Hadm 2360 Review Questions

Reading and Review Questions

OFAC14_Cooking Methods (pgs. 777-787)

1. Identify and describe the two primary browning reactions brought about by cooking?  In what foods do they occur and under what conditions?  How are they similar?  How are they unique?
2. Explain why the two browning reactions discussed do not generally occur when moist heat cooking methods are used.  
3. What is the objective of cooking and how is this objective most often achieved?
4. What is heat?
5. Identify and describe the three methods of heat transfer.  What are some examples of each?  
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of grilling and broiling?  What is the key to balancing these out?
7. Is heat transferred more efficiently through baking or boiling?  Explain your response.
8. Why is baking not very efficient?  How does a convection oven increase the efficiency of baking?
9. What is the boiling point of water at sea level?  How does pressure impact the boiling point (give examples)?
10. What does it mean to cook “below the boil” and when/why is this frequently recommended?
11. Describe how pan-frying, sautéing, and deep-frying work?  What are the benefits of these methods of cooking?  Are these moist or dry heat methods?
12. How does microwave cooking work? What are some advantages and disadvantages of it?

PC4_Menus, Recipes, & Cost Management (pgs. 59-81)

1. How are recipes limited and why is some judgement by the cook always required?
2. What is a standardized recipe and what types of details are generally included in one?
3. What is the function of standardized recipes?
4. How are recipes in cookbooks and textbooks different than standardized recipes?
5. What are a few of the different points you should seek to determine while reading, and rereading, a recipe and that should be taken into consideration?
6. Identify and describe the three methods of ingredient measurement.  When should each be used? Which is most accurate?
7. Explain the difference between AP weight and EP weight and explain when each should be used.
8. What are recipe yields?
9. What is a conversion factor (i.e., scaling factor), how is it calculated, and how is it used increase or decrease the yield of a recipe?
10. Why do recipes sometimes not give the same results when converted to a different yield?  What kinds of adjustments might you have to make to avoid this problem?

PC4_Menus, Recipes, & Cost Management (pgs. 81-88)

1. What is a food cost percentage and how is it calculated?
2. What is a yield cost analysis and why is it important for calculating recipe costs?
3. What is a percentage yield and how is it calculated?
4. Explain what a yield test is, why it is completed, and briefly how it is completed.
5. What is a portion cost and how is it calculated?
6. What are some good ways to keep food costs as low as possible?

OFAC10_Doughs and Batters (pgs. 521-543)

1. What are the two major ingredients in a dough or a batter?  What determines whether the mixture of these two ingredients is called a dough or a batter?
2. How does water aid in the development of gluten?
3. Gluten is primary comprised of two proteins.  Identify and describe these two proteins and explain their impact on the structure of gluten.
4. Understanding that strong gluten is not always desirable, identify and describe the ingredients and/or techniques that bakers can use to control the strength of gluten.
5. Identify the various ingredients that contribute to the structure of doughs, batters, and their products and be able to explain the behavior and effect each have on it (focus on the unique contributions of each).
6. How/why does the initial aeration of a dough or batter influence the final texture of the baked good?
7. Why are most flours refined (i.e., why is the bran and germ removed from most flours) to leave only the starchy endosperm?
8. Why do whole wheat flours not produce as much gluten as bread flours, despite having higher protein levels than bread flour?
9. How do yeasts contribute to bread making and how?
10. Identify the different types of yeast available to bakers and briefly describe the difference between them.
11. What are chemical leaveners and how do they work?  
12. How does kneading impact the formation of the gluten network?
13. What is retarding and what benefits does it bring to the baker and the bread?
14. Identify and describe the three stages of the baking step (i.e., when the bread is actually in the oven)?  What is happening within each?

OFAC11_Sauces (pgs. 581, 587, 590, 591-596, 597-598)

1. What is a sauce?
2. Identify three ways that sauces can enhance the sensory experience of a dish and explain how each is accomplished.
3. Explain how the development of “The Classic French System” of sauces (i.e., the classification of sauces) after the French Revolution was able to “simplify the work in order to be able to serve dinner, and then to do a great deal with very little”.
4. How are modern sauces different from the sauces of Careme and Escoffier’s time?  How are they the same?
5. What has driven the changes evident in modern sauces?  

OFAC5_Edible Plants (pgs. 261-290)

1. Broadly speaking, what are the characteristics of a plant’s cells that determine the texture, color, and flavor of the plant?
2. Identify and briefly describe the six major plant organs.  Provide an example of each.
3. Why do leafy vegetables shrink so much when cooked?
4. What two factors determine the texture of raw fruits and vegetables?  What scenario results in crisp, firm fruits or vegetables? What scenario results in limp, flaccid fruits or vegetables?
5. How can the cook reduce the negative impact of cellulose and lignon on the texture of food?
6. What are the major groups of pigments that give fruits and vegetables their colors?  Identify the colors associated with each and provide an example of a fruit or vegetable containing each.
7. How do heat and pH impact the various fruit and vegetable pigments?  How can we offset this impact?
8. What causes enzymatic browning?
9. Identify and describe the different ways that enzymatic browning can be prevented/ discouraged.
10. Explain the impact that microbes have on the spoilage of fruits and vegetables?
11. Why are precut fruits and vegetables more susceptible to deterioration and spoilage?
12. What is ethylene and what impact does it have on fruits and vegetables?
13. What impact does refrigeration have on the storage life of fresh produce?
14. What are the unfortunate side effects of freezing fresh produce and what can be done to mitigate them?
15. What is the primary challenge of cooking vegetables and fruits?

OFAC2_Eggs, Dairy, & Pastry (pgs. 84-86, 92-97, & 100-106)

1. Explain the process by which heat solidifies a liquid egg.
2. What happens to egg dishes that are overcooked?
3. Explain how heat impacts the different components of the egg?  At what temperature do each coagulate? The whole egg? A custard?
4. What is the impact of adding milk, cream, and/or sugar to eggs when cooking?  On the finished product?
5. What are custards and creams?  How are they similar?  How are they different?  What are a few different examples of each?
6. How should custards be cooked?  What are some best practices for doing so?
7. What is a common method for determining the doneness of a custard?  
8. What are egg foams and how are they created?
9. What are three enemies of egg foams and what problem(s) do they cause?
10. Explain the impact that the age of the egg has on the production and stability of egg foams.
11. Describe the difference between an egg foam at the glossy soft peaks stage vs one at the stiff peaks stage.

OFAC4_Fish and Shellfish (pgs. 189-194 & 208-211)

1. Why is the texture of fish so much more delicate than land animals?
2. Describe the general composition/arrangement of fish muscle and connective tissues.  Explain how this impacts the structure and perceived moisture of cooked fish.  
3. How does connective tissue in fish differ from that in land animals (e.g., beef)?
4. What are two reasons why fish and shellfish tend to be so highly perishable?
5. Identify several different factors that have an impact on the flavor of fish?
6. Most raw fish muscle is white, or off-white.  What are the two other common colors of fish flesh and what causes these colors to be present.
7. What are the general characteristics to look for to determine the freshness of a whole fish?
8. Keeping fish in good condition is a big challenge.  What are three things that frequently cause fish quality to deteriorate (often rapidly)?
9. What are the best practices for maintaining the condition (i.e., delaying deterioration) of fresh fish?
10. Why is it that fish lasts nearly twice as long at 32F than it does at typical refrigerator temperatures?
11. How does water temperature impact the shelf-life of fresh fish and which types of fish have the shortest and longest shelf-life?
12. What are the four broad flavor families of cooked fish?
13. What are the target temperatures for cooking fish to ensure a firm AND moist final product and why?

OFAC3_Meats (pgs. 129-134 & 142-154)

1. What determines the qualities of meat (i.e., its texture, color, and flavor)?
2. Provide a basic description of the structure/composition of meat?
3. What is collagen?
4. What generally determines the tenderness/toughness of a cut of meat?
5. Meat color is dependent on the proportion and arrangement of red and white muscle fibers.  Provide a description of each of these different types of muscle fibers including what they are used for, why they are the color they are, and where they tend to be located.
6. Most meats benefit from a certain degree of aging.  What are the two primary benefits of aging meats?
7. What are the pros and cons of wet-aged meat in comparison to dry-aged meat?  
8. Provide a general description of how the structure and moisture (i.e., texture) of meat changes as heat is applied.
9. What are the key changes to the color, moisture, and structure of meat at, or around, each of the following temperature levels: 120F, 140F, 150F, and 160F?
10. What is two-stage cooking and what are the benefits it provides when cooking meats?
11. Explain why it is best to cook tender cuts of meat and tough cuts of meat in different ways.  How does the composition of these meats differ and what, specifically, does that tell us about the temperature requirements for cooking each to a desirable doneness?
12. What are the best cooking methods and how should time and temperature be balanced for tender cuts versus tough cuts?
13. What are some of the different variables that make knowing when to stop cooking so difficult (i.e., what are some of the factors that impact cooking time)?
14. Explain why it is so important to allow meats to rest after cooking (before carving and serving).