Reference no: EM131135674

Time and temperature Discussion- Please give me your view point with cited work

Chocolate, I think chocolate is a good example of cooking low and slow. When cooking chocolate, there are a couple ways this can be done. The first one is on the stove right in the pan. When cooking chocolate on the stove you have to be careful you don't burn it with having the temperature too high. If the temperature is too high and it begins to boil with many tiny bubbles it will then become burnt. Not only will it burn but it will begin to turn brown and after taken off the stove it will turn hard immediately; would not recommend that way. However if you are going to cook it on the stove cook it with water, yes water. Bringwater to a light boil, "100 degrees F/38 degrees C to simmer (the hotter the water, the faster it will melt)".(McGee, pg. 706, 2004) On top of the pan put a metal bowl where you will then pour the chocolate, stir and steaming water will help it melt. "Small amounts of water can cause chocolate to "seize," or turn into a stiff, grainy mess. Seized chocolate can be brought back to a smooth state by adding cream, but this can affect your recipe, so it's often best to start over and set the seized chocolate aside for a recipe that calls for a lot of cream".(Smart,2016)

The second way you can cook chocolate is in the microwave, but this is tricky. This is the way I cook it when I need it done fast, but there were a couple times where honestly I'm not sure what I did and it came out very hard and crumbly. "Put chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it at 50% power for 1 minute; remove and stir. (In a microwave, chocolate doesn't lose its shape as it melts, so you must stir it to gauge how far along it is.) Return it to the microwave and repeat, stopping to stir every 15-seconds to prevent scorching". (Smart, 2016) After reading this and it saying to stir every 15 seconds I do however remember stirring it a couple times throughout the cooking, but when I took it out it was still hard. I did add water to it and put it back in thinking thewater might boil into it, that it did not, it was just as hard and it cracked and separated.

Pasta is a good example for a food that can be cooked on high and cooks fast. When put on the stove the high temperature brings the water to boil, "212 degrees F/100 degrees C". (When cooking the pasta you can add salt for taste and olive oil to help the starches not to stick. "When the pasta is cooking water, the protein network and starch granules absorb water and expand, the outer protein layer is ruptured, and the dissolving starch escapes into the cookingwater". (McGee, 2004) I on the other hand like my pasta more al' dente, which means the pasta is slightly under cooked. When the pasta is under cooked, this does not change the course of heat or the rapid water but, "the noodle surface is 80%-90% water, the center 40-60%"(McGee, pg.575, 2004)

References:

Smart, J. (n.d.). How to Melt Chocolate. Retrieved 2016, from https://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-to-melt-chocolate.aspx

McGee, H. (2004). On Food and Cooking (The Science and Lore of the Kitchen). Simon and Schuster.

https://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingswork/f/boiling-point-of-water.htm