SC - Chemistry of food (Was how to carboate beverages)

[Alderton, Philippa]

Puck,

Yes, carbonic acid forms any time the two mix, but in the first place,
carbonic acid is NOT a strong acid, and in the second place, only a very
small percentage of the mixture becomes acid. (Yes, Kent, I know I'm saying
the same thing twice, but let's keep it simple.) If you check the pH of any
beer, you'll find it is slightly acidic- about 6.5 or so, which just
happens to be very close to the pH of most of your intestinal system. I
suspect that is in part why beer is never bought, it is merely rented. Any
time two chemicals mix, a reaction, ALL reactions, occur but some are so
minor in extent due to unfavorable conditions, that they aren't noticeable.
After all, a change of say one molecule in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 is
not very easy to spot. Even Lord Ras' notable expertise in taste
sensitivity would be hard put to notice:-)

And, for your information, and that of the list, that's why certain
temperatures are specified in certain recipes, most notably the recent
thread on foamy Turkish coffee. Heat usually speeds up a reaction, but too
much heat can destroy a reaction by pushing it past the preferred
intermediate state. A reaction can be pushed faster by the addition of a
catalyst- after all, in cooking you want results BEFORE the food has
spoiled or you've starved to death- but a catalyst WON'T make a reaction
occur that wouldn't occur naturally. And there are anti- catalysts which
will inhibit or slow down a reaction so that undesirable things don't
happen. A semi example would be the use of lemon juice or vinegar to keep
cut fruit looking fresh- the acids inhibit the action of certain enzymes
which cause the fruit to turn brown.

Early/medieval cooking, as with ALL cooking until recently, consists of a
series of practical chemistry manuals developed by trial and error which
specify what techniques worked without knowing the why. We, as moderns,
have an advantage of knowledge and access to unusual materials, which the
early people didn't have, but we're all still relying to one extent or
another on what has come before.

Kent, where did you say that SCA chemistry list was? Do you think Margali
would mind if we moved it under her rock, next to the hot tub where we'd
have a temperature controlled bath to compare speeds of reactions?

Phlip
phlip at morganco.net

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider that cain't be throwed.


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