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Old wives' tales are a staple of home cooking — but it turns out, not all of them hold up under scrutiny. Whether it came from a relative, a cookbook, or "just the way it's always been done," plenty of cooking "rules" passed down through generations have since been debunked by actual food science. So when u/Mike_tx5391 asked, "What's an old wives' cooking tale that everyone thought was true but turned out to be total nonsense?" home cooks came ready to stir the pot. Here's what they said:
1."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."
2."My Mammaw said to always stir clockwise, not counterclockwise, or your dish would taste bad. Gotta love Southern cooking."
3."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."
4."The lore that says if you remove the cover to check on the contents of a crockpot, it will take a half-hour to come back up to temp. That's not how thermal masses work."
5."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."
6."When I was young, my mother didn't let me make meatballs with fresh ground beef if I was on my period, because it would 'spoil the meat.' Funnily enough, I could cook anything else. Just not that."
7."In an experiment, I found that egg whites can have at least some yolk in them and still whip to stiff peaks."
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8."Do not use any soap on cast iron cookware. The 'myth' originated from a time when dish soaps contained lye, yada yada — but I still hear people say or assume this."
9."Not a single one of those 'how to peel your boiled eggs without 50 percent of your egg sticking to the shell' tips seems to do anything to my eggs. They behave however they want. Sometimes, a day-old boiled egg from the fridge peels perfectly. Sometimes, it's a lost cause. Sometimes, the shell literally slides off my freshly boiled and still steaming hot egg, leaving behind a nice, round white egg. Sometimes, I pretty much just get the yolk."
"That vinegar makes boiled eggs easier to peel."
10."Washing your chicken is a great idea — only if you want Salmonella and Campylobacter all over your kitchen. Patting it dry with paper towels is a much better and safer way to prep it for seasoning."
11."This might be a family thing, but we always boiled gnocchi in the same water we boiled the potatoes in. That's how Nonna made it, and her mom too, and so on. Turns out, they only did that because they didn't want to go down to the well twice. By the time indoor plumbing came along, it was just a habit."
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12."Salting beans while soaking makes them tough."
13."Too much noise while you're baking a cake will cause it to collapse."
14."Do not wash dirt off mushrooms. You must keep them dry."
15."Chemistry teacher here: the salt and boiling water thing is a little off. Adding salt raises the boiling point of water, so it takes longer to boil. However, once it does, it's cooking at a higher temp than it otherwise would be. Not sure if it changes the food — I'll leave that to y'all — but that's what the 'myth' was going for, I think."
16."Basil causes brain scorpions, and tomatoes were poisonous. In ancient times, they believed that eating basil would cause scorpions to form in your brain. The scorpions would then sting the inside of your brain with their poisonous stinger and pinch your brain. You would die a horrible death. How they came to this conclusion, I don't have the faintest idea. The tomato thing: For centuries, people believed them to be toxic. But, long story short, the wealthy would eat them off pewter plates, which would then poison them. Tomatoes are acidic and more or less 'melt' the pewter."
17."Pasta does not need a large pot of water to cook without sticking together. Just about covered is totally fine for most types (thin spaghetti, etc., are a bit finicky). You'll also get a more starchy water, which is great for thickening the sauce."
18."Making caramel requires constant stirring. I make caramel by the gallon two or three times a week, at various final temperatures depending on the needs. I stir it when I walk by while also doing three other things. Toffee, on the other hand, has been the bane of my existence lately."
19."Growing up, we always had to cut a cross into the end of Brussels sprouts. As an adult, I know it does nothing, but I still do it. Even when I tell myself I won't, I still do!"
Did you know all of these? Got one that didn't make the list? Share the old-school cooking rule you no longer follow in the comments or the anonymous form below!
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
