10 interesting facts about cooking science

In the book ‘The science of cooking’, everything related to food is thoroughly researched. Interesting information in the book will be very helpful to readers.

1. The composition of different meats will have different amounts of protein. The relative ratio of fat to muscle, the amount of connective tissue and the type of muscle in the meat will determine the ratio of fat and protein inside. Among red meats such as beef, lamb, pig, deer … pork is high in fat and low in protein. This type of meat is usually pale pink to dark pink in color. 2. Modern “super meat” chicken, the most popular breed of chicken today, is the result of careful and continuous breeding of chickens for decades. They are crossed between different breeds of chickens to achieve large size and rapid growth. Today’s industrially-raised chickens are four times larger than those raised 50 years ago, reaching slaughter weights in just 35 days (half as short as traditional breeds). 3. Cows that eat grass have less fat than cows that eat grains, grains about 4% and their fat is usually located just under the skin, rather than in muscle. Although less, grass-fed beef fat contains more essential omega-3 fatty acids, which provide more health benefits than grain-fed cows. 4. Wagyu beef is one of the most searched foods in the world. This type of beef has a lot of fat, making the dish delicious and rich. Raising Wagyu cows has a strict and extremely strict process. Only cows that meet all process requirements are released. So the price per kilogram of premium Wagyu beef can go up to £ 500. 5. Nowadays, many families tend to store food for long periods of time. However, household refrigerators often have low capacity, poor performance far from industrial appliances capable of “super-speed freezing”. Therefore, the maximum freezing time is different depending on the type of meat. It is recommended that chicken pieces can be kept for up to 12 months in the freezer, while beef is for 6 months and bacon or sausage should only be kept for 1 month. 6. Today we often smoke food to create delicious flavors by smoked apple wood or sweet chestnut. When the wood burns, the lignin compounds in the wood decompose and diffuse into a series of aromatic molecules that will float up and stick to the surface of the meat. But lignin only begins to decompose and creates aroma when the wood reaches 170 degrees Celsius. 7. Whether you cut the grain across or along the grain has a significant effect on the softness of the meat, especially the beef. The fiber is understood as the direction of the muscle fibers. When cutting meat to eat, you should cut the grain for the best culinary experience. Sometimes, biting a piece of meat cut along the grain requires a force 10 times more force than biting the meat across the grain. 8. To make a crispy roast successfully, the skin needs to be dried before roasting. Ideally, we should rub the meat thoroughly with salt first and let it sit for a while. The salt will draw the water out. Then blot the surface of the meat dry and place it in the refrigerator to allow it to dry further before roasting. 9. Each type of meat has a different minimum cooking temperature. Chicken, undercooked or under the minimum heat, is dangerous. Chicken often contains harmful bacteria such as Salmonella or Campylobacter. Chicken should therefore be cooked at least 74 degrees Celsius. In addition, pork is recommended to cook at 62 degrees C to destroy harmful bacteria. 10. Salt has many effects in cooking. In addition to flavor enhancement and dehydration in foods, salt is also used to soften certain meats. When marinated long enough, the salt will alter the properties of the protein layer on the surface, making the meat softer. After about 40 minutes of salting, most meats will be noticeably softer.