 |
| NYU chemistry professor Kent Kirshenbaum. Photo: Jeff Potter |
After distilling the concentrated smoke and liquid mix (often sold at the grocery store by the bottle to enhance barbecue) down to its roots of water and more than 400 chemical compounds, the scientist (who in person comes across as one part Einstein, one part Malcolm Gladwell) learned that liquid smoke is actually "safer [for human ingestion] than untreated wood smoke."
Kirshenbaum discussed his discovery last week during a monthly gathering of the Experimental Cuisine Collective -- food nerds who love to make things like edible foam. We caught up with him to chat smoke, bongs and homemade liquid smoke.
What is liquid smoke?
Liquid smoke is very simply smoke in water. Smoke usually comes as a vapor, but there are ways to condense it and turn it into liquid and that liquid can then be carried in water.
Y'know what I love about Ted Allen? Everything. His carefully sculpted coiff, his evasion of the Queer Eye curse, his smug yet disarming way of knowing so much more about everything than I ever will. And now, as if I needed another reason to worship the damn man, he is hosting the genius new Food Network series Food Detectives. 
I've been fiercely opposed to
the chemically-altered and highly sweet high fructose corn syrup for years, and it's amazing to me that, as long as
it's been known to have serious affects on health, contributing to rising obesity and diabetes rates, it's still
ubiquitously available in foods. It's super sweet, and it's cheap.
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
