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Quiz about Science in Cooking
Quiz about Science in Cooking

Science in Cooking Trivia Quiz


Cooking involves measurements and relies on a variety of chemical and physical phenomena to take raw ingredients and create something palatable. What do you know about the science of cooking?

A multiple-choice quiz by drbabe. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
drbabe
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
331,594
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
839
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Question 1 of 10
1. What tool do chefs use to be sure that meat is cooked to the proper temperature? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. What is the process that results in the albumin in an egg turning from clear to opaque white? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. What are the three main phases in ice cream? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. When a recipe calls for a cup of water, why doesn't it matter whether you measure 8 (UK) fluid ounces or 8 avoirdupois ounces? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. What causes browning of food when baked in a conventional oven? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. What causes the leavening effect when baking powder and/or baking soda are added to dough or batter? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. What physical change occurs when butter is churned? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The first step in cheese making involves adding rennet to cream or milk. What is created by the addition of the enzymes in rennet? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "There's always room for Jell-O." Jell-O is a popular brand of gelatin dessert. Why doesn't this dessert gel when fresh or canned pineapple is added? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Can you increase the temperature of boiling water? Hint



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What tool do chefs use to be sure that meat is cooked to the proper temperature?

Answer: thermometer

Internal temperature of meat determines whether it is safe to eat or not. A thermopile converts heat into electricity and a calorimeter measures heat, not temperature.
2. What is the process that results in the albumin in an egg turning from clear to opaque white?

Answer: denaturation of proteins

Denaturation of proteins occur because upon heating the proteins uncurl (lose their tertiary structure) and then the hydrogen bonds that provide the secondary structure break, while the primary structure, made of peptide bonds connecting amino acids, remains intact.
3. What are the three main phases in ice cream?

Answer: ice crystals, air, and fat globules

A phase is a distinguishable solid, liquid, or gas. The fat globules and very small ice crystal in ice cream give it its creaminess. The air keeps the ice cream mixture from freezing into a solid mass and lends to a pleasing texture.
4. When a recipe calls for a cup of water, why doesn't it matter whether you measure 8 (UK) fluid ounces or 8 avoirdupois ounces?

Answer: The specific gravity of water is 1.00.

The density of water is 1.00 g/ml. Specific gravity is the same as density in the metric system, but does not have units. This means that a weight ounce (avoirdupois ounce) and a fluid ounce are the same measurement. Most liquids are not significantly more dense.

The difference in mass and volume matters for very light ingredients, like grated coconut or heavy ingredients like chocolate chips.
5. What causes browning of food when baked in a conventional oven?

Answer: caramelization

Ultraviolet rays cause skin to brown, but are not produced to a significant extent in a conventional oven. Microwaves are also not present to any extent in a conventional oven, where the heat is produced by infrared radiation.
6. What causes the leavening effect when baking powder and/or baking soda are added to dough or batter?

Answer: They cause small carbon dioxide bubbles that expand upon heating.

The active leavening ingredient in both baking soda and baking powder is sodium bicarbonate. If baking soda is used, an acidic ingredient is needed to cause the bicarbonate to dissociate, producing small bubbles of carbon dioxide. Baking powder has cream of tartar with contains an acidifying agent.

In both cases, the CO2 bubbles expand upon heating and make give the baked goods an airy or "light" texture.
7. What physical change occurs when butter is churned?

Answer: Fat globules coalesce to form butter.

Lipoprotein membranes that keep globules from coalescing are broken by the agitation. This allows globules to come together to create a solid emulsion that we call butter. The byproduct of this process is buttermilk, which has less fat in it than whole milk, but more than skim milk.
8. The first step in cheese making involves adding rennet to cream or milk. What is created by the addition of the enzymes in rennet?

Answer: curds and whey

The origin of cheese predates historical record. Egyptians made a salty cheese similar to feta. In England the cheese board recognizes over 700 varieties. Cottage cheese is produced by addition of enzymes that curdle the milk proteins. At this point, it is curds and whey.

After draining the whey from the curds, the product is cottage cheese. The different types of cheeses known are the result of bacterial activity, addition of flavor, type of animal that produced the milk and even physical processes (stretching of mozzarella and cheddaring of cheddar cheese) used on the cottage cheese.
9. "There's always room for Jell-O." Jell-O is a popular brand of gelatin dessert. Why doesn't this dessert gel when fresh or canned pineapple is added?

Answer: Pineapple contains enzymes that keep the gelatin from setting.

Initially gelatin was produced by boiling animal bones and other products to extract the collagen, which is a complex protein. Pineapple contains a protease, an enzyme that denatures protein, keeping the protein chains from forming a network or gel.
10. Can you increase the temperature of boiling water?

Answer: Yes, by using a pressure cooker or by cooking at the Dead Sea

At sea level, water boils at 212 degrees F. At the lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea, the boiling temperature could be increased to 221 F. A pressure cooker decreases cooking time by applying pressure. The phase diagram for water shows that at higher pressure, the boiling point of water increases and thus allow more heat transfer per unit time.

The pressure in a pressure cooker is about one atmosphere (15 psi) greater than sea level atmospheric pressure. At this pressure water boils at 252 F.
Source: Author drbabe

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
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