Fab Foodie

[Dave5N]

Sorry, stupid post because you already addressed cell rupture in frozen foods as a mechanism to release flavour.

However, does this mean that dishes flavoured with non-whole spices, eg, tabasco, will not change as a result of freezing, all else being equal?

 

[Fab Foodie]

So it isn't the freezing, it's the reheating?

If I reheated two theoretically identical dinners, one had been in the freezer two months and one a week; they had had identical non-frozen storage, cooking, cooling, etc...

WOuld they be equally hot?

Blimey...I shall be glad to go back to work for a rest!

It's both the freezing and the reheating, they both play a part, though I can't quantify how much each! It probably varies according to recipe too.
On the effects of freezing, a couple of things:
Longers is right in that freezing, especially slow freezing rates in home freezers causes large ice-crystals to form in cellular material and will lead to the break-up of cell structure. At -18C not all the water in food is frozen, due to concentration of salts and sugars in parts of the cell structure. So even when "frozen" there is still small movement of water and low rates of reaction occurring. The longer a food stays frozen, smaller ice-crystals start to merge causing more cell disruption which upon thawing releases more flavour components into the free-liquid of the food. Thus maybe something stored frozen for 3 months compared to 1 week might taste stronger.

Faster freezing using Liquid Nitrogen or commercial blast freezers produces much finer ice-crystals than home freezing, thus a better quality product.
I worked on a project with a company that developed a technology for freezing tissue cells which remained viable on thawing...we applied it to Industrial fruit freezing...we could make strawberries or Mango slices that after months of frozen storage thawed-out to give a product that was virtually identical to fresh in every way...in fact marginally sweeter...an added benefit! We had a lot of retailer interest and a test plant in Thailand...but the company re-organised and the project lost its funding

 

[Dave5N]

Thanks! That's exactly the answer I needed. The right science made understandable. You should teach!

 

[Fab Foodie]

Sorry, stupid post because you already addressed cell rupture in frozen foods as a mechanism to release flavour.

However, does this mean that dishes flavoured with non-whole spices, eg, tabasco, will not change as a result of freezing, all else being equal?

I would not expect so much change with such an extract, but as mentioned, other components will change during frozen storage and that will affect flavour perception even if the Tabasco itself is unaffected.

Its complex. An example...does chewing-gum loose its menthol flavour as you chew it?
Well, it plainly does as we all know. But if after a time when you think the flavour is gone, you analyse the vapour in your nose, you'll find that the menthol is still there and at a high level. So why can't we taste it?
The answer is primarily because the perception of menthol is promoted by the prescence of sugar...as you chew the gum, the sugar dissapears and our sensation of menthol flavour dissappears with the sugar...take a swig of say sweet tea and suddenly the menthol sensation returns.
The chewing gum does not loose it's menthol, it looses its sugar...and hence its taste.

Flavour is one of the most complex areas of food science because it is based on perception and that flavour perception is also coupled to other physical properties such as texture or presence/absence of certain other components...flavour perception is also heavily influenced by visual stimuli too.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Thanks! That's exactly the answer I needed. The right science made understandable. You should teach!

Thanks

I wanted too and was going too, but they can't afford me...or I can't afford to be a teacher more like

Never mind, I look after a very tough customer, they ask difficult questions so I get the opportunity once in a while

 

[Abitrary]

flavour perception is also heavily influenced by visual stimuli too.

Apparently, if you blindfold wine experts, so they can't see the colour of the wine, they don't describe it in the same way i.e. reds aren't necessarily strawberryery, and whites don't always taste like melon

 

[Fab Foodie]

Apparently, if you blindfold wine experts, so they can't see the colour of the wine, they don't describe it in the same way i.e. reds aren't necessarily strawberryery, and whites don't always taste like melon

That doesn't surprise me either...
I've done the experiment with fruit flavoured water with the wrong colouring applied...unless you're really good you cannot separate the colour from the taste, so if you see yellow, you perceive Lemon even though the flavour is strawberry.
I've also done the basic Unilever flavour language library...and that's damn difficult to do blind as well.

To be honest I have to rely on a couple of the girls in our lab for flavour work, they're really good at picking out individual herbs or spices, but I'm hopeless...for that reason I do most of the product/process improvement stuff...

 

[Fnaar]

Apparently, if you blindfold wine experts, so they can't see the colour of the wine, they don't describe it in the same way i.e. reds aren't necessarily strawberryery, and whites don't always taste like melon

...and they report it tastes better whn told it costs more!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article3177658.ece

 

[striker]

butternut squash,sweet potato and onion soup. fantastic