Why does burgers/steak shrink when you cook it instead of falling apart?

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Just curious why it pulls together keeping its shape rather than filling with “holes” and falling apart.

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because the patty/steak is like a big ball of string. long strains of fiber tissue run thru out it.

As the moisture evaporates, the long fibers shrink, drawing the meat together, tighter

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because of it’s heat affected fibrous makeup.
Those fibres shorten as they lose their moisture.
Regardless of the orientation of the fibres, they still adhere to other fibres.

Anonymous 0 Comments

What’s happening is like the reverse of what happens when you [put a water on a dry sponge for the first time](https://media.nature.com/w1248/magazine-assets/d41586-018-04010-w/d41586-018-04010-w_15577882.gif).

When cooking the meat, the only thing leaving is the water. The protein (structure) all remains, and contracts as the water leaves from between and within all the fibers.