You know the old adage, rules are there to be broken, well when it comes to cooking there are just some rules that we’ve all grown up being told that honestly… we don’t have to stick to.
Here are just some of the rules that we’ve busted.
- Reheating rice will give you food poisoning
Look, we’ve all been there, we’ve grabbed a take away from our favourite establishment and there is always far too much food, so you put it in the fridge to eat the next day and then, as you come to heat it up, a little voice appears in the back of your head telling you not to do it. The thing is, it isn’t the reheating that is the problem, it’s how it is stored after being cooked – rice needs to be cooled down as quickly as possible within an hour and then chilled to halt the growth of bacteria and consumed within 24 hours. Only reheat if you are planning to eat it straight away and only reheat it the once – but if you’ve chilled, you’ll be ok. - Always prick your sausages
Maybe back in the days of rationing when sausages didn’t contain much actual meat simply heating one up without pricking some holes in it first would result in it bursting in the oven, these days it’s not really a necessity. Sausages now are made with higher quality ingredients, so if you heat them on an even heat and turn them regularly while cooking there won’t be any explosions. - Adding vinegar when poaching an egg
Yes, vinegar does help cook the proteins in egg, but this process is too slow if you’re poaching. All you’ll end up doing is making the egg take on a slightly vinegary flavour, so leave the vinegar out of this one. - Make sure to sieve your flour
Again, maybe back in the day this was something you’d need to do, but the majority of flour sold in the UK these days is pretty finely milled so you don’t need to sieve it. Sieving will help when combining dry ingredients though and it is always a fun part of the bake, so this one we’ll leave up to you. - Only make pastry with cold hands
If you’ve ever made your own pastry, especially puff pastry, you’ll know it is an arduous task. On cookery programmes, chefs and amateur cooks alike always talk about how pastry should be as cold as possible and not to make it with hot hands and while yes, pastry should be handled as little as possible, the heat of your hands won’t make a lot of difference.
Are there any kitchen myths you’ve busted over the years? You can let us know on Facebook and Twitter.
