The science behind cooking meat and vegetables
The science behind cooking meat and vegetables
Learn what happens to food when it is roasted, boiled, or steamed.
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Transcript
A heat-resistant pan is essential to fry meat. Water vaporizing tells you when the pan is hot enough. The oil, too, must be heat-tolerant and oils with fewer free fatty acids are better suited to frying. Now for the steak. The meat undergoes a huge transformation in the simmering oil. Proteins and sugar molecules are natural components of meat and react they together to build aromatic molecules. They create the signature roasted or fried taste. Hundreds of these aromatic components develop in the fried meat. Many chemical reactions occur simultaneously - so many that they haven’t all been researched in detail. In 1912, the French chemist Louis Camille Maillard stumbled across the processes responsible for the aroma development in baked and fried food whilst exploring the structure of proteins.
A thermal camera shows what happens. Between the steak and the hot bottom of the pan, the Maillard-reactions are underway. Luckily, the center of the meat doesn’t get hot enough to trigger the reactions, otherwise the meat would become tough. The processes inside the meat tissue are revealed under the microscope. Before frying, the proteins form an even net, but above 50 celsius, they begin to clump together. It makes the proteins more easily digestible, but it also makes the meat tough. Time to turn the steak. Now it’s brown with a crust. The heat has killed any microorganisms on its surface. Before serving, wrap the meat and let it rest at between 50 and 80 celsius for 10-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak. This thermal image shows the heat spreading evenly inside the meat to cook it through.
More time as well as ultra modern techniques offer alternative methods. This meat is being vacuum-packed. Heated in a bain marie at low temperatures of just 50-60 celsius, the meat cooks in its own juices. The thermal image shows the heat spreading evenly through the container. An hour later and it’s cooked.
There’s no aromatic crust, but that’s easily fixed with a blow torch. It triggers the same Maillard processes as frying. The advantage of this method called sous-vide is that the meat is cooked evenly, and the results are reliable. Boiling food – here, too, cooking as evenly as possible pays off. So the food should always be fully immersed in boiling water. A lid traps the heat and saves energy. Just like frying, boiling also changes food both chemically and physically. The starch in potato cells goes through a dramatic transformation.
Here, the starch is stained to identify it. In the boiled potato on the right it has clearly expanded. Under the microscope, the starch particles in the raw potato are clearly defined. During boiling they swell by a factor of a hundred. When the pressure of the expanding starch bursts its cell walls, the potato is cooked. This collapsible steamer cooks vegetables more gently. It better preserves their precious vitamins, minerals and aroma. Steam provides more heat than boiling water, but also acts more smoothly. That’s because a layer of cool protective water droplets forms on the vegetable surface.
On the left, raw broccoli still has clearly defined cell-walls. But on the right, they have broken-down during the cooking process. It means the vegetables are cooked through. It’s even faster in a pressure cooker. It creates an increased pressure, pushing up the water’s boiling point to 120 celsius. Food cooks more quickly. A modern steamer means you can steam different foods with varying cooking times simultaneously. The steam is hotter in the bottom compartment and cools down on its way up.
Cooking makes food more easily digestible, unlocks nutrients, creates aroma, kills microorganisms and turns it into tender and appetising meals. All thanks to those scientists in the kitchen.
A thermal camera shows what happens. Between the steak and the hot bottom of the pan, the Maillard-reactions are underway. Luckily, the center of the meat doesn’t get hot enough to trigger the reactions, otherwise the meat would become tough. The processes inside the meat tissue are revealed under the microscope. Before frying, the proteins form an even net, but above 50 celsius, they begin to clump together. It makes the proteins more easily digestible, but it also makes the meat tough. Time to turn the steak. Now it’s brown with a crust. The heat has killed any microorganisms on its surface. Before serving, wrap the meat and let it rest at between 50 and 80 celsius for 10-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak. This thermal image shows the heat spreading evenly inside the meat to cook it through.
More time as well as ultra modern techniques offer alternative methods. This meat is being vacuum-packed. Heated in a bain marie at low temperatures of just 50-60 celsius, the meat cooks in its own juices. The thermal image shows the heat spreading evenly through the container. An hour later and it’s cooked.
There’s no aromatic crust, but that’s easily fixed with a blow torch. It triggers the same Maillard processes as frying. The advantage of this method called sous-vide is that the meat is cooked evenly, and the results are reliable. Boiling food – here, too, cooking as evenly as possible pays off. So the food should always be fully immersed in boiling water. A lid traps the heat and saves energy. Just like frying, boiling also changes food both chemically and physically. The starch in potato cells goes through a dramatic transformation.
Here, the starch is stained to identify it. In the boiled potato on the right it has clearly expanded. Under the microscope, the starch particles in the raw potato are clearly defined. During boiling they swell by a factor of a hundred. When the pressure of the expanding starch bursts its cell walls, the potato is cooked. This collapsible steamer cooks vegetables more gently. It better preserves their precious vitamins, minerals and aroma. Steam provides more heat than boiling water, but also acts more smoothly. That’s because a layer of cool protective water droplets forms on the vegetable surface.
On the left, raw broccoli still has clearly defined cell-walls. But on the right, they have broken-down during the cooking process. It means the vegetables are cooked through. It’s even faster in a pressure cooker. It creates an increased pressure, pushing up the water’s boiling point to 120 celsius. Food cooks more quickly. A modern steamer means you can steam different foods with varying cooking times simultaneously. The steam is hotter in the bottom compartment and cools down on its way up.
Cooking makes food more easily digestible, unlocks nutrients, creates aroma, kills microorganisms and turns it into tender and appetising meals. All thanks to those scientists in the kitchen.