Chemistry of Food and Cooking “No Knead Sourdough”
Final Project:
Reflection:
How does the ingredient you experimented with affect the food’s overall characteristics?
I experimented with the protein content in flour and how it would affect the processes involved in creating sourdough bread. Gluten is formed when the gliadin and glutenin in flour react in combination with water, which produces a reaction that allows a protein structure to form. The higher the amount of protein the more well formed the gluten structure can become. In the case of sourdough this is especially important, because it allows for the bread to rise and become less dense. In sourdough the gluten structure is largely guided by the yeast after the fermentation of the sourdough starter has occurred, which is why no-knead sourdough is possible.
The protein content also affects the appearance through the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is the process through which browning and more distinctive flavors can occur when amino acids (the monomers that make up a protein) and sugars react. The amount of protein in the flour therefore can affect this process because it is where the amino acids originate, so the more protein, the more amino acids can be used in this reaction. This allows for a loaf of bread with more protein to have a deeper, richer flavor than one with less protein.
In what way(s) are cooking and doing science similar and in what way(s) are they different? How are a cook and a food scientist similar or different?
A cook and a food scientist are similar in that they depend on the reactions occurring in food to yield a specific result. A food scientist may be measuring the Maillard reaction that occurs but the cook still uses the Maillard reaction to judge the color and taste of bread, both knowing that the reaction is important to the food and cooking process even if one doesn’t know what the word representing that idea is. The reactions are occurring in both cases but a food scientist is more likely to understand the microscopic workings of the food in question, how the protein structure is changing to produce that specific taste, while the cook is more concerned with the macroscopic, how it affects the bread as a whole.
Cooking is similar to science as a whole in that it is largely a trial and error process during which a hypothesis can be made and then proved or disproved. This is to say that cooks and scientists have to try things to see what works and what doesn’t. In the cooks case this can look like seeing if changing the type of flour will produce a better loaf, while in the scientist's case this can look like changing the amount of protein in flour to measure the change in density and the difference between different loaves. The difference, in the above example especially, can often come down to the specificity and scale of the results.
How does the ingredient you experimented with affect the food’s overall characteristics?
I experimented with the protein content in flour and how it would affect the processes involved in creating sourdough bread. Gluten is formed when the gliadin and glutenin in flour react in combination with water, which produces a reaction that allows a protein structure to form. The higher the amount of protein the more well formed the gluten structure can become. In the case of sourdough this is especially important, because it allows for the bread to rise and become less dense. In sourdough the gluten structure is largely guided by the yeast after the fermentation of the sourdough starter has occurred, which is why no-knead sourdough is possible.
The protein content also affects the appearance through the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is the process through which browning and more distinctive flavors can occur when amino acids (the monomers that make up a protein) and sugars react. The amount of protein in the flour therefore can affect this process because it is where the amino acids originate, so the more protein, the more amino acids can be used in this reaction. This allows for a loaf of bread with more protein to have a deeper, richer flavor than one with less protein.
In what way(s) are cooking and doing science similar and in what way(s) are they different? How are a cook and a food scientist similar or different?
A cook and a food scientist are similar in that they depend on the reactions occurring in food to yield a specific result. A food scientist may be measuring the Maillard reaction that occurs but the cook still uses the Maillard reaction to judge the color and taste of bread, both knowing that the reaction is important to the food and cooking process even if one doesn’t know what the word representing that idea is. The reactions are occurring in both cases but a food scientist is more likely to understand the microscopic workings of the food in question, how the protein structure is changing to produce that specific taste, while the cook is more concerned with the macroscopic, how it affects the bread as a whole.
Cooking is similar to science as a whole in that it is largely a trial and error process during which a hypothesis can be made and then proved or disproved. This is to say that cooks and scientists have to try things to see what works and what doesn’t. In the cooks case this can look like seeing if changing the type of flour will produce a better loaf, while in the scientist's case this can look like changing the amount of protein in flour to measure the change in density and the difference between different loaves. The difference, in the above example especially, can often come down to the specificity and scale of the results.
Photos from dinner!