/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.11194401]

I thought the longer you simmer a sauce the more intense the flavors would become, but whenever I simmer something it tastes more and more flavorless the longer I leave it.

What's the deal with that?

[Anonymous No.11194406]

>>11194401
When you simmer something there are two competing processes taking place.

The water evaporates which concentrates the flavors remaining in the pot. but at the same time, anything with a boiling point lower than that of water (i.e. many aromas) also evaporate.

Therefore reduce the non-aromatic components of your sauce first, then add the aromatics later.

[Anonymous No.11194408]

>>11194401
make sure all your flavor evaporators are turned off

[Anonymous No.11194419]

>>11194406
>>11194408
So simmering is purely for getting a thick sauce? My friend seasons all his sauces before he even brings to a boil but it always tastes great everytime.

[Anonymous No.11194455]

>>11194419
>So simmering is purely for getting a thick sauce?
It also cooks any ingredients which might be raw, removes alcohol (if you are cooking with booze), hydrates dried herbs, etc.

>>My friend seasons all his sauces before he even brings to a boil but it always tastes great everytime.
Experience and perhaps a bit of luck.

[Anonymous No.11194470]

>>11194406
Nice bro science, retard. Don't listen to this doofus, his explanation is wrong and falls flat when you consider that lots of times you simmer with the lid on. The point of simmering for longer times is simple, heat induces flavor (fragrant oils will be released from ingredients, etc). The longer you simmer the more flavor compounds will be introduced from the ingredients. Liquid reduction should be negligible in things like pasta sauce and is not at all responsible for flavor. Aromatic evaporation? What the fuck? You have to be shitting me, no way you believe that actually affects flavor. Most likely you are tasting it as it simmers and over time you are growing accustomed to the flavor, similar to the way you get used to smells (cologne/perfume) over time.

[Anonymous No.11194491]

>>11194470
>Completely
>Fucking
>Incorrect
Go and spread your retardation elsewhere.

[Anonymous No.11194496]

>>11194470
>Aromatic evaporation? What the fuck? You have to be shitting me, no way you believe that actually affects flavor.

I'm not sure how you can even type that. Apply your brain a little. Let's say you have a sauce cooking and you add something aromatic. Garlic, let's say. Now after a little while you start to smell the garlic cooking. How is that possible? Well, the chemicals which cause that aroma are in your nose. How did they get there? You inhaled them from the air. How did they get into the air? They evaporated from the pot. If they're in the air and in your nose then they are no longer in the pot, right? Obviously not ALL of the flavor cooks out, but some of it certainly does.

[Anonymous No.11194542]

>>11194496
Ok nerd we're all super impressed that you're taking intro to chem, but you should learn how to appropriately apply those principles in order to not sound like a dumbass (Google "dunning - Kruger effect). I didn't say volatile didn't exist, I said that it wasn't relevant to flavor. You think you're gonna sniff up all the flavor from the garlic and there will be nothing left for your food? Fucking idiotic. That's how I know you're in babby's first science class.

[Anonymous No.11194560]

>>11194542
>You think you're gonna sniff up all the flavor from the garlic and there will be nothing left for your food?
Nobody said anything about "all". It's "some". And depending on how long you simmer for it could be a great deal.

I've made the mistake of adding herbs to a long-reduced sauce too soon and wondered why the sauce was flavorless when I was done, despite it making the house smell amazing. Flavors cook off no differently than wine or water.

[Anonymous No.11194773]

>>11194560
I cannot believe what I'm reading. Flavors do not cook off. I can only hope you're playing devil's advocate with this because I refuse to believe there are people who believe this. Flavor molecules come from the heating up of food. As long as there is food to be cooked there will be more flavor molecules being produced. You're acting as if the way alcohol/water is removed from simmering food applies to all other compounds which is arrogant and horribly incorrect.

[Anonymous No.11194777]

>>11194542
t. adds basil at the start of cooking

[Anonymous No.11194788]

>>11194773
>aromatics, spices, and herbs contain an unlimited amount of volatile oils and esters

You should have told me sooner! Do you have any idea how much money I've wasted on spices when I could have just rinsed them off and reused them?

[Anonymous No.11194798]

>>11194773
>Flavors do not cook off
How can they not? Everything has a boiling point. If you heat up a substance to its boiling point then it evaporates, just like the water and alcohol when you reduce something. Can you smell ingredients when you are cooking? That's proof positive of the process happening.

..or did you think that the rules of physics don't apply to food for some reason?

>>there will be more flavor molecules being produced.
flavor molecules aren't produced in some sort of factory. There is a fixed amount of them in your food. As you cook they evaporate (i.e. you can smell the food cooking). There is only so much. Cook for a long time and a significant portion of that is now in the air instead of in the dish.

>> You're acting as if the way alcohol/water is removed from simmering food applies to all other compounds
It does, actually. Anytime you heat something up to its boiling point it will evaporate. When simmering a sauce you are cooking it at 100C, so anything whose boiling point is lower than that will cook off.

[Anonymous No.11194799]

>>11194773
go to your kitchen right now and fill your pot with water and seasoning
cook on a low heat until the flavors have mixed
taste said water
now boil the water until only a quarter is left
taste said water

after doing this come back and join the adults for an actual conversation

[Anonymous No.11194807]

>>11194542
>(Google "dunning - Kruger effect)
I've been noticing a lot of retards with only a very tenuous grasp of psychology using that term lately.
I wonder what THAT is called.

[Anonymous No.11194808]

>>11194807
this and gas lighting

[Anonymous No.11194844]

>>11194807
NPCs got an update