Cooking
Practical tips on what boiling, baking and frying do to food, and how ingredients puffing up in the pot can trick the eye.
What does soaking legumes make easier?
Soaking shortens the cooking time and lets the beans cook evenly. One standard portion of boiled legumes is three quarters of a cup, that is 130 grams.
Why does the color matter when you fry potatoes?
Color is the visible counterpart of how hot the surface got and how long it stayed there. The guideline writes that temperature and time affect the compounds that form.
Should raw milk be boiled?
Milk that has not been heat treated is not drunk without boiling. Pasteurized and UHT milks have gone through a defined heat treatment before they are sold.
Does blending soup make a difference?
Pureeing takes nothing out of the pot; what changes is texture and the speed of eating, while nutrient loss depends on the cooking itself.
Does a pressure cooker preserve nutritional value?
What decides the loss is not the pot itself but the cooking time and the amount that passes into the water. A pressure cooker can meet these two conditions, but not on its own.
Why does internal temperature matter when cooking meat?
What shows that meat is cooked is not its color but the temperature at its center. The threshold the guideline gives is a measurable temperature-time pair, and it is stressed again for ground meat.
What does trimming the visible fat from meat change?
As much energy and fat as you trim leaves the plate; how large the difference is depends on how fatty the meat was to begin with, and it changes from cut to cut.
Are the charred parts on the grill a problem?
The guideline asks that the distance between the meat and the fire on a grill be set so that the meat does not burn and no charring occurs, and it writes this as a precaution.
How many times can frying oil be used?
The limit the guideline gives is three times. The criterion behind it is the breakdown of the oil with heat; there are numerical thresholds defined for the polar compound value and the frying temperature.
Does roasting nuts change their nutritional value?
The difference is small and most of it comes from moisture loss. Protein and vitamin E stay almost the same; what really decides is whether salt and oil are added during roasting.
Does cooking pasta less make a difference?
What decides the nutritional value on the plate is not the degree of cooking but the amount of dry pasta. Leaving it firm changes the texture and the water taken up.
What does cooking vegetables with the skin on gain you?
The guideline writes that vitamins and minerals concentrate in the skin and just beneath it; leaving a well-washed skin on keeps that part on the plate.
General information notice. This content is prepared to support general nutrition literacy; it does not replace medical diagnosis or treatment and is not personal nutrition advice. A plan tailored to you can only be prepared by a licensed dietitian; if you are pregnant, have a chronic condition, take regular medication, are feeding a child, or have a clinical condition, a physician and dietitian check is required before starting a plan.
Find a Dietitian