Everyone has been following the directions 'turn halfway through cooking' wrong as real meaning is explained

A TikToker has revealed the true meaning of one common cooking instruction that many have been getting wrong their entire lives.

It’s quite common to come across a bag of frozen french fries or tater tots featuring the cooking instruction that says to ‘turn halfway through cooking’. Most think they know what that means – you must go through the tedious task of flipping every individual fry over so that both sides are evenly heated and ready to eat.

However, due to the somewhat vague directions, most people, at some point in their lives, will wonder if that tedious task halfway through cooking is actually what the instructions are telling you to do.

If you are one of these curious people, then your doubts and suspicions are, unfortunately, both well-placed and correct.

One TikToker named Bea – who goes by the username @beahaving on the platform – took to the app to share a video of her checking on her oven fries midway through cooking.

Her video shows her embarking on the oh-so-familiar task of flipping over each of her french fries one by one before putting them back in the oven to continue cooking.

An example of some fries' instructions (Sainsbury's)

However, her caption doubts her own actions, reading: "This is the first time I considered that this isn't what the bag means by turn halfway through cooking."

But, if that isn’t what you’re supposed to do, what does the instruction 'turn halfway through cooking' actually mean?

Because certain parts of the oven may be hotter than others, it can lead to an uneven distribution of heat for your food. So, to counteract this, repositioning the tray halfway through cooking leads to evenly cooked fries across the entire tray by the time they’re ready to be eaten.

We've all been needlessly shaking the tray of fries, haven't we? (Getty stock)

However, for people who can’t be asked to do either of these methods, one commenter has another trick to get your fries just right.

"I got an air fryer to avoid this,” they said, “Just give it an unnecessarily aggressive shake."

Bea wasn't the only person to be confused by the heating instructions - I'll confess I have been up until now!

One user shared Bea’s confusion, stating: "I always just shook the pan around??"

Another explained their generally carefree attitude towards making french fries: "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."

Please cook responsibly.