Cooking, Cakes and Chemistry

The Scientist reviews some new food science books

2012-02-24T11:21:00.000-05:00

Capsule Reviews:

Neurogastronomy by Gordon M. Shepherd
Columbia University Press, December 2011
Why Calories Count by Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim
University of California Press, April 2012
The Kitchen as Laboratory By César Vega, Job Ubbink, and Erik van der Linden, editors
Columbia University Press, January 2012
Fear of Food by Harvey Levenstein
University of Chicago Press, March 2012

Miracle fruit decoded

2012-02-13T14:46:00.000-05:00

From the February edition of The Scientist

Imagine sucking on a lemon that tastes as sweet as honey, or munching on what you think is a crunchy candy only to discover it’s a pickled onion. Such is the taste-bud trickery experienced at so-called flavor-tripping parties. The secret to the flavorful deceptions is a small red berry from West Africa called miracle fruit, which itself has very little flavor, but can make sour or acidic foods taste extremely sweet when eaten soon after the berry contacts the tongue. So bizarre is the fruit’s effect that just one taste was enough to convince Japanese food scientist Keiko Abe, of the University of Tokyo, to launch into an entirely new area of study.

http://the-scientist.com/2012/02/01/sweet-and-sour-science/trackback/

Flavour - a new journal

2012-01-24T12:33:00.000-05:00

Flavour is now looking for submissions!!

Flavour is a peer-reviewed, open access, online journal that publishes interdisciplinary articles on flavour, its generation and perception, and its influence on behaviour and nutrition. We seek articles on the psychophysical, psychological and chemical aspects of flavour as well as those taking brain imaging approaches. We take flavour to be the experience of eating food as mediated through all the senses. Thus we welcome articles that deal with not only taste and aroma, but also chemesthesis, texture and all the senses as they relate to the perception of flavour.

Sounds like it will create lots of fodder for this blog (pun intended)!!

Egg white chemistry

2012-01-24T11:12:00.002-05:00

Here is a cool post from the Smithsonian about meringue:
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2012/01/meringue-chemistry-the-secrets-of-fluff/

Felicity's perfect meringue. Photograph: Felicity Cloake

and another one from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/aug/19/how-to-make-perfect-meringue

And a very detailed description of all aspects of a lemon meringue pie from Procrastibaking:
http://procrastibaking.co.uk/2011/06/01/the-biochemistry-of-lemon-meringue-pie/

I never really like the meringue on lemon pie and my mom just folded it into the lemon for lemon chiffon pie instead...yummm...but the same tricks apply to make sure it does not lose its fluff.

UK's cheapest meal - a toast sandwich

2011-11-16T16:25:00.001-05:00

The Royal Society of Chemistry announced today that it has identified the cheapest meal you can make - a toast sandwich for 7.5p (about $0.12 Canadian).

Recipe: Toast a piece of bread - cool to room temperature. Place bread between two buttered slices of fresh bread and add salt and pepper to taste.

Great for invalids or the elderly back in the 1800s.

They have even offered a reward if anyone can make a cheaper meal that has as many calories!

Toast Sandwich recipe from Mrs Beeton's cookbook

The science in thanksgiving feasts!

2011-11-09T10:58:00.001-05:00

A bit late for our Canadian Thanksgiving but right on time for the US one:

The Chemical Keys to Thanksgiving Dinner

Joy of Science: Food Chemistry Series“A good meal must be as harmonious as a symphony and as well-constructed as a Norman cathedral.” Fernand Point, ‘Ma gastronomie’ (1897-1955). This can be said of Thanksgiving. Home cooked meals that traditionally took a full day and a host of hands to prepare now take just hours. So what have we lost with these age-old preparations? Chemistry. It’s in techniques like brining, marinating, basting, and slow cooking. It’s where seasons marry and interact – producing tender, succulent and flavorful dishes. Learn why old-fashioned, time-staking approaches to cooking still provide the best results.

Join us with celebrated scientist and author of the New York Times column, The Curious Cook, Dr. Harold McGee!
Learn More >>

Playing with liquid nitrogen

2011-11-01T10:55:00.000-04:00

Liquid nitrogen is cold - very very cold: -196°C or -321°F

But that does not mean it isn't safe!

The Modernist Cuisine Blog has an interesting post on this:
Is Liquid Nitrogen Safe?

I've used it in demos to create instant ice cream or frozen caramel corn. And I would concur with them that boiling oil is much more dangerous!!

Carbonated fruit

2011-10-31T16:19:00.000-04:00

I loved the idea of carbonated grapes as described in Modernist Cuisine (vol.2 page 469 ). They used a pressure chamber (such as a cream whipper or soda siphon), added the grapes and pressurized with carbon dioxide cartridges. This pushed the carbon dioxide into the fruit and caused it to fizz once the pressure is released and the grapes removed. Martin Lersch on his Kymos blog used this technique successfully on strawberries with a great scientific explanation.

I don't have a soda siphon - only a chemistry department. Inspired, I looked for alternative techniques.

The book on page 472 uses an alternative method to add fizz to an orange. According to MC take a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid and fill the bottom with dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide - be careful those pellets are cold cold cold! -78 degrees Celsius in fact) and if you happen to use a metal container to hold them, DO NOT touch it with your tongue like my son did...

Then place some paper towels or kitchen towel on top of the dry ice and place the fruit on top of that - this keeps the fruit from becoming frostbitten by the ice. Close the container and let the pressure build up inside - the lid may pop an number of times but just re-close it. After 30 minutes for grapes or much longer (overnight) for whole oranges or apples, you should have carbonated fruit.

I did try this but I think I did not have the right container because my fruit just got cold not fizzy. Here is an Instructable on another similar method: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/

So I began to think about other ways to maintain a pressure while allowing some release. No one at my Chemistry Department had a container that was big enough or could release pressure as needed. Then I thought of my handy dandy pressure cooker! It held pressure and could release the excess. So I tried it with the grapes - no luck. Turns out a pressure cooker only goes up to about 15 psi and I really needed at least 30 psi to get grapes to really fizz.

I then tried using my pressure cooker with watermelon - thinking that it is not so dense so would therefore absorb the gas faster. And it did! The pressure is too low to get visible bubbles coming off but the watermelon did fizz on the tongue. A big hit at the Chemistry Nuit Blanche food chemistry booth!

I forgot to take photos so I repeated the experiment recently using raspberries - yum!
I left them in for about 30 minutes.

Dry Ice at the bottom

Raspberries on top of an insulating layer

Odd to see the pressure up
when it is not on the stove!

I did find a couple of videos where they use a similar technique:

http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10185
http://www.howcast.com/videos/421415-How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit

Next purchase will be a cream whipper - it does not only make whipped cream...it makes carbonated fruit!

Food myths de-bunked

2011-10-27T19:06:00.003-04:00

Here is a neat article de-bunking with science and experts some of the most common myths about food:
http://lifehacker.com/5847591/10-stubborn-food-myths-that-just-wont-die

How many have you fallen for?

All the caffeine - none of the calories

2011-10-25T14:15:00.000-04:00

Using chemistry to keep away from that Double Double at Tim Hortons or the Grande Moccachino at Starbucks:

What We've All Been Waiting For: Zero-Calorie, 'Inhalable' Caffeine

Comfort food taken to the MAX!

2011-10-22T12:59:00.000-04:00

How to turn our everyday food into incredible visual and delicious courses...

unusual way to decant wine

2011-09-27T17:02:00.000-04:00

Modernist Cuisine reports a quick way to decant wine - with a blender!

got my library copy of Modernist Cuisine!

2011-09-23T09:06:00.002-04:00

And boy is it big! And beautiful! Already had found an idea for a demo - carbonated grapes....
I think I need to try this today! Can you tell I am excited - so many exclamation marks...

Modernist Cuisine - 40 lbs of yumm...

Cyanide in fruit pits - how many are safe to eat?

2011-09-01T15:56:00.000-04:00

The Art of Drink blogger, Darcy O'Neill, calculates how much cyanide can be produced in the human body by the ingestion of cherry and apricot pits: http://www.artofdrink.com/archive/research/cyanide-in-apricot-cherries-pits/

Cherry Pit Spit contest held at Blenheim Cherry Fest, 2009

http://ckdp.ca/2009/07/17/cherry-pit-spit-contest-held-at-blenheim-cherry-fest-photos-and-video/

Best to spit them out!!

Just in time for the summer heat - iced coffees and teas!

2011-07-19T23:50:00.000-04:00

Harold McGee just wrote an excellent column for the New York Times on the merits of hot brewing and cold steeping coffee and tea.

His conclusion - both are delicious but in different ways!

I think I will go and start some cold coffee steeping...hot days ahead....

Another ACS webinar on food chemistry - BBQing!!

2011-06-29T17:43:00.000-04:00

Just in time for the long weekend in Canada and the US! A webinar on the chemistry of grilling.

Advanced Culinary Chemistry — Sizzles for the Summer

Joy of Science: Food Chemistry SeriesThe ability to control fire for cooking meat was a major advancement in human progress. Sometime in the 20th century, men gathered to brag about their barbecue prowess and “The Great American BBQ” contest was born. Depending on where you’re from, “barbeque” might even be a local sport akin to the Olympics! What’s really behind the best barbecue? Is it the perfect blend of secret seasonings, the marinating, the basting, the wood chips, or is it the chemistry? Whether you’re a BBQ Olympian or just king of the backyard patio, get ready for the chemistry behind one of the most sought after aromas in barbecue – smoke house flavor!

If you can't tear yourself away from work (or the grill) to watch and listen tomorrow, the webinar will be available later for on demand viewing.

Gorgeous cutaway of a BBQ grill
from Modernist Cuisine

In the "because you can" category...

2011-06-23T15:50:00.000-04:00

Scott at Seattle Food Geek just wrote a post on zapping pickles, bacon and soy sauce with direct electric current: http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2011/06/video-electrified-pickles-high-voltage-bacon-shocking-soy-sauce/

Awesome photos!!

Feasting with your brain

2011-06-23T15:40:00.001-04:00

Here is a fascinating article on a different kind of culinary mastery - neurocuisine. A chef (and neurosurgeon!), Miguel Sánchez Romera, is opening a new restaurant in New York that offers tastes to stimulate your brain. He had already successfully owned a Michelin starred restaurant in Spain but was lured by Sant Chatwal, an Indian-born hospitality tycoon to open a New York restaurant in his new hotel this June.

His meals are a feast for the eyes which have direct connections to the brain and also are delicious, healthy and filling as well. But at $245/meal, his food is not for everyone. It will be interesting to read more about Romera's ideas in the future....if you can read Spanish, he has published some books already: http://www.miguelsanchezromera.com/
and here are some photos of his dishes:
http://obcn.zenfolio.com/neurogastronomy_by_miguel_sanchez_romera_and_oliver_brenneisen

magnifying magnificent food!

2011-06-06T13:25:00.000-04:00

Cake sprinkles - http://carenalpertfineart.com/img/gal/AlpertEM17.jpg

One food photographer decided to go up close and personal with food. Caren Alpert has produced a set of unbelievably beautiful photos of ordinary ingredients incredibly magnified using scientific equipment:
http://carenalpertfineart.com/gallery.html

If you couldn't quite make the connection between food and chemistry - these photos really help!

Burgers!!!

2011-05-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

Scientific American has just published an article highlighting a series of videos from NBC Learn's Chemistry Now series on the "Chemistry of Burgers" just in time for understanding all our summer BBQing...

Of course, the definitive how-to-make-the-best-burger-in-the-world is from Modernist Cuisine!!

The Wonderful World of Cheese!!

2011-05-25T16:01:00.000-04:00

Flickr photo by _gee_

Want to know more than you ever wanted to know about cheese?
There is another American Chemical Society food chemistry webinar tomorrow - all about cheese!

Remember if you can't be there on time tomorrow - the webinars are archived so you can watch them at your convenience.

So if you missed the wine webinar go here to see it: http://acswebinars.org/fenster
or the holiday cooking one: http://acswebinars.org/kitchenchemistry2010

Spagetti harvest

2011-04-10T17:58:00.000-04:00

An April Fools joke from the distant past!!

playing with food

2011-04-05T12:39:00.001-04:00

From http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2002/2051520228_c387fa4ea7_m.jpg

Here are some incredible examples of what you can create with veggies!! Not terribly chemistry oriented but fun nonetheless!

Joost Elffers and Saxton Freymann have created these creatures and published a number of books filled with them.

You can also go the very high art way too with veggies: the Art Chef creates masterpieces and passes on his skills in classes as well.

http://www.artchef.com/images/480_Watermelon_carving1_109_25335_36125_.jpg

Not strictly chemistry - but fun and useful!

2011-03-31T11:28:00.000-04:00

This hits my other love - power tools!

Cooking with Power tools: Stuffed Zucchini

Makes coring a zucchini or any other veggie a bit easier.
Part of the "Duh! why didn't I think of that!" category.

Molecular gastronomy is bringing constant temperature baths, vaccuum sealers and many other "power tools" into the kitchen...

Unusual soft drinks

2011-03-30T16:17:00.001-04:00

The New York Times recently highlighted a couple who are using their daytime work skills to create a new afterwork business: designer soda drinks!

A Chemist, an Artist and a Lot of Fizz
By day, Antonio Ramos is a medicinal chemist at the drug maker Sanofi-Aventis in Bridgewater, N.J., where he helps develop molecules for prescription drugs. In the evening, he puts his chemistry skill set to a different use: developing formulas for Brooklyn Soda Works, the artisanal soda company he started last year with his partner, Caroline Mak.

The flavours they have concocted include:

cucumber, lime & sea salt
grapefruit, jalapeno & honey
apple & ginger
Concord grape & fennel seed
strawberry, hops & pink peppercorn
raspberry & green peppercorn

and more are coming each week.

You can follow their progress and experiments with new flavours through their blog:
Brooklyn Soda Works

Making your own unusual sodas is as easy as getting a soda siphon and some juice! You can buy the siphons and cartridges of CO2 at many cooking stores or online.

You can also make fizzy drinks using baking soda:

But what if you didn’t have the money to buy soft drinks? What then? Believe it or not, people used to make their own soft drinks! Yep, right at home in their kitchens. Mostly, it was lemonade or limeade, or other fizzy or sweet drinks made from the juice of various citrius fruits. You took lemon-juice, sugar, water and baking-soda (that’s Bicarbonate of Soda or Sodium Bicarbonate) and mixed the ingredients in correct quantities. You left the mixture to stand for a while, to give the baking-soda time to react with the lemon-juice and the other ingredients, the result being that it fizzed up, to create fizzy lemonade. You can still make homemade lemonade like this, and recipes are available on the internet. Some substitute the baking-soda and water for soda-water instead, but the results are all similar. Fizzy, sweet, lemon-flavoured goodness on a hot summer’s day.

The chemistry involved in making beer (not drinking it!)

2011-03-24T11:40:00.027-04:00

Another webinar from the American Chemical Society
Advanced Chemistry of Beer and Brewing Live on March 31, 2011

Do you like your beer malty? Hoppy? Smooth? Light? Dark? How about in a chilled glass with a side of chemistry, instead of bad bar food? With over 1,500 professional breweries and many dedicated home brewers, the United States takes the lead in producing this popular alcoholic beverage. Whether you’re a seasoned home brewer or just like to go “where everybody knows your name,” you don’t want to miss Dr. Charlie Bamforth, brewskie extraordinaire and Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting & Brewing Sciences at UC Davis, as he brews up advanced insights and explanations about the chemistry behind beer brewing!

“Advanced Chemistry of Beer and Brewing” A short presentation followed by Q&A with speaker Charles Bamforth, Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting & Brewing Sciences at UC Davis.

What You Will Learn

The chemistry that underpins the quality of beer (foam, color, clarity, flavor).
The chemistry that makes beer the healthiest of drinks.
Differentiate between beers based on their chemistry
And much more…

Webinar Details

Date: Thursday, March 31, 2011

Time: 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Fee: Free

(https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/961101282)

All webinars are available as recordings afterwards too if you can't make the "live show"

Meat stocks examined

2011-03-14T16:16:00.000-04:00

Imagine doing a PhD in the kitchen? No, you don't get credits for cooking for the family or yourself everyday!

Martin Lersch from the Khymos blog just wrote an interesting post about a conference paper on meat stock. Pia Snitkjær studied meat stocks and how the cooking times and temperatures affected the outcomes. The thesis is downloadable from here: http://curis.ku.dk/portal-life/files/32448394/PHD.0111.pdf

PhD Thesis

It may not give you a recipe for the "perfect meat stock" but it might give you ideas as to what effect temperatures and times will have on the flavours you are seeking!

To refrigerate or not to refrigerate- that is the question

2011-02-25T15:28:00.000-05:00

Is mayonnaise the real culprit in a picnic food poisoning? Turns out that is probably not the case - it is most likely the food handling of the other ingredients that was the real reason.
Lee from the Chemist's Kitchen lays out the reasons that some old adages are incorrect:

Commercial mayonnaise is made in sterile conditions so the mayo itself is not a problem.
Mayo has a low water content and a high acid content so it is not an ideal environment for bacteria.
The main problems with the picnic/potluck potato/chicken salad is the the handling of the other ingredients - the potatoes, the chicken, etc. if left out too long prior to making the salad can begin to go bad or not washing raw vegetables well enough.
Also personal hygiene is often a source of bacteria - improper hand washing or a dirty cutting surface can introduce germs.

Typical ingredients in mayonnaise:

Homemade: egg, oil, spices, vinegar and/or lemon juice
A great simple recipe here: making mayonnaise with a stick blender
Commercial:
Hellman's mayonnaise contains
CANOLA OIL, WATER, LIQUID WHOLE EGG, VINEGAR, SALT, LIQUID YOLK, SUGAR, SPICES, CONCENTRATED LEMON JUICE AND CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA.
The commercial version will use pasteurized eggs so that they are sterilized and will also be made in a sterile environment.

The main preservatives in mayo are the vinegar and the lemon juice and, in the case of the commercial stuff, the calcium disodium EDTA (see below for more info on this chemical as an additive).

Here is an extended excerpt from Harold Mcgee's book, The Curious Cook (1990) with more info that you really need to know on Mayonnaise!
He also has a long section on mayonnaise in his book, On Food and Cooking.
Turns out you should be able to make about 23 litres of mayo using one egg yolk if done properly!!

Maria's Curry Mayo Dressing

My sister-in-law introduced me to her delicious dressing/dip/sauce!

Mix mayonnaise, curry powder (or curry paste), lemon or lime juice, and salt and pepper in a bowl.
All amounts are to your desired taste and texture.

Use it:

on cooked vegetables such as green beans or cauliflower
as a dip with rice crackers or french fries (or sweet potato fries - Yumm!)
in a thinner runnier form of caesar salad dressing

This a a great substitute for a cream sauce, sour cream or cream cheese in these situations. You can substitute almost any other flavours as well!

Extra info:
calcium disodium EDTA
FDA regulations as a food additive:
Calcium disodium ethylenediamine-tetraacetate [(calcium ethylenedinitrilo) tetraacetate]; calcium disodium EDTA - AF, REG, 25 ppm - Fermented malt beverages - 172.120; Antigushing agent; MISC, 60 ppm - Spice extractives in soluble carriers; Color & flavor; 100 ppm - Pecan pie filling, promote color retention; 340 ppm - Clams (cooked-canned), promote color retention; 800 ppm - Dry Pinto beans, promote color retention; 310 ppm - Promote color retention in dried lima beans (cooked, canned); 275 ppm -Crabmeat (cooked- canned), retard struvite formation, promote color retention; 250 ppm - Shrimp (cooked-canned), retard struvite formation, promote color retention; 33 ppm -Promote flavor in carbonated soft drinks; 110 ppm - Promote color retention in canned white potatoes; 200 ppm - Mushrooms (cooked, canned); 220 ppm - In pickled cucumbers or pickled cabbage; To promote color, flavor & texture retention; 100 ppm - Promote color retention in artificially colored lemon-flavored and orange-flavored spreads; 100 ppm - Potato salad, preservative; 75 ppm alone or comb with disodium EDTA - French dressing, mayonnaise, and salad dressing; non-standardized dressings and sauces, preservative; 100 ppm alone or comb /w disodium EDTA - Sandwich spread, preservative; 200 ppm by wt of egg yolk portion - Egg product that is hard-cooked & consists, in a cylindrical shape, of egg white w/an inner core of egg yolk, preservative; 25 ppm - In distilled alcoholic beverages - 172.120, promote stability of color, flavor and or product clarity; PRES, REG/MIA, 75 ppm - Oleomargarine - Part 166; 365 ppm - Promote color retention in legumes (all cooked canned, other than dried lima beans, pink beans and red beans) - 172.120

Honey - an almost perfect food

2011-02-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

Did you know that honey is one of the only foods that does not spoil easily? The high sugar content means there are very few unattached water molecules so it is not a very hospitable environment for microbes.

The two main sugars are fructose and glucose.

So my first molecular cuisine experiment involved honey - Honey sheets!

Ingredients are simple:

1/2 cup Honey

1/2 cup water

I package agar agar

Fruit to wrap

Agar agar is a wonderful gelling product - it is made from the mucilage (the gooey stuff that oozes out) of a seaweed. It also has no calories and is high in fibre. It gels a bit stronger than gelatin so is useful in some recipes. Some people use it to help dieting by eating less - eating a food with agar agar in it before a meal will make you feel fuller faster.

Recipe instructions (from the Molecule-R DVD):

Boil up the water, honey and agar agar powder. Then pour a small amount on a plate (like making a pancake) spread it evenly and then refrigerate it for 15 minutes. You can then cut out a round shape on the plate and even pick it up!

Wrap your favourite fruits and enjoy! The agar agar is tasteless so the gel only tastes like honey -yummm...

molecular gastronomy lecture/demo?

2011-02-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

Just found a lecture to be held in Toronto next week - I can't make it but perhaps some others can!
http://www.otbfoods.com/otbfoods/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=35&zenid=8s7f7gm2htstfbl0sdfi4nb033
It is at the Humber College North campus ( between the 427 and 409)

Edible paper for the edible inks

2011-01-28T11:49:00.001-05:00

I should have added this to the other post but in addition to the ink you need something to print on - edible paper!
After some hunting on the internet, I did find the ingredient list for the "frosting paper" sold by KopyKakes.

INGREDIENTS: Water, glucose syrup, corn starch, microcrystal cellulose, sorbit, glycerin, microcrystal cellulose & CMC, starch syrup, locust bean gum, titanium dioxide powder, glucose syrup powder solid, methyl cellulose, potassium sorbate.

From http://www.edibleinkpaper.com/otheredibles.htm

Basically it is a sheet made up of sugar and water with some other ingredients added to give to flexibility and strength.

Titanium dioxide powder sounds ominous but it is used as a whitening agent (often used in toothpaste as well)
Sorbit is a sugar substitute
microcrystal cellulose & CMC and methyl cellulose are used in pills and such stuff since makes the material compressible into either pills or, in this case, paper

There are also edible ink markers for free hand creating!

Got time on your hands?

2011-01-26T13:12:00.000-05:00

I kept finding so many cool and innovative ways of teaching/showing/complaining about chemistry that I decided to start a second blog called "off the wall chemistry"

When you want to goof off for a few minutes or get lost on the digital highway for a few hours - take a look!

Everything you didn’t want to know about Cool Whip from Alltop

2011-01-25T12:05:00.001-05:00

I don't usually "do" Cool Whip but it has been known to happen - maybe not anymore?

Everything you didn’t want to know about Cool Whip [infographic]

and here is a recipe to tempt you anyway!!

Berries in a Cloud Jello Dessert

I need this too! A molecular cuisine kit

2011-01-21T16:03:00.000-05:00

A reader sent me this link to a most awesome kit for doing some of the most basic molecular gastronomy tricks:
http://www.molecule-r.com/0-13-promotion-products-cuisine-r-evolution.html
Order from Molecule-R, a Montreal, Quebec company!
check out this video:

Ok, so I ordered it... I'll let you know how stuff came out once I get it!!

I did look at the ingredients list included and it has a number of the chemicals that are included in so many of the products on the store shelves:

Sodium alginate
Agar agar
Xanthum gum
Soy Lethicin

Should be fun finally understanding why these items are added to everything!!

Putting photos on cookies and cakes

2011-01-13T11:11:00.000-05:00

Found these neat cookies on one of my blogs and followed the link to the Bridget the baker at her "Bake at 350" blog. She uses edible inks and paper on an inkjet printer.

So what the heck are edible inks and how does they work?

Well, if you want to know what the ingredients are of anything involving chemicals there is probably an MSDS for it. MSDS stands for Material Safety Data Sheet and is US government mandated for any chemical products produced or sold in the United States. It is a way that purchasers, suppliers and their employees will know what is in the products and be able to handle it safely and dispose of it appropriately. You can usually google "productname MSDS" and something will pop up if it is easily available. Even stuff that is basically harmless will have an MSDS (try: "maple syrup MSDS")

So I searched for the MSDS for edible inks and found the ingredient list for Candymark edible inks

FD& C Yellow No.5 (21 CFR 74.705)

FD& C Red No.3 (21 CFR 74.303)

FD& C Blue No.1 (21 CFR 74.101)

FD& C Red No.40 (21 CFR 74.340)

Deionized Water* (No 21 CFR references exist for water)

Propylene Glycol* (21 CFR 184.1666)

Ethyl Alcohol* (21 CFR 184.1293)

*Volatile components that could remain present in small quantities after printing, depending on the absorptivity of the food product and the drying mechanisms used once the inks have been applied.

Since edible inks are made up of a number of chemicals, you would have to search for an MSDS for each one since the MSDS's are usually for a chemical not a mixture. Here is a link to the MSDS for FD&C Yellow no. 5: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924021

Section 3: Hazards Identification

Potential Acute Health Effects: Very hazardous in case of inhalation. Hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion.

Potential Chronic Health Effects:

Very hazardous in case of inhalation. Hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion. CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. MUTAGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. TERATOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY: Not available.

Section 4: First Aid Measures

Eye Contact:

Check for and remove any contact lenses. Immediately flush eyes with running water for at least 15 minutes, keeping eyelids open. Cold water may be used. Do not use an eye ointment. Seek medical attention.

Skin Contact: No known effect on skin contact, rinse with water for a few minutes.

Note that the dangers may seem exaggerated in some cases but that the warning is for the purest form and often in bulk. A tiny bit of food colouring (which is already diluted in water) is not going to hurt you or else there would be greater warnings on the packaging as well.

The numbers in brackets are Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) references that cover these chemicals. The regulations determine how much of these chemicals are allowed in food in the United States.

TITLE 21 - FOOD AND DRUGS

CHAPTER I - FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: SUBCHAPTER A - GENERAL: PART 74 - LISTING OF COLOR ADDITIVES SUBJECT TO CERTIFICATION:subpart a - FOODS: 74.705 - FD&C Yellow No. 5.

(a) Identity.

The color additive FD&C Yellow No. 5 is principally the trisodium salt of 4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-4-[4-sulfophenyl-azo]-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid (CAS Reg. No. 1934210). To manufacture the additive, 4-amino-benzenesulfonic acid is diazotized using hydrochloric acid and sodium nitrite. The diazo compound is coupled with 4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid or with the methyl ester, the ethyl ester, or a salt of this carboxylic acid. The resulting dye is purified and isolated as the sodium salt.
Color additive mixtures for food use made with FD&C Yellow No. 5 may contain only those diluents that are suitable and that are listed in part 73 of this chapter as safe for use in color additive mixtures for coloring foods.

(b) Specifications. FD&C Yellow No. 5 shall conform to the following specifications and shall be free from impurities other than those named to the extent that such other impurities may be avoided by good manufacturing practice: Sum of volatile matter at 135 C (275 F) and chlorides and sulfates (calculated as sodium salts), not more than 13 percent.

Water-insoluble matter, not more than 0.2 percent.
4,4-[4,5-Dihydro-5-oxo-4-[(4-sulfophenyl)hydrazono]-1H-pyrazol-1,3-diyl]bis[benzenesulfonic acid], trisodium salt, not more than 1 percent.
4-[(4,5-Disulfo[1,1-biphenyl]-2-yl)hydrazono]-4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid, tetrasodium salt, not more than 1 percent.
Ethyl or methyl 4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-4-[(4-sulfophenyl)hydrazono]-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylate, disodium salt, not more than 1 percent.
Sum of 4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-1-phenyl-4-[(4-sulfophenyl)azo]-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid, disodium salt, and 4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-4-(phenylazo)-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid, disodium salt, not more than 0.5 percent.
4-Aminobenzenesulfonic acid, sodium salt, not more than 0.2 percent.
4,5-Dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid, disodium salt, not more than 0.2 percent.
Ethyl or methyl 4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylate, sodium salt, not more than 0.1 percent.
4,4-(1-Triazene-1,3-diyl)bis[benzenesulfonic acid], disodium salt, not more than 0.05 percent.
4-Aminoazobenzene, not more than 75 parts per billion.
4-Aminobiphenyl, not more than 5 parts per billion.
Aniline, not more than 100 parts per billion.
Azobenzene, not more than 40 parts per billion.
Benzidine, not more than 1 part per billion.
1,3-Diphenyltriazene, not more than 40 parts per billion.
Lead (as Pb), not more than 10 parts per million.
Arsenic (as As), not more than 3 parts per million

All of the info I found above is freely available on the internet. So if you are interested or suspicious about what you are cooking with or eating - do some browsing!

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) - not an allergy!

2011-01-07T15:36:00.001-05:00

In my grad school days, I revelled in the cheap and tasty eats in Toronto's Chinatown but found that after these meals my ears would ring and the tip of my nose would get numb - I thought I had an allergy to MSG.

Turns out a lot of folks thought that too (called it Chinese restaurant syndrome) but they/we were too quick to point fingers. Turns out that there was a bit of racialization in this accusation that it was Chinese food only that creates these reactions. Professor Ian Mosby of York University wrote a history article on how the connection between MSG and chinese food came about:

This paper examines the ‘discovery’ of the Chinese restaurant syndrome in 1968 and subsequent reactions by the medical community, scientists, public health authorities and the general public to dangers posed by the common food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) and by Chinese cooking more generally. It argues that Chinese restaurant syndrome was, at its core, a product of a racialised discourse that framed much of the scientiﬁc, medical and popular discussion surrounding the condition. This particular debate brought to the surface a number of widely held assumptions about the strangely ‘exotic’, ‘bizarre’ and ‘excessive’ practices associated with Chinese cooking which, ultimately, meant that few of those studying the Chinese restaurant syndrome would question the ethnic origins of the condition.

Research has shown that allergies to the MSG are few and far between - for most people it is probably a sensitivity to something else in the food. In proper clinical trials, people who were convinced they were allergic, could eat food with MSG added without any reaction if they did not know it had been added. There is some speculation that MSG could increase a person's sensitivity to something else in the food though.

In fact, the flavour imparted by MSG, unami, is one of the five primary tastes (salty, bitter, sweet, and sour are the other four) and is present in many foods that we eat regularly.

In the West, Brillat-Savarin in his classic 1825 treatise “The Physiology of Taste” proposed the name “osmasome” to identify the essence of meaty taste, but was not able to isolate the key substance. The discovery of umami in Japan may have been in part due to the simplicity of “dashi,” which is prepared simply by dipping dried kelp (konbu) into boiling water. At the beginning of the 20th century, Ikeda noticed that an unidentified taste quality, dis- tinct from the four basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour and bitter), was present in palatable foods. He detected this taste most clearly in soups and in “dashi” prepared from kelp (konbu) or dried skipjack (katsuobushi), both of which have been used traditionally in Japanese cooking. Subsequently, he investi- gated the constituents of the dried konbu and discovered the taste to be contributed by the glutamate it contained. He named this taste “umami”. From: Yamaguchi S, Ninomiya K., J Nutr. 2000 Apr;130(4S Suppl):921S-6S. Umami and food palatability

This table shows some of the glutamate levels in food ("no msg added"):

Yamaguchi S, Ninomiya K., J Nutr. 2000 Apr;130(4S Suppl):921S-6S. Umami and food palatability

[This table begs further research into why parmesan cheese has such a high glutamate count compared to other cheeses - in a future post perhaps.]

L-Glutamic acid is the amino acid component of MSG, and has a long history of use in foods as a flavor enhancer. It is added either as the purified monosodium salt or as a component of a mix of amino acids and small peptides resulting from the acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins. This amino acid is a major constituent of food proteins (in some foods comprising 20% of the total amino acid content), a pivotal metabolic intermediate in amino acid metabolism and a major energy source for cardiac myocytes. Regardless of dietary source (protein, protein hydrolysates or salts of free glutamic acid, including the monosodium salt MSG), all glutamate molecules entering the circulation from the gastrointestinal tract are structurally identical.

Raif S. Geha, Alexa Beiser, Clement Ren, et al. Review of Alleged Reaction to Monosodium Glutamate and Outcome of a Multicenter Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study.
J. Nutr. April 2000 130: 1058 suppl.

So according to Geha et al ("et al" means "and all the other authors of the paper") it should not matter where you get glutamate molecules - they should all give you a reaction if you are going to get one.

So try a tomato and polenta tart (loaded with naturally occurring glutamates):

From: http://guiltykitchen.com/2010/08/20/heirloom-tomato-polenta-tart-and-a-giveaway/

Heirloom Tomato & Polenta Tart

Photo from Guilty Kitchen

Yield: One 9″ Tart, about 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 60 minutes

4 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup coarse whole grain cornmeal
2 Tbsp butter
2 medium sized cobs of fresh corn
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
90g Parmesan Cheese, grated fine
2 Tbsp butter
300 g ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 1/2 lb. Heirloom tomatoes (about 2 large tomatoes), sliced (about 1/4″ thick)
sea or kosher salt to taste
fresh cracked pepper to taste

1. In a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring stock to a boil.
2. In an even stream, pour in the cornmeal, whisking as you do so. Stir in salt.
3. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer, stirring very often. Continue to stir and check on the polenta for the next 30-40 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in another large saucepan, fill about half way with water and add about a tsp of salt. Bring to a boil, add in the corn and cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Remove the corn and run under cold water to stop the cooking process and make it easy to handle.
6. Hold the corn upright (vertically) and run a knife blade down all sides to remove the kernels.
7. In a large sauté pan, melt 2 Tbsp of butter and add in the corn, rosemary and garlic. Sauté on medium high until the corn begins to take on a golden look to it and the garlic is fully cooked. About 6-7 minutes.
8. When the polenta is finished, stir in 2 tbsp of butter, some pepper and the Parmesan cheese. Mix in the corn and rosemary mixture as well and set aside for a minute.
9. Remove ricotta from refrigerator and stir in one egg and salt and pepper to taste, mixing until completely incorporated.
10. Grease a 9″ round baking dish (preferably glass).
11. Line greased baking dish with polenta, pushing it up so it meets the sides and leaves a bit of a well in the center for the remaining ingredients. Kind of like you are making a very thickly crusted pie.
12. Pour the seasoned ricotta into the well and even it out with a spatula or large spoon.
13. Top tart with concentric rings of tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper and bake in a 400°F oven for 45-60 minutes.
14. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serve with a side salad for a wonderfully refreshing, seasonal dinner.

UPDATE: Additional reference!

If MSG is so bad for you, why doesn't everyone in Asia have a headache?
Alex Renton
The Observer, Sunday 10 July 2005

References

A. N. Williams, K. M. Woessner, “Monosodium glutamate 'allergy': menace or myth?” Clinical & Experimental Allergy May 2009, 39(5), Pages: 640-646

Ian Mosby, `That Won-Ton Soup Headache’: The Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, MSG and the Making of American Food, 1968–1980 Social History of Medicine April 2009, 22 (1), pg. 133-151

Raif S. Geha, Alexa Beiser, Clement Ren, et al. Review of Alleged Reaction to Monosodium Glutamate and Outcome of a Multicenter Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study. Journal of Nutrition April 2000 130, 1058 suppl.

"colors of chemistry" and cooking!

2011-01-04T10:21:00.001-05:00

The American Chemical Society is celebrating the International Year of Chemistry with a monthly photo contest called the "Colors of Chemistry" and each month will have a different theme - coincidentally, the first month's theme is "chemistry in our food"!

Here is a list of the other themes and the entry dates:

Month	Theme	Entry Deadline	Voting Phase
January	Food	Jan 15, 2011	Jan 16-31, 2011
February	Animals	Feb 15, 2011	Feb 16-28, 2011
March	Water	Mar 15, 2011	Mar 16-31, 2011
April	Pastimes	Apr 15, 2011	Apr 16-30, 2011
May	Drinks	May 15, 2011	May 16-31, 2011
June	Atmosphere	Jun 15, 2011	Jun 16-30, 2011
July	Technology	Jul 15, 2011	Jul 16-31, 2011
August	Gardens	Aug 15, 2011	Aug 16-31, 2011
September	Microbes	Sep 15, 2011	Sep 16-30, 2011
October	Forests	Oct 15, 2011	Oct 16-31, 2011
November	Soil	Nov 15, 2011	Nov 16-30, 2011
December	Cities	Dec 15, 2011	Dec 16-31, 2011

For examples of photos used in the ACS Colors of Chemistry calendar click here.

So if you like photography, food and chemistry, here is a contest for you!

In time for New Years!

2010-12-29T09:59:00.002-05:00

The science of drinking bubbly

A new study in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry confirms what a lot of us already knew - the glass, the way you pour and the temperature is all important to the taste of Champagne:

J Agri Food Chem 2010, 58, 8768-8775

The analysis in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry uses fast photography, infrared light, diffusion coefficients and a lot of equations with Greek letters to measure what happens to bubbles with different pouring methods.

Skipping the equations, it turns out that pouring gently down the side of a glass preserves about twice as much carbon dioxide (bubbles) as pouring straight down to the bottom of the glass.

But that wasn't all: The shape of the glass also matters. Tall "flutes" preserve bubbles far better than the wide, shallow glasses sometimes used in North America.

And bubbles stay longer if the champagne is really cold — which affects both the density of the wine (cold is more dense) and its surface tension.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/science+drinking+bubbly/4030856/story.html#ixzz19VnPmvFC

Citation:

On the Losses of Dissolved CO2 during Champagne Serving

Grard Liger-Belair, Marielle Bourget, Sandra Villaume, Philippe Jeandet, Herv Pron, Guillaume Polidori

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2010 58 (15), 8768-8775

Tenderizing meat with kiwi juice

2010-12-17T11:22:00.000-05:00

I read somewhere that Kiwi juice can tenderize meat.

So, of course, I did an experiment!

I took two beef fast-fry steaks and marinated one in crushed kiwi and the other in some soy sauce and vinegar ('cause I like that marinade)

I let the meat marinade for a couple of hours - although some recipes say that might be too long.

The steak in the kiwi marinade felt a lot floppier than the soy sauce marinade:

I fried up some onions and garlic in olive oil and then placed the steaks in the pan. I used a trick I had recently seen on a cooking show - to brown the meat well, since fast-fry steaks often curl a bit in the pan, fill a pot half full with water and place it on top of the steaks to press them down. Choose a pot that is slightly smaller at the base than the frying pan so most of the meat is covered. The increased contact with the bottom of the pan will brown the meat better. Leave it for a few minutes and then turn the meat. I just threw in the marinade from both the steaks so the gravy it produced was both sweet, salty and tart - a lovely combo. Served with egg noodles it was delicious.

I had cut each steak in half and served my son and I one of each marinade for the taste test. The verdict was that the kiwi marinade was a bit more tender (although with fast-fry steaks it is a bit hard to differentiate) but we liked the marinade of the soysauce better - need to work on adding other flavours to the kiwi marinade. But the gravy I made with the pan drippings were delicious!

So why did the meat tenderize more?

Turns out that kiwis, pineapples, mango and papaya contain an enzyme that will break down the protein in meats. The enzyme, actinidin, is called a protease enzyme. Enzymes are very large molecules - so large that scientists need a shorthand to describe them - they make them look like ribbons:

Actinidin

Sequence - each letter represents part of the molecule and the squiggles and arrows indicate how the molecule folds and twists

Parts of the enzyme react with the proteins to break the bonds which degrade the cellular structure of the meat.

"protease is any enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain forming the protein." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protease

One protein involved is Actin (which is involved with the muscular tissues)

From Wikicommons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Actin_with_ADP_highlighted.png

As you can see proteins and enzymes are similar since they are both macromolecules. The actinidine reacts with the amino acid parts of the protein to break the big chains and therefore break down the strength of the muscle meat and tenderize it...

By the way, our bodies also contain proteases such as pepsin and serine to help us break down and digest the rest of the protein we eat.

Addendum (Sept 7, 2011): Just found this M.Sc.(Food Science) thesis by Jin Han on tenderizing lamb with kiwi juice:

THE EFFECT OF PRE-RIGOR INFUSION OF LAMB WITH KIWIFRUIT JUICE ON MEAT QUALITY

I need these!!

2010-12-10T12:33:00.001-05:00

Cool stocking stuffers for the chemistry cooks in your list!
Cookie cutters of test tubes and beakers!

Photo from Science lab cookie cutters

And to make the cool icing designs here is a wonderful blog with a great recipe for royal icing (the icing that gets really hard) and "flood"icing to fill in the colours:

Pioneer Woman - Decorated Christmas cookies

Lemon-honey dressing and handedness

2010-12-07T16:02:00.000-05:00

My son "invented" a very simple salad dressing with two ingredients, lemon juice and honey. I put the invented in quotes since a simple internet search reveals a number of recipes for this already: Jamie Oliver, Great Grub, and even Martha Stewart. Many of these add extra ingredients - olive oil, pepper, herbs and spices. My son's was pure - lemon juice and honey...
I actually like his recipe on one of my favourite salads. It is a mix of romaine lettuce sliced finely, chopped apple, chopped avocado, green or red peppers, and raisins (and sometimes pomegranate)

The dressing makes the salad very light and refreshing!

Limonene is the chemical that makes oranges and lemons smell so lovely - but it is also the piney smell of turpentine...how can this be?

Well, limonene is actually what is called a chiral chemical - it has two forms with almost the same structure:

The D-limonene (also called R-limonene) is the chemical found in the skins of oranges and lemons and has been produced in about 95% purity from the waste of orange juice production for many years!

The L-limonene ( or S-limonene) has been extracted purely from turpentine and from the plant Eucalyptus Stageriana. Some is present in the skins of oranges and lemons too.

The R and S refer to the "handedness" of the molecules. Your right and left hands are chiral - they are un-superimposable mirror images. R comes from the latin Rectus and S from the latin Sinister - right and left.

Chiral compounds often are very similar in properties to each other but sometimes exhibit quite different properties. R- and S-limonene have this effect - R-limonene is orangey smelling while the S version is more lemony smelling. The same is true for a related chiral molecule: R- and S-carvone.
R-carvone has the odor of spearmint and the S-carvone is the smell of caraway!

References:

Theodore J. Leitereg, Dante G. Guadagni, Jean. Harris, Thomas R. Mon, Roy. Teranishi (1971) Chemical and sensory data supporting the difference between the odors of the enantiomeric carvones. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 19 (4), pp 785–787 DOI: 10.1021/jf60176a035
L. Friedman & J.G. Miller, Odor incongruity and chirality, Science, 172, 1044-6 (1971)

David J. Willock (2008) Molecular symmetry,

pg 41

A.F. Thomas and Y. Bessiere (1989) Natural Product Reports, 6, 291.

DOI: 10.1039/NP9890600291

free webinar with two top foodie scientists

2010-11-29T22:07:00.001-05:00

On Wed Dec 9 there is a free webinar sponsored by the American Chemical Society and hosted by two leading molecular gastronomy gurus, Peter Barham, author of "The Science of Cooking", and Shirley Corriher, author of CookWise and BakeWise.

Just go to this link and register to get the details:
http://acswebinars.org/kitchenchemistry2010

Hear you there!

Addendum (Dec 10, 2010) : If you missed the webinar, you can still listen to the recorded session at the same link - also there are some awesome sounding recipes listed as well.

Product ingredients labels - sugars

2010-11-29T13:56:00.000-05:00

We have all heard the sensational headlines about this or that additive to food that is suddenly thought to be unhealthy or the latest magic bullet! I thought I would include an occasional set of posts on some of the ingredients that are in the processed foods we buy. I'll try to explain simply why they are added and if necessary link to some studies about their health effects (although remember everything is hazardous to your health if taken in too large a quantity - even water*)

Since I recently posted on making brittle, I will briefly discuss sugars.

Many food products have either sugar, glucose or fructose as added ingredients. Sucrose is often made from sugar cane or sugar beets and is the most commonly found ingredient in soft drinks and foods.
Fructose is the sugar produced by fruits and lactose is the sugar found in milk.

Sucrose and lactose have similar structures as do glucose and fructose.

Sucrose and lactose (as well as many starches) are broken down into glucose in our digestive tract. We need a steady level of glucose to remain healthy - the body produces insulin to control the amount of glucose - extra glucose is turned into fat which can be changed back to glucose when needed. Diabetics have problems producing insulin in their livers and end up with too much glucose in their bloodstream which makes them hyperglycemic. They need to either very strictly control their intake of sugars and starches and/or take insulin to make up for what their body is not producing.

A healthy body balances our sugar intake with insulin production - and if we eat too much sugar (my bad..) we create fat!

We eat via food and drink tremendous amounts of sugar - sugar is added to almost everything since it tastes so good!

One hundred and fifty-six pounds. That's how much added sugar Americans consume each year on a per capita basis, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Imagine it: 31 five-pound bags for each of us.
That's not to say that we get most of the sugar in our diets directly from the sugar bowl. Only about 29 pounds of it comes as traditional sugar, or sucrose, according to The Sugar Association, a trade group of sugar manufacturers. The rest comes from foods.
Of course, those foods include things like candy, soda, and junk food. But plenty of sugar is hiding in places where you might not expect it.
Some types of crackers, yogurt, ketchup, and peanut butter, for instance, are loaded with sugar -- often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS. Use of this sweetener has increased 3.5% per year in the last decade, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). That's twice the rate at which the use of refined sugar has grown.

From " The Hidden Ingredient That Can Sabotage Your Diet: Do you know how much sugar you're eating?" John Casey

A 12 ounce (355 mls) bottle of soda has typically 35-39 grams of sugar! Would you sit down and eat 7 teaspoons of sugar? But you would drink a can of Coke (actually I don't - I find it way too sweet!) but even one of my favourites is root beer and it is just as sweet. Fruit juices are not much better even when they are pure juice (with no added sugar) - the fruit just contains fructose instead of sucrose.
Here is a video that shows just how much sugar this really is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F10EyGwd57M

So read the labels!

* Disclaimer: the link is a hoax - dihydrogen monoxide = water H2O

Refs
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2747/does-giving-sweets-to-kids-produce-a-sugar-rush

Vegetables and pH of water

2010-11-23T13:46:00.000-05:00

Addendum Nov. 2, 2011: Here is another good set of experiments and explanation on keeping greens green!:
http://www.whycook.org/2011/09/green-vegetables-green/

The pH of the water you cook with can affect the quality of the final boiled vegetables (baking or stir-frying do not count here since the vegetables are not surrounded by water) I have noticed this most in the leafy greens (eg. kale and collards) and other green veggies. Kale's vibrant green colour can be preserved better if you add a tiny bit of vinegar to the cooking water especially near the end.

The cell walls and membranes of vegetables contain proteins, cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectins.

During cooking some of the proteins are denatured by heat and the celluloses and pectins are lost based on the pH of the water – the hemicelluloses are dissolved by basic water and the pectins by more acidic water.

Denatured and reformed proteins

from: Geoffrey Cooper, The Cell - The Molecular Approach, 2nd ed, p.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=cooper&part=A249

Pectins aid in giving fruit and veggies solidity – loss of pectin makes them mushy. We use pectin in jam making to create the gell (i nearly spelt that "Jell" - the omnipresence of brand names..) – it does the same thing within the plant cells.

Cellulose is not easily dissolved – it is a one of the basic building blocks of plants and not digestible by our stomachs (excellent source of fibre though!) - it is a chain of sugar molecules but because of the way it is formed it is very resistant to being broken down by chemicals.

The hemicelluloses and pectins also form parts of the cell walls and they can be dissolved so their loss will make the veggies softer.

Experiment 1:

Cooked green beans in salt water (left) and acidic water - added vinegar (right) for the exact same length of time.

The beans cooked in the acidic water lost their colour significantly and tasted vinegary (probably used too much vinegar!)

Experiment 2:
Cooked sugar snap beans in salt water (1/2 tsp), baking soda water (1/2 tsp) and vinegar water (1 tsp)

acidic water
the sugar snap beans retained their colour and crispness without colouring the water

basic water
still crisp but outer skin a bit slimy - flavour still good - water was quite green (removal of vitamins

salt water
colour retained - flavour good - water coloured like the basic water (salt is a bit basic too)

So if you want to keep the veggies crisp add a little bit of vinegar to the water - seems to also help retain the colour and therefore probably the vitamins - although heating any food will break down the vitamins to a certain extent so there is always loss.

Another idea to explore later - do we traditionally use a vinegar based dressing on salads to aid the digestion in addition to tasting really nice??

Reference:
Harold Mcgee 1984. On Food and Cooking, p.147-180.

From sugar to brittle and back?

2010-11-22T13:49:00.001-05:00

I tried to make almond brittle using maple syrup instead of corn syrup - I ended up making maple tasting sugar crystals... what did I do wrong in hindsight?

From this to this!

Normally in making brittle type candies it seems all you need to do is to melt sugar and create a liquid that then hardens like a glass. Here is an example from Allrecipes.com.

Mom's best Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 cup peanuts
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside. [or you can use parchment paper instead]
In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium hear, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in peanuts. Set candy thermometer in place and continue stirring. Stir frequently until the temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. with 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.
All rights reserved copyright 2010 Allrecipes.com

This recipe works beautifully so why did my simple substitution of the maple syrup end up crystallizing instead of staying glassy?

Turns out that corn syrup and maple syrup are actually quite different not only in taste. Corn syrup is mainly glucose and maple syrup is mainly sucrose (as is plain white sugar) The addition of the corn syrup to the brittle recipe is to interrupt the reformation of sugar crystals at the high temperatures when the mixture is supersaturated. We want the supersaturation to create the glassy liquid but, in a pure sucrose mixture at high heat, any crystal that is in the pot can create a rapid crystallization of the whole mixture which is what happened in my case!

As I researched a bit more I discovered that most brittle recipes that use maple syrup also add some butter at the beginning as this will also help prevent the crystallization from occurring by keeping the sugar molecules separated by minute amounts of oil.

So I redid my experiment: I took the recrystallized sugars, blended them until they were small crystals again and remelted them - this time with 2 tablespoons of butter added immediately. Panic set in at the 250 degree mark as it looked like it was going to crystallize again (Sidenote: Use a silicon or very sooth spatula to stir; not a wooden spoon as there are many more crystallization sites on a rough surface!) but I kept stirring and finally it stayed melted at about 300 degrees (hard crack). I added some roasted almonds and poured the mixture onto a baking tray covered in parchment paper. The colour was much darker since it had been double-heated but it tastes yummy!

Here is a proper maple sugar brittle recipe

Maple Walnut Brittle

1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter
1/4 cup water
2 cups toasted walnut pieces

In heavy bottomed saucepan, over medium heat, stir together syrup, sugar, butter and water until melted and creamy. Continue to gently boil and do not stir until candy thermometer reaches 300°F (150°) “hard crack”. Immediately stir in walnuts and carefully pour hot mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet and spread out to a thin layer with a wooden spoon. Cool completely.

Break into large pieces and store in an airtight container.   Makes 1 pound.

Recipe provided courtesy of the American Heart Association.

Added references
For more maple sugar info:
Maple fact sheet 202
Ochef - Using Sugar, Brown Sugar, Honey, & Maple Syrup Interchangeably
And a quick scientific overview of how the sugars differ in making candy:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar.html

Baking Soda vs Baking Powder

2010-11-13T22:41:00.027-05:00

I've had these two boxes as staples in my baking supplies forever as do most of homes. We follow the instructions to use one or the other (or both) in our recipes but do we know why?

I knew that baking soda makes great volcanoes when mixed with vinegar but why do some recipes use baking soda and some baking powder?

I read that the same ingredient, sodium bicarbonate, is in both but there is something more in baking powder. I did some experiments (as all ex-chemistry students like to do – or is it just me?)

I added a tablespoon (or 15 mls) of baking soda to a glass (left) and did the same with the baking powder (right).

Then I added about 50 mls (¼ cup) of water to each. I did not see much difference except the baking soda had larger clear bubbles than the baking powder but not much more action.

Then I tried the same experiment with vinegar! Wow!

The baking soda erupted! The baking powder did bubble a bit but very little in comparison.

Next, I decided to do a simple baking experiment – biscuits. The recipe normally uses baking powder.

Basic biscuits*

Preheat oven to 425°F

Sift together

2 cups flour

3 teaspon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Cut in

¼ cup shortening

Add all at once, stirring until soft ball is formed:

¾ cup milk

Turn dough onto floured board, knead lightly 20-25 times. Roll or pat dough ½ inch thick. Cut with floured biscuit cutter or glass. Place on ungreased baking sgheet and bake 10-12 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 18-20.

*Doris Janzen Longacre, More-with-Less Cookbook, Scottsdale: Herald Press, 1976, p.72

Now a scientific experiment includes experimental details (a recipe) and the parameters (ingredients) are changed to determine how the results will differ.

I followed the recipe above exactly for the one batch of biscuits and just substituted baking soda for the baking powder in the the second batch and used a double-acting baking soda in the third batch.

Now an comparative experiment must have the exact same conditions for all batches so I put all the biscuits on the same cookie sheet for the oven.

Then I baked the three batches to see what the small change in ingredients made to the final product.

Wow! Quite the difference! The baking soda biscuits look wonderful but actually tasted quite bitter. The paler golden biscuits in the middle tasted the way biscuits should taste and the double acting ones were a bit taller and more speckled and tasted very similar to the baking powder ones but a tiny bit bitterer.

So why the variety? Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate which is a chemical base and needs the addition of an acid to create a reaction.

Sodium bicarbonate

(IUPAC name: Sodium hydrogen carbonate)

The original test with the vinegar results in the following reaction:

NaHCO₃ + CH₃COOH → CH₃COONa + H₂O + CO₂(g)

You can see that the mixture of the sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO_3, and acetic acid, CH₃COOH, creates sodium acetate and water and carbon dioxide - it is the carbon dioxide that creates the explosion of bubbles!

So recipes using baking soda alone also must include something like buttermilk to play the role of the acid in the reaction above. The milk in the biscuits reacted with some of the sodium bicarbonate but not all of it so the biscuits were bitter which is the natural taste of the baking soda.

The first baking powder I used contains sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, corn starch, and mono calcium phosphate.

Sodium acid pyrophosphate

(IUPAC name: Disodium dihydrogen diphosphate)

Monocalcium phosphate

(IUPAC name: Calcium dihydrogen phosphate)

Calcium dihydrogen phosphate is also used in the food industry as a leavening agent to cause baked goods to rise. Because it is acidic, when combined with an alkali ingredient – commonly sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or potassium bicarbonate – it reacts to produce carbon dioxide and a salt. The carbon dioxide gas is what leavens the baked good. When combined in a ready-made baking powder, the acid and alkali ingredients are included in the right proportions such that they will exactly neutralize each other and not significantly affect the overall pH of the product. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocalcium_phosphate

The double action baking powder contains corn starch, sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum sulphate and acid calcium phosphate (mono calcium phosphate by another name).

The main use for SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, is as a leavening agent or acid for mixing baking powders, this is a new product in the baking industry. The SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, has a different performance profile than other leavening agents; it reacts slowly with the Sodium Bicarbonate in the mixing stage, there is only a 20 to 30 % Carbon Dioxide delivery from available. The difference is released during the oven stage. http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/411610

This reaction is:NaAl(SO₄)₂ + 3 NaHCO₃ ----> Al(OH)₃ + 2 Na₂SO₄ + 3 CO₂

Finally, the thermal decomposition reaction of sodium bicarbonate is:

2 NaHCO₃ → Na₂CO₃ + H₂O + CO₂

So even in the oven, any unreacted baking soda will continue to produce carbon dioxide in smaller amounts.

So basically you need both the acid and the base to create the optimum reaction in any of the variations!

Reference:
TLC Cooking: What is baking powder, and how does it work?

Cooking = Chemistry

2010-10-04T13:25:00.000-04:00

All cooking is really science: recipes are the experimental details, pots and pans are the beakers and test tubes, measuring spoons and cups are the volumetric flasks and pipettes, and the stove is the bunsen burner...

So what is actually scientifically happening when we cook and bake? I will attempt to introduce you to some great recipes and to some of the reactions that occur during the process.

Why would you want to know this (I know you probably hated high school chemistry)? Because it can make your food taste better if you know why/how the frying, baking and mixing works!

Please send me feedback and questions you may have!