Eggs may be the most important ingredient in your fridge! They’re nutritious, they taste great, and their physical properties and components make them indispensable in the kitchen. Eggs form the foundation on which many cooking techniques and recipes depend.
Along with water, protein is a key component of egg yolks and whites. Protein is made of long chains of amino acids tightly coiled by weak bonds. When protein is heated or air is beaten into it, its bonds come apart, and the chain partly unwinds. The protein is now denatured, or changed from its natural state.
As the proteins unfold, they expose their hydrophobic (water-hating) and hydrophilic (water-loving) ends. The proteins form new bonds, arranging themselves so their water-hating ends are in the air and the water-loving ends are in the water. This creates a web of protein molecules that hold the air bubbles in place. If the proteins are overheated or overbeaten, the bonds will tighten and squeeze out the moisture, leaving the eggs dry, firm and rubbery.
Leaven
Eggs have a great ability to leaven or puff up foods when air is beaten into them. Egg whites are especially good at this and, when beaten, they create a foam that has more stability and volume than whole eggs or yolks.
When air is incorporated into the protein molecules in egg whites, the proteins unwind and stretch to form an elastic web that encases the air bubbles. Egg whites can expand up to eight times their volume. They provide volume and structure to soufflés, angel food cake and meringues.
Room temperature egg whites create the best foam volume and stability. Adding an acid (e.g. cream of tartar, vinegar, lemon juice) will help to strengthen and stabilize a foam. Any fat, such as a trace of egg yolk mixed in with the whites, or oil in the bowl, or butter or cream on the mixing utensils will diminish the foaming ability of the whites.
Whole eggs and yolks can also trap and hold air that expands during heating, leavening cake batters and sauces such as sabayon.
Examples:
Basic Souffle
Angel Food Cake
Lemon Meringue Pie
Raspberry Chocolate Torte
Emulsify
Hollandaise sauce and mayonnaise are good examples of an emulsion, the blending of two incompatible liquids such as oil and water. Since these two liquids don’t mix, an emulsifier is needed to hold the oil molecules in the water without the ingredients separating. The lecithin in egg yolks is an excellent emulsifier. With the water-loving end of the lecithin molecule buried in the water molecules and the water-hating end buried in the oil molecules, lecithin forms a thin film around tiny drops of oil enabling them to remain suspended in a water-based liquid.
Creamy desserts such as crème brûlée also benefit from eggs’ ability to emulsify and produce smooth, satiny, hom*ogeneous mixtures.
Examples:
Hollandaise Sauce
Crème Brûlée
Thicken
Their ability to hold up to four times their weight in moisture makes eggs a good thickener for sauces, custards and curds. The proteins in eggs coagulate or set at different temperatures. This results in thickening but it means that eggs must be cooked gently and heated carefully or they will scramble rather than thicken a sauce or other mixture.
Egg white becomes jelly-like at 140°F (60°C) and firms at about 149°F (65°C). Egg yolk starts to set at 144°F (62°C) and is fully set at 158°F (70°C). A whole egg coagulates at about 156°F (69°C).
Examples:
Sunny Side Up Pavlovas
Lime Pudding Cake with Berries
Strawberries and Cream Canada Day Pops
Bind
Eggs can act as binding agents. As their proteins set, eggs bind ingredients together giving strength and stability to meatloaves, casseroles and baked goods.
Examples:
Rösti with Gribiche Sauce and Smoked Fish
Chocolate Krinkles
Italian Penne Bake
Challah (Egg Bread)
Coat and Seal
Eggs are used to coat foods with crumbs, flour, etc. as they help these ingredients adhere and also help to create browned appearance when cooked. Eggs have a stickiness that allows them to be used to bond two pieces of dough or pastry together (e.g. a decorative pastry garnish on a pie crust) or to provide a sticky surface on which to sprinkle seeds (e.g. poppy seeds on the top of a bun).
Colour and Shine
Protein browns when exposed to heat. Brushing pies, biscuits, breads and buns with an egg wash (beaten eggs alone or combined with water, milk or cream) before baking gives them a bronzed and glossy sheen.
FAQs
What is Food Science? Food science draws from many disciplines, including biology, chemical engineering, and biochemistry to better understand food processes and improve food products for the general public. As the stewards of the field, food scientists study the physical, microbial, and chemical makeup of food.
What is food science the study of? ›
Food science is the study of the physical, biological (including microbiological) and chemical makeup of food.
Is food science a good career? ›
Food scientists typically earn salaries competitive with other science and engineering degrees. Most have successfully found a job or earned admission to graduate school months after graduation.
What are 3 examples of food science? ›
The five fields of food science to understand as a food business are food microbiology, food engineering & processing, food chemistry, nutrition, and sensory analysis.
Is food science difficult? ›
So is the food science degree hard? It's not as hard as a chemistry degree but it's harder than an English degree in terms of how much science you need to know. You have to have some science and logical skill so if you did not excel in this in high school, then it might not be for you.
What can a food scientist do? ›
Depending on where they find themselves employed, a food scientist may be responsible for various tasks, including: Preparing and executing studies to help those across the industry better understand essential topics like sustainability. Overseeing the design of new policies governing food processing.
Do food scientists make money? ›
As of May 20, 2024, the average annual pay for an Entry Level Food Scientist in California is $81,048 a year.
What is the highest food science salary? ›
While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $157,904 and as low as $36,515, the majority of Food Scientist salaries currently range between $67,100 (25th percentile) to $98,700 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $141,620 annually in California.
What are the five fields of food science? ›
These guidelines identify five core areas, namely, food chemistry, food microbiology, food processing, food engineering, and food analysis.
What to learn in food science? ›
Food science is the study of the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food; and the concepts underlying food processing. Food technology is the application of food science to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, distribution, and use of safe food.
While food science and culinary science both have 'science' in the name, the two fields are quite different. Food science concentrates solely on the biochemistry, biology and chemical engineering of food while culinary science integrates both culinary arts and food science.
Is food science a stressful job? ›
Some common sources of stress for food scientists are workload, expectations, communication, feedback, teamwork, and uncertainty. You might feel overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, or exhausted by these factors.
Is a bachelor's in food science worth it? ›
Food science can be a particularly lucrative field, experts note. Miller points to high demand for food scientists due to a relatively small number of food science programs and many jobs available to college graduates who have studied food science.
Is food science in high demand? ›
Overall employment of agricultural and food scientists is projected to grow 6 percent from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations. About 3,000 openings for agricultural and food scientists are projected each year, on average, over the decade.
What is food science the study of quizlet? ›
The study of producing, processing, preparing, evaluating, and using food.
What is the difference between food science and food microbiology? ›
Food science is a multi-disciplinary field which involves chemistry, microbiology, biochemistry, nutrition and engineering to solve real life problems associated with food systems. The study of organisms which inhibit, contaminate or create food is termed as food microbiology.
How does food science relate to chemistry? ›
Food chemistry is one of the fields involved in the multi-disciplinary field of food science. It is the study of food components, such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and water. In addition, food chemistry assesses the reactions these components go through during food processing and preservation.
