Why is an ice cube rock solid whereas a scoop of Italian gelato is almost liquid like? Even a ‘simple’ popsicle isn’t as hard as a pure water ice cube. Instead you can bite some off quite easily. Isn’t that interesting? We’ve made quite a lot of ice creams already, …
What happens if you leave a dry cracker lying around on the kitchen counter? And what happens to a freshly baked bread? What will happen to a tomato? The dry cracker might have become a little less crunchy, but will otherwise be fine. Your bread might have actually started moulding, but …
Within the food industry it is very important to understand how your food will behave. Will it be deformed (too) easily (a muffin), will it flow through a pipe (a pasta sauce), will it stay on your product (caramel topping of your cookie), will it thicken up, or not (bechamel …
For any food scientist or someone who’s involved in determining shelf life and quality of foods, the concept of water activity should be familiar. It plays a huge role in whether or not a product will still be good after a few days of storage on a countertop. In a …
In a lot of posts on the this website we regularly mention specific food physics terms. However, not all of you might be familiar with the concept of water activity or dispersions. To solve the problem of having to explain all concepts in every post (which wouldn’t be very enjoyable …
When you’re eating your ice cream, your caramel or a nice piece of fudge you might not realize that you’re actually consuming a scientifically highly complex product! The interactions between concentrations of sugar and water combined with temperature make for a great physical phenomenon. These are actually products which are …
Not too long ago I got a question from someone who wanted to know the freezing point of caramel. Thinking about it, caramel in ice creams are just about always soft… This got me interested, because answering this question allows me to explain some great physics! The short answer is …
In the Netherlands we don’t have any mountains, we have a hill and are pretty proud of the fact that our highest point is only a little more than a 100m above sea level. What’s more, most of our country is below sea level! Nevertheless, I adore skiing, as a …
Have you ever made souffles? Have you experienced that thrill when they rise high in the oven, but sink down again once you take them out? Have you ever covered an egg in a frying pan with a lid and seen it expand enormously, only to collapse again when you …
