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Category Food Physics Basics
Foods are so much more complex than you might think. Have you ever wondered why a chocolate mousse remains stable over time? Or why a salad dressing splits if you leave it out too long?
You can explain those phenomena by studying some interesting food physics!
What is Specific Gravity (and Why Use it When Making Cider or Beer)?
If you’ve brewed your own beer or made your own cider you’ll have probably come across the term: specific gravity. It’s a tool that’s commonly used to determine how much alcohol you’ll get in your final drink. But what does…
The Science Behind Cooking Sugar Syrups For Candy Making
Making candy is often described as a science, requiring thermometers to boil that sugar syrup to the exact right temperature. Alternatively, you can cook the syrup to a prescribed stage, “cook to hard crack”, which can be daunting. If you…
What Is Water Activity (in Food)?
It is one of the most important parameters when determining the shelf life of foods. It’s what explains why your pie crust turns soggy over time. And it sounds more complicated than it is: water activity. For any food scientist,…
An Introduction to Gas, Liquids and Solids in Food – States of Matter
When you prepare food you continuously change the states of our ingredients. You melt butter in a hot pan, boil down a runny stock into a thick syrupy consistency or transform a liquid custard into a solid tub of ice…
The Science of Foams in Food
Think you need to be a molecular gastronomist, pr a chef at a fancy restaurant to try your hand at making food foams? Nothing could be further from the truth! Even though a lot of articles online write about these…
How Liquor is Distilled – Raoult’s Law
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 chemical engineer’s…
The Science of Chocolate Milk (And How to Prevent 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.…
The Science of Ice Cream – Freezing Point Depression
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…
An Introduction to Food Rheology – the Flow of Material
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…
Phase Diagrams Explained – Demystifying Ice Cream
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…
Why Does Caramel Stay Soft in Ice Cream? (Caramel Freezing Point)
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…
The Ideal Gas Law in Food – How Foods Expand and Shrink
Have you ever made souffles? Have you experienced that thrill when they rise high in the oven? Looking so beautiful and light? But to be heavily disappointed when they sink down again once they’re cooling down outside of the oven?…