People Share The False "Old Wives" Cooking Tales They Grew Up Believing

"Everyone used to say searing meat 'seals in the juices.' Nope, it just makes it taste better because of the browning, but all the juices still escape. Or the one about adding oil to pasta water to keep noodles from sticking - the oil just floats on top, doing absolutely nothing while your pasta clumps together if you don't stir it."

"Not a common 'rule,' but when I first got interested in cooking, my mom told me that no matter what the recipe called for, use half the garlic and half the salt. Took me years to understand my mother was a lousy cook, and that she loved really bland food."

"My grandmother-in-law was telling me how to make beans like her. She said: beans, a ham bone, a quarter cup of oil, and water to cover everything. I asked, 'Is that all? No seasonings or anything extra?' She said, 'No, see, all your flavor is in the oil.' I said, 'Okay,' thinking, 'Girl, canola oil doesn't taste like anything.' But I made it just like that, and lo and behold, it was perfect. I realized that, of course, the flavor is all in the ham bone! I'm reminded that all of her recipes came from the Dust Bowl and Great Depression era. Plenty of families never really recovered financially, and every meal had to be basic because that was all they had, but they still found ways to make it good. Her meatball recipe, meatloaf - all of them are so cheap and simplistic but so good."

Common home-cooking rules often misidentify what creates flavor and texture. Searing meat does not 'seal in' juices; it enhances flavor through browning while juices still escape. Adding oil to pasta water does not prevent sticking because oil floats and does not coat noodles; stirring prevents clumping. Habitual underseasoning by halving garlic or salt can produce bland food when applied universally. Economical, Depression-era recipes rely on flavorful elements like ham bones and browning rather than added fat or elaborate ingredients, producing simple, inexpensive dishes that taste good. Testing and food science reveal these misconceptions and encourage technique-based corrections to improve results.

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