# Shattered Kitchen Myths **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714 "2015-02-15T12:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**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 19, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/81 "2015-02-19T03:05:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > [A recent meme](http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/staff/wynne/i/2012/we-love-chemicals-620.jpg) on the dangers of chemicals. I never knew that apples have salicylic acid. Is that what keeps the doctor away? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/82 "2015-02-19T03:56:45Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I have always lived in cities. So, I guess that means it was city water. > > It must sound silly. But I just feel so guilty for all the poor goldfish that I murdered. > > How come none of those stupid adults who bought me all those goldfish never told me that if I wanted them to live for more than one or two days, I had to pay attention to the kind of water I would provide for their housing? > > I think the people who bought me all those goldfish were about 90 percent aunts and uncles. I know they meant well. They thought they were making a young child happy. But didn’t they know anything about the care and feeding of goldfish? > > Or did they just want to see me happy for a few hours and then after they left, they just didn’t care if I felt terrible that my poor goldfish died and I could never understand why. > > They’re all dead now. So, I can’t even ask them. What a bummer! I killed a lot of small pets as a child from ignorance – and adults seemed to think of them as disposable toys. Over time, I learned to read and research and set things up for optimal care. It was redemptive. If you care for goldfish correctly, you’ll find that they grow like pigs until you have to create ponds for them. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/83 "2015-02-19T04:19:42Z")
Crack your hard boiled eggs by the rolling method in a bowl of salted water. You want the salted water to get between the egg and shell for the “contact lens” effect. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/84 "2015-02-19T15:30:18Z")
I tried the egg-steaming method the other day and it worked pretty well. The shells were still bonded to the whites in places, but judging by the condition of the yolks, I probably just needed to cook the eggs a bit longer. Anyway, I still got a good batch of egg salad out of it, and I’m going to keep trying until I get it right. Thanks, **Aspenglow**! ---
**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:** [February 19, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/85 "2015-02-19T16:15:52Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I tried the egg-steaming method the other day and it worked pretty well. The shells were still bonded to the whites in places, but judging by the condition of the yolks, I probably just needed to cook the eggs a bit longer. Anyway, I still got a good batch of egg salad out of it, and I’m going to keep trying until I get it right. Thanks, **Aspenglow**! Yeah, the cooking numbers may take a slight bit of adjustment depending on the starting temperature of your egg and the size of your egg. It sounds like you probably just needed to add a minute or two. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/86 "2015-02-19T16:25:12Z")
**Dung Beetle** , I’m glad you had promising results! 🙂 As I think of them, I’ll keep posting similar tips on kitchen myths that can alternatively be used in an updated Twit Contest. 😉 I have more than a few. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/87 "2015-02-19T20:15:42Z")
Welp, I’ll throw my $0.02 in on the boiled egg thing, because clearly, everyone has a different method. And I can’t remember where I learned this, possibly from Alton Brown. I start with cold water. Put cold egg(s) into cold water. Then turn burner on, bring water to boil, set timer for 10 minutes. Fill a small container/bowl/something with ice and water. When timer goes off, pour out boiling water and drop egg into bowl of ice water for maybe one minute. Bring the egg out, tap once on the counter on each pointy end, start peeling from the fat pointy end. I generally peel my eggs in one piece. The ice water makes the egg protein constrict (and stops cooking) and pulls it away from the shell. I usually drop my peeled egg back in the ice water one more time to get rid of any shell shards I missed. I’ve also heard a number of things about salting pasta water and what I learned (probably Alton Brown again) was: pasta sticks because it stops boiling. I make sure I’ve got a good rolling boil going before I throw in the pasta. I never stir and I never add oil. I just don’t let the water stop boiling. Alton Brown references [this book](http://www.amazon.com/On-Food-Cooking-Science-Kitchen/dp/0684800012) by Harold McGee so often that I had to order it. I’ve read it, cover to cover, a couple times and learn a few new things each time. Highly recommend ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/88 "2015-02-22T22:35:44Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > The second was that it was very much faster to boil water by heating it in an electric kettle than it was to pour it into a pan and then heating it over top of a stove on a stove top burner. This second tip will save you far more time and money than the first because it is very much faster to bring tap water to a boil in an electric kettle than it is in a stovetop pot. I think that depends on the electric kettle and the stove, but it’s probably true for the typical ones. > [@AnthonyElite](#): > > So you heat the pasta in the water - you don’t heat the water first then add the pasta? Does this make any difference in the outcome of the pasta? In most cases, the main reason for bringing the water to a boil first is the same as preheating the oven: so that the cooking time is normalized. A really hot stove or high-powered oven boils the water or comes to temp a lot faster than a weak one, but recipes have to work for all, so they factor out the variable. Once water is boiling, or the oven is at temp, it doesn’t really matter how many watts, as long as there are enough to maintain. > [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I would like to ask you all about another myth concerning salt. > > I have been told that if you place a few grains of rice into a salt shaker My wife has been a believer of that, and I have definitely had to de-chunk salt with rice in it (especially at the beach). This is just evidence that it’s not foolproof; it might help but my guess is not much. My guess is the salt is far more hydrophilic than the salt. She also puts a couple of vanilla beans in the sugar. Again, it’s not foolproof, but it sure does make the sugar smell great! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714/89 "2015-02-24T00:49:57Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I killed a lot of small pets as a child from ignorance – and adults seemed to think of them as disposable toys. Over time, I learned to read and research and set things up for optimal care. It was redemptive. If you care for goldfish correctly, you’ll find that they grow like pigs until you have to create ponds for them. What a wonderful post. Thank you ever so much! 🙂 Most people will probably wonder why I thought this post was “wonderful”. They probably didn’t see anything wonderful about it. But, it just meant something to me. Hard to explain but it’s because of all the goldfish I had to deal with in my younger days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattered-kitchen-myths/712714.md?page=4)