# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/21 "2010-02-16T14:45:59Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Fresh-squeezed orange juice tastes no better than the jug of Tropicana I can get at the supermarket, dammit. > > And you? Fresh squeezed orange juice does taste a lot different, and in my opinion a lot better than, Tropicana. Of course I also think that Publix store brand tastes better than Tropicana. Tropicana is mediocre orange juice. It probably helps that I live in a place where it’s easy to get oranges. Once upon a time I could just go in the backyard. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/22 "2010-02-16T14:46:22Z")
> [@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. An accurate thermometer is right every single time, there’s nothing crude about it. I don’t even know how you’d come by this idea. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/23 "2010-02-16T15:00:45Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > 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. Oh, yeah - my mom “caught” me washing mushrooms in the kitchen on day and started in about them absorbing water. “Mom - I’m putting them in SOUP! They’re going to soak up a lot more water from that than from washing them!” But yes, dirty mushrooms need to be washed. Washing them does not make them soggy. ---
**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 16, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/24 "2010-02-16T15:06:09Z")
Another heresy of mine: Just about any piece of steak can be improved by A-1 Sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/25 "2010-02-16T15:12:28Z")
Frozen peas are terrific, I always wash my mushrooms and let my meat rest before cutting it, and Velveeta makes good grilled cheese sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/26 "2010-02-16T15:16:43Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Frozen peas are terrific. This is true. Also that you don’t need to soak your beans overnight before cooking them. The rest of this thread is pure insanity. Insanity I tells you. _:runs away trembling:_ ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/27 "2010-02-16T15:20:13Z")
Cheese bread from Wegmans, at $4.25 a loaf, is a hundred times better than any other identical looking cheese bread found at any other grocery store… Same goes for marble rye. (There is a packaged brand on the commercial bread shelf that is acceptable, if Wegmans is all out of marble rye. But avoid Price Chopper at all costs!) ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/28 "2010-02-16T15:23:00Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Another heresy of mine: Just about any piece of steak can be improved by A-1 Sauce. Out, foul demon! OUT!!! ---
**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, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/29 "2010-02-16T15:26:27Z")
Frozen vegetables have gotten better over the last 20 years. Good quality frozen asparagus and brussels sprouts are not necessarily the horrors you may remember from your childhood, at least if they are cooked properly. On the subject of brussels sprouts, they should not be cooked for a long time. That’s how they develop that awful sulfurous taste and mushy texture. They don’t have that flavor and texture, which is what most people who don’t like Brussels sprouts don’t like about them, if they are not overcooked. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/30 "2010-02-16T16:28:19Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > 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. Very impressive Loony Tunes reference! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/31 "2010-02-16T16:39:39Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > 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. Salt from a mine is the same as sea salt-only its about 200 million years older. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/32 "2010-02-16T17:00:44Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Another heresy of mine: Just about any piece of steak can be improved by A-1 Sauce. Peter Luger’s (where they get pissed if you put their own brand of steak sauce on their steaks) has been notified. You will not be admitted. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/33 "2010-02-16T17:31:24Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > 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. What do you think makes it gray, food coloring? ‘Ordinary’ table salt is refined to be very pure sodium chloride, whether it came from the sea recently or from a mine. ‘Sea salt’ as sold is simply unrefined, and even though it’s still pretty close to pure sodium chloride, the impurities clearly affect the taste (and color). Whether the difference is worth the price is debatable, but they aren’t the same thing. I’m not aware of anyone selling unrefined mined salt, though it certainly wouldn’t surprise me. What are pretty nearly the same substance are kosher salt, pickling (coarse) salt, and table salt. The only difference is table salt usually has iodine added, and even that changes the taste a tiny bit. I didn’t see it mentioned in the discussion of resting meat that it’s also a good idea to flip over a large roast when letting it rest, to allow gravity to aid in redistribution. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/34 "2010-02-16T17:34:51Z")
Re salt, while the taste is mostly the same minus a few trace minerals the texture differences are huge, Kosher salt is so much easier to work with than standard table salt. Pork does not need to be cooked to hockey puck to be safe to eat, Medium Rare pork chops are heaven on earth. ---
**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, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/35 "2010-02-16T17:37:19Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > What do you think makes it gray, food coloring? It doesn’t matter what makes it gray if you can’t taste it, and blind tests show that people can’t tell the difference when the salt is dissolved in food. In other words, people respond to the appearance, and possibly to the knowledge that they are eating something expensive. ---
**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, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/36 "2010-02-16T18:32:16Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > It doesn’t matter what makes it gray if you can’t taste it, and blind tests show that people can’t tell the difference when the salt is dissolved in food. In other words, people respond to the appearance, and possibly to the knowledge that they are eating something expensive. And texture. I agree that it’s pretty hard to tell the difference in salt when it’s dissolved. But a sprinkling of Fleur de Sel on top of a steak is a lovely thing - it’s big and crunchy, and (until it dissolves) it’s really a nice addition. ---
**Author:** ![zeldarae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f14d63/32.png) [@zeldarae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeldarae)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/37 "2010-02-16T18:41:31Z")
> [@HongKongFooey](#): > > Also that you don’t need to soak your beans overnight before cooking them. If you want them to not be chalky, you do. Or at least cover them in water, bring to a boil, and let them simmer for at least one hour before you do anything else. Even then, the texture not quite right. Trust me on this. When I was growing up, I thought I didn’t like beans. When I tried cooking them as an adult (they’re really cheap), I discovered I just don’t like my mother’s beans. She doesn’t soak them and it’s like eating chalk. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/38 "2010-02-16T18:41:35Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Peter Luger’s (where they get pissed if you put their own brand of steak sauce on their steaks) has been notified. You will not be admitted. Then why do they offer steak sauce? That’s just dickish. ---
**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, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/39 "2010-02-16T18:45:01Z")
> [@zeldarae](#): > > If you want them to not be chalky, you do. Or at least cover them in water, bring to a boil, and let them simmer for at least one hour before you do anything else. Even then, the texture not quite right. > > Trust me on this. When I was growing up, I thought I didn’t like beans. When I tried cooking them as an adult (they’re really cheap), I discovered I just don’t like my mother’s beans. She doesn’t soak them and it’s like eating chalk. I’ve never noticed a chalky taste in unsoaked beans. I used to be a soaker until I read it was unnecessary. I quit doing it after I tried not soaking - they’re completely the same as soaked beans from what I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/40 "2010-02-16T19:44:48Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > It doesn’t matter what makes it gray if you can’t taste it, and blind tests show that people can’t tell the difference when the salt is dissolved in food. In other words, people respond to the appearance, and possibly to the knowledge that they are eating something expensive. You are right about dissolved salt…in sauces and cooking table salt is just fine. But as a finishing salt or sprinkled on anything, the different salts can make a huge difference. I prefer coarse ground sea salt on most everything (not dissolved) because it tastes “cleaner” and really does perk up a lot of foods (and is not that much more expensive than finely ground table salt). The other “flavors” of salt are each good in their own right and some have very different flavors than plain salt. If you aren’t dissolving it, you should do your own experiments to see just how much a difference it can make. 🙂 > [@Athena](#): > > I’ve never noticed a chalky taste in unsoaked beans. > > I used to be a soaker until I read it was unnecessary. I quit doing it after I tried not soaking - they’re completely the same as soaked beans from what I can tell. I quit soaking beans years ago, and have also never noticed them being chalky at all. Beans can also be put in a pressure cooker to similar results (well-cooked, not chalky) and be ready to eat in an hour or two instead of all day simmering that they usually take (when I make them anyway). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133.md?page=3)