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The Virtual Cook: Modeling Heat Transfer in the Kitchen

NOV 01, 1999
With a second‐order differential equation and a computer, the gastro‐physicist can challenge much of the conventional wisdom about how to grill a steak to perfection.
Harold McGee
Jack McInerney
Alain Harrus

Physics and food go way back together. The eating of high‐energy, high‐protein animal flesh may well have made civilization and science possible, by providing adequate nourishment for the evolving, enlarging human brain. And prehistoric cooks were certainly among the world’s first applied scientists. They transformed matter through the controlled application of thermal energy, turning tough, microbe‐ridden, bland animal flesh into softer, safer, more flavorful food.

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References

  1. 1. H. C. Chang, J. A. Carpenter, R. T. Tbledo, J. Food Sci. 63, 257 (1998).https://doi.org/JFDSAZ

  2. 2. B. Hallström, C. Skjöldebrand, C. Trägardh, Heat Transfer and Food Products, Elsevier, London (1990).

  3. 3. N. E. Bengtsson, B. Jakobsson, M. Dagerskog, J. Food Sci. 41, 1047 (1976).https://doi.org/JFDSAZ

  4. 4. M. Dagerskog, Lebensmittel Wissenschaft und Technologie 12, 217 (1979).

  5. 5. M. A. Townsend, S. Gupta, W. H. Pitts, J. Food Process. Eng. 11, 17 and (1989).

  6. 6. H. McGee, The Curious Cook, North Point, San Francisco (1990).

  7. 7. D. A. Ledward, D. E. Johnston, M. Knight, eds., The Chemistry of Muscle‐Based Foods, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England (1992).

  8. 8. Visit PDE Solutions, Inc Web site at http://www.pdesolu‐tions.com

  9. 9. F. Kreith, M. S. Bohn, Principles of Heat Transfer, 5th ed., PWS, Boston (1997).

More about the Authors

Harold McGee. Palo Alto, California.

Jack McInerney. San Jose, California.

Alain Harrus. Menlo Park, California.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 52, Number 11

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