Understanding food production, whether it’s at home are in a factory, starts with science. Once you have a grasp on some of the more basic science concepts, which you can find below, a whole new world opens up!
After writing about making your own extracts (vanilla & orange/lemon) and how to use these it is time we start talking more hard core science. What is extraction from a chemists perspective? And is there something we can calculate here?…
Ever read the labels on your food products? If yes, ever wondered how they come to the nutritional values stated on these labels? Or what they mean? Whereas people tend to think these are hard fixed numbers that have been…
Food Science is at the heart of this blog, however, in most cases we’ll be applying food science, assuming you’ve got a basic understanding of the food science concepts. Realizing that not everyone knows these basics, we’ve got a series…
Why does red cabbage turn blue, purple or pink in different liquids? Why does a steak turn brown when heated? Why can an oven bake muffins? Why does a higher temperature oven burn your carrots more easily? All of this…
When you zoom in on your food, what will you see? First thing you’ll notice is the detail in all the complex structures of food. Zooming in closer you’ll probably run into some cells. When you ‘look’ even closer though…
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…
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…
(Dis)colouration of foods is a well beloved topic of food chemists. Colour pigments are highly complex, as are the reactions to form them. Browning especially, is a favorite. It’s interesting because there are various chemically completely different ways to turn…
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?…
Ever wondered which molecules make your bread turn brown? Or what molecules might sit in a pear? Or what exactly fats and carbohydrates are? Ever wondered what molecules are nutritious and which aren’t? All of the answers to these questions…
Science is everywhere when you’re in the kitchen. Just think of your bread dough bubbling away and expanding while proofing. Or a beer in the works. You might not even recognize the science, so common the processes are. The processes described…
