Four cooking habits may cause cancer

Stir-frying is a cooking skill that everyone knows to some extent, but did you know that there is actually a lot of knowledge involved? Improper cooking methods will greatly reduce the nutritional value of the dishes and may even produce carcinogens.

Do not wash the pan after cooking and continue cooking

In order to save time or keep the pan cleaner, many people often cook the next dish directly after finishing the first one. However, the seemingly clean surface of the pot will be attached with grease and food residues, and when heated again at high temperature, carcinogens such as benzopyrene may be produced. Therefore, it is recommended that you clean the pan carefully after cooking each dish before cooking the next one. This not only reduces the production of harmful substances, but also prevents the seasonings and residues from the previous dish from affecting the taste and appearance of the next dish.

Turn off the range hood immediately after cooking

A large amount of harmful substances are produced during the cooking process, and range hoods play a very important role in removing exhaust gas. Some people like to turn off the range hood immediately after cooking. In fact, it takes time for the range hood to expel exhaust gas. When cooking is finished, there is still some exhaust gas left in the kitchen. After cooking, you may want to let the range hood continue to run for 3 to 5 minutes to ensure that harmful gases are completely discharged. In addition, try to close the kitchen door and open the window when cooking, which can reduce the residue of harmful substances in the kitchen to a certain extent.

Put the oil in the pan only when it starts to smoke

By the time the oil pan starts to smoke, the oil temperature has often reached over 200°C. If you put the vegetables into the pan at this time, the carcinogens produced will increase the risk of cancer. Under such conditions, many nutrients in vegetables are also destroyed. In addition, when the oil is at this temperature, not only the fat-soluble vitamins contained in it are destroyed, but the essential fatty acids in the human body are also oxidized and destroyed, reducing the nutritional value of the oil. When cooking, the oil temperature should be controlled at around 150℃~180℃. The simplest way is to insert a bamboo chopstick into the oil. When many small bubbles appear around it, it means the temperature is hot enough and you can put it in the pan.

The remaining frying oil is still used for cooking

Many people are reluctant to throw away used frying oil and will use it for high-temperature cooking or deep-frying. However, this practice is highly undesirable because oil will produce trans fatty acids and toxic oil oxidation products when heated at high temperatures. When this oil continues to be used for high-temperature cooking, the production of carcinogens will increase sharply. This type of oil should avoid high-temperature heating and can be used to make stews or pastries such as steamed buns.