is can absorb so much of the liquid that you’re essentially left with a bowl of semisolid glutinous mass, with almost no free liquid. This has happened to us plenty of times. > > If you store the noodles and the broth separately you get noodles in broth, not a colloid. I haven’t found it to be too huge of a problem, keeping the noodles in the broth for a day or so in the fridge. Longer than that, and yeah, the noodles might break down too much. Certainly if I’m going to freeze the results, the noodles stay out until cooking time. But if I think we’re going to use the entire soup in one meal (or only have a little left over), I’ll save a cooking pot and toss the noodles in when the soup boils. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/177 "2024-03-19T21:29:53Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > > [@echoreply](#): > > > > I like my tea “wrong.” I’ll heat the water in the microwave, with the tea bag in it, and I’ll leave the bag in the cup the entire time I’m drinking it. This is probably because for the bagged up tea dust, even in premium brands, there is barely any difference between “right” and “ruined.” > > I do it that way too! But I have learned not to do it in front of houseguests. I’ve horrified witnesses a couple of times. I also nuke my tea with the tea bag in it, and in addition, I don’t let it steep nor do I let it approach a boil (which is inadvisable with a plastic cup anyway). To make it strong enough for its minimal dunking, I put two teabags in it. Two minimally-dunked teabags gives me more of the lighter, aromatic tastes from the tea and less of the heavy astringent stuff than one more thoroughly-dunked hot-water tea would. One humorous exception which I also do wrong is when I am at a buffet and they have Earl Grey, I will do just a single teabag and let it steep, and then put in some milk. When I’m in Britain and they serve me the pre-brewed stuff, I don’t complain, but even once I add milk to it to bring back the balance, it isn’t bad but also isn’t much _better_ to my palate than my own stuff either. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/178 "2024-03-20T01:24:28Z")
On the noodles/broth controversy that is playing out in this thread, I am a firm believer of a lot of noodles and a small amount of extremely tasty broth. And lots of good chunks of vegetables and meat, of course. Yes, the noodles swell up and absorb most of the broth, and when the leftovers are refrigerated, you end up with an aspic-textured glop, especially if your broth was a long-simmered collagen-rich liquid that would solidify in the fridge even if no noodles were involved. When you reheat it, the “aspic” melts, leaving you with an extremely rich, porridge-like, stick-to-your ribs meal. Yum. I’m famous for demanding this kind of thickness for all my soups: it is routinely understood by family and friends that anything I call “soup” would be called stew or porridge by anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/179 "2024-03-20T07:07:23Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’m famous for demanding this kind of thickness for all my soups: it is routinely understood by family and friends that anything I call “soup” would be called stew or porridge by anyone else. ⁢ I use a lot of instant potatoes to thicken up my soups. Occasionally, I use enough that it becomes soup-flavored mashed potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787/180 "2024-03-20T07:27:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I use a lot of instant potatoes to thicken up my soups. While I haven’t tried this, it makes total sense. I might give it a try. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-prefer-cooked-wrong/998787.md?page=10)