Everyone has to eat, so it probably makes sense, at some point, to learn how to actually cook. In the age of the internet, it’s never been easier, there are literally thousands of recipes, often with videos of how to do things. But, in all that noise, it can be good to pick out what actually works.
Someone asked “What cooking advice doesn't make any difference?” and people detailed their tips, tricks and observations. We also got in touch with the person who posted the question in the first place. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
#1
My grandmother insisted and would get angry for people not following her sacred advice...you must always stir clockwise. Tried it counterclockwise and I get the same result Her spirit did reach through the void and smack me though.
Image credits: Moonafish
#2
YOU DON'T NEED TO WASH YOUR CHICKEN. I will literally fight anyone who says you do. I've been cooking for 18 years, cook raw chicken weekly and have NEVER gotten sick. If anything washing chicken creates possible contamination.
Image credits: zaptorque
#3
I use salted butter even when it calls for unsalted.
Image credits: Toriat5144
Bored Panda got in touch with the netizen who posted this question online and they were kind enough to share some more details. Naturally, we were curious to hear why they asked this to the internet in the first place. “I'm simply an impatient cook. I don't want to marinade for 20+ hours,” they shared.
“I don't want to wash rice or eat cold steak because “I need to rest it 10 minutes." I use the microwave for steaming vegetables — and it's better than a pan and faster than a pan and fewer dishes than a pan. I'm cheap too. Salt is salt (people really buy fancy salt; it's NaCl — only 2 elements).”
#4
Using large amounts of water to cook pasta. You can use a much smaller amount AND it's actually better for having more concentrated starchy water for dishes like cacio e pepe.
Image credits: mostlikelynotasnail
#5
Only adding oil to a hot skillet.
i've added oil to a cold skillet and it was fine.
Image credits: gimmeluvin
#6
Salt before the water is boiling or after. It changes f**k all, do whatever you want.
Image credits: XaWEh
“How many butters do you need in your refrigerator? I watched a cooking show where they insisted on $300 and $500+ pans and Dutch ovens and... And no. A knife should cut food. I'm not spending $150+ on a single knife; a knife I can't even throw in the dishwasher even,” they added.
#7
It depends a *lot* on specific recipes. But a couple that jump out at me:
Garlic presses are perfectly acceptable alternatives to mincing garlic with a knife in many applications. Jarred garlic is perfectly acceptable in many applications.
Sifting flour doesn't matter in most recipes (but matters a lot in a few).
Image credits: Key_Piccolo_2187
#8
Using a screaming hot pan for searing. You can't cook higher than the smoke point of your oil. All you're doing is tripping your home's smoke detectors, creating acrid oxidized fats that's terrible for you and tastes bad.
Maillard reaction only needs around 300-330F. Plenty of room below the smoke point to get a nice sear without breaking down your oil to acrid flavors.
Image credits: dopadelic
#9
Throwing oil in pasta cooking water. Those two don't mix. All you're doing is wasting the oil. It will achieve absolutely nothing. If you're concerned about them sticking and need to use it, use it *after* they're cooking. Stop it.
Edit:if you're concerned about your pots boiling over you could always try paying attention.
Image credits: noscope360gokuswag
We also wanted to hear their opinion on why the thread ended up with thousands of comments and examples from across the internet. “It's popular because cooking is filled with old wives tales. It's popular because we're all a little lazy and tired of pretentious cooking.”
#10
I’m going to continue breaking my spaghetti noodles into pieces that are more convenient to boil AND eat and nobody can convince me this is not a superior way of going about things!
Image credits: Never_Duplicated
#11
I grew up hearing that you're not supposed to wash mushrooms but I always do and it turns out fine.
Image credits: supermenial
#12
Boiling eggs in water with a splash of vinegar does *not* make it easier to peel them when they're cooked.
Image credits: chilli_con_camera
They left us with some parting thoughts. “I'm not a very good cook. I can't seem to get the hang of a meat thermometer for example and to see if a steak is done, I'll cut a small slice into it to check if it hit medium. Then I'll eat my hot steak 3 minutes after I pull it off the grill. And I love my steaks (hence why my brother challenged me to a "who can make the best steak" contest. I'm still bitter that we "tied").”
#13
I don't heat milk up before adding it to roux.
Image credits: thingpaint
#14
Active dry versus instant yeast.
Most bakers and recipe writers say to just chuck the yeast in with the dries. The whole step of putting active dry yeast and warm water to bloom it is just checking the yeast is alive.
If you know you bought it relatively recently don’t bother with that step.
Image credits: jessjess87
#15
I made mascarpone and cream cheese from scratch the other day. All the recipes on line say to avoid using ultrapasteurized cream but it's very hard to find cream that has not been UP these days. They say it could have the proteins already broken down. Considering that UT brings the cream to 185F for TWO SECONDS and when you make mascarpone or cream cheese you bring the cream to 185 for several minutes i reasoned that someone must have said this once for no good reason and now it's in every recipe. It's wrong! Made great mascarpone and cream cheese.
Image credits: femsci-nerd
“But I do stand by a quote from Anthony Bourdain, "Garlic is Devine. Anyone too lazy to peel and chop it fresh doesn't deserve to eat it." But I'll agree the garlic press people are probably right in that it doesn't make a difference.”
#16
You don't need a ricer to make amazing mashed potatoes.
If you're a broke college student, you can make them with a g*****n *fork*. I wouldn't recommend it, but it can be done.
Image credits: hrmdurr
#17
You don’t have to thaw veggies before cooking them (I also dont thaw seafood).
Image credits: Ohshithereiamagain
#18
The whole “always use fresh garlic” thing. Sometimes the jarred stuff hits just fine.
Image credits: StatementFit4590
#19
It’s okay if your mushrooms are steaming at first (due to pan overcrowding). Just let them cook down and they’ll get that nice brown color.
Image credits: Strict-Reindeer1641
#20
Fancy salt vs cheap salt.
Image credits: ohforPetessakeMFs
#21
My eggs are never room temperature when I bake. I’ve done it. Don’t notice any difference.
Image credits: TandoSanjo
#22
If you didn’t save any pasta water, it’s like totally fine. The hot pasta will give off tons more starch when you add it to sauce.
Image credits: Katabasis___
#23
Most advice about how to care for cast iron.
Image credits: ShakingTowers
#24
"Add hot liquid to roux and you don't get lumps"
I have never heated the liquid I'm adding to a roux beyond maybe room temperature and have never had a lumpy or grainy end product.
Image credits: le_canuck
#25
My husband's British mother used to- get this- PRESSURE COOK the steak first- like, on a steam rack in the pot. Then she'd take it out and sear it. He swears, up down and sideways, that method makes scrumptious steak. I'm nearly 60, and I'm still too scared to try it 😂😂😂.
Image credits: New-Perception-9754
#26
Frozen prawns (for Americans shrimp) will be soft and squishy when cooked.
No they won't, prawns and most fish are snap frozen at sea when they are straight out of the water, this process does not result in mushy prawns.
Image credits: misterschmoo
#27
You don't need to cook pork till it is as tough as shoe leather. Mom always believed that unless you cook pork till its was truly dead, you would die a horrible death within 24 hours.
#28
Adding all stock to risotto in one go vs in small ladlefuls.
Image credits: sausagemuffn
#29
Skimming the bean foam off.
Image credits: Umebossi
#30
For home cooks weighted ingredients vs volumetric. If you find one easier than the other (or just prefer one) that’s fine but I guarantee you’ll never notice the difference in the final product.
I lived in France and every housewares store sells a verre doseur which is a way to approximate weights by volume (most homes just use an empty mustard jar with a 100g line marked on the side lol).
Image credits: Particular_Ad_9531
#31
Pre shredded cheese melts fine.
Image credits: tennantsmith
#32
Personally, bay leaves in most stews that feature a lot of other herbs and spices. It definitely has a flavor, but if you've got a ton of basil and oregano in your Bolognese, I cannot taste the difference that a few bay leaves make.
#33
Washing rice. Fight me.
#34
Not peeling ginger.
#35
Keeping the fire on when cooking pasta (after you brought the water to a boil, added the salt and pasta and brought it back to boil).
Everyone in Italy does it, my parents and friends included, if you don't they'll say that your pasta will get soggy and gluey due to the lower temperature.
In reality you can switch off the fire and the pasta will cook without any trouble, if you are paranoid you can at least lower the fire to the minimum.
From what I gathered leaving the fire on was something that started from restaurant chefs, when you have 100 pasta dishes coming out in 2 hours you can't afford to let the water lose heat, so you keep it boiling all the time, chefs brought this custom to television and we adopted it as if it was a god mandate.
#36
I somehow manage to make sourdough bread without pre-heating the oven and the pot. Also the pot is not cast iron, but jena glass. I very much like that I can see the bread at any time.
#37
Vanilla Extract vs Bourbon in cookies. I can barely tell the difference, and if anything, the ones w/ Bourbon taste better.
Image credits: Jelopuddinpop
#38
That the anticaking agents in pre-shredded cheese will affect the texture of whatever you're making... After many many experiments, I still can't see any difference. I suspect this one to be a legend.
#39
Shiny side of aluminum foil vs. dull side.
Image credits: Estab
#40
Putting salt everywhere even in sweet recipe.
#41
Black pepper. Yes, I only use freshly ground. I just don’t taste any difference in things like stews or sauces. .
#42
When I'm smoking meat that takes 8-24 hours to finish (ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, etc), I go for 2 hours in the smoker, then wrap it and stick it in the oven. So much less hassle that way.
Image credits: cwbrandsma
#43
Seasoning the chopping board.
#44
On slow-cooked meats (think crock pot or a loooooong braise), I have not found searing the meat first to result in any better flavor development. All it does it take extra time and leave me with an extra dish to wash.
But something that's not cooking all day, it's worth the extra step.
#45
Adding ingredients by (smaller) portions and not all at once. I always just pour/mix stuff together and never had any problem.
#46
Blanching rabe. it helps but isn’t with the steps if you’re serving w lots of garlic and oil as a supporting dish. like it’s served.
#47
Bringing meat "to room temp" before cooking it. You can cook meat straight from the fridge and you will never notice a difference. I can't remember which YouTube channel did the experiments, but they showed their work and the final outcome is that letting meat sit out for an hour or two before cooking makes no difference in the outcome. Yet you still hear big-name chefs telling you to do this.
Image credits: FeralOctopus
#48
If cooking beans in a pressure cooker you can soak them in water overnight. But you don't need to. So WTF does the recipe say its optional? How about I don't bother with remembering to soak them overnight because it doesn't matter and is an entirely unnecessary step.
#49
It doesn’t matter if you pour the cream or the tea first.
#50
If you're not infusing the milk when making pastry cream, **there's no need for tempering the eggs.** Whisk it all together ( or use a blender if it's a huge batch) and cook it over medium heat until it bubbles, cook for one minute more, take off heat, add butter and flavoring, DONE.
Image credits: feliciates
#51
How to cut an onion. Onions are already pre-sliced. You don’t need to slice them horizontally first.
#52
Not really advice but I hate the old rumor that a mollusk that doesn’t open after cooking is “bad.”
A lot of people don’t know that a mollusks neutral, or relaxed state, is in fact open and that they have to engage their muscle to close. Sometimes they never relax during cooking and they just stay closed. That’s literally it. Lol.
Image credits: Killtastic354
#53
Apparently, folding things into egg whites doesn't matter that much.
#54
Baking is full of pretentious snobs. It's not that hard, but people act like you'll absolutely ruin a batch of buns by putting in slightly more flour than you need.
#55
Marinading pan-cooked meat for any length of time. Unless the marinade contains ingredients that actively soften the meat (like pineapple), nothing is happening that won't happen at speed in the cooking process.
#56
You don’t rlly need to preheat your oven for most things :/.
#57
Marinating meat is almost entirely pointless, and people refuse to accept that regardless of how easy it is to demonstrate. Watch, I'll get downvoted just for bringing it up.
#58
The idea that you can't boil steak. A nice boiled steak is the same as some fancy seared thing. Boil it till well done, pour on ketchup or vinegar, or boil in vinegar (all methods I have actually witnessed). What's not to love?
