eli5: Why does cooking/warming up food make sound?
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Most things we consider food (meats, vegetables, etc.) contain a lot of water, because most things we consider food were once alive, and all living things need water to survive. The water in food isn’t generally stored in a big central balloon or anything like that, it’s generally distributed evenly throughout that food, like in between cells and stuff. However, regardless of how it’s stored, when water is heated to 212F/100C, it turns into water vapor. Water vapor is much less dense than water, therefore that water expands dramatically inside the food. The food can’t expand enough to contain all of that water vapor, so instead the water vapor basically explodes out of the food and is ejected rapidly. These tiny explosions happen hundreds or thousands of times per second, and each one makes a small sound. Put all those small sounds together, and you get a sizzle.
This is why food releases steam, which is why if you put a lid on whatever you’re cooking, a bunch of steam will collect under the lid. All that steam used to be water inside of whatever you’re cooking. You boiled that water by cooking the food.
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