Food chemistry starts with atoms, molecules, drawings these molecules and then looking at their reactions. In this series we focus on food chemistry theory. Instead of actively applying food chemistry to certain reactions or phenomenon, we try to explain the basics here. They should provide just that little extra of background information to properly apply food chemistry on food around you.
Or have a look at: all posts on food chemistry, those focused on colour, or browning reactions.
Or take our food science basics course which also covers the essentials of food chemistry!
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 favorite on our winter skiing holidays! That said, …
Yogurt, sauerkraut, pickles, none of these products would exist without lactic acid fermentation. This is a series of chemical reactions that transforms your ingredients into something pretty different (and delicious) thanks to lactic acid bacteria. In this post we’ll explore lactic acid fermentation in some more detail, helping you understanding …
Fruits and vegetables have a great 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 colours. In most cases these colours originate from a group of molecules inside the plant. The unique …
In the Netherlands we have this one cookie type that’s used for a lot of different dishes. They’re popular for use in cookie pie crusts, ice cream and a bunch of other recipes. Their name: Bastognekoeken, which apparently refers to a town in Belgium that their maker thought of when …
Whenever making caramel, marshmallows, honeycomb or just about any other sugar candy you’ll often find that recipe either tells you to boil a sugar syrup to a certain temperature. Or, they’ll tell you to cook it to a certain stage, for instance, soft ball or a hard crack stage. The first …
Once you’ve peeled your banana, you’d better eat it. If you forget about it and return a few hours later it will have turned an unappetizing brown. Same goes for leaving an unpeeled banana on your counter top for a few days. It might have been bright yellow when you …
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, …
There are a lot of different chemical reactions within food, far too many to all mention on this blog. However, chemical reactions can be organized in different types of reactions. One your understand the general mechanism of such a type of reaction, you’ll be able to understand most reactions of …
Ever tried to make a simple dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar? Noticed that it’s impossible to keep these two mixed without continuously stirring or adding something like mustard? Wondered how food manufacturers are able to do this? If you’ve looked on labels of various dressings and sauces you …
Sometimes a term might be so familiar to you that you use it all the time, whereas another person, who doesn’t know that term, has no idea what you’re talking about. When talking about science that can be quite a common problem. And even though we try to keep the …
