Leave me voice mail feedback at: 971-208-5493 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kitchencounterpodcast Twitter: @TKCpodcast Email: feedback@kitchencounterpodcast.com If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing in iTunes. You can also help out the show by leaving a positive review in the iTunes store (you know you want to)! 7 Cooking Myths Exposed Impress your friends and family during the holidays by disabusing them of their long held notions about any one of the following cooking myths. Everyone loves the know-it-all, right? Of course I jest. But seriously, I still believed a couple of these before researching this episode (but I'm not going to tell you which ones)! If you have a cooking myth you'd like to share please get in touch with me; there were many more I didn't include in this episode for the sake of time.   Bay leaves are poisonous if eaten I'm not sure who first told me this but for the longest time I used bay leaves under the assumption that they were poisonous to people if eaten, and that was why you ALWAYS removed bay leaves from your dishes before serving. After all, who wants to be the home cook that inadvertently feeds a family member or guest poison? The good news is that this just simply isn't true. Bay leaves sold for culinary uses are completely safe to eat. Where did this myth originate? Well, it likely has to do with the bay leaf's similar appearance to the leaf of the Mountain Laurel, which is poisonous to humans and livestock. And even though the bay leaf that's been simmering in your stew for a few hours isn't poisonous, you should still remove it before serving because it can remain stiff and could cause a choking hazard for your guests. By the way, for my west coast friends; leaves of the Oregon Myrtlewood, aka California Bay Laurel, can be used as a substitute for bay leaves in recipes, but are much stronger and should be used in smaller quantities.   Searing meat locks in juice This is probably the most common myth out there when it comes to cooking meat. How many times have you heard that you should get a good sear on that steak so when it cooks it will seal in the juices? Unfortunately this just doesn't pass muster. First of all, it's practically impossible to perfectly sear every square inch of surface on meat, so how would you even be able to create a perfect "envelope" to seal the juices in? It doesn't matter anyway because searing has nothing to do with juiciness in particular, but it does go along way to more flavorful meat. When you sear meat it turns brown, a process known as the "Maillard Reaction." Time and temperature have the most impact on juicy meat, as the longer you cook it and to higher temps, the drier the meat will turn out regardless of whether you seared it first or not. America's Test Kitchen did an experiment to test out the "searing first to lock in juice" theory; check it out here.   Cold water boils faster than warm water This one is so counter intuitive, it's any wonder it's been able to stick around as long as it has. I was told long ago that when you put a pot of water on the stove to boil, you should start with cold water because it will actually come to boil more quickly than if you start with warm water. Absolutely under equal conditions a pot of warm water will come to a boil faster than a pot of cold water, so why would anyone think otherwise? Well, there may be some psychological factors at play. Cold water will actually absorb heat more quickly that warm water, but once the temperature starts to rise, it will absorb heat more slowly, ultimately taking just as long to come to a boil as warm water once it reaches the temperature that the warm water started at. How did this myth start? It may have had something to do with some old advice about always using cold water for cooking. Why? Because in older homes with lead pipes or pipe fittings, using hot water can release more lead particles into the water. Check out this great youtube video sh