Recipes, habits and culinary tricks are often passed down from generation to generation. Mothers keep notebooks with advice from grandmothers, and later - share them with their own daughters. This continuity is wonderful, but you should always remember that all this can be out of date. And the actions that we perform automatically may not be beneficial, but harmful. For more information on which habitual practices have a negative effect on health, see the Novate.ru article.
Habit 1: Tasting raw foods
Doctors believe that it is categorically impossible to try food that is not fully cooked. Such food may contain bacteria, which are usually destroyed by exposure to high temperatures. If you do not wait until this happens, there is a risk of contracting various infections. This rule especially applies to minced meat lovers (after all, you need to try if there are enough spices) and raw dough: it is very easy to pick up salmonella from eggs or E. coli from flour.
Habit 2: Eat hot baked goods
Continuing the topic of baking, it's worth mentioning the habit of grabbing buns or pies from a baking sheet without waiting for them to cool down. In this case, the state of "in the heat of the heat" is not the best. Doctors say that even a piece of a crust, broken off from a loaf of bread that has not yet cooled down, can adversely affect health. Hot and warm pastries provoke the fermentation process in the stomach, and if you abuse such dishes, inflammatory processes can begin. Another important nuance concerns the fact that our stomach as a whole has difficulty digesting baked goods, therefore, in order not to increase the load on it, it is better to eat cooled baked goods.
Habit 3: extinguish soda
Here it is not so much about harm as about the uselessness of the procedure. As our grandmothers taught us: put in a teaspoon of baking soda, add a small amount of vinegar and, waiting for the foam to form, put the mixture in the dough. It is believed that from this it will rise better, become more airy and tender.
In fact, it is useless to extinguish soda. In order for it to fulfill its functions of a baking powder, it must be mixed with flour, and after that, add vinegar or lemon juice. Otherwise, the dough will simply have nothing to saturate with, since gas will be released at the time of the combination of alkali and acid.
Habit 4: Cooking Vegetables Too Long
There is nothing wrong with stewing or boiling vegetables until tender - they will not become harmful to health. However, it will not be useful either. The longer vegetables are cooked, the paler they become and the more they lose vitamins and nutrients. The most beneficial for the body will be products that, after cooking, will remain slightly elastic and crispy. Keep this in mind when you cook carrots, broccoli, and other vegetables.
Habit 5: Thawing meat at room temperature
Remember how our mothers and grandmothers usually defrost meat: they take it out of the freezer, put it in a deep container and leave it on the table for several hours or even overnight. This may be the easiest way, but by no means the most useful. If you leave meat at room temperature for a long time, there is a risk that bacteria, which will begin to multiply at a great speed, will get on the dishes, hands, and a cutting board.
It is much safer to take the meat out of the freezer in the evening and put it on the refrigerator shelf. It should defrost overnight, and there will be no danger in the form of bacteria. If you need to speed up the process, wrap the pork or chicken in several plastic bags and place in a bowl of cold water.
Habit 6: Filling the refrigerator to capacity
Grandmothers are always taught to be thrifty and buy food a month in advance. Perhaps this makes sense, especially when you come home late from work every day and do not want to go to the stove, but you need to take into account a number of nuances. In particular, when we fill the refrigerator as if it were "rubber", this inevitably leads to the emergence of a dangerous "neighborhood", in particular, raw meat with ready-made meals. The consequences of this situation are not the most pleasant - the bacteria that are in the meat can be transferred to other foods. However, this is not all.
If there is absolutely no free space left in the refrigerator, cold air cannot circulate inside. As a result, the temperature rises, which in turn triggers the multiplication of bacteria. So it turns out that food spoils right in the refrigerator and becomes unsafe for health.
Habit 7: Wash meat and chicken before cooking
Yes, yes, this procedure is also on the list of prohibited ones, although it is perceived by us as quite familiar. The fact is that raw meat contains a large number of bacteria, which, after heat treatment, do not pose any threat. But if you wash it, the bacteria will instantly wash off with water and settle on your hands, sink, dishes, which can subsequently cause food poisoning.
On a note: If it is of fundamental importance for you to wash the chicken and meat before starting the cooking process, do it as carefully as possible. Take a separate bowl and be careful not to spread the spray all over the kitchen. Drain the used water in a thin stream, being careful not to stain the sink, and then wash your hands and dishes well.
Habit 8: Cutting unwashed fruits and vegetables
Even if your plans do not include eating fruits or vegetables along with the skins, you should still wash them well before slicing, preferably rubbing with a brush so that no dirt and bacteria remain. This applies to bananas, watermelons, melons, kiwi, etc. If you ignore this moment, thinking that it will do, bacteria and germs from the knife can easily get into the fruit pulp, provoking poisoning or other food problems.
Habit 9: Shred the bow beforehand
You do not need to chop the onion long before cooking. Here's why. Firstly, the onion smell spreads through the kitchen at the speed of light, especially if there is no hood or a window is closed, and it is very difficult to get rid of it. Second, the chopped vegetable is likely to taste bitter after cooking, which can ruin the taste of the dish. Therefore, chop the onion just before sending it to minced meat, salad or pan.
Habit 10: Heat oil vigorously in a skillet
"Wait until it smokes." Have you heard this phrase from your mother or grandmother? Many housewives wait until the frying pan with oil is heated to the limit, and only then they begin to fry the necessary products on it. Despite the fact that this habit is as old as the world, it is unsafe for health. Regular consumption of food cooked in hot oil can increase cancer cancer - excessive heat treatment destroys antioxidants and at the same time provokes the formation of carcinogens. For the same reason, the oil must be changed after each use (by the way, this rule is often neglected in fast food restaurants).
Frying technology is generally not very healthy and should be replaced with healthier and healthier options whenever possible. We're talking about baking, stewing, frying in a non-stick pan without oil, steaming, etc.
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