“Remember to sift your eggs”
Story time
I have a family member who diligently sifts her beaten eggs before she uses them in a recipe or makes an omelette.
You read that right.
No jokes. She whisks them, and then passes them through a fine sieve, because apparently her mother had told her that the stringy egg white proteins are highly toxic, and you absolutely MUST remove them before cooking your eggs…
Bear in mind there is nothing this lady loves as much as a whole fried egg for brekkie…So when I pointed out that the “highly toxic” bits aren’t sifted out of fried or boiled eggs, it took het a minute to realise just how silly this whole thing was.
That got me wondering about other household myths that have been handed down through the ages with little or no reason for their continued existence.
Myth 1: Rock salt to calm thunder and lightning.
This myth is ancient, and probably dates back to the times when humanity put its faith in superstition and mystics, rather than science…its actually a dangerous myth as well…Placing piles of rock salt around windows and doors will do absolutely nothing to protect you against lighting. Staying indoors, away from windows and out of the bath is the only true, scientific way to do it!
Myth 2: The shiny/dull side should be facing your food when you cook with aluminium foil.
Nope. It. Does. Not. Matter.
The difference in appearance between the two sides is simply due to how aluminium foil is manufactured and has nothing to do with the performance of the foil. So shiny or dull, it’s up to you!
Myth 3: Hot food/cold fridge.
Ok – so this one is nuanced. Remember when your auntie would flip out if you placed warm leftovers in the fridge because it would “go off quicker than if you’d let it cool down on the counter first?”
So, regarding the leftovers, she’s wrong. It actually helps keep food fresh if you cool it down as soon as possible, because there is less time for the bacteria to grow. What does matter however is when you have a lot of hot food left over and you stick all of it in the fridge at once. This can heat up your fridge temperature and could lead to some of the other food getting spoiled…so use your common sense. One warm Tupperware container on its own won’t be an issue. A piping hot pot directly out of the oven? Bad idea.
Myth 4: Wait one hour after eating before you swim.
Nope. You won’t get cramps and die. Sorry to break it to you, but your parents were just lazy after lunch and didn’t want to hang around the pool keeping the kids safe.
