Apply science in energy saving and avoidance of smell depositing while cooking.

Dr Hector Perera London

Cooking or cookery is the art, technology and craft of preparing food for consumption with the use of heat. Food contains nothing but complicated organic chemicals so I think cooking is a huge chemical reaction and interaction with heat. Asians add spice ingredients in cooking dishes such as chicken, beef, lamb and even some vegetable dishes. Again these spices have far too many complicated chemical structures to mention right here but if you need some examples cinnamon have about 20 chemicals and chilies have 15 chemicals. I can go on to give the number of chemicals even in cardamom, cloves and nutmeg but I am sure this is enough for the time being. It dependents how much of each ingredient is added for a certain weight of chicken, lamb or beef. Some people like them hot some like them mild so one has to be careful in adding ingredients qualitatively and quantitatively. Once you add the required ingredients including curry leaves, lemon grass and ginger then they must leave that to a side for some ingredients to get adsorbed then then get absorbed. This process is called marinate. I have seen some so called experienced chefs in British TV shows, just add ingredients while they are allowed to boil and steaming. That is the time those chefs get showered with ingredients so they walk up and down like tandoori chicken. Who would agree that is a correct step in cooking.

Again one must understand that any food is a bad conductor of heat that means it takes time for them to feel the heat in the cooking pan then slowly goes through the ingredients then through the food in the cooking pan. Once the heat get absorbed by the cooking pan they normally pass them to anything in the cooking pan. If the cooking pan material is a good conductor of heat, then it get heated quickly. Only if the material can retain some heat due to thermal capacity. Materials such as clay pot have low thermal capacity while stainless steel have good thermal capacity. Due to conduction of heat it create convection currents in the liquid that carry the heat slowly upwards. All food may be at room temperature but once the heat get transferred through convection currents the food gradually keep on absorbing some heat, in the meantime some heat go pass some food particles to the others. These convection currents carry the food ingredients in the liquid form under certain pressure if the lid of the pan was closed. Once the pan lid was opened the vapour pressure drops then it slows down the speed of the convection currents. I have my doubts if any so called chefs are aware of these scientific facts.

Cooking programmes in British TV

I have seen some so called cooking programmes by experienced chefs in British TV. One must see those programmes to believe my words. The so called chefs just add this and that so quickly to the cooking pan and keep on stirring while the cooking pan gives out streams of cooking aroma. I wonder if their ideas are to shower with cooking aroma then walk up and down or even to run all over the kitchen area like tandoori chickens, I am not sure.

I have found out from research papers that the cooking aroma are not quite healthy to inhale for a long time because they contain vapours of fats, oils and other ingredients in the vapour form. In some countries such as in China some chefs who cook the food by the method tossing the food up and down have respiratory and pulmonary problems due to inhaling of those cooking aroma for a long time. While these British TV chefs cook the food and mix the food, sometimes the vapours even catch fire to the escaping cooking aroma. I admit the fact that it is really nice to watch when the cooking pan catches fire but would that help the food to cook properly? Back home some fire eating devil dancers do that kind of actions but that is a different issue that was not cooking but a kind of devil dancing for the entertainment of the people.

Judges in cooking programmes

Then there are so called judges who watch those cooking by a few chefs. Their tasks were not to help but to watch how they cook then keep on telling in loud voice how much time left to finish their tasks. I must say they were given more than an hour to cook then to serve. I think that is more than enough to cook something properly but once the cooked beef or lamb were sliced to serve, you will still notice the rose or red coloured meat that means they are not properly cooked. Who would prefer to eat uncooked or under cooked meat? Any under cooked meat still have germs and bacteria in them that means once they are eaten the germs and bacteria go into their digestive systems. Who would agree to eat that kind of uncooked or under cooked meat?

My scientific energy saving cooking

I am making use of some scientific laws that are more than two centuries old in my kind of scientific energy and smell avoiding cooking technique. I have revealed these techniques to the public in a few different TV channels in Sri Lanka since 2006. In May 2014 I showed my scientific energy saving cooking technique to The Sustainable Energy Authority in Sri Lanka. There were four officials to witness this cooking. They accepted the fact that I have cooked by saving more than 60% energy even though I promised to save 60% energy. There was no chicken cologne for them to shower because I have adjusted the vapour to recycle while cooking. They were so impressed by my explanations and work then promised to issue an approved certificate. I was so delighted to hear the good news.

Sirasa TV cooking demonstration

I had contacted two TV stations once I came from England for a short holiday in Sri Lanka. In one of the TV studios, they didn’t have any cooking facilities. Then the same day I demonstrated my energy and smell saving cooking to The Sustainable Energy Authority, Sirasa TV invited me for a live cooking demonstration to their studio on the next day morning. If anyone would like to see the work, please type Dr Hector Perera Sirasa cooking to Google search to see Sirasa TV cooking demonstration. You also might see my work with The Invention Commission in their official web site then the work is also found in you tube as well.

I am clear about my good intention

My intention is to help the nation save some energy wasted in careless cooking. Since I got my BSc MSc PhD in chemistry, I am applying some science in cooking, energy saving then also showing how to stop any cooking aroma getting on them while cooking. My method is quite scientific not “kussi amma” style of cooking whereas most British TV chefs are no better than “kussi amma” who used to cook in firewood stoves. I wonder if the TV viewers as well try and follow that kind of cooking. The TV viewers would certainly change their mind once they see my kind of cooking. Hopefully one day I will have the chance to demonstrate my kind of scientific energy saving cooking to be demonstrated for the benefit of British public. Your comments are welcomed perera6@hotmail.co.uk