The Cooking Tips You Should Totally Ignore, According to Reddit and Chefs

Maybe you salted your pasta water as salty as the sea, seared your steak to lock in the juices, or washed your mushrooms before frying. Well guess what? Maybe you’ve been doing it wrong all along. Some of the most popular cooking tips turn out to be myths, misconceptions, or just plain bad advice. Who better than Reddit’s passionate and popular home cooks and professional chefs who know what they’re talking about?

Let’s explore some of the most infamous and controversial cooking tips on the web and find out why you should avoid them. From Reddit to a chef, here are some cooking tips you really should ignore.

Salting Pasta Water

Although it’s one of the most frequently given cooking advices, it’s not totally true. Indeed, adding salt to your pasta water is essential for properly seasoning and extracting the maximum flavor from your pasta. Just remember that using too much salt is not necessary. “It is not only a waste of salt but also harmful to those with high blood pressure to salt pasta water like the sea.” Actually, a gallon of water only requires one or two teaspoons.”

Chef Michael Chiarello says that 1.5% salinity is really what one wants in pasta water—much less than seawater, which has a salinity of roughly 3.5%. In order to ensure that the water is not overly salty or bland.

Searing Meat to Lock in the Juices

Another cooking technique that, while it may seem reasonable at first, is really untrue: searing the meat seals in its juices, but what really happens is that the brown crust that forms during the sear adds flavor and texture. It’s true that if cooking at a high temperature, the meat’s juices may be forced to the surface, where they may evaporate or drip off and be lost.

Meat does not “lock in the juices” when it is seared. Meat that has been seared actually loses moisture because the heat dries away the moisture. Avoid overcooking the meat in order to preserve the juices.”

Kenji Lopez-Alt, head chef and kitchen manager at Wursthall, also acknowledged this, commenting that the surest way to get juicy meat is to cook it to the right temperature and then let it rest before cutting.

Rinsing Mushrooms Before Cooking Them

Mushrooms are delicious, but they can also be dirty. So it’s a good idea to wash them before cooking, right? False Tracking sponges can turn them into sponges because they absorb water like towels. This can affect their surface and flavor and cause them to steam rather than brown in the pan.

Mushrooms shouldn’t be rinsed. When cooking, they absorb water and are completely mushy. Simply use a brush or a damp paper towel to clean it off.

Chef Gordon Ramsay says it again: don’t wash the mushrooms because the water will seep into them and release their taste. He also says to fry them on a very hot, dry pan and to season them right before serving.

Using Unsalted Butter for Baking

Many baked dishes contain butter, but is it better to use unsalted or salted butter? Since unsalted butter is used for most recipes, you may somewhat regulate how salty the finished product gets. According to some Redditors and chefs, salted butter works just as well and occasionally enhances the flavor of sweet treats.

“Baking with unsalted butter is a myth. In fact, the salted version enhances the sweetness and functions really well. Just slightly lessen the recipe’s salt content.”

Christina Tosi, founder and pastry chef of Milk Bar, is completely addicted to baking using salted butter. She says it lends a wonderful hint of savory flavor to her cakes and cookies, which may sound unusual. She says you won’t need to add more salt to your recipe because it is far more flavorful and consistent than unsalted butter.

Adding Oil to Pasta Water to Prevent Sticking

This is just another widely used culinary suggestion that is superfluous and ineffective. The oil in the pasta water simply makes the pasta slick and prevents the sauce from clinging to it, not preventing the pasta from sticking together. We try our best to prevent pasta from sticking by cooking it in lots of water, turning it occasionally, and draining it right away.

The point of adding oil to the pasta water is useless. It will make the spaghetti greasy and less able to retain the sauce, not prevent it from sticking. Don’t overcook the pasta; just add enough water and toss it.”

Chef Lidia Bastianich agrees, calling this method a waste of flavor and oil. She claims that when the pasta drains, the oil will coat it and float at the top of the water, preventing the sauce from adhering correctly.

Chefs advise ignoring some cooking recommendations. Cooking is a very personal activity that allows for a lot of creativity, so do what suits you the best. If you don’t mind challenging some of that standard knowledge, you may discover better and more innovative cooking techniques. Cheers to cooking and enjoy the process!