Heat and Food

1
Heat and Food

• Chapter 4

2
Components of food

• Proteins
• Carbohydrates
• Fruit and vegetable fiber
• Fats
• Minerals, Vitamins, Pigments, flavor components

3
Proteins

• Found in meats, poultry, fish, eggs, milk
• Coagulation- become firm, shrink, loose moisture
• Connective tissue- found in different degrees in
  meat, cooking procedure varies depending on
  amount of tissue
• Acids- speed coagulation, dissolve tissue

4
Carbohydrates

• Starches and Sugars
• Caramelization- browning of sugars
• Gelatinization- absorb water and swell
• note- acids inhibit gelatinization

5
Fruit and vegetable fiber

• Fiber- gives structure and strength to plants
• Cooking fruits and vegetables is breaking down
  the fibers
• Sugar- makes fiber firmer
• Alkalis- baking soda softens fiber
• note- softening fibers cause fruits and vegs to
  become mushy and loose vitamins

6
Fats

• Present in food products and also used as a
  cooking medium
• Liquid -vs- solid
• Liquids are known as oils
• Smoking point- consideration for which fat to use

7
Minerals Vitamins Pigments and Flavoring
components

• Important to the nutritional quality of food
• May be destroyed by heat or cooking
• Choose cooking method to preserve these elements

8
Heat Transfer

• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation

9
Conduction

• When heat moves from one item to another by
  touching it
• Pot of soup
• Roast

10
Convection

• When heat is spread by the movement of air
• Natural- frier
• Mechanical- convection oven

11
Radiation

• When heat is spread by waves from the source to
  the food
• Infrared- broiler, hot element
• Microwave- waves excite water molecules causing
  temperature to rise

12
Cooking times

• Factors that effect cook times
• Cooking temperature
• Speed of heat transfer
• Characteristics of the food

13
Cooking Methods

• Moist heat
• Dry heat

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Moist heat methods

• Poach, simmer, boil
• Cooking food in water or a seasoned liquid
• Boil- above 212 degrees
• Simmer- 185-205 degrees
• Poach- 160-180 degrees

15
Moist heat methods

• Steaming
• Exposing foods directly to steam
• Extremely rapid method with little agitation and
  minimizes the loss of nutrients

16
Moist heat methods

• Braise- to cook in a small amount of liquid
• Usually after browning
• Considered a combination cooking process

17
Dry heat cooking methods

• Roast and bake
• Roast- usually applies to meat and poultry
• Bake- applies to breads, fish, vegetables
• Usually on a rack, and uncovered

18
Dry heat cooking methods

• Broil- to cook with radiant heat from above
• Used for tender meat, poultry, fish and vegetables

19
Dry heat cooking methods

• Grilling
• Cooking using dry heat from below
• Grilling- open heat source over grid
• Griddling- solid heat surface
• Pan-broiling- saute pan

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Dry heat cooking methods

• Saute- to cook quickly using a small amount of
  fat
• Sauter- to jump
• Start with hot pan
• Sometimes coat with flour
• Deglaze pan after with liquid

21
Dry heat cooking methods

• Pan-Fry- to cook in a moderate amount of fat

22
Dry heat cooking methods

• Deep Fry
• Quality is characterized by the following
• Minimum fat absorption
• Minimum moisture loss
• Attractive golden color
• Crisp surface
• No off flavors from fat

23
Dry heat cooking methods

• Microwave
• Used for reheating, defrosting and cooking
• Measured by watts (500-2000)
• Radiation excites water molecules
• note- never use metal in a microwave