Especially in the house and especially in the kitchen, there are all the little rules, tips and tricks that need to be paid attention to, followed or used. We learned a lot from our grandparents or our parents or adopted it as folk wisdom, which is why we no longer question it.
But what is behind these claims that the oven must always be preheated or that you can still eat the bread if you just cut off the moldy parts?
Top 7 completely false cooking myths that everyone believes:
Scientists from the University of Bonn examined these questions in more detail as part of the “Kitchen with Brains” project. Below you will find a selection of 7 cooking myths and rules that have been verified to be true.
A kitchen.
1. 5 Second Rule
If a gummy bear, cookie or something similar falls on the floor, you tend to forget your good nursery, according to which you should not eat on the floor, pick up the snack again and justify yourself by saying that it takes 5 seconds. for dirt or spread germs on him. However, it is not the duration but the nature of the soil and food that is crucial.
This means that dry food dropped on a smooth, clean floor is still edible after 5 seconds. However, if they fall on a dirty carpet, the biscuits, etc. will be damaged. must be thrown away. The same goes for foods that contain a lot of water, like fruits, or that already contain saliva after biting them. Moisture absorbs germs upon first contact.
2. Preheat the oven
Strictly speaking, the suggestion that you should preheat the oven is also wrong. For quickly prepared foods, like fries, pizza or rolls, preheating the oven simply uses unnecessary energy. In some cases, food will even be ready faster if it’s already in the oven while it comes to temperature.
Manufacturers still like to specify that the oven be preheated in the preparation instructions. The reason is that this is the only way to approximately guarantee the timing of each oven. Preheating only makes sense for shortcrust pastry or equally sensitive pastries.
3. Fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator
It is sometimes not recommended to store fresh fruit in the refrigerator. Citrus fruits such as oranges, tangerines or grapefruits as well as exotic fruits such as pineapples, mangoes or passion fruits are quite sensitive to cold. They can therefore quickly brown in the refrigerator, which of course goes against the original idea of keeping them cool for longer.
Among vegetables, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and eggplant are considered sensitive to cold. On the other hand, fresh berries can last one to two days longer if you store them covered in the refrigerator.
4. Cook fresh at lunchtime and keep warm until the evening
If you want to keep freshly prepared food warm, you must strictly keep it warm at least 150 °F. Bacteria that transmit disease or cause food spoilage are perfectly comfortable between 45 °F and 150 °F.
Additionally, keeping warm and reheating results in a loss of vitamins and taste, so it is generally advisable to eat freshly prepared foods quickly.
5. Clean the refrigerator
Many of us feel obligated to only clean the refrigerator during our annual spring cleaning. However, it is recommended to clean the refrigerator not only once a year, but once a month to prevent microorganisms from taking hold.
6. Wash raw poultry
Washing raw poultry before frying or baking is actually not necessary. Even though meat may contain pathogenic germs, they are nevertheless killed by the high temperatures during preparation.
Rinsing meat has the unpleasant side effect of spreading germs through kitchen water splashes.
7. Cut Out Mold
Moldy foods should be thrown away immediately. Food is spoiled, even if you cut mold spots off bread or jam, or remove them in any other way.
Because mold stains are only external signs. Inside the contaminated food, toxins produced and excreted by the fungus spread. They are still present even if you have only removed the visible mold.
