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syfry
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- TL;DR Summary
- What causes overcooked food to harden at the molecular level?
That, and why does the overcooked / hardened food become bonded or firmly stuck to the cookware?
The loss of water and volatile plasticizers.syfry said:What causes overcooked food to harden at the molecular level?
I don’t know about every food, but proteins (like egg whites) will unfold and start cross linking.syfry said:TL;DR Summary: What causes overcooked food to harden at the molecular level?
That, and why does the overcooked / hardened food become bonded or firmly stuck to the cookware?
This is true but there seems to be a bit pradoxical. Most seafood is best cooked with very short times and the same applies to offal but slow cooking at low temperature will render most meat very tender. Biology is a complicated business.Nik_2213 said:A casserole, covered with lid or foil to mitigate water-loss, generally improves given some extra time as the fibres and starch progressively break down to more digestible format.
Per VeratasiumCollagen, a connective tissue, helps hold the muscle fibers in meat together. When cooked in the presence of moisture, collagen dissolves into gelatin, which allows the meat fibers to separate more easily. This is the essence of tenderizing tough cuts of meat.
Interesting, so pectin probably makes a raw carrot hard, cooking softens the carrot, then burning the carrot will harden it again (but I'm still unclear as to how, molecularly).jim mcnamara said:This needs a dose of biochemistry (and basic chemistry) of pectin. Pectin holds plant cells together --middle lamella -- , so it is primarily responsible for the toughness level of unripened or uncooked fruit or stems or roots. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectin
Plant biochemistry texts often spends many pages on the synthesis and degradation (ripening or cooking mostly) of the many isomers. Water is required for controlled degradation.
Moist heat tenderizes meat:
Per Veratasium
Ok. So when all the moisture evaporates during cooking Meat proteins oxidize and turn black, other less damaged proteins make wonderful glue (example hide glue for animal hides). In general liquids derived from overcooked collagen, when dried, are hard to remove with water and detergent.
Plant cells have small amounts of proteins, which when degraded by high temp as a result of water loss, make "glue" mixed into the oxidized charcoal-like ash.
Burned fats make some really interesting toxins, like aldehydes, not glue necessarily....
Ah, the parts that had seemed like ruining of proteins were about how in meat, the proteins oxidize and turn black, while the other less damaged proteins make glue, and how heat degrades the plant proteins, but now after you've clarified how cooking is more like an early start to digestion, I'm seeing that ruined is probably the wrong wording for that.jim mcnamara said:Think of cooking as pre-digestion.
For our size, humans have relatively tiny teeth, and a small digestive tract.
Humans who cooked had a huge advantage over other primates in terms of killing food pathogens and parasites like tapeworms. Cooking kills of most bacteria, for example.
Mother's milk is an example. It contains the protein casein - a long AA chain. 212 AA's strung together.
Infants suckle. In less than five minutes all of the casein in the milk is broken down into short AA chains - polypeptides. In another few minutes most of the polypeptides are now single AA's. Anabolic (tissue building) processes "decide" to build new replacement tissues - skin collagens, muscle fibers, connective tissue. This anabolic switch gets turned on ONLY when the body senses a large enough dose of AA's:
a special group of branch chain AA's -isoleucine or leucine for example. These are in the list essential AA's
So the milk proteins are torn down to basic protein building blocks - AA's - then put back together into all-new proteins. If humans do not get those essential AA's over a period of time, the unused AA's can undergo gluconeogenesis - turning AA's into glucose. Or get flushed down the toilet in urine.
This is as close to 'ruined' proteins as I can get.
The amino acid - Lego analogy.syfry said:Had no idea the body is breaking all the proteins down into their individual components for reuse. That now makes more sense since parts are more useful in a wider range of places than their whole or completed bondings.
Let's hear it for the Crackling on a roast pork joint. Naughty but nice.Baluncore said:Damage to some blocks (overcooking) during the deconstruction, wastes resources,
Overcooking food typically hardens it due to the denaturation of proteins and the evaporation of moisture. When food is cooked for too long, proteins within the food lose their natural structure and coagulate, or clump together, which makes the food tough. Additionally, prolonged cooking time can cause moisture within the food to evaporate, leaving it dry and hard.
Meats and eggs are particularly susceptible to hardening when overcooked. This is because they contain significant amounts of proteins, which can denature and coagulate under high heat. Vegetables can also become hard if they lose too much moisture and their fibers become overly stiff.
Overcooking can reduce the nutritional value of food by breaking down heat-sensitive vitamins and antioxidants. In some cases, it can also lead to the formation of harmful compounds. For example, charring meat at high temperatures can create carcinogenic substances such as heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
To prevent food from hardening, it's important to cook it for the appropriate amount of time and at the correct temperature. Using a timer and a thermometer can help monitor the cooking process more accurately. Additionally, methods such as steaming or poaching that involve cooking with moisture can help keep food tender.
Yes, overcooking can significantly alter the taste of food. It can lead to a burnt or overly bitter flavor, especially in overcooked vegetables and meats. The texture can also become unpleasant, making the food less enjoyable to eat. Maintaining proper cooking times and temperatures is key to preserving both the taste and texture of food.