🍕🧪 Tastes Like Science

11th edition - Pretzels, Thicc sauces, and the only measuring cups you need

Last time, we finally made it back to Friday... and now we're two weeks late LOL. I was actually kinda sad missing a newsletter after sending one out 10 weeks straight. But sometimes life happens you know.

Anyways, last time we were giving away a brand new Hedley & Bennett chef's knife to celebrate the 10th edition. And the winner is...

Travis Kim

! Congratulations and look out for an email from me for details.

As always, since we are once again late this week's giveaway is for a $20 Amazon gift card and a copy of one of my favorite kitchen books "What Einstein Told his Cook." Hear me out, this is a really fun read that uses science to explain some the most interesting kitchen questions and is easy to understand. To enter, comment what your favorite breakfast is and why! (must be a newsletter subscriber and US only)

Let's get started!

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This week's challenge was to make pretzels and beer cheese! Now I love a good pretzel, and the most authentic and truest way to make one is to use lye. Lye is somewhat dangerous, poisonous if ingested and can cause chemical burns on your skin. However, it's perfectly safe with care and the right protective equipment (gloves and safety glasses, hazmat suit optional but fun).

Now why is this necessary?

Well you know how pretzels are brown and have the characteristic pretzel-y aroma? That's actually caused by dipping the pretzels into a basic solution (greater than 7 on pH scale) before baking. Basic solutions will intensify the browning process and alter the aroma—hence the pretzel aroma you love. A lye solution is essentially the most basic you can get (pH of 14), but the other alternative is to use baking soda (pH of 8). It'll work but you won't get EXACTLY what you're looking from a true German pretzel.

I'll be honest. This was literally everything I could have ever dreamed of. The texture, the aroma, THE BEER CHEESE. The cheese was super simple literally just a basic cheese sauce but subbing in some beer for some of the whole milk. But yeah, insane. I may or may not have eaten 4 pretzels that night...

NEXT WEEK:

LET'S MAKE SUSHI. If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would definitely be sushi. So no better time than now to make it at home! I'll also be discussing the science of sushi grade fish and why that may or may not even matter.

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🍝How to perfectly thiccen your sauce

The Science:
The texture and consistency of your sauce can make or break a dish. No one wants a water gravy or alfredo sauce, but how do you thicken it?

Well, there’s more than one way and each method relies on a different bit of food science.

• Starches (like cornstarch or flour) work by absorbing water and swelling when heated, forming a gel-like network that traps liquid.

• Fats and proteins, like in a butter-based emulsion or a roux, add body through stabilizing molecular interactions that prevent separation.

• Reduction is all about evaporation: boiling off water to concentrate what’s left. The less water there is the thicker the sauce and the stronger the flavor.

Actionable Tips:

• Cornstarch Slurry (1:1 starch to cold water) mix well and stir into hot liquid for quick, glossy thickening

• Roux (1:1 butter to flour) best for creamy, stable sauces like béchamel or gravy. Melt butter and add flower to create a paste.

• Reduce watery sauces at a low simmer until you’ve reached your desired texture

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1. Ok this is a very specific kitchen tool favorite, but if you know you know. The OXO good grips measuring cups are literally the only measuring cups you should be using (not sponsored). They're not only what I've been using in my kitchen for the past 3 years, but they're what my mom used my entire life. They're honestly just so awesome because the measure markers are readable from both the top and the side to make your life easier. And I have them in every size.

   2. I want to give a shoutout to Ethan Chlebowksi and the folks over at Cook Well. They're kickstarter for their new Cook Well app got fully funded and is planned to launch later this year. I had a chance to speak with the team and it's going to be such an awesome tool for home cooks. There's still a bit of time left to contribute and get some cool perks.

   3. Ok so a couple weeks ago I bought malic acid and citric acid for the gummy worms video. But now I've been making the sour gummy powder mix and putting it on fruit and it's INSANE. Such a great snack for the summer time especially with all the fruit in season now. It's pretty affordable on Amazon so I'd try it if you can!

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Thanks for reading— Hope to hear from you and see you next week!

*If you’d like to read more of the Tastes Like Science Newsletter, you can read previous editions on my SubStack.

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