De-Nature of Proteins

We've talked about what meat is made of - muscle (apologies to any vegetarians reading this!). But what happens when you cook meat? Why does it look and taste so different?

Meat is mostly made up of water, fat, and proteins, which are very long molecules composed of building blocks called amino acids. You can think of a protein like a necklace, with the amino acids being the individual beads. Normally, these protein necklaces are coiled up in a very specific shape. But when they are heated, this shape falls apart, and they just become shapeless blobs - this process is called denaturation. Imagine a rope tied in a very complicated knot that somehow becomes untied and end up just as a pile of rope. When you cook meat, you denature the proteins, which has several effects:

• Denatured proteins are easier for our stomachs to digest
• Denatured proteins make meat firmer and not so slimy
• Denaturation disrupts the stringy muscle fibers, making the meat easier to chew
• Denaturation changes the color of meat from translucent to opaque

Cooking has other benefits, as well, since it kills bacteria and improves flavor. However, those aren't related to the denaturation process. So, how do you like your meat cooked - rare, or well-denatured??