Cooking plays a vital role in food production and preservation adding quality to make food easily consumable. Most foodstuffs are not nutritionally valuable until they undergo a certain amount of cooking. Apart from adding a combination of flavors to food, cooking also renders certain pathogens harmless. Cases of illnesses and infections attributed to nutrition usually result from the amount of heat used to prepare meals. A clear example is a gout, which is caused by consuming meat roasted at over 320ºF.
The preventive measure for eradicating gout is to boil or fry rather than roast meat just to use rather than lower temperatures. Again, higher temperatures are required where germs are concerned to kill them. This requires experts to discern the type of germs and temperatures in which they can hardly survive. For example, temperatures from 75ºC and above kill the majority of bacteria. Specific temperatures, therefore, are needed to be observed during the preparation of specific foodstuffs and, of course, for specific durations.
In its review, USDA FSIS (1999, p. 93) indicates that Nutrition specialists usually have to be conversant with optimum ranges of temperatures to prepare various types of food. They practically use calibrated thermometers to be accurate with the measurements. Room temperatures are conducive for bacteria growth and cannot be used for cooking. Beef requires 160ºF, hamburger needs 155ºF, chicken requires 165ºF, and pasteurized milk is being produced at 40ºF for 14 Hours.
Eggs also require a temperature of 160ºF to boil and should be cooked until their yolk is dry. Cooking oils and fats should also be heated until they boil to liquid form be consumable. The range of temperatures between 41ºF to 135ºF also known as the danger zone is the range within which germs thrive well; therefore, food should not be stored under such temperatures.
Doyle (1989, p.250) confirms that temperatures control chemical reactions in food substances through certain chemical processes, some of which are non-reversible. Boiling points and melting points are unique for different substances. For example, the boiling point for milk is slightly below that of water. Chemical substances also react at specific temperatures because some of the processes in reactions involve neutralization of acids, oxidation, reduction, and dissolution.
Sweet potato, for example, is converted from starch to glucose during boiling. Likewise, for protein foods, the structures of their amino acids are permanently transformed by increasing temperatures. Baking, as a method of cooking, reduces the moisture content to a minimum. In a nut shell, Mead and Bresee (1999) indicate, ‘The products of baking such as biscuits, bread and various cakes are as a result, durable. For protein foods, the structures of their amino acids are permanently transformed by increasing temperatures’ (p. 402).
The role of impurities in boiling points, melting points and freezing points of substances cannot be overlooked as far as temperatures are concerned. Impurities determine the temperature, at which certain substance undergoes its vital stages of cooking, and prior knowledge of such temperatures is essential. Still, some of the containers also take part in chemical reactions at specific temperatures, and if measures are not observed, it ends up contaminating the entire cooking.
Extreme temperatures for cooking are the temperatures beyond the tolerable range that is required for cooking. Marsden and Phebus (1997, p. 186) say that every type of food has a range of temperatures within which it can be cooked, or it can maintain its chemical composition. Extreme high temperatures are detrimental to food since they alter the chemical composition, texture, and flavors. Extreme low temperatures, on the other hand, adversely affect the texture of the food substance.
Milk, for example, solidifies below 0ºC, and when boiled beyond 140ºC, it burns into a black substance. While cooking is highly important to the society, extreme temperatures and pressures must be avoided. Boiling remains the safest mode of cooking for many food stuffs, owing to the fact that boiling point of water is a constant of 100ºC, and water is easily accessible. It is worth noting that some of the chemical reactions regenerate into food poisoning, and one needs to be extra vigilant with such foodstuffs.
In conclusion, there are several methods of cooking for so many types of food that exist around the globe. The choice of the most suitable method depends on individuals’ desire as influenced by a number of factors. The first factor here is the texture of food, whether it is soft or hard. Higher temperatures will be more preferable to hard than soft foods.
The desired flavors also control ones’ choice of cooking. Individuals differ in their likes and dislikes; some people prefer smoked food, some fried, others boiled, and the rest baked. The last factor, equally vital, is the urgency of demand, the speed with which the food is to be prepared. One would use methods involving the use of more heat in order to speed up the process.
Regardless what method an individual chooses, extreme limits have to be observed and avoided through temperature regulation. The best temperature generally accepted for the majority of foods is 75ºF, but the duration has to be prolonged. This temperature is required not only to prepare delicious meal but also to preserve the food.
List of References
Doyle, P 1989. Food borne Bacterial Pathogens. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Marsden, J & Phebus, R 1997. Temperatures and latitudes: boiling substances. Macmillan, London.
Mead, S & Bresee, S 1999. Food-related illness and death in the United States. Emerg. Inf. Dis. Carnage Learning, New York.
USDA FSIS, 1999. Compliance guidelines for cooling heat-treated meat and poultry products: Stabilization, A journal on food preservation, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 91 -106.