DailyDirt: Better Food Through Science

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fri, Jun 10th 2011 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The art and science of cooking has a bright future, especially given all the different cooking shows and TV networks dedicated to food. As more and more people discover and learn about the science behind cooking, it stands to reason that there will be a growing number of interesting ways to cook. Maybe cooking is the key to teaching the scientific method to kids...?

The all-American hamburger might be improved upon if the meat was quickly dipped in liquid nitrogen before being deep fried. Perhaps a dry ice slurry would be more practical, though. [url]
The USDA has revised its recommended cooking temperatures for various meats. But only the chefs at America's Test Kitchen actually measure their cooked meats at home... [url]
Using a solar-powered pizza box oven to cook food sounds pretty impractical. A solar-powered microwave oven sounds like a better idea. [url]
To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: cooking, hamburgers, meat, usda

8 Comments

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xenomancer (profile), 10 Jun 2011 @ 4:41pm

Pizza box ovens...
Notice that not one of those "ovens" was designed to actually perform its nominal function: cooking. Maybe if they had paid some attention in 7th grade math and science classes they would know to use a parabolic design, which could actually achieve temperatures that are useful...
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- JEDIDIAH, 11 Jun 2011 @ 7:22am
  
  Lords of Barbeque
  I think the point of this was it's simplicity. You don't have to be Raytheon. You can be MacGuyver.
  
  Give it enough time and you can cook a Turkey to more than sufficient temperature in a 200 Degree oven. In a 250 Degree oven it's even easier.
  
  A good piece of meat can withstand internal temperatures well over the new guidelines. If you need to eat it half raw in order for it to be palatable, you're probably wasting your time and money. Never mind the disease issues.
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  - xenomancer (profile), 11 Jun 2011 @ 11:43am
    
    Re: Lords of Barbeque
    My point was, by simply BENDING the box into a roughly PARABOLIC shape they could COOK their food.
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Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 10 Jun 2011 @ 9:10pm

Nitpicking
Can't really have a "dry ice slurry" - since dry ice (frozen CO2) sublimates directly from a solid to a gas. Putting it in water wouldn't really work, either, and it still does the same thing - at most you'd get some water-ice slush with CO2 bubbling out that's no colder than regular frozen water.

Just nitpicking.
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- Michael Ho (profile), 10 Jun 2011 @ 11:44pm
  
  Re: Nitpicking
  There are other solvents out there besides water! How about an ethanol+dry ice slurry...? I'd think a vodka+dry ice bath wouldn't be too hard to make -- but it'd be a bit more dangerous in terms of handling it without getting frostbite.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_bath
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  - Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 11 Jun 2011 @ 4:40am
    
    Re: Re: Nitpicking
    I imagine dipping hamburgers into acetone before deep frying them would be against various health regulations.
    
    Not that a deep friend hamburger itself isn't already asking for an immediate heart attack, so I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run.
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    - JEDIDIAH, 11 Jun 2011 @ 7:23am
      
      Di-Hydrogen Oxide! OMFG!
      Getting excited over Nitrogen of all things.
      
      How silly.
      
      Breathe in and out a few times and settle down.
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Jeni (profile), 11 Jun 2011 @ 5:32am

Solar Smores
It's truly amazing how food and science go together.

For a while I found myself fascinated with the concept of solar cooking and aimed to try something so I tried "Solar Smores". It worked! But being in WI the days we can do this are numbered, unfortunately. Here's the "recipe" if anyone wants to try it - it's fun! I put it in my weekly newsletter and got a lot of positive feedback.

Solar S'mores
Four graham crackers
16 mini marshmallows
2 plain chocolate candy bars
A 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish (or similar size)
A clear glass lid to cover the baking dish

Place four graham crackers side by side in the bottom of the glass baking dish. Place a chocolate bar on two of the graham crackers. Place eight mini-marshmallows on top of the other two graham crackers. Cover the pan with the clear glass lid, and place it outside where it will be in direct sunlight. Wait for the marshmallows and chocolate to melt. Put one chocolate and one marshmallow cracker together and enjoy! This activity works best when outdoor temperature is 85 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Recipe makes two S'mores.
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