# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/61 "2010-02-17T06:46:18Z")
Real orange juice doesn’t come with chalky calcium. Real orange juice _does_ come with pulp. You want calcium? Drink some milk. You don’t want pulp? Maybe you shouldn’t drink orange juice. Try some Sunny D… I hear it goes great with Velveeta and Wonder Bread. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/62 "2010-02-17T06:50:09Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > You want the outside of the pasta to be gluey, not oily. For the same reason, you shouldn’t rinse the pasta after it’s cooked, since this will rinse off the coating of sticky starch, again keeping the sauce from adhering. And please don’t break spaghetti pasta into pieces before you cook it. Why would anyone do that? It makes it very difficult to eat properly. ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/63 "2010-02-17T07:41:00Z")
Baking is no more of a science than grilling a hot dog. Chemical reactions are happening in all forms of cooking. You can adjust baking recipes far more than you think. You don’t have to pass a test to write a cookbook. Add some soda if you are adding extra acid to a baked good or if you want a cracky texture on top. Add powder for rising. Add yeast to glutenous items. Salt helps many things. Forget about precision leveling the fucking tablespoons. I tell you it aint necessary. You think scientist are in labs writing chocolate cake recipes. The thousands of recipes you see for chocolate cake and whatever are just alterations in the measurements. Compare a hand full or chocolate chip recipes one may have to tsp of powder the other 2 1/2. The difference is that it don’t really matter all that much. It does but not to the level the general public thinks. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/64 "2010-02-17T12:52:37Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > Baking is no more of a science than grilling a hot dog. Chemical reactions are happening in all forms of cooking. > > You can adjust baking recipes far more than you think. You don’t have to pass a test to write a cookbook. Add some soda if you are adding extra acid to a baked good or if you want a cracky texture on top. Add powder for rising. Add yeast to glutenous items. Salt helps many things. > > Forget about precision leveling the fucking tablespoons. I tell you it aint necessary. > > You think scientist are in labs writing chocolate cake recipes. The thousands of recipes you see for chocolate cake and whatever are just alterations in the measurements. Compare a hand full or chocolate chip recipes one may have to tsp of powder the other 2 1/2. The difference is that it don’t really matter all that much. > > It does but not to the level the general public thinks. I agree, and would like to expand it to ALL cooking. We’ve been brainwashed into thinking that cooking from scratch is difficult and time consuming, thus you need to go buy edible food-like substances that come in boxes. Because REALLY cooking is HARD! It takes a LONG TIME! Trust me, it doesn’t. Some things required time or techniques, but really, there are dozens of things you can make from scratch with very little time or effort that taste much better and are much healthier for you than stuff you get in a box. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/65 "2010-02-17T13:19:08Z")
Almost any bread fresh from the oven is better than store bought. No Knead bread and it’s cousin artisan bread in 5 minutes a day are both really easy and make tasty bread for almost no effort. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/66 "2010-02-17T13:26:43Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > Eggs do not all come with salmonella in them. You will not keel over and die from eating raw cookie dough. > > Lutefisk is not a specialty, gourmet food. It is merely an alternative to starving. Maiira, salmonella contamination rates vary widely even in developed countries. In the US the rate is about 1 in 20,000. Rare enough that I wouldn’t panic over eating a raw egg once and a while but common enough that if I was particularly vulnerable I wouldn’t. In Ireland, to go to the other extreme, the rate of contamination is one in three and I’d never bet against debilitating sickness with those odds. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/67 "2010-02-17T13:39:47Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Cilantro ruins everything it’s put in. Vile stuff. Do you think it tastes like soap? ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/68 "2010-02-17T14:34:00Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > 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. Oh sure garlic through a press is fine, but it takes waaay longer to clean the stupid garlic press than it does to smosh and chop a clove of garlic with a knife. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/69 "2010-02-17T14:46:31Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Oh sure garlic through a press is fine, but it takes waaay longer to clean the stupid garlic press than it does to smosh and chop a clove of garlic with a knife. My garlic press takes next to no time to clean. Much less time than it takes to chop the garlic then clean the cutting board & knife. ---
**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 17, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/70 "2010-02-17T15:00:47Z")
Fresh tomatoes are not always better than canned. Right now, canned tomatoes would definitely be the better bet, unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere. Fish should not smell fishy when you buy it. If it does, it’s past its best. Fresh produce is a counterexample to “you get what you pay for”. Fresh fruits and vegetables are almost always best when they are cheapest and most plentiful in the supermarket, not when they are the most expensive. > [@Athena](#): > > I agree, and would like to expand it to ALL cooking. We’ve been brainwashed into thinking that cooking from scratch is difficult and time consuming, thus you need to go buy edible food-like substances that come in boxes. Because REALLY cooking is HARD! It takes a LONG TIME! There are recipes that require a lot of skills and take a long time and require ingredients you’ve never heard of. There are other recipes that don’t. The ones that take more skill, time, and exotic ingredients don’t invariably taste better than the ones that don’t. It doesn’t work that way. > [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Cilantro ruins everything it’s put in. Vile stuff. For some people, it does. It’s genetic, and they’re not likely to ever develop a taste for it. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/71 "2010-02-17T15:20:02Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Salt from a mine is the same as sea salt-only its about 200 million years older. Mortons, and other common tables salts, are mined and then dissolved, purified, recrystallized and then has iodine and ant-caking agents added. Sea salt does not have iodine and anti-caking agents added. Kosher salt also does not have any additives added to it. Sea salt and Kosher salt has a better taste than iodized table salt, and they are used by chefs for that reason. Plain old sea salt is not that expensive, and you can get a 3 lb box of kosher salt for $3.00 or so. Fleur de sel and expensive grey salts may not be worth the price, but Kosher and regular sea salt is. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/72 "2010-02-17T16:18:32Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > Instant mashed potatos taste as good(or better) than home-made,and so much easier to make. You are clearly insane. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/73 "2010-02-17T16:24:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Corn on the cob only needs to be boiled until it turns bright yellow (a minute or two), not for hours. It doesn’t \*\*\*need \*\*\*to be cooked at all. It’s perfectly edible and delicious once it’s been rinsed of its silk after its been husked. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/74 "2010-02-17T16:46:30Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Then why do they offer steak sauce? That’s just dickish. It’s specific to the original, Brooklyn location, and part of Luger’s _charm_ is that the waiters act like their…well…from Brooklyn. 🆒 And I do mean act, because as any NYer can tell you, our waiters are nearly all out-of-work actors waiting for their big B’way break. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/75 "2010-02-17T16:47:36Z")
I’ll pair red or white wine with anything I’m in the mood for. Also, sometimes red wine over a few ice cubes in a short glass is the perfect summer drink. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/76 "2010-02-17T17:13:04Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Fish should not smell fishy when you buy it. If it does, it’s past its best. > > Fresh produce is a counterexample to “you get what you pay for”. Fresh fruits and vegetables are almost always best when they are cheapest and most plentiful in the supermarket, not when they are the most expensive. How are these rebutting food conventions? ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/77 "2010-02-17T17:33:28Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Fleur de sel and expensive grey salts may not be worth the price, but Kosher and regular sea salt is. Word to this. My dad is one of those “non-tasters” – he has insensate taste buds and can eat what are to me truly vile combinations of food because of this – and even _he_ can tell the difference between steak seasoned with table salt and with kosher salt (and he prefers the latter). Once you get used to kosher salt, you can notice a chemical after-taste in table salt. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/78 "2010-02-17T17:46:54Z")
[Cook pasta with less water](http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/pastanoodles/ht/lesswater.htm). 6 quarts boiling water per pound of pasta is not necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/79 "2010-02-17T19:40:27Z")
Lasagna noodles do not have to be cooked prior to assembling the lasagna. Sometimes I soak 'em in cold water for about a half hour while I’m making the sauce; sometimes I just assemble with dry noodles. It makes it easier to snap the noodle to the right size so it fits in the pan. Then you can pour about a cup of water into the pan and pop the whole mess in the oven. The water boils, which steams your noodles and you don’t have to try to work with hot, wet, slippery noodles. Unless that’s your preference, of course. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133/80 "2010-02-17T19:43:06Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > Word to this. My dad is one of those “non-tasters” – he has insensate taste buds and can eat what are to me truly vile combinations of food because of this – and even _he_ can tell the difference between steak seasoned with table salt and with kosher salt (and he prefers the latter). Once you get used to kosher salt, you can notice a chemical after-taste in table salt. I think this is pretty much nonsense. I’ll stop believing it’s nonsense when I see someone pass a blind taste test between table salt and kosher salt dissolved in a glass of water. Better yet, grind them both down to the same size grain and taste them straight up. 2 salts, 6 batches. Identify all of them correctly. I don’t have a box of iodized salt anywhere in my house, but iodine & anti caking agents aren’t the reason why. Kosher salt’s shape is just much better for cooking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebut-the-food-conventional-wisdom/529133.md?page=5)