Question 1

What is the chemistry of cooking?

Accepted Answer

The chemistry of cooking is all about how ingredients change when they are mixed and heated. It's like a magic show where food changes its color, shape, and taste.

Question 2

Why does bread rise when it bakes?

Accepted Answer

Bread rises because of a tiny living thing called yeast that makes bubbles. These bubbles get trapped and make the dough puff up like a balloon.

Question 3

How does baking soda help a cake rise?

Accepted Answer

Baking soda creates bubbles when it meets something wet and sour, like lemon juice. These bubbles make the cake rise up and become fluffy.

Question 4

Why does meat turn brown when cooked?

Accepted Answer

When meat gets hot, it turns brown because of a reaction called the Maillard reaction. It's kind of like when you toast bread and it gets brown and tasty.

Question 5

What happens when we cook an egg?

Accepted Answer

When you cook an egg, its runny parts turn solid. This happens because the heat makes the egg's proteins tangle up and stick together.

Question 6

How do vegetables change when they are cooked?

Accepted Answer

Cooking vegetables makes them softer and sometimes changes their color. The heat also makes them easier to chew and can even make some of their nutrients easier to use.

Question 7

Why do onions make you cry when you cut them?

Accepted Answer

Onions make you cry because they release a gas when cut. This gas mixes with the water in your eyes, making a small amount of acid that stings.

Question 8

Why does sugar melt when heated?

Accepted Answer

Sugar melts when it gets hot because the heat makes the grains of sugar break down and turn into a liquid. It's like how ice changes to water when it melts.

Question 9

Why do popcorn kernels pop?

Accepted Answer

Popcorn pops because there's water inside each kernel. When heated, the water turns to steam and the pressure makes the kernel explode and turn inside out.

Question 10

What makes cookies crunchy or chewy?

Accepted Answer

Cookies become crunchy if they have more sugar and are baked longer. If they're chewy, they have more butter or brown sugar and are baked for a shorter time.

Question 11

How does heat change food?

Accepted Answer

Heat changes food by making its parts move faster and mix in new ways. This can change its texture, flavor, and color.

Question 12

Why do bananas turn brown over time?

Accepted Answer

Bananas turn brown because of a process called oxidation. Air changes the banana's outer parts, making them get brown and a bit mushy.

Question 13

How does salt help in cooking?

Accepted Answer

Salt helps bring out the flavors in food and can also preserve it. It makes everything taste better, kind of like adding magic dust!

Question 14

Why does oil and water not mix?

Accepted Answer

Oil and water don't mix because water is like a group of friends who only like each other. Oil is different and doesn't fit in, so it stays apart.

Question 15

What happens when you marinate meat?

Accepted Answer

Marinating meat helps make it tastier and sometimes more tender. The marinade is like a magic potion that soaks into meat to add flavors.

Question 16

Why does chocolate melt in your mouth?

Accepted Answer

Chocolate melts in your mouth because it has fat that melts just above room temperature. Your mouth's warmth makes it turn from solid to liquid.

Question 17

Why does milk curdle when it goes bad?

Accepted Answer

Milk curdles because bacteria turn its sugar into sour stuff that makes the proteins clump up. It's like when you squeeze lemon into milk.

Question 18

What makes bread crust crispy?

Accepted Answer

Bread crust gets crispy because the moisture inside the bread escapes and the oven heat dries the outside. It's like the outside of bread gets toasted.

Question 19

How does freezing change food?

Accepted Answer

Freezing makes food's water turn to ice, which keeps it fresh longer. It's like making a time machine to save food just the way it is.

Question 20

Why does chicken turn white when cooked?

Accepted Answer

Chicken turns white when cooked because the heat changes its proteins. These proteins untangle and clump together, changing the meat's color and texture.

The Chemistry of Cooking: Understanding Basic Culinary Reactions - 20 FAQs Explained Simply