Forget everything you know about cooking and following instructions because, according to one TikTok, you might have been doing it wrong your whole life.
It’s been a long day, work was a nightmare, and you just want some good comfort food, maybe some fries and a cheeky burger?
You go digging in the freezer and find the reliable frozen fries lying at the bottom, and you know what to do.
Except, maybe you don’t?
Off they go into the oven to turn crisp yet fluffy and golden; you set an alarm on your phone to remember to ‘turn halfway through cooking,’ but the question is, have you been following this instruction correctly?
This video might change your oven fries cooking habits forever. You will now be cursed with the knowledge you haven’t been doing it right for…well, ever.
https://www.tiktok.com/@username/video/7335263010145045803
TikToker Bea, who goes by @beahaving, took to the platform on 14 February to share a video of her checking on her oven fries midway through cooking.
Her video shows her taking her fries out of the oven, the food sat on a baking tray, and Bea using her fingers to turn over each fry one by one.
However, her caption reads: “This is the first time I considered that this isn’t what the bag means by turn halfway through cooking.”
But what do oven food’s instructions mean when they say, ‘turn halfway through cooking’?
Other TikTokers have flooded Bea’s post to weigh in on the issue.
One user who shares my technique said: “I always just shook the pan around??”
“I don’t do anything it says on the bag I just put it in the oven really high and leave it until I sense it might be ready,” another added.
A third commented: “I got an air fryer to avoid this. Just give it an unnecessarily aggressive shake.”
And then a fourth finally realized the true meaning of the instructions: “Wait, are we supposed to turn the tray????????”
Despite one user very fairly pointing out: “OK but why would it say flip instead of ‘rotate pan’,” the instructions indeed do mean you should rotate the pan/tray your food is on as opposed to the food itself.
Why?
Because certain parts of the oven may be hotter than others as heat sources located at the bottom in electric or gas ovens can mean uneven heat distribution.
There’s a reason your fries sometimes come out extra toasted on the far end of the tray but a bit anaemic-looking towards the front.
While the tip is useful for achieving the ultimate fries, users aren’t happy about the realization, with one saying: “I’m so mad rn are you serious how did I not realise.”
Same TikToker, same.