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Browned Food Gets Its Flavor From Heat

5th grade nonfiction passage about browning and flavor: 233 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction browning and flavor 233 words

Browned Food Gets Its Flavor From Heat

Think about the smell of toast, roasted potatoes, or a pancake as it turns golden in a pan. Now think about a boiled potato. It is soft and tasty, but it is pale and has a much milder smell. Why does browned food seem to have so much more flavor?

The answer is a change that cooks call browning. When food gets hot enough, sugars and proteins on its surface react with each other. The reaction makes hundreds of new flavor and smell molecules, and it also turns the surface brown. It is named for a scientist who studied it long ago, Louis Camille Maillard, and people often call it the Maillard reaction.

Browning needs a lot of heat, hotter than boiling water can ever get. That causes a trouble for cooks. A wet piece of food stays cool while its water bubbles away, so it steams instead of browning. The solution is to get the surface dry. Cooks pat meat with a towel before they put it in the pan. They also leave space between pieces of food, so the steam can escape instead of making everything damp.

Browning takes place in many kitchens every day. It gives bread its crust, helps coffee beans develop flavor when they are roasted, and makes a seared vegetable taste rich. When food turns golden brown, the cook knows that a lot of flavor has arrived.

Questions

  1. What happens to the surface of food during browning? in the text

  2. What does the browning reaction make besides color? in the text

  3. Why does a wet piece of food not brown right away? in the text

  4. Why do cooks pat meat with a towel before cooking it? think about it

  5. Why do cooks leave space between pieces of food in a pan? think about it

  6. Why is a boiled potato paler and milder than a roasted one? think about it

Words to know

browning
the change that turns food golden brown and adds flavor
reaction
a change that happens when substances meet and become something new
molecules
the tiny pieces that make up all matter
seared
cooked quickly on the outside at high heat
surface
the outside layer of something
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 225 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Think of the smell of toast. Think of roasted potatoes, or a pancake turning golden in a pan. Now think of a boiled potato. It is soft and tasty. But it is pale, and its smell is mild. Why does browned food have so much more flavor?

The answer is a change that cooks call browning. When food gets hot enough, sugars and proteins on its surface react with each other. The reaction makes hundreds of new flavor and smell molecules. It also turns the surface brown. It is named for a scientist who studied it long ago, Louis Camille Maillard. People often call it the Maillard reaction.

Browning needs a lot of heat. It needs more heat than boiling water can reach. This is a trouble for cooks. A wet piece of food stays cool while its water bubbles away. So it steams and does not brown. The fix is to get the surface dry. Cooks pat meat with a towel before it goes in the pan. They also leave space between pieces of food. The steam can escape, and nothing gets damp.

Browning happens in many kitchens every day. It gives bread its crust. It helps coffee beans get their flavor when they are roasted. It makes a seared vegetable taste rich. When food turns golden brown, a lot of flavor has arrived.

▲ This passage · 233 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Think about the smell of toast, roasted potatoes, or a pancake as it turns golden in a pan. Now think about a boiled potato. It is soft and tasty, but it is pale and has a much milder smell. Why does browned food seem to have so much more flavor?

The answer is a change that cooks call browning. When food gets hot enough, sugars and proteins on its surface react with each other. The reaction makes hundreds of new flavor and smell molecules, and it also turns the surface brown. It is named for a scientist who studied it long ago, Louis Camille Maillard, and people often call it the Maillard reaction.

Browning needs a lot of heat, hotter than boiling water can ever get. That causes a trouble for cooks. A wet piece of food stays cool while its water bubbles away, so it steams instead of browning. The solution is to get the surface dry. Cooks pat meat with a towel before they put it in the pan. They also leave space between pieces of food, so the steam can escape instead of making everything damp.

Browning takes place in many kitchens every day. It gives bread its crust, helps coffee beans develop flavor when they are roasted, and makes a seared vegetable taste rich. When food turns golden brown, the cook knows that a lot of flavor has arrived.

■ Harder · 237 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.7

Consider the aroma of toast, roasted potatoes, or a pancake turning golden in a hot pan. Now consider a boiled potato, which is soft and perfectly pleasant but pale, with a far milder smell. Why does browned food seem to carry so much more flavor?

The explanation is a chemical change that cooks call browning. When food becomes sufficiently hot, sugars and proteins on its surface react with one another. The reaction produces hundreds of new flavor and aroma molecules, and it simultaneously darkens the surface to a rich brown. It is named for a scientist who studied it long ago, Louis Camille Maillard, and people commonly refer to it as the Maillard reaction.

Browning demands intense heat, hotter than boiling water can ever reach, and that creates a difficulty for cooks. A wet piece of food remains cool while its moisture bubbles away, so it steams rather than browns. The remedy is to dry the surface thoroughly. Cooks pat meat with a towel before placing it in the pan, and they leave space between pieces of food so that the steam can escape instead of dampening everything.

Browning takes place in countless kitchens every single day. It gives bread its crust, helps coffee beans develop their flavor when they are roasted, and makes a seared vegetable taste rich and satisfying. When food turns golden brown, the cook knows that a great deal of flavor has arrived.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put browning, reaction, molecules, seared and surface on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 4 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Browned Food Gets Its Flavor From Heat"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 233 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.7. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 3 ask for something the text says directly and 3 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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