60
votes
Accepted
Can we fill potato chips bags with a gas other than nitrogen?
As Nilay Ghosh said, nitrogen is cheap. Very cheap. Neon is expensive. Argon is cheaper than neon, but considerably more expensive than nitrogen. Helium is also expensive and needs to be used wisely, ...
- 5,020
51
votes
Accepted
What causes the "rotting fish smell"?
The "fishy" odor that you're familiar with is brought about by a whole bunch of compounds, and not any single one. Then again, if we were to narrow this down a bit, we could say that simple nitrogen ...
- 18.6k
48
votes
Can we fill potato chips bags with a gas other than nitrogen?
Not mentioned yet: nitrogen is entirely non-toxic, environmentally friendly, does not contribute to global warming or ozone depletion.
In very good approximation, nitrogen is just air with the oxygen ...
- 869
46
votes
Accepted
Why does lemon juice reduce the "fish" odor of sea food — specifically fish?
There are two cases, both related to acid-base reactions. Both are also partial reasons why so many fish recipes use lemon juice.
Fish, especially sea fish, naturally contain trimethylamine-N-oxide $\...
- 39.4k
44
votes
Accepted
Why does whipped cream use nitrous oxide instead of nitrogen gas?
There are two ways to efficiently make an aerosol product:
Use a gas that liquifies under the pressure inside the can. For example, butane lighters. Nitrogen is one of the "fixed gases", meaning it's ...
- 1,209
33
votes
Accepted
Sugar solutions have a neutral pH in themselves, but it makes your body acidic. Why?
It is not proven that "sugar makes your body acidic"!
Your body's pH is very tightly regulated by the body's internal systems; it is also different in different parts of the body - the stomach is ...
- 21.6k
32
votes
Accepted
Raw green onions are spicy, but heated green onions are sweet. Why is this?
Onions caramelize, becoming sweet as various complex saccharides are broken down to more "tasty" sugars. For instance, in onions, green (scallions), yellow, red or other, chains of fructose ...
- 30.5k
30
votes
Accepted
What substances do humans consume that are caloric but neither protein, carb, nor fat?
If you go to https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01990L0496-20081211&qid=1580028914722&from=EN you will see a fairly extensive list of caloric compounds (screenshot ...
- 12.1k
29
votes
Why does whipped cream use nitrous oxide instead of nitrogen gas?
According to Nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and their mixtures as propellants, Proc. Chem. Specialties Mtrs. Assoc., June 1950, page 45, William Strobach, $\ce{CO2}$ and $\ce{N2O}$ are both suitable ...
- 40.3k
28
votes
Can we fill potato chips bags with a gas other than nitrogen?
Substances that are gaseous down to, say, -10 are finite (and not very large) number.
Of these, we want:
Safe against ignition (so no hydrogen or gaseous hydrocarbons)
Not poisonous (phosphine, arsine,...
- 790
28
votes
The importance of the cold chain in the food and the pharmaceutical industry
Avoiding cooling again after keeping it (for noncritical products) at room temperature is mainly to prevent forgetting it was not cold all the time and that it may not last as long as expected.
Taking ...
- 39.4k
27
votes
Accepted
What gives fresh milk a yellow tinge?
The main substances that cause the yellowish color of the milk are carotenoids [1]. The main carotene involved is the beta-carotene coming from the feed that cows eat.
Some studies have been carried ...
- 9,069
26
votes
Accepted
Are food calorie values really integers?
They're not exact numbers. These numbers aren't exact for three reasons:
Each type of carb, protein, and fat has a different caloric value. These are overall averages for each class.
Even if you ...
- 12.1k
25
votes
Accepted
How would I measure the Carbon Dioxide content in Coca Cola over a period of time?
Measure the change in mass over time of the remaining liquid. Though some water will also evaporate, you can control for that by keeping the humidity near 100%.
If you have to be precise, collect the ...
- 30.5k
24
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference between NaCl or table salt (processed) and salt from the Himalayas?
No salt will be pure NaCl. Each will have some degree of other elements. The fact that the salt isn't white confirms there are other elements present.
See Analysis of Gourmet Salts for the
...
- 40.3k
23
votes
Accepted
Why do raisins bob up and down in carbonated water?
The raisin has nucleation sites on it that allow bubbles of $\ce{CO2}$ to form. The raisin is light enough to be lifted by the bubbles as they push their way to the surface. As the bubbles are ...
- 23.9k
23
votes
Accepted
Why do green bell peppers become bitter when cooked?
Thousands of different chemicals, previously spatially separated, are mixed together after the thermal death of cells and kept at high temperatures to react well. The final taste will depend on the ...
- 39.4k
22
votes
If capsaicin is insoluble in water, what makes chilli water taste spicy?
You got me curious, so I poked around a bit on this.
First there is insoluble and then there is insoluble. The Wikipedia article on capsaicin lists its solubility as $\pu{0.0013 g}/\pu{100 mL}$ ...
- 22.3k
22
votes
Chilling water in copper vessel
Do not do it !! ( putting acidic, or rather any juice to copper bottles )
You are in danger of copper poisoning.
Generally, by food processing laws, copper is not allowed to be in direct contact ...
- 39.4k
22
votes
Accepted
The importance of the cold chain in the food and the pharmaceutical industry
Answer here from a quality manager in the pharmaceutical field in Europe.
Pharmaceutical companies are obliged to perform stability tests for their products according to the relevant pharmaceutical (...
- 416
20
votes
Accepted
How long would it take for sucrose to undergo hydrolysis in boiling water?
This is a nice well-defined question, and luckily there is excellent data for which we can provide a quantitative answer.
Richard Wolfenden's research group has sought for many years to characterize ...
- 21.9k
19
votes
Why do the physical properties of an egg shell change when the egg shell is exposed to vinegar for a week?
It doesn't make calcium carbonate rubbery, it removes the calcium carbonate. Egg shells are not purely calcium carbonate they are more like a composite with a continuous matrix of calcium carbonate ...
- 12.4k
19
votes
Accepted
If LPG gas burners can reach temperatures above 1700 °C, then how do HCA and PAH not develop in extreme amounts during cooking?
It is the temperature of the pan that matters not the flame
The flame temperature is irrelevant if you are cooking in a vessel. the only temperature you need to worry about is the temperature of the ...
- 35.5k
18
votes
Why do unboiled eggs last longer than boiled eggs?
An eggshell is a complex structure. From Wikipedia:
Boiling the egg removes the waxy cuticle from the outside of the egg, dissolves a small but not insignificant amount of calcium carbonate from the ...
- 4,391
18
votes
Why is the Vitamin B complex, a "complex"?
It is essentially exactly what your teacher says: the term vitamin B complex is used because the structures assigned a name ‘vitamin Bx’ don’t really have anything in common although they are all ...
- 67.3k
16
votes
Accepted
Why does lavender oil dissolve plastic?
Based on appearance and extent of deformation, your bottle is likely made of PVC plastic which is not compatible with oils. Plastic bottles are made from blow molding. This process leaves residual ...
- 12.4k
14
votes
Accepted
Why does hot oil fry things, but hot water does not?
Oil can get hotter than the b.p. of water, 373 K.
The browning (decomposition) of starches proceeds very slowly (perhaps years for a noticeable change) at 373 K. In addition, the water in the potato ...
- 30.5k
14
votes
Accepted
What factors promote honey's crystallisation?
The decisive factor is the plant origin of honey. The major components ( reportedly by some beekeeper books of my passed away father ) have ratio glucose : fructose about 1:1 to 1:1.7. Glucose ...
- 39.4k
14
votes
Accepted
Why are some colorings called "Fast", i.e. Fast Yellow AB (E105)?
A good dictionary is your best friend. Fast as an adjective for a color
Of a colour or dye: that will not readily fade or wash out; permanent. Now also in fast to: not susceptible to fading from. The ...
- 39.1k
14
votes
Accepted
What is the standard industrial method for measuring caffeine content in food and drinks?
The answer is fortunately rather simple. Use a C18 reversed phase column and a UV detector in an HPLC system. One would make a calibration curve by injecting various concentrations into the column. ...
- 39.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible