#kitchen-science

#kitchen-science

Emulsification is the process of forcing fat and water to combine smoothly. In baking, that typically means blending butter or oil with milk or eggs.

Butter is an uneasy truce, a sensitive emulsion of water, fat, and milk solids, each wanting to go their separate ways as soon as things start heating up. When the pan gets hot, the water starts to escape as steam, the sugary milk solids sink, sticking and browning on the bottom of the pan, and the structure holding everything together falls apart.