26 Interesting Facts About Cooking

Here are 26 Interesting Cooking facts.

1-5 Cooking Facts

1. Most vegetables retain more nutrients from microwaving than any other form of cooking, and therefore microwaving is the healthiest way to cook your veggies. – Source

2. The American Fat Salvage Committee was created to urge housewives to save all the excess fat rendered from cooking and donate it to the army to produce explosives during World War II. – Source

3. In a study of 501 women, aged 20 to 35, it was found that those who watched food TV and cooked frequently from scratch had a higher BMI (weighing on average 11lb more) than those who obtained information from sources like family and friends, magazines and newspapers, or cooking classes. – Source

4. Americans sought comfort TV after 9/11 and watched so much Food Network that the station had to restructure itself to appeal to a general audience. This led to the creation and subsequent rise of reality cooking shows like Chopped and Iron Chef USA. – Source

5. Romans were aware that lead mining and lead pipes were toxic, but they did not connect that toxicity with lead cooking vessels. – Source

6-10 Cooking Facts

6. Abolitionists used Maple Syrup in their cooking because molasses and cane sugar were both slave crops. – Source

7. In Cambodia, cooking with a “lucky iron fish” has helped villagers prevent anemia. – Source

8. Since 2011, there have been at least 4 incidents of people cooking meth inside a Walmart. – Source

9. In ancient Rome, one of the most common cooking ingredients was called “laser”, from the silphium plant. It does not exist today, it was so delicious that it was harvested to extinction from its natural habitat in what is now Libya. – Source

10. A single serving of cooking spray is considered to be so small that it can be called “fat-free”. That implies that an entire can filled with nothing but oil has no calories. – Source

11-15 Cooking Facts

11. Alexis Soyer was a French celebrity chef (born 1810) who invented cooking with gas, refrigerators cooled by cold water, and ovens with adjustable temperatures. His kitchens were so famous that they were opened for conducted tours. – Source

12. Over-cooking hard boiled eggs will typically result in a thin green iron(II) sulfide coating on the yolk. This reaction occurs more rapidly in older eggs as the whites are more alkaline. – Source

13. Almond milk was heavily used in medieval cooking and sauces. It was considered far more grand and luxurious than cow milk. – Source

14. Traditional Mexican cooking uses herbs that take the “flatulence” out of beans. – Source

15. You’re not supposed to heat up the styrofoam cup of noodles in the microwave when cooking because it releases more of the BPA chemical found in styrofoam. – Source

16-20 Cooking Facts

16. Chopsticks were invented for cooking, not eating. – Source

17. Par-cooking sweet potatoes in water between 135 and 170°F (57 and 77°C) activates an enzyme that converts their starch into Maltese. Making them extra sweet. – Source

18. When cooking with alcohol, all of the liqueur does not “burn off”. At the high end of the scale up to 85% of the alcohol is retained. – Source

19. The “Mongolian” barbeque style of cooking is not Mongolian in origin, it was actually invented in Taiwan by a restaurant named after Genghis Khan. – Source

20. The cooking term “engastration” is the technique of stuffing the remains of one animal into another animal. The method is thought to have originated in the Middle Ages. Turducken (chicken meat within a duck carcass within a turkey) is among the dishes made using this technique. – Source

21-26 Cooking Facts

21. Stir-frying wasn’t a common cooking technique in the home in China until the 20th century when cooking oil and fuel became more affordable. – Source

22. A blind girl participated in the cooking competition Masterchef. Everybody thought it was just a maneuver from the producers to attract more viewers. The blind girl never looked back and won Masterchef’s third season, like a boss. – Source

23. Improper ventilation of fumes created by burning various cooking fuels causes 3.3% of worldwide deaths, more people than even unclean drinking water. – Source

24. When using the sous vide method of cooking, wherein the meat is brought up to a temperature in hot water, ping pong balls can be used to prevent the evaporation of the water. – Source

25. Cooking recipes are not eligible for copyright protection (even though the *directions* maybe). – Source

26. In cooking, the term “scant” means “not quite up to the described measurement”. For example, a scant teaspoon would be over half but just under a full teaspoon. – Source