Chemistry of Food and Cooking
Reflection
Cooking is a chemical process which transforms ingredients into a food item. There are many different ways that cooking can change food. The color, texture, taste, density, form and many other qualities can be affected. When heat is applied to a food item it causes a chemical reaction within the food molecules which combine ingredients into a new item. It can cause the leavening agent to react with an acid which will release gas and cause a rising effect. However, if a dough is needed too much and not allowed to raise there will be no gas in the food to be released and the food will become dense. This can be comparable to the common chemical reaction between vinegar, an acid, and baking soda, a leavener. The vinegar and baking soda bubble up and create gas and when there is no more gas left it becomes flat.
Generally when food is properly cooked its color changes to a darker shade of its original color with tints of brown and black when it is not properly cooked. Applying heat to food causes the molecules to vibrate which help combine the ingredients into one complete substance. A color change is an indicator of a chemical reaction. For example, when copper is exposed to heat to turns black and combines with oxygen to become copper oxide.
I think cooking is a science if you view it that way. Just like in a lab experiment everything must be precise in order to get the result you want. You must use measuring cups to get the perfect amount of an ingredient and you must combine specific ingredients in specific ways.
One difference between the two is that in cooking, there are different things that do the same thing so you can substitute one ingredient to another but in science, there are not many chemical reactions the produces the same results. Even in cooking the substitution is not equivalent to the original but in science, there are very few substitutions if not any at all.
Generally when food is properly cooked its color changes to a darker shade of its original color with tints of brown and black when it is not properly cooked. Applying heat to food causes the molecules to vibrate which help combine the ingredients into one complete substance. A color change is an indicator of a chemical reaction. For example, when copper is exposed to heat to turns black and combines with oxygen to become copper oxide.
I think cooking is a science if you view it that way. Just like in a lab experiment everything must be precise in order to get the result you want. You must use measuring cups to get the perfect amount of an ingredient and you must combine specific ingredients in specific ways.
One difference between the two is that in cooking, there are different things that do the same thing so you can substitute one ingredient to another but in science, there are not many chemical reactions the produces the same results. Even in cooking the substitution is not equivalent to the original but in science, there are very few substitutions if not any at all.
Recipe Card
Macroinvertebrate Museum Exhibit