Cooking Science — Searing, Seasoning, Heat Transfer
The physics and technique terms behind why cookware behaves the way it does.
Leidenfrost Effect
A vapor layer that forms when liquid touches a surface above its boiling point; the basis of water-bead pan tests.
Maillard Reaction
The browning reaction between amino acids and sugars under heat; it creates crust and flavor.
Seasoning (Cookware)
Polymerized oil baked onto bare metal to build a nonstick, rust-resistant layer.
Thermal Mass
A material’s ability to store heat; higher thermal mass holds temperature better under load.
Definitions are maintained by the site editors; "products in our corpus" counts come from the offline product database (2023 vintage).