Food

#1493 What causes a hangover?

What causes a hangover? A hangover is caused by a combination of things, including acetaldehyde poisoning, dehydration, inflammation, irritation of the stomach, low blood sugar, and lack of sleep. As an interesting aside, the word “hangover” only became associated with the morning after drinking too much in 1904. It was used in the Foolish Dictionary,

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#1470 Why does gelatin set?

Why does gelatin set? Gelatin sets because the protein strands in it go soft when they are heated and then form into a tangled mass when they cool. Gelatin is an ingredient we use for cooking and it is taken from the collagen found in animal parts. You can get vegan gelatin, but unless it

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#1446 Why do things go stale?

Why do things go stale? Things go stale because they either lose water or they gain water, making them difficult to eat. If you leave food out on your kitchen counter, it very quickly starts to go stale. Foods that are soft tend to get hard, and foods that are hard tend to get soft.

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#1401 What is self-raising flour?

What is self-raising flour? Self-raising (self-rising in the US) flour is wheat flour that has the leavening agent (usually baking powder) and sometimes salt already added to it. The purpose of self-raising flour is to (as it says in the name) rise on its own, which means without adding any other ingredients. When you are

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#1386 What is a calorie?

What is a calorie? A calorie is a unit of energy. There are small calories and large Calories. A small calorie is a measurement of the energy required to raise 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius at 1 atmospheric pressure (or sea level). What is a small calorie and a large calorie? A

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#1377 How does cling film stick?

How does cling film stick? Cling film (also called plastic wrap, saran wrap, cling wrap, and food wrap) sticks to surfaces because of static electricity and because of the properties of the plastic it is made of. Cling film (Saran wrap) is another of those products that we can’t live without, but which were discovered

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