eli5: why isn’t it possible to cook e.g. cookies at twice the temperature for half the time? obviously i know it isn’t possible, but *why*? what’s the physics behind it?
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Food cooks by transferring heat from a source (e.g. oven, skillet, boiling water, etc.) to the interior of the item being cooked. The speed of cooking is limited by the capacity of the food to conduct heat. The heat conducting capacity changes very little regardless of the heat source. Raise the temperature of the heat source, the food simply cooks faster at the surface, but not at its interior. The result is that the surface of the food is done much faster than the interior. This is good if you want a very rare steak, i.e. crispy brown surface with cool, red center. On the other hand, if you’re going for medium rare, it’s best to start with very high heat to brown the surface, then lower the heat to allow the interior to warm slowly while remaining moist and juicy. The same is true in baking. If you set the oven too high, the surface of your cake will char while the interior is still raw dough.
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