Carcinogenic Bad Habit 1: Not washing the pan before stir-frying the next dish!
Many women, for convenience or to save time, stir-fry the next dish right after the first one. In fact, the seemingly clean surface of the pan still has grease and food residue. When reheated at high temperatures, it can produce carcinogens such as benzopyrene. Therefore, it is essential to wash the cookware after stir-frying. This not only reduces harmful substances but also prevents the seasonings and residual oil from the previous dish from affecting the taste and nutritional value of the next one, which is also healthier.
Carcinogenic Bad Habit 2: Adding ingredients only when the oil is smoking!
When stir-frying, many people like to wait for the oil to get hot before adding the ingredients. However, by the time the oil is hot, the temperature is already very high. Especially when the oil starts to smoke, the temperature has exceeded 200°C. Adding ingredients under these conditions can produce carcinogens and increase the risk of cancer. Moreover, high-temperature oil can destroy fat-soluble vitamins and oxidize essential fatty acids, reducing the oil's nutritional value. Therefore, when cooking, the oil temperature should be controlled to around 160°C-170°C. The simplest method is to insert chopsticks into the oil; when small bubbles appear around them, it means the temperature is right and you can start cooking. This ensures the oil does not overheat.
Carcinogenic Bad Habit 3: Turning off the range hood immediately after cooking!
The stir-frying process produces a large amount of smoke and fumes, and the range hood can effectively exhaust them. Some women find it noisy and prefer to turn off the range hood right after cooking, which is wrong! In fact, the range hood needs time to exhaust the fumes. When cooking is finished, there are still residual fumes in the kitchen. After cooking, it is advisable to let the range hood run for another 5-10 minutes to ensure that harmful gases are completely expelled. Additionally, try to open the windows while cooking to reduce the accumulation of fumes in the kitchen and lower the risk of lung cancer from inhaling them.
Carcinogenic Bad Habit 4: Using fried oil for stir-frying!
Many people like to save and reuse oil that has been used for deep-frying, using it for stir-frying or for more deep-frying, creating what is known as "recycled oil." However, this practice not only fails to save money but is also very harmful to health. This is because oil, after high-temperature heating, produces trans fatty acids and toxic lipid oxidation products. When this oil is used again for high-temperature cooking, the production of carcinogens increases. It is recommended that women absolutely do not use recycled oil. Some savings are just not worth it—saving a little money at the cost of your health is a loss you cannot afford!