Emulsions Essay

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Emulsions are important in food science. Not only do they provide an important sensory aspect in many foods, but a functional one as well. From hollandaise to ice cream, getting hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules to play nice with each other can be a difficult task. According to Modern Cuisine, it was previously thought that Hollandaise, a classic French emulsion of egg and butter, could only be made by letting butter drip from natural heat of the hand. Of course, modern science has taught us that, with the use of emulsifiers, these mystic mixtures can be created without the voodoo and magic once thought necessary. This paper will discuss emulsions as applied to hollandaise, chocolate, hot dogs and their characteristic pH, moisture content, shelf stability and quality of viscosity. An explanation of the chemical processes that occur between the raw ingredients of each food and the relationship between the structure and function of their components will be explained, as well as the importance of the chemical changes that take place during production. The characteristics that define these foods as emulsions will be compared and contrasted to further elucidate the mystery of the emulsion. Bon Appetite!
In the most basic sense, as described in Fennema’s Food Chemistry, an emulsion is a “dispersion of one liquid into another.” The properties of these mixtures are defined by the type of emulsion (oil in water or water in oil), droplet size, volume fraction of the dispersed phase, composition of the surface layer and composition of the continuous phase. Droplet size is important to emulsions in that a finer droplet size, typically 1 um, generally yields a more stable emulsion (Srinivasan and others, 2008). The volume fraction is imp...

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...ore over, when chlorine containing salt is added to the mixture, the negatively charged chlorine ions amplify the negative charge of the meat proteins, causing them to repel each other more. This not only allows for more space in the matrix, but decreases water mobilization as well (Hoogenkamp 2011).
Fat, too, plays an important role in meat emulsion stability. After freeing the fat from the 'fat cellular structure', fat droplets are produced; the smaller the droplets the more stable the emulsion (Hoogenkamp 2011). Hoogencamp also explains that an adequate amount of solubilised protein also needs to be available to cover the surface of the fat droplets. In cases when more fat stability is required, because it remains pliable when denatured, sodium caseinate can be used as an emulsifier rather than depending on just the myosin found in the meat (Hoogenkamp 2011).

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