# Foody Do's and Dont's that in your opinion don't make a difference **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385 "2013-05-15T08:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/121 "2013-05-19T23:17:56Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > You are not supposed to put ketchup on a good brat, the acidity is suppose o dull the taste buds. It’s mustard, sour crout and maybe onions. > > I like it, reminds me of childhood, so back off my brat. Sorry a good mustard is just as or more acid that catsup. It also has vinegar in the ingredients and the chemicals that cause the burn in mustard are acids, just like there is acid in tomato. And we really don’t consider good kraut nonacid? Kraut is made by lactic acid fermentation of cabbage and salt. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/122 "2013-05-19T23:26:55Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Sorry a good mustard is just as or more acid that catsup. It also has vinegar in the ingredients and the chemicals that cause the burn in mustard are acids, just like there is acid in tomato. > > And we really don’t consider good kraut nonacid? Kraut is made by lactic acid fermentation of cabbage and salt. I always thought it was the sweetness, not acidity, of the ketchup that was question. As you noted, mustard is as (and I would think more) acidic than ketchup. I personally understand ketchup more on hot dogs than brats. I’m used to seeing ketchup all over hot dogs (even in Chicago, but I don’t do it), but not brats. That said, I remember visiting an ex-girlfriend’s family in Swabia (just west of Bavaria in Germany) with my brother, and we all sat down to a light dinner of wurst and rolls and probably some vegetables. First thing her father does is reach for the ketchup bottle and slather his brat with it. My brother, a big ketchup lover, looks over me and smiles. I could never tease him about putting ketchup on his brats again. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/123 "2013-05-19T23:27:24Z")
> [@bump](#): > > A 5 year old can go into a Wal-Mart at 3 am on a Sunday night and buy all the cooking wine he can carry. Which, for a very, very sleepy 5 year old may not actually be very much at all! 😃 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thicksantorum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@thicksantorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thicksantorum)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/124 "2013-05-19T23:29:59Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Steaks absolutely do NOT all taste the same when cooked well. I hate a well cooked steak as much as the next guy, but a well-done filet mignon is nothing at all like a well done t-bone. Sure, but compare a well-done select and a well-done prime _of the same cut_. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/125 "2013-05-19T23:39:06Z")
> [@Jamie\_Gillis](#): > > Putting ketchup on a hot dog. I rarely eat hot dogs (at AT&T Park only, a few times a year). But I ALWAYS eat it with ketchup. (I just hope Clint Eastwood doesn’t see and kick my ass.) It depends on the hot dog for me. A good, kosher dog tastes odd with ketchup. Most popular brands are more akin to bologna and I place bologna along with French fries as a natural vehicle for ketchup, so I glop it on. Just ketchup. The good dogs get all the Chicago fixin’s. Oh, and I loved you in _Misty Beethoven,_ but I thought you were dead. Welcome back! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/126 "2013-05-19T23:51:24Z")
Oh, and you can still get cooking wine? I thought that went out with tomato juice aspic and shredded carrots in lime jello. There are several reasons I don’t use wine in my cooking, but is there something I can substitute? I had some chicken Marengo that was delicious but there was something odd about it that I finally figured out was Concord grape juice. It worked in that but probably not in something you didn’t want to be sweet. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/127 "2013-05-20T00:13:48Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Steaks absolutely do NOT all taste the same when cooked well. I hate a well cooked steak as much as the next guy, but a well-done filet mignon is nothing at all like a well done t-bone. Sure it does… the T-bone is basically the combination of a strip (NY, KC, etc…) and a tenderloin, with the bone left in. The tenderloin piece is the smaller piece on one side of the “T” vertical, and the strip is the larger piece. But yeah, a strip and a filet don’t taste much like each other, regardless of how they’re cooked. Personally, I don’t have much use for the filet; tenderness isn’t where it’s at with steak, so the NY strip is my favorite since it’s very flavorful and yet still pretty tender. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/128 "2013-05-20T00:23:09Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Letting meat sit before cutting, or cutting into the meat to see if its done. I’ve never had a dried out steak; the juice is not going to magically disappear if you eat it right off the grill. My theory is that this rule was set up by chefs when someone came into the kitchen and demanded to know why the steaks were sitting around on plates. Instead of saying, “so we can server an entire table at once; the steaks were done before other things,” they came up with a silly story that this makes them more juicy. In my experience, when you are cooking a whole chicken, letting it rest a good 30-60 minutes makes it much juicier and softer, especially the breast which is normally dry. I suspect this is true for any large portion of meat. For steaks and chops, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/129 "2013-05-20T00:29:11Z")
I used to believe in the ‘no cheese with fish’ rule but I have let go of it. Although it’s generally true, not always. Have you ever had lobster macaroni and cheese? (Is lobster technically a fish because it’s shellfish?). ---
**Author:** ![thicksantorum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@thicksantorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thicksantorum)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/130 "2013-05-20T00:39:09Z")
Lobster meat is completely different from fish meat, and tastes good in some very different dishes. …hate the term “shellfish”. It only exists because some people are squeamish about eating arthropods. Yes, lobster is far more closely related to a cockroach than to a fish. So what? It’s delicious. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/131 "2013-05-20T00:40:48Z")
> [@thicksantorum](#): > > Sure, but compare a well-done select and a well-done prime _of the same cut_. I don’t think this is quite true. I eat medium rare steaks (on the rare side of medium rare), but my mother eats them well done. My mom and dad only buy select and choice, and occasionally, the steaks all get cooked up to well done temperature (when I’m not taking care of the grill), and I definitely notice a difference between select and choice. To tell the truth, I prefer the select steaks at higher levels of doneness, because they tend to be a chewy mess at medium rare. When I know/can see they have choice, I cook it myself to how I like it. Thing is, at a restaurant, if you go to a steakhouse that serves prime, I can’t believe they would have select grade lying around for the “well-doners.” What I can believe (and what I personally would do myself) in terms of resource management is the well done customers would still get wonderful prime steaks, but I might pick one that doesn’t look quite _as_ nice as another prime. I mean, I do similar things when I’m cooking for myself. I only buy choice & up, but I might save nicer pieces of choice for stuff I’m going to cook medium rare, and less nice pieces of choice (that are still nice, of course) for something like a stir-fry that I’m going to cook nearly well done, if not well. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/132 "2013-05-20T00:50:55Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > In my experience, when you are cooking a whole chicken, letting it rest a good 30-60 minutes makes it much juicier and softer, especially the breast which is normally dry. I suspect this is true for any large portion of meat. For steaks and chops, not so much. It’s absolutely most noticeable in roasts (but 15-20 minutes is enough for me for a chicken), but definitely noticeable in steaks, too. It’s empirically verified quite easily as mentioned before. Take two steaks. Cut into one steak right off the grill. Take another one and wait 5-10 minutes and cut into that. See how much water collects on the bottom of your plate. It might not be as noticeable at higher levels of doneness but at medium rare, yeah, there’s like a friggin’ pool of liquid on your plate if you cut into it right away. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/133 "2013-05-20T01:34:50Z")
TRUE STORY: When I was in college, my friend “Emily” brought a bottle of wine to a party. She’d bought it in a little shop near campus that sold wine, cheese, gift baskets, etc. (This shop wasn’t where students usually got their booze, but Emily didn’t have a car and this place was the closest.) Emily wasn’t much of a drinker, but had wanted to get something to celebrate a recent event like finishing a major project or something. Anyway, she said she’d tried the wine already and really hadn’t cared for it, but had decided to bring it to the party in case someone else might enjoy it. Another friend picked up the bottle, squinted at the label, and said “Honey, this is _cooking sherry_.” After the laughter died down, Emily said “I just got the cheapest thing they had!” ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/134 "2013-05-20T01:59:04Z")
For the first time ever, I had well done fillet mignon tonight. It was delicious, tender and juicy, although I do prefer rare. In other news, Brazilian steak houses rock. _burp_ ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/135 "2013-05-20T02:24:02Z")
Ketchup adds far too much sweetness to a hot dog. You need mustard and sourkraut to counteract it. I don’t get tuna fish unless it’s tuna steak. I love tuna steak. I hate canned tuna and despise canned tuna with mayo. I also don’t get runny scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs should have bit of a crust on them of some kind and ideally some bits of sharp cheddar or kosher salami. Cheddar should also be sharp or extra sharp and nothing else. It should not be bland. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/136 "2013-05-20T05:26:33Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > It’s not so much that I ignore some rules, It’s that I think they are just wrong. > > Never flip your burger more than once!!. Um why? I flip at least 3 times, just to confuse gravity trying to drain all the juiciness out. Almost out the bottom huh? now go all the way back through. There is still enough drippy to make yummy smoke for the burgers though. The uber-Foodie cookbook _Modernist Cuisine_ agrees with you! They researched techniques for cooking burgers, and found that constant flipping was far superior to only flipping once. They recommend flipping every 15 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/137 "2013-05-20T13:39:10Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The uber-Foodie cookbook _Modernist Cuisine_ agrees with you! They researched techniques for cooking burgers, and found that constant flipping was far superior to only flipping once. They recommend flipping every 15 seconds. This technique can be better, but you have to do it in a very specific way. It doesn’t mean flip the burger whenever you feel like it. You’re trying to optimize the heat transfer within the burger, so temperature and time will be critically important. You’re solving a heat flow differential equation. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/138 "2013-05-20T13:59:06Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > This technique can be better, but you have to do it in a very specific way. It doesn’t mean flip the burger whenever you feel like it. You’re trying to optimize the heat transfer within the burger, so temperature and time will be critically important. You’re solving a heat flow differential equation. As long as it’s relatively consistent (say, every minute, every 30 seconds, every 15 seconds, etc.) it seems to be better than 1 flip, as the [linked to graph](http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/02/the-burger-lab-how-many-times-should-you-flip-a-burger-while-cooking.html) in the Burger Lab article above shows. I still do single flip, but I grill my burgers differently, starting them slow to get the insides to an even medium rare (actually, quite a bit lower, maybe to 100-ish, but they’ll finish at medium rare.), and then finish blazing hot for maybe a minute or so a side. But this is only with large 8 oz and up burgers. But that’s become my go-to technique for pretty much any meat I want to eat at medium rare or rarer. (Oh, and I see farther down the Burger Lab article, they detail that method. Hadn’t noticed that.) ---
**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:** [May 20, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/139 "2013-05-20T14:04:56Z")
Heck, even that guy’s preferences are similar to mine. “I’m more of a thin, pressed burger guy myself, but here’s one thick burger that I might actually enjoy.” He must be my long lost twin. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385/140 "2013-05-20T14:29:54Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Oh, and you can still get cooking wine? I thought that went out with tomato juice aspic and shredded carrots in lime jello. > > There are several reasons I don’t use wine in my cooking, but is there something I can substitute? I had some chicken Marengo that was delicious but there was something odd about it that I finally figured out was Concord grape juice. It worked in that but probably not in something you didn’t want to be sweet. Well, for white wine you can substitute vermouth, but I’m guessing that if one of the reasons you don’t cook with wine is because of the alcohol, then vermouth (or vodka) is probably right out as well. Chicken stock makes an acceptable substitute for white wine, or veggie stock. In a real pinch, you can even sub water, but obviously you won’t get any flavor bump there. For a red wine substitute, I’m out of ideas. All that said, the alcohol in wine does serve a specific purpose in cooking: some flavors are only soluble in alcohol, so adding wine brings those flavors out in a way that stock cannot. For example, tomatoes have flavor compounds that are only soluble in alcohol; you won’t taste them without it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foody-dos-and-donts-that-in-your-opinion-dont-make-a-difference/658385.md?page=8)