Archives Lessons

Common chemical reactions in food

So far this course has been quite theoretical. But, that’s about to change. Now that we’ve covered a lot of the basic terminology and concepts, we can look at some real-life applications of food chemistry. We’ll be looking at actual…

Bringing it all together

That brings us to the end of this course. In this course we’ve started small, discussing protons, electrons, and neutrons. These came together to form elements (remember the periodic table?) which then came together to form molecules! That’s where things…

The Big 3 in our Food

Now that you know what carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are from a chemist’s perspective, it’s time to start looking at them in food! All three are very common in food and play a central role in how we prepare and…

How to make cake

Now that you know the roles and abilities of your cake ingredients, it’s time to think how you’re going to transform them into a cake! By changing how you process them, you can drastically change the appearance of your cake.…

Why explore the science of cake?

If you have ever looked up recipes for cake or browsed the internet to learn more about it, you will find there are a lot of different types of cake. They vary from a Genoise to a pound to an…

Ingredients of cake

Choosing the right ingredients is essential to baking a good cake. That’s why we start by understanding the role of cake ingredients, focusing on the five most common ones: flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and baking powder

Forming Ice Crystals

Have you ever eaten ice cream that tastes a little gritty? As if it contains little pieces? Chances are those crunchy pieces were ice crystals. They’ve become so big that you can feel them on your tongue. In some ice…

Welcome

Welcome to the FoodCrumbles Ice Cream Science course! We hope you’re excited to learn more about the science behind your ice cream. In 4 weeks we’ll be teaching you the core scientific concepts that underpin just about any ice cream.…

Choosing a strategy

So far we’ve focused on getting to know the microorganisms that can (and will) grow on our food. We’ve also looked at how these microorganisms grow and what factors influence their growth. We’ve focused on both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ microorganisms.…

Basics of chemical reactions

So far, we’ve only discussed molecules as they are. We’ve assumed that those atoms just got together and formed the molecule. In reality, these molecules don’t just exist. They form, disappear and change regularly. In food and especially during cooking,…