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    Home » MSN

    12 Cooking Tips That Are Actually Terrible Advice

    By Emmeline Kemperyd on October 11, 2024, updated October 9, 2024 - Leave a Comment

    We've all been there - a well-meaning friend or family member gives us a great "tip" for how to cook something. And since we like their food, or are just inexperienced in the kitchen, we listen to it...  But should we really?! Yes, and no. While some advice is great, and the trick to becoming a better home cook, there are some pieces of advice you should quickly forget. We collected 12 pieces of cooking advice from around the internet that you're better off ignoring. And, actually learned something new in the process...

    Throwing Pasta on the Wall

    Plating pasta.
    Photo credit: Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock.

    One foodie shared this messy food advice: "Throwing spaghetti or any pasta at the wall and if it sticks, it's done.” I've heard this tip as well, and tried it, without success. Happy I'm not the only one who never got it to work!

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    Searing Seals in the Juices

    Searing a steak.
    Photo credit: Suteren/Shutterstock.

    One foodie wants to make up with an age-old cooking tip: “Searing the meat seals in the juices. No.it.does.not.” And yeah, they are right. This is why an air fryer steak still tastes just as good (and is just as juicy!) as a pan-seared one. Searing does however add a nice texture to the meat's exterior, but the whole "sealing in the juices" thing is an often repeated myth in the world of steak.

    Skipping Ingredients In Recipes

    Old fashioned recipe cards with recipes written on them.
    Photo credit: Robyn Mackenzie/Shutterstock.

    In an interview with Penguin Australia, British food blogger and author Jane Dunn shared that the worst advice she’s ever received is: “Oh, it doesn’t matter if we leave that ingredient out… I’m sure it will be fine – it’s never fine!”

    As a fellow food blogger, I can totally relate. Please follow the recipe, and if you don't - don't blame me when it doesn't turn out as it should!

    Boiling Ribs

    Ribs.
    Photo credit: Tatiana Volgutova/Shutterstock.

    On a popular online forum, one foodie asked, “What's the worst cooking advice you've ever received?” It wasn’t long until someone shared, "The best way to make ribs is to boil them." Now, this might seem like great advice to many of us, who have been taught that you should always boil ribs first to achieve that tender, fall-off-the-bone quality. I balked at this when I first saw it! However, I then did my research, and yes - these days a lot of skilled cooks say you don't need to boil them first - and that it is actually better NOT too.

    See, even the seasoned food blogger learned something new from all this!

    Boiled Burgers

    A burger next to some chips.
    Photo credit: darynahuz/Shutterstock.

    An unnamed home chef shared what’s arguably the most horrific way to meal prep. They commented, “Meal prepping burgers by boiling ground beef and freezing it.” Boiling ground beef is the worst thing you can do to it. It wastes all the flavor and dries them out. Who on Earth would ever come up with such a thing?!

    Shrimp Can’t Overcook

    Garlic butter shrimp pasta.
    Photo credit: always use butter.

    Another person shared the worst advice ever for cooking shrimp. This home cook was once told, "shrimps are impossible to overcook.” [sic] Oh no! It's quite the opposite - shrimp is among the easiest of proteins to overcook. Half a minute over, and you have rubbery, flavorless meat no one wants to eat.

    Cook Chicken on High

    A plate full of burnt chicken.
    Photo credit: William McDill/Shutterstock.

    This home cook shared the "genius" advice their roommate gave them, “My roommate told me when teaching me to cook chicken to always use the highest heat and to only cook it for 4-5 mins. I spent the first several weeks with raw chicken that was burnt on the outside.”

    When it comes to chicken, bad advice can actually be dangerous. Please don't eat undercooked chicken, whatever your roommate tells you!

    “Healthy” Substitutes

    A man holding a salad and making a disgusted face.
    Photo credit: Olena Yakobchuk/Shutterstock.

    This foodie commented on the worst advice they’ve ever received: “For me, it's substituting ingredients in obviously unhealthy dishes to make things more healthy. Like subbing out heavy cream with <insert gross substitute> when making alfredo sauce. It's not supposed to be healthy, it's supposed to taste good, and you're not supposed to eat it for every meal. You will be much happier with a dish if you cook it as intended and just eat it once in a while.”

    I couldn't agree more! If you want to eat healthy, then do it - but don't destroy a perfectly good recipe while you're at it.

    Cook Everything in One Pan

    A pan full of lots of different types of food.
    Photo credit: Noppuns/Shutterstock.

    Another forum contributor shared the following tip: "Cook everything in just one pan at the same time. It's all going to the same place anyway." While cooking everything in one pan can save you effort when doing the dishes, it's often a recipe for subpar meals.

    Sure, there are one-pot recipes where this will work, but then the order you add ingredients in and the cooking method have all been adapted to cooking it in the same pan.

    Cooking is an Art

    A smiling woman tasting food.
    Image Credit: lenetstan/Shutterstock.

    Another gastronome asked on a forum thread: “What's the worst cooking advice everybody gives to new cooks?” One person shared without hesitating, "Don't worry, just eyeball the measurements, cooking is an art not a science!"

    This might work for an experienced home cook, who knows what they're doing and how everything should taste. But for a new cook? Just follow the recipe. Exactly as written. Please and thank you!

    Using Intuition

    A smiling woman in a kitchen.
    Image Credit: Ormalternative/Shutterstock.

    Another foodie remembered advice along the same line: “Cook/season based on taste/feeling. I don’t think experienced cooks realize that doing things like that are soft skills that only come after one has gotten a fair amount of cooking under their belt.”

    It does take practice, even for your taste buds! So let me repeat myself: if you're new to cooking - just follow the recipe! Exactly!

    Lick Eggs to Check for Freshness

    A basket full of fresh eggs.
    Photo credit: Nitr/Shutterstock.

    Leaving the internet forums, the author of the LoveFood blog shared a cooking tip I'm happy doesn't work: “Tips on how to shop for ingredients were common in early cookbooks, including Richard Briggs’ 1788 The English Art of Cookery. The one-time chef of London’s Globe Tavern and Temple Coffee House advised that "to choose eggs properly, you must put the thick end to your tongue." Warm eggs were said to be fresh and cold eggs stale. Which, I guess, means keeping them in the fridge makes them stale?!

    Source: Reddit unless otherwise noted.

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    About Emmeline Kemperyd

    Emmeline Kemperyd is a writer, food blogger, recipe creator and food photographer and the founder of alwaysusebutter.com. She has 20+ years experience creating and simplifying recipes so they taste good, and are quick, easy, and approachable. She is a regular contributor to MSN and her work has been featured by The Guardian, Well+Good, Vulture, SheKnows, Good Men Project, and The Feed Feed, among others.

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