On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 874

relatively loose, weak clusters This difference explains why long-grain rices high in amylose have a firm, springy texture when served right after cooking and get inedibly hard when refrigerated overnight, while shortgrain rices low in amylose have a softer, sticky texture and harden much less during overnight refrigeration The hardness of all leftover grains can be largely remedied simply by reheating and so regelating their starch Starch gelation and retrogradation Starch granules are compact, organized masses of long starch chains (left) When a starchy cereal is cooked, water penetrates the granule and separates the chains from each other, thus swelling and softening the granule in the process called gelation (center) When the cooked cereal cools down, the starch chains slowly rebond to each other in tighter, more organized associations, and the granule becomes firmer and harder, a process called retrogradation (right) Starch Firming Can Be Useful Reheated grains never get quite as soft as they were when first cooked This is because during the process of retrogradation, amylose molecules manage to form some clusters that are even more highly organized than the clusters in the original starch granule, crystalline regions that resist breaking even at boiling temperatures These regions act as reinforcing junctions in the overall network of amylose and amylopectin molecules, and give the granules greater strength and integrity Cooks take advantage of this strengthening to make bread puddings and starch noodles; parboiled (converted) rice and American breakfast cereals keep their shape because much of their ... cereal cools down, the starch chains slowly rebond to each other in tighter, more organized associations, and the granule becomes firmer and harder, a process called retrogradation (right) Starch... amylopectin molecules, and give the granules greater strength and integrity Cooks take advantage of this strengthening to make bread puddings and starch noodles; parboiled (converted) rice and American... more highly organized than the clusters in the original starch granule, crystalline regions that resist breaking even at boiling temperatures These regions act as reinforcing junctions in the overall network of amylose and amylopectin