Culinary Chemistry

[Aditya Sundaram 3D]

ahah boba is getting me through this class :(

Boba is the one thing getting me through the pandemic lmao. If i was asked to sum up my life at the moment, I would legitimately say boba + UCLA.

[Sebastian2I]

Apparently the legendary French chef Fernand Point made his apprentices fry eggs over a candle to impress upon them the delicacy of the process (Source: Raymond Sokolov's How to Cook). What an interesting thermodynamics question this would make!

[Sebastian2I]

Remaining on the subject, if anyone is looking to improve their egg-cooking, Tasty made a great video on how to prepare five different kinds of eggs. I've tried a few myself and found these methods quite effective:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5oD_thIk3c

[Andrew Dao 3C]

Wow interesting perspective. I only know a couple of recipes for cooking so far, so hopefully as I learn more chemistry I can cook more as well.

[Sebastian2I]

Does anyone have any good tips for preventing rice from getting stuck to the bottom of the pot?

[Lillian]

Sometimes I think about food theory/chemistry and how foods that are seemingly completely different can work together very well if they just share the same compounds. I've seen some really strange combinations but they work, so hey! :)

[305614361]

I think this is cool and reminds me of an article I read once that talks about how even slicing an apple sets off chemical reactions that change the color of the apple's flesh. I think it's very interesting how chemistry directly relates to cooking and they are a lot of other scenarios.

[305614361]

Does anyone have any good tips for preventing rice from getting stuck to the bottom of the pot?

Usually, I would recommend getting a nonstick pot
Where is an amazon link where you can get one cheap: https://www.amazon.com/Utopia-Kitchen-Q ... 665&sr=8-6
But if you don't want to get that I would recommend adding olive oil or coconut to the water when boiling because a creates a lipid-like barrier to stop the starch from being stuck to the bottom of the pot.

[Raashi Chaudhari 3B]

I love seeing chemistry applied to the real world! It is so interesting to identify day to day things that involve chemistry; even cooler that I now understand all some of the chemical reactions that are occurring!!

[Hannah Biju 1E]

One of the most interesting things I've learned about food chemistry is the Maillard reaction, which is basically the chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that makes browned food taste good. When I began to cook for myself I always wondered why recipes would say to brown the meat before using it because I thought as long as it why would it matter, but after watching a few food videos I learned about the Maillard reaction and how it makes meats have a deeper flavor profile, and I thought that was really cool.

[Hannah Biju 1E]

Another really cool thing I've found out is that theoretically, peanut butter can be made into diamonds because it is incredibly rich in carbon. If the oxygen was extracted from the CO2 in peanut butter and immense pressure was applied, peanut butter could turn into diamonds!

[Kaleb Tuliau 3E]

I have always wondered what the boba "balls" are made of! I had boba for the first time a month ago and have come to like the texture of them but they truly do taste like nothing

[905579227]

Having once shattered a thin glass jar as I tried to heat its contents over a stove, I can personally attest to the importance of this.

yea you always have to wait for the glass to cool slowly

[905579227]

@Sebastian, if that offer still stands I'd love to be involved

[Vance Liu]

This is so fascinating, I am not much of a cook myself but I definitely want to start to cook and make connections to the chemistry we're learning because it sounds super dope.

Cooking is such a good way to really see chemistry in action. plus, its fun!

[Vance Liu]

have yall ever blown up a hardboiled egg in the microwave before? why does that happen?

[Alan Nguyen 2I]

After seeing the original post in this thread, I immediately thought to my previous job as a waiter before moving to Westwood! The FDA and local county health department has many regulations in place about how food should be stored, what temperatures it must be heated to, etc. We always had to use certain solutions in cleaning or to wipe down certain surfaces. It all comes back to chemistry and the way different substances interact with each other or how they react to temperature. One of the many great real-world applications of chemistry!

[505706331]

After seeing the original post in this thread, I immediately thought to my previous job as a waiter before moving to Westwood! The FDA and local county health department has many regulations in place about how food should be stored, what temperatures it must be heated to, etc. We always had to use certain solutions in cleaning or to wipe down certain surfaces. It all comes back to chemistry and the way different substances interact with each other or how they react to temperature. One of the many great real-world applications of chemistry!

I also worked in the food industry prior to moving here and followed the same food safety guidelines. I remember seeing a whole binder of papers that talked about certain cleaning supplies that could not mix due to the toxic reactions that may occur. It is definitely fascinating how everything around us is somehow linked to chemistry.

[705573518]

If you're interested in learning more about the science behind baking and chemistry, I would totally recommend watching a TedEd video about the science of cookies! That video got me interested in baking in the first place since I was excited to learn the science behind it. And as a reward for learning, I got delicious desserts!

I did not know that! Thank you for sharing this I'm going to do that now :)

Thank you for sharing! I’m super into baking and just watched this and it is so interesting and actually incredibly informative. So excited to apply this knowledge to my next batch of cookies! These types of things really make chem a more fun experience.

[Anisa Subbiah 14B 1L]

I'm a freshman and can't really cook right now, but even reading these replies is making me wish I could! I never really paid attention to the close connection between cooking and chemistry (especially some of my favorite dishes) but now I can't stop seeing it.

[Kimberly_martinez2I]

This can also be extended to baking!! I like to experiment with cookies, because every single ingredient can completely alter your cookie! Since baking soda is a base (sodium bicarbonate as we know), it is often used in recipes that use some kind of acid like lemon juice in order for your product to rise properly. Without the acid, baking soda makes your cookie spread. Baking powder is made of the same base plus another acid (also with a stabilizer that keeps them from reacting until liquid is added), so the CO2 it creates will ensure a fluffier, cakey cookie. A combination of the two will make the best of both worlds.

I have experimented with bread because of the chemical reaction with the yeast. Without yeast the bread will never rise because carbon dioxide is not being expelled from the bread. I learned this the hard way when I first tried to make bread with my mother who also had never made bread before. When the yeast is added to the dough it reacts with the sugar which produces CO2 and makes the bread rise. Later I also learned that a great substitute for yeast is baking soda since it reacts with liquid or heat to produce CO2 which causes the bread to fluff up.

[madeleinewright]

Oh wow! Very interesting to see you put Chem to action and apply it to real world stuff!

I suck at cooking but maybe once I get a little further in Chem, I'll be the next Gordon Ramsey???

If you're just getting started I would recommend YouTube for some great instruction in kitchen techniques. Channels like Pro Home Cooks really help if you're trying to make cooking work as a student with a busy schedule. In terms of cookbooks, Raymond Sokolov's "How to Cook" and "Cook's Canon" are excellent starters. He's easy to understand and he keeps a good amount of humor in his writing :)

I might be a little old-fashioned but I really like using cookbooks! If you know some basic cooking techniques cookbooks are usually really easy to use. If you don't know anything about cooking, though, I definitely recommend using Youtube to learn.

[Jeremiah Leonor 1J]

Chemistry can also be used in knowing how certain food may go together.

Very interesting!

[Jane Wang 1E]

Can someone explains why vegetables turn brown/dark after I put vinegar into the plate? Thanks!

[Nandini_Parmar_1I]

Can someone explains why vegetables turn brown/dark after I put vinegar into the plate? Thanks!

I believe since vinegar is super acidic this happens. However, if you are trying to preserve fruits/vegetables and prevent them from browning, try putting a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice in some water. This will help reduce the pH on the surface of the fruit and reduce the amount of oxygen the fruit is exposed to, thus preventing browning. Browning occurs through oxidation once peeled/opened and even overtime.

[sadiebrebes]

ahah boba is getting me through this class :(

Boba is the one thing getting me through the pandemic lmao. If i was asked to sum up my life at the moment, I would legitimately say boba + UCLA.

Do you like the boba at rendevous? Or do you go to westwood for that?

[Cory Poon 3G]

This is actually such a cool thread! I've baked for a while, so I've got a couple of tricks! As many of us know, acids and bases react to form bubbles in the form of carbon dioxide. So to give cakes and cupcakes more volume, you can usually use sour cream as a half-substitute for milk and while using that, use a little extra baking soda so that more carbon dioxide is released while baking. It'll help make your pastries rise just a little more to give you more of that OOMPH from the leavening agents. I can't wait to hear more about your cooking and baking tricks and applications from chemistry!

[Wilson Zheng 1L]

Culinary Chemistry is super dope! I remember our teacher making us a "chemistry" apple pie using basics we learned from esters (and it tasted like apple pie, but without the apples!)

[MiaRosati3L]

This is such a fun and interesting conversation! My personal application of biochemistry to cooking is making buttermilk from scratch. This is something I've had to do at home a few times when I did not have store-bought buttermilk on hand. Buttermilk that you can find in stores is made from milk with added lactic bacteria. In the commercial process of making buttermilk, the primary milk sugar, lactose, gets metabolized into lactic acid, which gives buttermilk its tangy taste. When making baked goods (ie. pancakes) that call for buttermilk, the lactic acid reacts with the bicarbonate in the self-raising flour to produce carbon dioxide gas. Simply put, it's the lactic acid (an acid, hence the name) present in buttermilk that helps counteract baking soda (a base).

The following molecules are found in buttermilk: 1: Citric acid 2: α-ketoglutaric acid 3: Orotic acid 4: Pyruvic acid 5: Succinic acid 6: Lactic acid 7: Acetic acid 8: Uric acid and 9: DL-pyroglutamic acid. Lactic acid was the most abundant organic acid in buttermilk samples, with an overall average concentration of 7050 μg/g, according to a study published in the Wiley Online Library (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ful ... 0307.12236). Moreover, according to the Australian Academy of Science, "buttermilk also includes a molecule called diacetyl (or butanedione) that is often produced as a by-product of fermentation. It is one of the molecules that make butter taste like butter (the other main ones are acetoin and acetylpropionyl). This gives your pancakes that gorgeous buttery taste without the extra fats." You can read more about the acid-base reaction of buttermilk here if you are curious: https://www.science.org.au/curious/peop ... fy-pancake

To make your own buttermilk at home, you just add an acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar, to regular milk. The basic ratio is 1 tablespoon of your acid of choice to 1 cup of milk to produce one cup of buttermilk.

[Lucy Farnham 1G]

Ayesha, that is a good point about salt increasing the boiling point of water. Does anyone know why that is? I think it might have something to do with the density of the salt...?

[Katie Shi 1F]

I remember reading that putting soft bread with hard cookies is supposed to soften them up, as the cookies absorb some of the water from the bread. I haven't tried it yet but can anyone fact check? I feel like that sounds too good to be true.

[Joseph Lee]

Hey All!

I'm unsure if someone has said this already, or if this even relates, but a trick I do know in the kitchen is when it comes to preparing... (drumroll) ONIONS! It's incredibly easy to prevent the onslaught of tears, all you have to do is place a wet paper towel on your cutting board while you cut. The quick release by cutting mixed with the new exposure to air creates a chemical called Syn-Propanethial-S-Oxide. This super complicated name just means that the gas is really attracted to water, and usually the quickest port is your eyes. Anyways, if you're ever in a quick pinch and don't feel like crying over onions, use that trick!

[Harrington Bubb3A]

I never really thought of that! I think it would be really cool to understand what the chemistry of spicy food is and what chemicals make our mouths feel hotter.

[Sarah Wang 1I]

I never really thought of that! I think it would be really cool to understand what the chemistry of spicy food is and what chemicals make our mouths feel hotter.

I actually did a research project in high school about spicy food (because I love it so much :))! For hot peppers, I believe the heat is from a chemical called capsaicin. I also wonder why some people enjoy eating spicy food/can tolerate it more than others; maybe it's because their bodies react differently to capsaicin? Anybody know?

[Alejandra Hernandez 2A]

Bon Appetit has an awesome youtube channel too and they tie in chemistry facts as to why they do certain things while cooking so it's really cool!! My favorite one from their staff is Claire <33

I've seen that show!! I also really enjoyed that you were learning some very interesting chemistry facts while learning some cool recipes. I remember once I watched an episode where they talked about mass and temperature conversions when using a foreign recipe and it was very interesting to see chemistry and cooking work together.

[Niyati 1F]

I think it is so interesting how our sense of taste is almost entirely based on the chemistry of our taste buds.

[Alejandra Hernandez 2A]

Hey All!

I'm unsure if someone has said this already, or if this even relates, but a trick I do know in the kitchen is when it comes to preparing... (drumroll) ONIONS! It's incredibly easy to prevent the onslaught of tears, all you have to do is place a wet paper towel on your cutting board while you cut. The quick release by cutting mixed with the new exposure to air creates a chemical called Syn-Propanethial-S-Oxide. This super complicated name just means that the gas is really attracted to water, and usually the quickest port is your eyes. Anyways, if you're ever in a quick pinch and don't feel like crying over onions, use that trick!

I find it so interesting how many things in our daily lives that cause inconveniences can be fixed with a little bit of science! This hack is so interesting because it is essentially trapping the gas in the wet napkin before it reaches the eye because it becomes the closest source of water. Very interesting hack thanks for sharing!!

[Travis Wang 2G]

The intersection between chemistry and biology in food is amazing to think about. I suppose chemistry is a foundation for biology, but the relationship is really clear with regards to chemical interactions being responsible for taste. There was a reply above that mentioned capsaicin and that's a great example how molecules can affect us.

[Junyong Wu]

It is much more interesting to learn chemistry by combining it with cooking and baking!!

[305723807]

wow so interesting

[Dev Patel 1H]

Hey All!

I'm unsure if someone has said this already, or if this even relates, but a trick I do know in the kitchen is when it comes to preparing... (drumroll) ONIONS! It's incredibly easy to prevent the onslaught of tears, all you have to do is place a wet paper towel on your cutting board while you cut. The quick release by cutting mixed with the new exposure to air creates a chemical called Syn-Propanethial-S-Oxide. This super complicated name just means that the gas is really attracted to water, and usually the quickest port is your eyes. Anyways, if you're ever in a quick pinch and don't feel like crying over onions, use that trick!

Wow this is a really interesting idea that I never thought would work! I must now try it out to see whether this is real or just a hoax. I know that there is chemistry behind this, so I know this is just gonna be real, but why not try it out! I also never knew that the quick release is exposing gases with the chemical called Syn-Propanethial-S-Oxide, that is definitely interesting to hear and I would love to learn about this chemical much more. Thank you for posting this to Chemistry Community!

[Holland Smith 3C]

Wow this is such a fascinating thread!! this makes me think of making Radicchio salad with my dad. Radicchio is super bitter, so we will put the leaves in a salt water ice bath. It helps pull out some of the bitter compounds via osmosis (hence why we use the salt, and the ice keeps the leaves crunchy and from wilting). It works amazingly and doesn't take too long! highly recommend with a balsamic vinegar based salad dressing!

[205769933]

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet, but Adam Ragusea on YouTube does a great job of explaining the science behind food!

[Divya Mehta 2K]

This forum is fascinating to read! I competed in an event called "Food Science," through Science Olympiad and every year the focus was a different category of foods (ie: dairy, grains, etc). The year we focused on dairy, I learned many things about the chemistry of dairy and processes of coagulation, the structure and formula of whey and casein proteins, and even how to determine the calories in a particular food via calorimeter. Perhaps the most useful thing I learned while studying for this event was all the information about the 4 macromolecules and their chemical structures that lead to their unique properties

[Lexi Tempera 3B]

Hey Sebastian!

I too love cooking and chemistry!! A simple but fun one that I think about often is salting the water before you add pasta. Not only is this for flavor (side note: items that will be in water longer require less salt in the water (osmosis (not the most chemistry-related topic so I shall digress))) but also it increases the vapor pressure of the water. It does this because when salt is dissolved into water, it dissociates into Na+ and Cl- ions. These ions physically get surrounded (for lack of a better word) by the partial positive and partial negative ends of H2O molecules, forming a "wedge" between water molecules. THIS makes it so that it is harder for H2O molecules to escape from liquid form to gas form, thus raising the boiling point of water.

You probably remember this from high school chem, but if not, enjoy :)

[Tianle Zheng]

Oh, wow! It's cool when we start to use apply chemistry in daily life. I personally love to cook as well, and a very easily used piece of chemistry in the kitchen for me is making icecreams.

[Polo Morales 3C]

I also find it pretty impressive that we subconsciously learned a few of the very basics of chemistry as children through the process of cooking or watching others cook. (ex: melting solids by adding heat, combustion, etc)

[Jesse Amaya]

This is interesting! All cooking is just chemical reactions so understanding chemistry will help us understand something like how an egg fries, which we overlook. I wanted to add on by asking how we can use our chemical understanding of cooking to eat healthier or make the most out of food? For example, a chemical understanding gave us the ability to come up with an air fryer instead of using oil.

[805774026]

That's cool! I am learning how to cook as well, and it feels fantastic to hear from someone sharing the same interest!

[Jane Wang 1E]

Can someone explains why vegetables turn brown/dark after I put vinegar into the plate? Thanks!

I believe since vinegar is super acidic this happens. However, if you are trying to preserve fruits/vegetables and prevent them from browning, try putting a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice in some water. This will help reduce the pH on the surface of the fruit and reduce the amount of oxygen the fruit is exposed to, thus preventing browning. Browning occurs through oxidation once peeled/opened and even overtime.

Will the fruit cells get oxidised faster due to there are vinegar on them?

[Jane Wang 1E]

That's cool! I am learning how to cook as well, and it feels fantastic to hear from someone sharing the same interest!

I am interested in cooking as well!! But I don't think I am talented in it haha

[Jane Wang 1E]

ahah boba is getting me through this class :(

Boba is the one thing getting me through the pandemic lmao. If i was asked to sum up my life at the moment, I would legitimately say boba + UCLA.

Do you like the boba at rendevous? Or do you go to westwood for that?

I recommend the Boba at the third floor of UCLA store! Try half sugar though~

[VZX]

I'm always amazed when a tiny bit of yeast is added to a dough and become activated, the dough can grow twice as big or even more. The chemistry behind is that the yeast feeds on the sugar in flour (ferments) and releases carbon dioxide to make dough rise. But it's interesting that baking soda has similar effect but allows the dough to rise at a much different rate (faster) than what yeast would accomplish. Leaving the dough with yeast for too long can also result in the dough shrinking again!

[Julia Todorov 2F]

This post reminded me of a college essay I wrote during application season where a student wrote about how baking chocolate chip cookies got him so interested in chemistry. It was such an amazing essay and I'm pretty sure he ended up in Stanford or some crazy Ivy! I feel like we really tend to forget how much chemistry comes up in our daily lives.

[Emma Goellner 2I]

I think the chemistry behind cooking an egg is really interesting. When you boil an egg, for instance, you might notice a slight green film around the yolk. That's because a chemical reaction involving sulfur from the egg white and iron from the egg yolk. If there's a lot of iron in the cooking water, or you overcook the egg, this can happen.

[Carlie_Dorostkar_1A]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2_TFO ... m0RcOV8RWw

This youtube channel called Chemical Kitchen that has discussions about the science behind cooking and fundamentals that cross over between the lab and the kitchen. I enjoyed watching a kitchen myth one where a chefs and chemists proved or debunked myth in the kitchen and explained what really occurs. They also have cook alongs that were live and now saved if anyone is looking for simple recipes to follow.

[Carlie_Dorostkar_1A]

I have also been interested in when oil should be added to a pan and at what temperature. My dad has ways of doing things in the kitchen that he thinks are the right way, and has done research one how to keep non stick pans in good shape. I've wondered why metal on non stick pans tends to make the pans loose there non stick properties and qualities. I also want to know why oil should be added when the pan is hot enough (also what exactly is hot enough) so that the non stick material is preserved.

[Kirsten Yu 2K]

I find it fascinating how prevalent chemistry is in baking. I never put much thought into it until quarantine happened, and my friend and I picked up baking as a hobby. We started by baking cakes, something I now realize is actually an endothermic chemical reaction. This is because heat helps the baking powder produce tiny bubbles of gas, in turn making the cake light and fluffy. Moreover, heat causes protein from the egg to change and make the cake firm.

[AJackman]

Reminds me of my older brother showing off to my siblings and I by putting a super hot pan under the sink to show us how the water "floats" on the surface. Come to find out it's something called the Leidenfrost effect, where because the pan is actually hotter than the boiling point of of water, the bottom of the droplets actually vaporize before they hit the pan, creating the floating effect.

[daniellediem1k]

I think it is so fascinating that literally everything can relate back to chemistry! Even cooking/baking. I think it’s a great analogy when doing limiting reactant problems to think of them as ingredients for a recipe!

[605607825]

Chemistry really is found all around us and affects almost every if not all aspects of our everyday lives! We use chemistry all the time such as in cooking! Our bodies are constantly undergoing reactions as well! Today I cleaned my kitchen sink with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. This post made me think about chemistry and how it is involved in our lives and that was when I realized that I created a chemical reaction of my own earlier!

[605733348]

Chemistry knowledge can be found everywhere in our daily life!

[Wenhan Li_3d]

Great idea. I think the sequence of blending materials is also important. I have not studied such topics beforehand but I love cooking and "mastered" in some asian foods .I'm very confident that in some traditional asian dishes that sequence is critical so I will learn more about it later when I study more about this class.

[Emily Wan 1l]

My family has an ongoing debate if adding salt to pasta water makes the water boil faster or slower. The argument for faster is that adding salt disrupts the surface tension of the water, and contributes to it boiling faster. The argument for slower is that salt raises the boiling point of the water, and thus the water takes longer to boil. Either way, we agree that pasta cooks faster when salt is added because the boiling point is higher so the temperature of the water is higher.

These arguments are so interesting! I've always thought that adding salt would not affect the boiling time of pasta, considering that the amount being added is so small!

[Giselle Simmons 2D]

This is not necessarily involved with cooking, but it applies to the kitchen! I always remember when my family cleaned the kitchen with bleach, my mom would warn us not to put the bleach next to the ammonia in the cleaning supply closet. This is because when combined, bleach and ammonia release toxic chloramine gas. It is very harmful and a potential occurrence that everyone should be aware of.

[Emily Wan 1l]

Love this thread! One thing I have recently began to do is add vinegar when I am boiling or poaching eggs. The acid in the vinegar prevents the water from spilling out of the pot if a shell breaks and helps with the coagulation of the egg whites.

[Giselle Simmons 2D]

I always thought the chemistry behind baking bread and having it rise was super interesting. Yeast in an ingredient of bread, which is a single-celled fungi which helps to convert sugars in the bread mix into carbon dioxide. Bubbles from the carbon dioxide are what cause the bread to physically rise.

[Giselle Simmons 2D]

Love this thread! One thing I have recently began to do is add vinegar when I am boiling or poaching eggs. The acid in the vinegar prevents the water from spilling out of the pot if a shell breaks and helps with the coagulation of the egg whites.

Emily-
That's such a cool tip I had never heard of! I am definitely going to try that as well as tell my mom about it because she often boils eggs.

[Giselle Simmons 2D]

I think it is so fascinating that literally everything can relate back to chemistry! Even cooking/baking. I think it’s a great analogy when doing limiting reactant problems to think of them as ingredients for a recipe!

A limiting reactant is a great analogy. For example, I used to bake cookies with my dad every Friday night. Sometimes, we wanted to make two batches but we only had one bag of chocolate chips. Therefore, our supply of chocolates chips limited how much product we could have.

[805829316]

Actually I learned awhile ago that you can un-boil an egg using chemistry and thought it was pretty cool.

[GoldDigger]

Something I recently learned was the difference between heat-safe and regular glass. Heat-safe glass (like the kind you can use oven, eg. Pyrex) is made of borosilicate glass, which has a low coefficient of thermal expansion and therefore is less likely to break at high temperatures. I think this is more related to physics but it definitely reminded me of specific heat capacities which we are learning about in Chem14B! Basically, just make sure to check if your glass is heat-resistant or it could shatter.

Yea once my mom and I were cooking on the stove, and we put a glass lid on top of a pan and didn't think anything of it. Less than five minutes later we heard a loud shattering noise, went to check on our chicken we were cooking, and it was just covered in broken glass from the lid. We had to order take out after, but I'm not complaining loll.

[GoldDigger]

Actually I learned awhile ago that you can un-boil an egg using chemistry and thought it was pretty cool.

Wait howww??? I would love to actually try to do that just for fun.

[105784203]

Hey all! I have recently begun teaching myself to cook and have been amazed at how directly the lessons of general chemistry apply to the kitchen. This past weekend I was reading about how you shouldn't blend hot mixtures because the blades will release steam easily causing nasty burns and remembered how the comparative severity of steam burns is due to the fact that more energy is required to break bonds in water molecules than to heat water to the same temperature. This isn't all, though. From thinking of recipes in terms of stoichiometric coefficients to neutralizing the ammines in fish with citric acid, cooking is full of fun bits of chemistry that I find absolutely fascinating! If anybody else is also learning, has any enlightening experiences or tips to share, or has any interesting chem lessons to be found in the kitchen I would invite you to drop them here. Recipes, hacks, stories, all welcome! Maybe we can get something good going!

Hello, I have been cooking for a while and have never considered going into molecular gastronomy, I think that's what culinary chemistry is all about! I hope you dive well into this topic!

[905715668]

Also, in baking, cream of tartar and baking soda start two different chemical reactions within a mixture thus creating different textures.

[905715668]

Also, in baking, cream of tartar and baking soda start two different chemical reactions within a mixture thus creating different textures.

[905715668]

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet, but Adam Ragusea on YouTube does a great job of explaining the science behind food!

I love his videos!!

[Allison Mercado-3F]

The science of cooking and baking is so cool! My last chem teacher was really into cooking so he'd use food as examples a lot!

[205769933]

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet, but Adam Ragusea on YouTube does a great job of explaining the science behind food!

I love his videos!!

Yesssss his videos are so good and I love how iconic his “why I season my cutting board not the steak” video is <3

[LillianHarvey2C]

This thread is so cool, I like to bake and that's also how I realized the amount of similar skills needed in both the chemistry and culinary professions. That's how I learned that solids and liquids when cooking have to be measured using two different sets of measuring cups because the quantities change for each.

[Nicola Higgins 14B]

I was reading about the "adding salt to pasta" debate and I have always been taught that it cooks the pasta faster and more evenly, but I don't think the water boils as quickly. Regardless, I do notice it makes the pasta taste better! :)

[akemiwebster2G]

Yes! Chemical reactions are constantly happening, either through manipulation or emulsification, and the heat suppresses harmful bacteria as well.

[Charlie Sjogren-Black]

What in chemistry makes flavors in food taste different other than heat?

Your tongue has receptors for different chemicals. The chemical makeup of a certain food determines the flavor and is interpreted by your tongue.

[Alejandra Hernandez 2A]

Something I recently learned was the difference between heat-safe and regular glass. Heat-safe glass (like the kind you can use oven, eg. Pyrex) is made of borosilicate glass, which has a low coefficient of thermal expansion and therefore is less likely to break at high temperatures. I think this is more related to physics but it definitely reminded me of specific heat capacities which we are learning about in Chem14B! Basically, just make sure to check if your glass is heat-resistant or it could shatter.

Wow, this is really interesting! I have always wondered what makes some glass dangerous in the oven and other glass heat safe. It is so cool to be able to not only learn about all of these interesting topics in chemistry but also be able to apply them to our everyday life.

[Alejandra Hernandez 2A]

Actually I learned a while ago that you can un-boil an egg using chemistry and thought it was pretty cool.

What!? That seems so cool, I'll definitely have to look up how to do this and maybe even attempt it, this is such an interesting concept I would have never guessed it was possible to 'un-boil' and egg.

[Alejandra Hernandez 2A]

I also find it pretty impressive that we subconsciously learned a few of the very basics of chemistry as children through the process of cooking or watching others cook. (ex: melting solids by adding heat, combustion, etc)

Yes! It has been so surprising to see how many chemistry concepts are intertwined in our daily lives and are so 'simple' that we don't even realize they are related to chemistry at all.

[Jeremy 3B]

That's so cool. I find it fascinating how stuff we're learning in the classroom is already affecting us in the real world before we even graduate. Because you took this course you better understand why blending hot mixtures is bad where as someone who's never studied chemistry only knows blending hot mixtures is bad because they were told it was bad but they may not know exactly why it is. I don't really cook that much but maybe I should try soon if it means I get to apply what I learned in class to real life.

[Maddy Trotter 3D]

This is a cool topic! I started a club at my high school called Food Chem Club and we structured every meeting around a different culinary chemistry topic! I thought the meeting we had about preserving meats was super cool, maybe something to look up for anyone interested! We also had a tasting portion after the meeting, which was really fun :)

[Maddy Trotter 3D]

Also!! We had a meeting about baking with copper bowls, and how they are better for whipping eggs, meringue, whipping cream, etc because they give you stable peaks and the ingredients are less likely to denature

[Vance Liu]

For any aspiring cooks out there,

Binging with Babish and Josh Weissman are two of my favorite youtubers. They are very in-depth and go through complex recipes step by step. Binging with Babish is more into the how of cooking while Josh is just funny. Check them out!

[Jacob Kirkosian 3C]

Fun fact: The Maillard reaction causes the browning on foods such as meats and vegetables and is the result of a reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars.

[Diana peng 3I]

I had some pasta for lunch today, and I just realized, the trick that we put a wooden spoon(with coding on it ) on boiling water so water wouldn't spill. If the coding of the wood spoon is hydrophobic that means water can't attract to it, that is keep the boiling water from spilling out the pot.

[Violet Mbela 2B]

When you melt sugar and water into invert sugar syrup, it is a hydrolysis reaction that can be sped up with catalysts such as cream of tartar or lemon juice. I never thought about it but I do make a lot of syrup so it's interesting to see the chemistry in action and I have this thread to thank for that.

p.s. be careful when making it because it will burn you badly. Sugar is hot when melted.

Hey Valerie!

For those reactions, why are cream of tartar or lemon juice catalysts? Is it because of their pH levels or is some other component of their composition that makes them react? Thank you for the cool info!

[Brianna Mercado 3D]

Ceviche has also always been one of those dishes that fascinates me because of the chemistry behind it!

I always found ceviche to be an interesting dish! It's essentially letting raw shrimp marinate in an acidic base (oxymoron haha) mainly composed of lemon or lime juice. The citric acid causes the proteins in the shrimp to go through denaturation, changing its physical and chemical properties so that it becomes "cooked" without any heat! I am not a fan of sea food, but anytime my family makes this I always serve myself a small helping as a way to celebrate the cool science behind it.

Yes, my family also does this! I always wondered how it was cooked without actually being cooked.

[505705039]

For some reason, I always find myself stress-baking during finals week--just to get my mind off things.

I also do this! It gives a nice break and it is so fun reading through culinary chemistry (I'm getting new baking ideas).

[505705039]

Speaking of culinary chemistry, if anyone has any recipes that can be made with ~microwave~ radiation let me know. Dorm life is a struggle.

Mug cakes are so fun and easy to make in the microwave! here is a link to one: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/24103 ... -mug-cake/

[505705039]

Yesterday, I brought a bag of sliced apples for lunch with me but by the time I got to eat it, it was already browning. Then I remembered how my mom used to cover apples with lemon juice to keep them fresh all day long! The acidity of the lemon slows down the browning because ascorbic acid reacts with the oxygen before the oxygen can react with the enzymes in the fruit.

WOW! this makes so much sense and is so cool. I am going to try it soon.

[505705039]

If you are looking for more on Chemistry and cooking this book https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/485 goes over the fundamentals of chemistry and how it is in cooking.

[Anthony_Rio_3K]

Related to this topic...why do bad things happen when putting metal in the microwave?

[JohnathanH_1H]

When you melt sugar and water into invert sugar syrup, it is a hydrolysis reaction that can be sped up with catalysts such as cream of tartar or lemon juice. I never thought about it but I do make a lot of syrup so it's interesting to see the chemistry in action and I have this thread to thank for that.

p.s. be careful when making it because it will burn you badly. Sugar is hot when melted.

Not to bring up Squid Game, but the Dalgona candy where you melt the sugar and add baking soda is very similar in the sense that it causes a reaction, making the sugar mixture bubble and foam almost before it stops reacting and relaxes

[Daniel N]

I've been needing new recipes to try! Fruit caviar here I come.