Chemistry for Cooks An Introduction to the Science of Cooking

A fun approach to teaching science that uses cooking to demonstrate principles of chemistry for undergraduate students who are not science majors, high school students, culinary students, and home cooks.

How does an armload of groceries turn into a culinary masterpiece? In this highly accessible and informative text, Sandra C. Greer takes students into the kitchen to show how chemistry—with a dash of biology and physics—explains what happens when we cook.
 
Chemistry for Cooks provides all the background material necessary for nonscientists to understand essential chemical processes and to see cooking as an enjoyable application of science. Greer uses a variety of practical examples, including recipes, to instruct readers on the molecular structure of food, the chemical reactions used in cooking to change the nature of food, and the essentials of nutrition and taste. She also offers kitchen hints and exercises based on the material in each chapter, plus do-it-yourself projects to encourage exploration of the chemistry that takes place when we cook food.

Features

Perfect for science courses aimed at non–science majors: does not require prior knowledge of chemistry, physics, or biology

Equally useful for general readers, home and professional cooks, and culinary students

Topics include what matter is made of, how the structure of matter is altered by heat, how we treat food in order to change its microscopic structure, why particular procedures or methods are used in the kitchen, and how to think critically about various cooking methods

A reference section at the end of each chapter points readers to resources for further study

Additional online resources include a solutions manual, a sample syllabus, and PowerPoint slides of all tables and figures

Sandra C. Greer is a retired chemistry professor who taught at the University of Maryland College Park and at Mills College in Oakland, California. She is a past winner of the American Chemical Society Francis P. Garvan–John M. Olin Medal and is the author of Elements of Ethics for Physical Scientists (MIT Press).

Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
1 Some Basic Chemistry 1
2 Measurements in Cooking 23
3 Heat and Temperature 33
4 Water, the Miracle Molecule 55
5 Acids and Bases 77
6 Just Enough Organic Chemistry 93
7 Fats and Oils 109
8 Carbohydrates 125
9 Proteins 155
10 More Chemical Reactions Plus Fermentation 183
11 Colloidal Dispersions 195
12 Diffusion and Osmosis 211
13 Nutrition 225
14 Food and the Senses 259
Final Thoughts 275
Index 277