- dedicated to chemical curiosities in the kitchen
It s been quiet here for a while. But luckily there s a project that has been simmering for a very long time. I got the idea back in 2014, sketched up some dummy screenshots (see below) and made a crude Excel model. But it never moved on from there. Until now. Today 9 August 2026 [ ]
In the previous blog post of this series I looked at the chemical compounds present in a cup of coffee and how the concentrations span 9 orders of magnitude. Each of the compounds present in coffee will have a specific solubility and extraction rate. This sounds bad, but is actually good, because roasted coffee is [ ]
In my previous blog post about coffee I discussed parameters you can influence once you have purchased your precious beans. These were brew ratio, total dissolved solids, extraction yield, grind size, water composition, water temperature and filter material. This time I want to turn my attention to what is actually in the cup. Normal black [ ]
I only became a regular coffee drinker after I finished my PhD in chemistry and got a real job. The reason was that I had a 1 hour commute and I needed the caffeine to stay awake and focused. Prior to this I was more of an occasional coffee drinker. Fast forward 15 years and [ ]
Due to my extended break from blogging it turns out I haven t recommended books here at Khymos since 2013! As you know I do keep an eye open for books about food that have a certain scientific touch. Let me start off with some recommendations for books published in 2020: The Flavor Equation by Nik [ ]
Never before have I seen so many references to exponential growth as during the last year. Regrettably this has been in a negative context related to the spread of the SARS CoV-2 virus. Exponential growth is very counterintuitive (as the wheat/rice chess board problem illustrates). It looks like nothing is happening for a long time. [ ]
It s been 6 years since the last update of Texture A hydrocolloid recipe collection and I m thinking it s about time for an update. It will be an incremental revision, so expect a v.3.1 were wrinkles have been ironed out, nothing major. I would like to extend a big thank you to all who have [ ]
I just received an email from Hervé This with a document briefly summarizing 20 years of molecular gastronomy seminars in Paris. He has kindly asked recipients not to hesitate with distributing the results, so I therefore share the pdf documents with you in French and English (if anything seems a little strange, check the French [ ]
I m happy to announce that Khymos has undergone major upgrades and repairs behind the scenes. The entire blog has been moved from blog.khymos.org to khymos.org (old URLs are redirected). Furthermore I ve made the transition to a responsive WordPress theme so at last it is possible to read Khymos on mobile devices (yeah, I know [ ]
It s been a long hiatus, more than 3 years since the last blog post! I ve been busy, but fortunately not too busy to cook. Despite desert like conditions on the blog, many desserts have been prepared and enjoyed! Looking back, I think one reason me and my wife have had time to cook is our [ ]