April 2011
2 posts
Anonymous asked: Hey, Sarah! Sometimes when some people make guacamole, they put their avocado pit in the bowl to keep it from turning brown. I understand the browning is from oxidation... so how does an avocado pit keep the guac from oxidizing? Is this just an old wives tale? -Sam Mockford
“I think it is a sad reflection on our civilization that while we can and do...”
– Nicholas Kurti
Source: Friday Evening Discourse at the Royal Institution, ‘The Physicist in the Kitchen’. In Proceedings of the Royal Institution (1969), 42/199, 451–67
March 2011
2 posts
Anonymous asked: I've been noticing a lot of products lately carrying the label "gluten free." What is gluten and why the labelling?
How to Be a Successful Chocolatier
The Lenten season is almost upon us, and it reminds me of a few years ago when I decided to give up chocolate. It was a struggle, but somehow I endured through the intense cravings. I still remember on Easter day, finally being able to sink my teeth into a chocolate bunny. It was the best chocolate experience I can remember. While most of us find it easy to stuff ourselves with chocolate,...
February 2011
6 posts
“When we decode a cookbook, every one of us is a practicing chemist. Cooking is...”
– Arthur E. Grosser (Professor of Chemistry at McGill University) The New York Times, May 29, 1984
All About Cookies!!
My Great Grandma Hammer’s chocolate chip cookie recipe was the first I learned to prepare on my own. I had a high motivation to do so; her cookies are delicious! In my opinion, they have the perfect amount of crunch. However, some say they prefer cookies that are chewier. I wondered what makes different cookie recipes taste so different and was surprised by how many different factors there...
Anonymous asked: Why can't you crowd the mushrooms?
“I approach cooking from a science angle because I need to understand how things...”
– Alton Brown, interview, Sep. 12, 2002
© The Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu
The Versatile Egg
Although I’m quite a klutz in the kitchen, there is one food that I’ve mastered. Eggs. Scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, you name it! This summer I even taught myself to flip an egg over without using a spatula, sending it flying though the air…and usually back onto the pan. They can be cooked and eaten by themselves or baked with other ingredients to make all kinds of delicious culinary...
The Science Behind Meat
This weekend, I told my family that I was writing a blog about cooking. My dad asked me to send him a link, to which my mom retorted “since when were you interested in cooking?” She had a point. If my mom isn’t around to cook, my dad will usually opt for a bowl of oatmeal. However, there is one food he can cook and does so marvelously. Meat. So, in honor of my dad, this post will be about the...
January 2011
4 posts
“No matter how much creativity goes into it, cooking is an art. Or perhaps I...”
– Chef Alton Brown, interview, Sep. 12, 2002
Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder
During my first few weeks of living in an apartment, I realized that I could not possibly drink my entire gallon of milk before it expired. There had to be some kind of recipe out there that used copious amounts of milk, right? A quick internet search presented the perfect solution-biscuits! I got to work, adding ingredients like I actually knew what I was doing. Two tablespoons of baking powder,...
“Cuisine is both an art and a science: it is an art when it strives to bring...”
– Lucien Tendret (1825-1896) ‘La Table au pays de Brillant-Savarin’
Welcome Chefs!
Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog, The Science of Cooking!
Baking with my bird Trouble
My name is Sarah, and I am a third year Nutrition Science major who loves food! Preparing food, however, is another story. Recently, I moved out of the dorms and into an apartment with a place where the magic happens, the kitchen. I wasn’t intimidated at first. In fact, grocery shopping on my own for...
