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USES
OF WATER IN COOKING
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USE OF WATER IN CLEANING
AND IN PREPARING FOODS
Water is a cleansing agent
because most soil is soluble in water. It also plays a most important
part
in the preparation of foods, since it serves as a medium for the
cooking
of foods, as in the processes of steaming and boiling.
Because water
dissolves
many substances, it acts as a carrier of flavor as
in fruit
drinks, tea, and
coffee. Although there are some foods which can
be cooked
without a water
medium, baked potatoes and roast meat for
example,
certain foods such
as rice and dried beans require water during
cooking. It is
readily seen
that water is indispensable in cooking.
USES OF WATER IN COOKING
It is the
solvent, or dissolving,
power of water that makes this liquid valuable in cooking, but of the
two
kinds, soft water is preferable to hard, because it possesses greater
solvent
power. This is due to the fact that hard water has already dissolved a
certain amount of material and will therefore dissolve less of the food
substances and flavors when it is used for cooking purposes than soft
water,
which has dissolved nothing. It is known, too, that the flavor of such
beverages as tea and coffee is often greatly impaired by the use of
hard
water. Dried beans and peas, cereals, and tough cuts of meat will not
cook
tender so readily in hard water as in soft, but the addition of a small
amount of soda during the cooking of these foods will assist in
softening
them.
Water is
used in cooking
chiefly for extracting flavors, as in the making of coffee, tea, and
soups;
as a medium for carrying flavors and foods in such beverages as
lemonade
and cocoa; for softening both vegetable and animal fiber; and for
cooking
starch and dissolving sugar, salt, gelatine, etc. In accomplishing much
of this work, water acts as a medium for conveying heat.
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