Only a few centuries ago, European (and likely many others) seamen died by the dozens during months long sea voyages to the East. Trips to the East, essential for European traders to get those beloved spices...
Welcome to FoodCrumbles.com!
Here we love to dig just a little deeper into food and science. We explain how food is made, how it's preserved & packaged and what the role of the ingredients in your food are. We also analyze recipes, so you understand why a recipe is the way it is! Last but not least, we give you tools to develop a basic understanding of food science! Have fun browsing around and don't forget to ask a question if you can't find the answer here!
Latest articles
Food Science Basics
Just getting started in the world of food science and want to get your fundamentals straightened out? No problem, we've got a good selection of articles for you.
The science of distilling liquors
We know how to make spirits (we discussed that here), and we know that to make spirits (or liquors) you need to distill fermented grains. Distillation isn’t just used in spirits production though. It is one of any...
Chocolate milk & Sedimentation
Nothing fits a good wintery day better than a warm chocolate milk, don’t you agree? The heat of the milk warms you up just a little and it gives you enough of a boost of energy to get going again. It’s a...
Colours in fruits & vegetables
Have you ever noticed how fruits and vegetables have a wide variety of colours? The spectrum goes from orange to purple to green to bright red. It’s amazing how nature has developed all these bright and beautiful...
Cake Science
Yeast-leavened cakes – Another way to create air
We’ve been making bread for thousands of years, using flour, water and in a lot of cases yeast. Yeast is what makes our breads light and fluffy, by producing carbon dioxide gas bubbles to make the dough rise...
Torta Setteveli
Making a complicated dessert once in a while is a good way to practice a lot of techniques and to learn something new. The French in particular are good in making pastry which consists of a lot of different (complex)...
Bread Science
The benefits of using Maltogenic Amylase when baking bread
This is a guest post by Morgan Walker Clarke. Morgan is from Dallas, Texas, works in the hospitality industry and has an interest for food and science that he loves to share with us! Using enzymes in baking is not a new...
Vegetable Science
Ice Cream Science
Philadelphia style ice cream – An eggless chocolate ice cream
Before reading the book ‘Hello, my name is ice cream‘, I had never heard of Philadelphia style ice cream. Most of the ice creams I made myself were either by making a custard which I then churn in the ice...
How ice cream is made in a factory
Whether you make one bowl of ice cream at home, or 1000 liter in a factory, the science of ice cream stays the same. You’d still want small ice crystals, to make a super smooth ice cream and you’d like to...
Meat Science
Fruit Science
Making fresh orange juice – blending vs juicing
While drinking a glass of freshly made orange juice a little while ago I noticed orange juice is a great vehicle for explaining all sorts of science related phenomenon. In the first post I introduced the orange, in this...
Creamy berry crumble – On using frozen fruits in a dessert
While making a delicious strawberry/raspberry pie the other day, I made far too much of the pie crust. It was about twice the amount I needed for making my pie. So I had to get creative and come up with something else...
Cheese Science
Pie Science
Caramel nut tart
Making a pastry that beats or rivals that of a pastry shop isn’t something that happens to me very often. I mean, a good cookie or muffin are doable, but those more delicate, often French, pastries, aren’t...
Super smooth Instant Pot cheesecake
When cooking or baking, food scientists (that’s me!) like to disseminate their food and all what’s going on. So when you’re baking a cheesecake and it’s in the oven, you start thinking about...
Cookie Science
Almond tuile science – Flexible when hot, crispy when cold
If you’re a fan of cooking/baking shows you will have probably seen them come by: almond tuiles. Pretty, delicate and tasty cookies, but, the special bit is that they’re very flexible when they come out of...
Role of flour, butter and sugar in cookies – Shortbread science
Take some butter, mix it with sugar, add some flour and you’ve got a cookie going. Three ingredients is all you need to bake a decent cookie. Of course, you add more ingredients, nuts, fruits, some chocolate, the...
