4 ms·

You don't even need to understand chemistry. Understand techniques and the rest becomes really simple.

ChuckMcM 9y ago
I would disagree slightly with this, one recipe I made used the reaction between the baking soda and the buttermilk to provide the "fluffyness", since I wasn't aware I didn't finish the prep fast enough to get it into the oven while it was still internally foaming, and ended up with a very short and dense cake. Had someone said, "You want to be sure to be baking before the sodium bicarbonate stops reacting." that would have clued me into the time constraint based on the chemistry.
- foobarian 9y ago
  The thing that bugs me about these commonly cited pieces of information about cooking is I have a hard time verifying them without a lot of experimentation. I took up making waffles in the morning following the common buttermilk + baking soda + baking powder recipe. One day I was kind of groggy and forgot to add baking soda; and I could not tell the difference. The whole food writing / recipe sector lost a lot of credibility for me that day.
  - davidgay 9y ago
    Well the basic thing going on is "acid + base". Baking powder contains both (baking powder is baking soda + cream of tartar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bitartrate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bitartrate), and starts reacting when water is added (try it). Baking soda is a base, and reacts with buttermilk which is acidic. It's not clear to me why some recipes contain both acid+baking soda and baking powder. Maybe they're worried that the first combination isn't sufficient? My breakfast this morning used yoghurt + baking soda ;) (бухти)
    - m3kw9 9y ago
      I think one of them has a delaying effect which kicks, need to google it
      - dagw 9y ago
        baking powder has a delayed effect, activated by heat.
- kbutler 9y ago
  Some people learn the technique, others learn the chemistry and physics behind the technique.
  - ChuckMcM 9y ago
    For me it was more the chemistry informed the technique.
  - geerlingguy 9y ago
    If you haven’t before, check out PBS’s America’s Test Kitchen. Perfect blend of the chemistry/food science and some really good cooks and explanations behind tradition.
  - lisper 9y ago
    Understanding the chemistry and physics makes it a lot easier to figure out when something is going wrong and how to fix it. This is particularly true when adjusting temperatures and cooking times.
  - coldtea 9y ago
    As per my answer above, you just need to know a very high level food related chemistry -- not even actual chemistry, just how different foods (plants, meats, sauces, etc) react to heat/water/cold and how they interact between them. There have been untold number of cooks who know nothing about actual chemistry beyond "water = H2O", including tons of professional chefs all over the world. In fact any chef before like early 20th century or so wouldn't know the first thing about chemistry proper unless they've studied chemistry -- heck chemistry became a real discipline after the 18th century, but exquisite cooking has been with us for millennia.
- ThomPete 9y ago
  If you learn the technique you will learn this too. But I think we are mostly in agreement here. Nothing wrong with undertanding chemistry but cooking is more than theory it's a performing arts.
- bitbang 9y ago
  When you know there is going to be too much time between mixing baking soda and citric/lactic/whatever acid is being used, use baking powder. It has the alkaline soda and acid pre-mixed together, but does not fully activate until heat is applied.
coldtea 9y ago
>You don't even need to understand chemistry Parent said "understand food chemistry", which I understand not to be the chemistry of food as it relates to molecules and chemical reaction chains, but rather something more basic: this thing can soak too much oil, this burns quickly even in moderate fire, this food gets soggy if you put in this before that, and such things.
- Symbiote 9y ago
  "Food chemistry" generally means the chemical reactions in food -- the actions of acids and bases, fats, gluten, starch and so on. My mother studied food chemistry at college, so childhood baking generally included 20 seconds of explanation on why something I was about to do would make a mess. ("If you don't do X, the protein in won't coagulate and it will all fall apart.") This mostly applied to baking, cooking eggs, or making a roux. The rest doesn't really matter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_chemistry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_chemistry
  - wellboy 9y ago
    From the context, it pretty sure means how sauces and flavours fit together, not knowing the actual molecules.
dirktheman 9y ago
My mother always says 'pastry is an exact science, cooking is a liberal art'. Cooking a meal is more about tasting, technique than the exact amount of ingredients. Pastry is a different beast, it you don't use the exact amounts or time chances are your dish will fail.
- ThomPete 9y ago
  That is very true. Baking can go really wrong if you are not precise.

I would disagree slightly with this, one recipe I made used the reaction between the baking soda and the buttermilk to provide the "fluffyness", since I wasn't aware I didn't finish the prep fast enough to get it into the oven while it was still internally foaming, and ended up with a very short and dense cake. Had someone said, "You want to be sure to be baking before the sodium bicarbonate stops reacting." that would have clued me into the time constraint based on the chemistry.

foobarian 9y ago
The thing that bugs me about these commonly cited pieces of information about cooking is I have a hard time verifying them without a lot of experimentation. I took up making waffles in the morning following the common buttermilk + baking soda + baking powder recipe. One day I was kind of groggy and forgot to add baking soda; and I could not tell the difference. The whole food writing / recipe sector lost a lot of credibility for me that day.
- davidgay 9y ago
  Well the basic thing going on is "acid + base". Baking powder contains both (baking powder is baking soda + cream of tartar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bitartrate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bitartrate), and starts reacting when water is added (try it). Baking soda is a base, and reacts with buttermilk which is acidic. It's not clear to me why some recipes contain both acid+baking soda and baking powder. Maybe they're worried that the first combination isn't sufficient? My breakfast this morning used yoghurt + baking soda ;) (бухти)
  - m3kw9 9y ago
    I think one of them has a delaying effect which kicks, need to google it
    - dagw 9y ago
      baking powder has a delayed effect, activated by heat.
kbutler 9y ago
Some people learn the technique, others learn the chemistry and physics behind the technique.
- ChuckMcM 9y ago
  For me it was more the chemistry informed the technique.
- geerlingguy 9y ago
  If you haven’t before, check out PBS’s America’s Test Kitchen. Perfect blend of the chemistry/food science and some really good cooks and explanations behind tradition.
- lisper 9y ago
  Understanding the chemistry and physics makes it a lot easier to figure out when something is going wrong and how to fix it. This is particularly true when adjusting temperatures and cooking times.
- coldtea 9y ago
  As per my answer above, you just need to know a very high level food related chemistry -- not even actual chemistry, just how different foods (plants, meats, sauces, etc) react to heat/water/cold and how they interact between them. There have been untold number of cooks who know nothing about actual chemistry beyond "water = H2O", including tons of professional chefs all over the world. In fact any chef before like early 20th century or so wouldn't know the first thing about chemistry proper unless they've studied chemistry -- heck chemistry became a real discipline after the 18th century, but exquisite cooking has been with us for millennia.
ThomPete 9y ago
If you learn the technique you will learn this too. But I think we are mostly in agreement here. Nothing wrong with undertanding chemistry but cooking is more than theory it's a performing arts.
bitbang 9y ago
When you know there is going to be too much time between mixing baking soda and citric/lactic/whatever acid is being used, use baking powder. It has the alkaline soda and acid pre-mixed together, but does not fully activate until heat is applied.

coldtea 9y ago

>You don't even need to understand chemistry Parent said "understand food chemistry", which I understand not to be the chemistry of food as it relates to molecules and chemical reaction chains, but rather something more basic: this thing can soak too much oil, this burns quickly even in moderate fire, this food gets soggy if you put in this before that, and such things.

Symbiote 9y ago
"Food chemistry" generally means the chemical reactions in food -- the actions of acids and bases, fats, gluten, starch and so on. My mother studied food chemistry at college, so childhood baking generally included 20 seconds of explanation on why something I was about to do would make a mess. ("If you don't do X, the protein in won't coagulate and it will all fall apart.") This mostly applied to baking, cooking eggs, or making a roux. The rest doesn't really matter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_chemistry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_chemistry
- wellboy 9y ago
  From the context, it pretty sure means how sauces and flavours fit together, not knowing the actual molecules.

dirktheman 9y ago

My mother always says 'pastry is an exact science, cooking is a liberal art'. Cooking a meal is more about tasting, technique than the exact amount of ingredients. Pastry is a different beast, it you don't use the exact amounts or time chances are your dish will fail.

ThomPete 9y ago
That is very true. Baking can go really wrong if you are not precise.