Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: Paul Jen on 08/07/2008 12:36:15

Title: Why do things float once they're cooked?
Post by: Paul Jen on 08/07/2008 12:36:15

Paul Jen  asked the Naked Scientists:

Hello, love your show (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/) and thanks for answering past questions.

New question:  In many cuisines the rule of thumb of telling when something is cooked by boiling is when the food floats to the top of the boiling water.  For example, chinese wontons, meat balls, or italian gnocchi's.

Why is that?  

Thanks, look forward to your show.

Paul

What do you think?

Title: Why do things float once they're cooked?
Post by: Madidus_Scientia on 09/07/2008 08:27:46

I reckon it's probably because the food expands a bit when boiled due to the proteins denaturing from the heat, making the overall food bit less dense than the water.