Food & Wine Chemistry

Hello! I spent many hours making a rosehip and orange marmalade. Collecting the rosehips, cutting the rosehips, taking the seeds out. I put the rosehip/orange mixture through an old metal sieve/strainer that I bought from a thrift store. It is made of some type of steel or metal. It is gray, and very slightly rusted. When the mixture made contact with the sieve, some of it turned a blackish purple colour. Is this okay to eat??? What is going on here. I am really upset because I spent a lot of time on this. I also made other things with the sieve, like nannyberry butter, but did not notice the discolouration, though the nannyberry was already blackish, but it wasn't acidic. So about 3/4 has been completely discoloured, I seperated the rest of it, and that is only very slightly discoloured. Are either of these ok to eat? Note the person I bought the sieve from, said that it was for the kitchen, and said that it was old, like 1960s even. ... View more

Hello there, this is a shot in a dark, but I'm wondering if anyone here could help me with this issue that I've been having. I am currently trying to add Oleoresin of Paprika into a sausage that I am fermenting, smoking and dry aging. I use the oil soluble version. The issue becomes that once emulsified and stuffed the sausage it all looks great. But once i get to the fermentation stage and the sausage reaches around 30C, the oleoresin splits from the emulsification and drags out all the water and other fats from my sausages turning it into a mush.  I am adding 2% of oleoresin to the whole mass.  Does anyone here have any experience with this and could help me please? ... View more

Hello there, this is a shot in a dark, but I'm wondering if anyone here could help me with this issue that I've been having. I am currently trying to add Oleoresin of Paprika into a sausage that I am fermenting, smoking and dry aging. I use the oil soluble version. The issue becomes that once emulsified and stuffed the sausage it all looks great. But once i get to the fermentation stage and the sausage reaches around 30C, the oleoresin splits from the emulsification and drags out all the water and other fats from my sausages turning it into a mush.  I am adding 2% of oleoresin to the whole mass.  Does anyone here have any experience with this and could help me please? ... View more

Tasty Culinary Chemistry - ACS Webinars™ Date: Thursday, September 20, 2012 Time: 2:00-3:00 pm ET Fee: Free Learn how your knowledge of chemistry can enhance your cooking. Join Guy Crosby, back by popular demand, as he enthralls us with chemical reactions that occur during the preparation of food which determine how flavors develop. Guy will explore the chemical reactions behind three sources of flavors: those created by enzymes, the caramelization of sugars, and the Maillard reaction in browning proteins. He will also explore how storage affects food flavor. Come and equip yourself with the knowledge that will make you a titan in the kitchen.  Ready to cook? ... View more

Hi, my name is Nicole and I am a junior in high school in my first chemistry class. For my final project, I am making dark chocolate from scratch. I am planning on making dark chocolate using cocoa powder, honey, vanilla, and coconut oil. I plan on heating the ingredients in a small pot over a stove. I have two questions about how this should be done: 1- Do I need to temper the dark chocolate I make if I'm only making a total of about 1 cup of it? It will be separated into small pieces in a silicon mold once all the ingredients are mixed, but I'm not sure if it's necessary to temper it or not for the result to come out okay. Will tempering it just ensure that it will be better than without tempering it? 2- I'd like for my dark chocolate to not be bitter and I was thinking of ways to sweeten it. I know sugar will work to add sweetness, but I'm not sure if it needs to be melted for it to combine well with the other ingredients, or if it'll still be grainy. I could also add honey but I don't know if that will create the right type of sweetness. Should I add regular sugar or honey to sweeten my dark chocolate? Thank you ... View more