If you turn to your grill to cook what you think is the perfect Flat Iron Steak, you're doing it wrong. Sure, the meat gets cooked and probably tastes pretty good, but you're missing out on how insanely moist and flavorful the steak could be. Instead, marinate the meat overnight and vacuum-seal it in a bag. Next, soak it in a warm bath at 55 degrees Celsius (that's 131 degrees Fahrenheit) for 12 long hours. Then give it a quick sear, and bon appétit.
You see, cooking is a science. Numerous methods will get the job done, but understanding what techniques yield the best results for a certain dish calls for deeper knowledge. And that's where molecular gastronomy comes into play.
Molecular gastronomy is the art of combining science lab methods with kitchen ingredients. Actually, many of the chefs responsible for recent advances in scientific creativity in the kitchen shudder at the term "molecular gastronomy." The term says "first-year med school class" more than it says "joy of cooking." So most chefs prefer the loose term "modernist cooking" instead. After all, when you think about it, cooking of any type is based on science: You cause a chemical reaction just by bringing a pot of water to a boil.
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