In both cases you’re heating up food to change it in some form, but cooking changes it in a good way that maintains (or enhances) its flavor and nutritional value, while burning destroys the food.
In: 3
Heating food isn’t instantaneous. Even when the food does get up to temperature the resulting chemical reactions aren’t instantaneous.
When you heat food at the right temperature for the right amount of time the right chemical reactions go on for the right amount of time to make them taste good. If you use a higher temperature or a longer time those reactions will go on for too long.
Too long may just mean that too much water has evaporated and it’s dried out. It may mean that compounds have started to form or break down in undesirable ways.
In particular if it’s really burnt you’ve oxidized it. At the extreme end of that you have a pile of ash.
Latest Answers