Kitchen Myths

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Interesting site GB - although I take issue with some of his/her 'false' allegations...

Re browning meat for instance - I always sear the meat, mostly to get the caramelisation started.... and I think it makes the end dish more flavoursome...!

Re making tea in a microwave. It is an impossibility to make real tea in a microwave.... the boiling water isn't probably boiling, so saying that the statement is false is false (if you see what I mean!!)
 
Hi Ishbel. I will agree with you on the tea thing. I have no doubt that you are right about that.

Look at the searing meat one again though. He is not saying that searing meat does not improve the dish. All he is saying is that searing meat does not seal in the juices. Al lot of people believe that is the reason you sear meat, not not to caramelize the meat and create flavor, but to lock in the juices.
 
In general very interesting...note re microwaves...

I still use my microwave for a lot of things (small kitchen + large family).
Years ago, my husband and I rented a house for a short while in Cape Town and it had no oven/stove so all we had was our microwave, something called a "TV Braai" (like a toaster oven with no sides (less safety)) and an electric frying pan with one wonky leg. We often invited people over for dinner parties, and would cook together - he perfected (I would never have had the nerve) cooking roast beef (silverside cut - like a brisket) in the microwave using its temperature probe (it came out brown on the outside, pink in the middle, and tender!!), and I steamed the veggies in their serving dishes on top of a grid placed in the frying pan over water. I also often baked cakes in that microwave. It was amazing could be done with that thing! -Sandyj
 
Thanks GB,

I'm mighty glad to know some of this. While I knew from experience with Sour Dough that foods with Alcohol retain some of their content, I thought more alcohol cooked away than it really does.

There is a Chicken Catchetorie (sp?) dish I've been wanting to try with the 1 cup of dry white wine it calls for, but because alcohol contridicts the medications I have to take, I am a T-totaler.

~ Raven ~
 
Side story on alcohol

From dramatic experience, I learned that at least some alcohol boils off. :ohmy:

Constantly on the prowl to improve my non-award winning pot roast :D, I once substituted the 3/4 cup of of water normally used for the same amount of cooking sherry. After searing the meat on the stovetop in Grandmother Colson's dutch oven, I added the sherry/mix-of-seasonings blend, put the lid on it, and quickly put the whole works in my 325 degree oven preheated on convection bake.

A few minutes later, there was a muffled FWHUUUMP! immediately followed by the oven door popping open. :shock:

Although I still chuckle when I think about it, the oven door has never been the same. :(

Tom
 
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