I’ve been writing about money for more than 35 years. I just found out I’ve been doing something wrong in my own kitchen.
Like a lot of people, I believed you had to let leftovers cool on the counter before they go in the refrigerator. Turns out that’s backward.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, hot food can go straight into the fridge, or into an ice-water bath first if you want it to chill faster.
That got me wondering: What else did I grow up believing that isn’t true?
Plenty, as it happens. Some kitchen rules we inherited send perfectly good food to the trash. Some make us pay extra for nothing. And a couple of them give us a false sense of safety.
Here are eight I went looking for, along with what the experts say instead.
1. ‘Gray ground beef has gone bad’
You open a package of ground beef. The outside is bright red, but the middle is a dull grayish-brown. Into the garbage it goes, right?
Not so fast. The USDA says that two-tone look doesn’t mean the meat is old or spoiled. The red on the surface comes from contact with air. The meat in the center simply hasn’t been exposed to oxygen.
That’s real money. Remember when ground beef hit a record average of $6.92 a pound in August 2026? At that price, tossing a 3-pound family pack because the middle looks gray is like throwing about $20 in the trash.
How do you tell when ground beef really has turned? Use your nose and your fingers, not your eyes. According to the USDA, spoiled meat smells off, feels sticky or tacky, or turns slimy. Color change by itself isn’t the warning sign.
Now here’s the flip side, and it matters just as much: A brown burger isn’t proof it’s done.
The USDA says you can’t judge doneness by color. Ground beef needs to hit 160 degrees on a food thermometer. In a 1998 USDA study, 1 in 4 fresh ground beef patties looked brown before they got there.
So the eyeball test fails both ways: It throws out safe meat and serves undercooked burgers. A cheap meat thermometer fixes both.
Bought more than you can use? You can freeze it. For more on that, see “9 Foods You Should Never Throw Away After Thawing (and How to Safely Refreeze Them).”
2. ‘Any dent means the can is dangerous’
Drop a can of soup on the kitchen floor and plenty of us toss it on the spot. The fear is botulism, and that fear isn’t crazy. But it’s often overblown.
The USDA’s advice on canned and shelf-stable food is that a small dent in an otherwise sound can is fine.
What should go: a dent deep enough to rest your fingertip in, a dent with sharp points, or any deep dent along the top or side seam. A damaged seam can let bacteria inside.
Also toss any can that’s bulging, swollen or leaking, along with heavily rusted ones. A bit of surface rust that wipes off with a paper towel isn’t a problem, according to the agency.
While you’re in the pantry, here’s another one.
The USDA says canned goods and other shelf-stable foods can still be safely used after their “sell-by” date, because those dates are about quality, not safety. Learn more in “Your Guide to Sell-By Dates and How Long You Can Safely Keep Food.”
3. ‘Brown eggs are healthier than white’
Brown eggs look more wholesome. They feel like something from a farmhouse. That’s exactly why so many of us pay more for them.
But the color of the shell has nothing to do with what’s inside. According to the USDA, shell color is determined by the breed of hen, and white and brown eggs don’t differ significantly in nutrients.
So why do brown eggs cost more? According to a University of Illinois Extension guide, the breeds that lay them tend to be bigger birds that eat more feed. You’re paying for the chicken’s appetite, not better nutrition.
Size is what matters. Same-size eggs carry the same nutrition, whatever color the shell.
It’s the same lesson I’ve preached for decades about name brands: Pay for what’s inside, not the packaging. If you like that idea, check out “12 Generic Groceries That Are Identical to Name Brands (and 5 You Should Never Buy).”
4. ‘Sea salt is lower in sodium’
Sea salt has a healthy halo. It’s natural. It comes from the ocean. Fancy restaurants sprinkle it on everything.
But sodium is sodium. According to the American Heart Association, sea salt generally carries just as much sodium as plain table salt. Both are typically about 40% sodium.
If you’re paying a premium for sea salt because you think it’s easier on your blood pressure, you’re paying for a myth. Buy it if you like the crunch or the flavor. Just don’t use more of it because you think it’s “lighter.”
And if you really are watching your sodium, be careful with substitutes too. See “The FDA Cleared a Sodium Substitute for 80 Everyday Foods — and It Could Be Risky If You Take These Medications.”
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5. ‘Pork has to be cooked until it’s white all the way through’
If you grew up being told that pink pork would make you sick, you’re not alone. Until 2011, that was the official advice.
It isn’t anymore. In May 2011, the USDA lowered its recommended cooking temperature for whole cuts of pork — chops, roasts and steaks — from 160 degrees to 145, followed by a three-minute rest before you carve or eat it.
During that rest, the meat’s temperature holds steady or keeps climbing, which finishes the job of killing germs. The USDA says pork cooked this way may still look a little pink and still be safe.
Why does this matter to your wallet? Because a pricey pork roast cooked to shoe leather is money wasted, too. If you’re still cooking chops to 160, you’re following a rule that changed more than 15 years ago.
One exception: Ground pork, like all ground meat, still needs to reach 160 degrees.
6. ‘The alcohol cooks off’
You pour a cup of wine into the stew, or flame a little brandy over dessert, and assume it all burns away. It doesn’t.
Researchers funded by the USDA flamed, baked, simmered and marinated foods made with alcohol. Depending on the method, anywhere from 4% to 95% of the alcohol was still there afterward, according to a registered dietitian at Idaho State University, who cites the USDA’s figures.
Here’s roughly how much stays behind, by cooking time:
- 15 minutes: about 40%
- 30 minutes: about 35%
- 1 hour: about 25%
- 2 hours: about 10%
- 2 1/2 hours: about 5%
And that dramatic flame? Flambéed dishes can hold on to about 75% of their alcohol. A sauce that just comes to a boil before you pull it off the heat can keep around 85%.
For most adults, that’s no big deal. But if you’re cooking for someone in recovery, someone who’s pregnant, kids, or anyone who avoids alcohol, it’s worth knowing. Even a long-simmered stew isn’t alcohol-free.
7. ‘If you pick it up in five seconds, it’s fine’
The five-second rule is probably the most beloved food myth in America. Sorry.
Researchers at Rutgers University dropped watermelon, bread, buttered bread and gummy candy onto stainless steel, tile, wood and carpet coated with bacteria. They tested contact times from under a second to five minutes, and took 2,560 measurements in all.
Germs moved onto food in under a second in some cases. “Bacteria can contaminate instantaneously,” said Donald Schaffner, the Rutgers professor and extension specialist in food science who conducted the research.
In fairness, time does matter. Longer contact usually meant more bacteria. But moisture mattered more. Wet watermelon picked up the most, and dry gummy candy the least. And carpet, of all things, transferred far less than tile or stainless steel.
Bottom line: The type of food and the type of floor matter as much as — or more than — how fast you are. If it’s wet and it hit the kitchen tile, let it go.
While we’re on the subject of germs in the kitchen, here’s one more habit worth breaking: “Stop Washing Your Raw Poultry. The USDA Found Germs in 60% of Sinks.”
8. ‘Once beer is cold, it has to stay cold’
This one gets passed around at every tailgate: If cold beer warms up and you chill it again, it turns skunky. So people buy the cold case and clear out half the fridge to keep it that way.
The skunky taste is real. Temperature isn’t what causes it. Light is.
Chemists at the University of North Carolina worked out how it happens.
Light breaks down the bitter compounds that come from hops. The pieces react with sulfur in the beer and form a compound closely related to the one in a skunk’s spray.
It doesn’t take much, either. “This molecule has an extremely low taste and smell threshold in humans, just a few parts per trillion,” said Malcolm Forbes, a UNC chemistry professor who worked on the research.
America’s Test Kitchen put the temperature myth to the test in 2023. It kept half a case of canned beer in the fridge and repeatedly warmed and rechilled the rest: an 85-degree water bath for three hours, then overnight in the fridge, three times over. Both batches tasted fine.
Then testers left beer in the sun on a windowsill for half an hour. The sample in a clear pint glass picked up strong off-flavors. Beer still in the bottles tasted fine.
One honest caveat: The test kitchen also notes that beer stays fresher longer when it’s kept cold. So don’t store it for months in a hot garage. But a trip from the store shelf to your fridge won’t ruin it.
What actually protects your beer? Cans, or dark bottles, kept out of the light. And if the warm 12-pack on the shelf is the one on sale, go ahead and buy it.
The real lesson
None of these myths came from nowhere. Most were passed down by people who loved us and were trying to keep us safe. Some were even official advice once.
But rules change, and science moves on. When a habit costs you money or gives you false comfort, it’s worth asking where it came from.
The cheapest fix on this whole list is an inexpensive food thermometer and a little skepticism. Between them, you’ll waste less food, eat better and stop paying extra for things that don’t deliver.
Want one more myth that costs shoppers money? Read “That Bag of Frozen Berries May Be Healthier than You Think.”
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