Editor’s Note:  This is post #100!  Huzzah!
It is probably not a surprise to most of you that the texture of meat changes as it is cooked. But what is really going on inside?
Raw Meat
Raw meat has a chewy, slippery texture. All of its water is trapped inside the muscle and connective tissue. [...]

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This post is part of a series called Cooking 101, which introduces the basics of cooking. The series follows the book Culinary Fundamentals, with supplements from The Professional Chef by the Culinary Institute of America. Check out the previous posts here.
Editor’s Note:  I have added The Professional Chef (recommended by ntsc) as [...]

Posted in Cooking 101, Food Science, Recipes 1 Comment »

Have you ever wondered why cooking green vegetables leads to a loss of their bright green color? If so, read on. If not…well, read on anyway. It might be interesting. This is adapted from the always excellent Harold McGee.
There are two primary ways that veggies can lose their green. First, [...]

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Just two weeks after I wrote this post on egg proteins, Cook’s Illustrated answered a letter about salting scrambled eggs. The reader wrote in asking if salting the eggs before cooking will make them watery. Cook’s Illustrated tested this and found that eggs salted before cooking created a more tender product, while eggs [...]

Posted in Food Science, Kitchen Tips 3 Comments »

I got this tip from the July and August 2008 Cook’s Illustrated and found it interesting. When garlic is chopped, the compound allicin forms. Alliin reacts with allinase to produce allicin as a defense mechanism against insects and fungi. Unfortunately, allicin quickly breaks down after it forms, usually in 1-6 days. [...]

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This kitchen tip comes from the July and August Cook’s Illustrated. The test kitchen examined whether removing the seeds and jelly from a tomato, as many recipes call for, has any effect on the final flavor of the food.
The conclusion? The recipe with the seeds and jelly was significantly more flavorful. Apparently [...]

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