food science

Health & Safety

This Thanksgiving, let science help you roast a tastier turkey

11:43am November 21, 2021

by Maria Godoy

Cooking your bird to a safe 165 F often just results in a dry boring plate of meat. Luckily food scientists have studied this problem. Learn their techniques to roast your tastiest bird yet.

Butyric acid gives some cheeses their distinctively strong scent.

From Stinky Cheese To Cat Pee, Author Takes A 'Nose Dive' Into The Science Of Smell

12:46pm November 11, 2020

by Terry Gross

Harold McGee talks about how our sense of smell affects taste, why things smell the way they do and the ways different chemicals combine to create surprising (and sometimes distasteful) odors.

Trust In Scientists Is Rising, Poll Finds

4:22pm August 02, 2019

by Richard Harris

The proportion of people who say they have a "great deal" of confidence in scientists to act in the public interest increased from 21% in 2016 to 35% in 2019, according to the Pew Research Center.

The key to making the quintessential biscuit of the American South, like these from Callie's Charleston Biscuits Bakery in Charleston, S.C., is more about technique than a specific flour, some bakers say.

Science
Arts

Is The Power Of The Flour Really The Secret To Baking The Perfect Biscuit?

8:02am January 19, 2019

by Kristen Hartke

While some bakers believe that soft wheat flour, found primarily in the American South, is the best for making light, flaky biscuits, others say the key to better biscuits comes down to technique.

Samin Nosrat travels to different countries to learn how salt, acid, fat and heat affect food on her four-part Netflix series.

Arts

On Netflix, Chef Samin Nosrat Goes Global To Demystify 'Salt Fat Acid Heat'

2:04pm December 06, 2018

by Sam Briger

In her four-part show, James Beard award-winning food writer and chef Samin Nosrat travels the globe, talking to home chefs to learn more about the four essentials of great food.

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"Our data suggests that something about baking seems to be changing the hands of the people who do the baking," says ecologist Rob Dunn.

Sourdough Hands: How Bakers And Bread Are A Microbial Match

11:37am November 12, 2018

In Robert Dunn's new book, Never Home Alone, he explores our symbiotic relationship with food: Not only do we impact the bacteria in our food, but the microbes in our food imprint our bodies.

Brian Wansink demonstrates his "bottomless bowl of soup" — used to show that people eat more when served in a bowl secretly replenished from the inside — after he was awarded a 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in 2007 at Harvard University. Wansink made a name for

Cornell Food Researcher's Downfall Raises Larger Questions For Science

9:02pm September 26, 2018

by Brett Dahlberg

Brian Wansink made a name for himself producing pithy, palatable studies that connected people's eating habits with cues from their environment. His data manipulation now serves as a cautionary tale.

Okra slime changes when its pH changes. To make okra less slimy, says botanist Katherine Preston, cook it with an acid, which changes the properties of the molecules in the mucilage and renders it far less viscous. Southerners cook okra with tomatoes, whi

Science

Leave It To Botanists To Turn Cooking Into A Science Lesson

4:59pm September 05, 2018

by Jill Neimark

Why do artichokes look so strange? What makes okra so slimy – and how can science help you turn that attribute into a taste sensation? Two botanists take plant science into the kitchen.

Brick transfers heat to dough more slowly than steel, allowing both pizza crust and toppings to simultaneously reach perfection.

Science

Pizza Physics: Why Brick Ovens Bake The Perfect Italian-Style Pie

11:14am July 23, 2018

by Angus Chen

Brick transfers heat to dough more slowly than steel, allowing both crust and toppings to simultaneously reach perfection. In a home oven, that balance is elusive — but you might be able to get close.

An electron microscope image shows popcorn magnified 250 times

Science

The Oscar For Best Snack Goes To ... Popcorn, The 6,000-Year-Old Aztec Gold

3:05pm March 01, 2018

by Adam Cole

Zoom in and behold the science secrets behind popcorn's airy crunch — and learn about the snack's ancient origin — in this bite-sized video.

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