Ever thought about how pretzels and salt sticks get their nice brown color? The products of the Maillard reaction provide tastes, smells and colors that are much desired and lend their charachteristics to a variety of foods. In this post…
Picture by Michael Murphy (CC-BY-SA) The soda fountain (Diet Coke + Mentos) has been around the net for quite a while with some spectacular videos available, and it has even made it into a news paper cartoon. People go crazy…
Extraction of cherries with ~45% ethanol in water Ethanol is a molecule with both a polar and a non-polar end, so it’s properties are somewhat in between those of water and oil (which will be the topic of the next…
Extraction of peppermint leaves with hot water Water is a polar molecule, meaning that one end has a small negative charge and the other a small positive charge. Because of this water is a very good solvent for other polar…
Texture – A hydrocolloid recipe collection It’s a pleasure for me to announce that an updated version of the hydrocolloid recipe collection is available for free download as a pdf file (73 pages, 1.8 Mb). What’s new? Several new recipes…
Ice cubes are used both to cool drinks, but also to significantly impact the flavour of certain drinks. No matter your motivation, you should never use “old” ice cubes which have been sitting in your freezer for a while. Why?…
Lettuce should be fresh and crisp but upon storage water will eventually evaporate. The pressure inside the cells drops and the leaves shrink and become less appetizing. The simple yet effective remedy is to immerse the lettuce leaves in plain,…
Read about the physics behind the balancing fork trick. 8. Experiment! Dare to experiment and try new ingredients and procedures. Do control experiments so you can compare results. When evaluating the outcome, be aware that your own opinions will be…
Click here for full size image 7. Question authorities and learn from the experts A thick, nicely bound cookbook with marvelous pictures and a professional layout signals quality and authority. But unfortunately the nice wrapping is no guarantee that the…
I blogged about carbonated strawberries some while ago. Those were made using dry ice which unfortunately is not always easy to get hold of. Last week however I bought a iSi Gourmet Whipper – one of those Ferran Adria uses…
