# Rebut the food conventional wisdom **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133 "2010-02-15T23:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/1 "2010-02-15T23:27:01Z")
Fresh-squeezed orange juice tastes no better than the jug of Tropicana I can get at the supermarket, dammit. And you? ---
**Author:** ![Gruntled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/34f0e0/32.png) [@Gruntled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gruntled)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/2 "2010-02-15T23:50:10Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Fresh-squeezed orange juice tastes no better than the jug of Tropicana I can get at the supermarket, dammit. > > And you? But it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![kathmandu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kathmandu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kathmandu)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/3 "2010-02-16T00:01:19Z")
I much prefer dried pasta to fresh. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/4 "2010-02-16T00:04:40Z")
Fresh produce (fruits/veggies) is a crap-shoot. IF you are in the right region, the produce is _local_ and it’s at the height of the season, you’ll surely get the _best_ peaches, melons, apples, tomatoes, corn, berries. But unless _all_ of those factors are in play, you’re much better off, money-wise _and_ taste-wise, going with frozen. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/5 "2010-02-16T00:22:35Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Fresh-squeezed orange juice tastes no better than the jug of Tropicana I can get at the supermarket, dammit. > > And you? I’m with **Gruntled**. Tropicana is heads and shoulders above juice from concentrate, but it’s still a lot more acidic than fresh-squeezed. > [@kathmandu](#): > > I much prefer dried pasta to fresh. Dried and fresh pasta are two different things; one isn’t meant to be “better” than another any more than chicken is “better” than fish. It’s comparing apples to oranges. Here’s mine: Garlic squooshed through a garlic press is just fine. Don’t tell me a press is a tool of the devil. Unless you’re a professional chef who dices vegetables many hours a day, or you need to hold the cut garlic for more than ten or 15 minutes before cooking it, a press is faster than dicing it yourself and works just fine. And I can’t tell the difference if I remove the green sprout from the garlic, either. I know it’s supposed to be bitter. But it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/6 "2010-02-16T00:26:18Z")
I never bother to salt my aubergine before cooking, and I don’t think it makes any difference. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/7 "2010-02-16T03:03:38Z")
I can believe it’s not butter. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/8 "2010-02-16T05:19:50Z")
Velveeta “cheese” has a place in the world. It’s not the best, or even in the top ten list of, cheese in the world, but it has a few useful applications. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/9 "2010-02-16T05:29:29Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/10 "2010-02-16T05:33:56Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > Velveeta “cheese” has a place in the world. It’s not the best, or even in the top ten list of, cheese in the world, but it has a few useful applications. Doorstop. Bookend. The other bookend. Concealed weapon. Replacement for missing fireplace brick. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/11 "2010-02-16T05:54:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Fresh produce (fruits/veggies) is a crap-shoot. IF you are in the right region, the produce is local and it’s at the height of the season, you’ll surely get the best peaches, melons, apples, tomatoes, corn, berries. But unless all of those factors are in play, you’re much better off, money-wise and taste-wise, going with frozen. I’ll agree on veggies, or for any fruit you’re going to cook anyway (in a pie, say), but freezing fruit destroys most of the texture. My turn: While it’s possible that genuine vanilla might taste a little better than imitation, there’s no way that it tastes enough better to be worth fifty times the price. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/12 "2010-02-16T05:57:35Z")
It’s perfectly okay to wash your cast iron cookware with soap and water. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/13 "2010-02-16T06:16:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My turn: While it’s possible that genuine vanilla might taste a little better than imitation, there’s no way that it tastes enough better to be worth fifty times the price. This I’ve gotta disagree with. It tastes enough better to be worth five hundred times the price. Velveeta definitely has a place in the world. Sometimes nothing else will do. Just don’t go confusing it with actual food, and eating it often. I like most of my vegetables fairly crisp, but asparagus is best when you roast the hell out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/14 "2010-02-16T09:13:37Z")
Fancy salt is nonsense. Salt is salt, especially if it’s going to dissolve (e.g. will be used in a sauce). Sometimes you want coarse salt for a special application, but ordinary table salt is almost always indistinguishable from sea salt, French grey salt and other concoctions intended to separate food snobs from their money. I agree with **kathmandu** that dried pasta is usually better than fresh. So do most professional cooks, who use dried pasta except in certain applications (such as ravioli). Canned tomatoes are better for cooking than fresh except for the few months when tomatoes are in season. Salt doesn’t make beans tough. I don’t know where the so-called food experts got the idea that it does. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/15 "2010-02-16T13:39:02Z")
There’s no need to let meat rest before you serve it; it does nothing to make it juicier (that’s determined before you take it off the stove/grill – if it’s dryed out in cooking, waiting won’t make it moist.) The same for the fear of cutting into a piece of meat to check for doneness. Related – a meat thermometer is just a crude guide to checking if something is done. Cutting into the meat gives you a much more accurate idea. Finally, salt doesn’t “bring out the flavor” of anything – it just makes things salty. Think about it: Pepper makes things taste like pepper. Sage makes things taste like sage. Cinnamon makes things taste like cinnamon. Salt makes things taste like \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. If you like the salty flavor, fine. But don’t pretend you’re tasting anything other than the salt. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/16 "2010-02-16T14:00:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Finally, salt doesn’t “bring out the flavor” of anything – it just makes things salty. Think about it: Pepper makes things taste like pepper. Sage makes things taste like sage. Cinnamon makes things taste like cinnamon. Salt makes things taste like \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. > > If you like the salty flavor, fine. But don’t pretend you’re tasting anything other than the salt. Good grief, dude. First Alien and Gattaca, then Mad Men, now this? [Salt blocks perception of bitter flavors, thereby bringing out the sweetness in food](http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/taste-sensation.html). It’s not just a salty flavor: it actually has an effect on the other flavors in the food. (Sorry to pick on you for other things–it just seems to me that this is part of a pattern). ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/17 "2010-02-16T14:14:59Z")
Yeah, I have to disagree with the “there’s no reason to let meat rest” idea too - there is a good reason, and it does let the juices redistribute, resulting in a better experience. If your meat is always dry dude, you’re overcooking it. Use the meat thermometer, already. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/18 "2010-02-16T14:18:53Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Yeah, I have to disagree with the “there’s no reason to let meat rest” idea too - there is a good reason, and it does let the juices redistribute, resulting in a better experience. If your meat is always dry dude, you’re overcooking it. Use the meat thermometer, already. Indeed–[here’s a cite](http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/meatrest.html) with the underlying chemistry. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/19 "2010-02-16T14:27:31Z")
Washing mushrooms will not make them soggy, and is a lot faster and easier than futzing around with a brush. They’re mushrooms, not Instant Martians. When making vinegared and sugared sushi rice, it works just as well to put the vinegar and sugar in the rice cooker with the rice before you start cooking it. And it’s a lot easier than trying to mix vinegar and sugar into sticky cooked rice. Searing meat does not “seal in juices”. Juiciness in meat is a function of doneness. Searing meat does, however, add flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/20 "2010-02-16T14:29:33Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There’s no need to let meat rest before you serve it; it does nothing to make it juicier (that’s determined before you take it off the stove/grill – if it’s dryed out in cooking, waiting won’t make it moist.) > > The same for the fear of cutting into a piece of meat to check for doneness. I disagree. It’s easy to see why you want to rest meat. Cook two steaks. Immediately after taking them off the heat, cut into one. See that big puddle of juice that leaks out of it onto the plate? Let the second steak sit for 5 minutes, and do the same. See how there’s no juice? The muscle fibers have relaxed and allow them to absorb more moisture, thus the tasty juice stays in the meat instead of pooling on the plate. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Related – a meat thermometer is just a crude guide to checking if something is done. Cutting into the meat gives you a much more accurate idea. Yes, cutting will show you how done the meat is. As mentioned above, it’ll also allow the juices to run out of the meat. On the other hand, an insta-read thermometer is inexpensive and accurate, and can tell you the same info without having to pull the meat off the heat and cut into it. Much easier IMO. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Finally, salt doesn’t “bring out the flavor” of anything – it just makes things salty. Think about it: Pepper makes things taste like pepper. Sage makes things taste like sage. Cinnamon makes things taste like cinnamon. Salt makes things taste like \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. > If you like the salty flavor, fine. But don’t pretend you’re tasting anything other than the salt. Wrong again. Unlike all the other substances you mention, salt alters food in ways other than simply adding flavor. It’s a chemical, and not only enhances flavors but also can be used to preserve food. From Harold McGee’s “On Food and Cooking”: > [@](#): > > Salt is also a taste enhancer and taste modifier; it strengthens the impression of aromas that accompany it, and it suppresses the sensation of bitterness. > > Thanks to its basic chemical nature, salt can alter other ingredients in useful ways. Sodium chloride dissolves in water into separate single atoms that carry electrical charge - positively charged sodium ions and negatively charged chloride ions. These atoms are smaller and more mobile than any molecule, and therefore readily penetrate our foods, where they react in useful ways iwth proteins and with plant cell walls. And because a concentrated solution of any kind draws water out of living cells by osmosis - water in the lss concentrated cell fluid moves out of the cell to relieve the imbalance - the presence of sufficient salt in a food discourages the growth of spoilage bacteria while allowing harmless flavor-producing (and salt-tolerant) bacteria to grow. It thus preserves the food and improves it at the same time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133.md?page=2)