Food science

Brining and salt wet brining; dry brining; salting What salt does to meat beyond seasoning it.

Caramelisation The breakdown of sugar by heat alone into colour, aroma and bitterness. 160–180 °C

Carryover cooking residual cooking Food keeps cooking after it leaves the heat, and large pieces keep going a long way.

Collagen and gelatin Why tough cuts become tender and rich with long, moist cooking. 70–95 °C

Fermentation Controlled microbial transformation of food, and the conditions that keep it controlled. 15–30 °C

Gluten development How two wheat proteins become the elastic network that holds bread together.

How heat sets protein denaturation; coagulation Why an egg becomes solid, fish flakes, and meat goes from translucent to opaque. 60–75 °C

Smoke point The temperature at which a fat starts to break down visibly, and why it matters less than it is said to.

Starch gelatinisation The swelling and bursting of starch granules in hot water, which thickens sauces and cooks grains. 60–95 °C

The Maillard reaction browning reaction The reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that browns food and creates hundreds of new flavour compounds. 140–180 °C

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