eli5 Why do foods baked in an oven taste different from the same foods cooked on the stove?
In: Chemistry
In an oven, the food is held at some specific temperature until it is cooked. The the heat is transferred through hot air via *convention*. It is heated mostly evenly from all sides. The transfer of heat is pretty slow and gentle.
In a stove, the food is hit with a constant amount of heat. The heat is transferred through *conduction* via contact with the hot pan. It is heated only on one side. The transfer of heat is fast and harsh.
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Where this gets more interesting is with the interactions between water, the Maillard reaction, and burning.
**Water** takes an awful lot of energy to turn from liquid into steam. While it’s liquid, it can only ever reach 100°C. Your food will stay that temperature until all of the surface water has evaporated. Only then can the surface temperature of the food increase.
**The Maillard reaction** is the chemical reaction that browns food. It makes food, tasty. This reaction only takes place above 150°C. **Burning** takes place when the food exceeds 250°C.
To make tasty brown food you need to evaporate surface water, then hold the food above 150°C and below 250°C.
In an oven, the hot air will evaporate a lot of surface water, then hold the food in that sweet range. Water will collect on the tray, and may prevent the bottom of the food from browning. This can be corrected by putting the food on a rack.
On a stove, the food can be blasted with heat to rapidly boil off water. But while this is happening you are boiling the food, potentially over cooking it, and not browning. Once the water is gone, the frypan can get really hot. This is great for browning but introduces opportunity to burn.
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