hey chemistry nerds

Explain why microwaved food usually tastes inferior to the same food cooked in a pan or oven at similar temperatures.

Let me guess... it involves carbon.

Less emissions.

what

fire is the world's most tastiest ingredient

duh

I dont fucking know, and dont care if Im too tired to put it in the goddamn oven

I think it has to do with water evaporation, ie, the difference between microwaving and baking a tortilla.

because of the heat.

When you cook over a fire, the heat causes chemical reactions in the food that release certain flavours.

i thought that microwaves cooked food because they oscillate at the resonant frequency of water, so its the water in the food which is heating and not the actual food itself being cooked, hence tasting shittier

after further research wiki has told me that i am wrong

one thing would be the lack of Maillard reaction

yeah. what I said.

  chenGOD said:

yeah. what I said.

yeah. well i wanted to say Maillard reaction.

also caramelisation.

I think it has something to do with the Maillard reaction.

  chenGOD said:

because of the heat.

When you cook over a fire, the heat causes chemical reactions in the food that release certain flavours.

This.

It's the same reason why cooked sauce tastes better than just throwing uncooked sauce on your hot spaghetti to heat up.

I'm sure it's got something to do with the "Maillard Reaction".

Am I really the first person to mention the Maillard reaction?

  Dragon said:

Am I really the first person to mention the Maillard reaction?

Oh dude it was just a matter of time, I got there a couple of minutes before you man, sorry.

Whabam, it was like AAAAGGHHHHHH.

the microwave radiation kills the compounds and bacteria that accentuate flavour. heat also does this, but not so much.