Minimal Cooking Loss: Fewer nutrients lost during cooking

With food, closed-system cooking has been around for ages. In fact, the history and evolution of cooking is often told through the lens of minimising nutrients’ loss to water – or to air when dry-heating it in a pan. Preservation as a concept is not just about extending shelf life, but maintaining nutrition value, as well as flavour and texture – and the smart preparation of food allows its full expression.

The Importance of Nutrient Preservation

Health Implications

All the nutrients that our bodies need to run properly require us to consume certain vitamins (such as iron, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and vitamin C), minerals (such as zinc and iodine), proteins, fats, or carbohydrates. As we cook our food, some of its healthful compounds have more likelihood to degrade, meaning that we might be losing those nutrients – and giving our meals a nutrition hit in the process.

Flavor and Texture

Besides health considerations, nutrients are also responsible for flavour and texture. Vitamins and minerals contribute to the bold flavours of fruits and vegetables, which are lost when you overcook them. That’s why many people would never dream of overcooking olive oil and sea salt.

Common Causes of Nutrient Loss

High Temperatures

Requiring a product to endure high temperature for long periods can break down sensitive nutrients. Vitamins such as C and some of the B vitamins are especially heat sensitive.

Water Usage

Boiling foods – especially vegetables – wastes water-soluble vitamins, which are easily lost into the cooking water. If not drunk or re-used in the sauce, this water is wasted.

Extended Cooking Times

The longer food is exposed to the heat, the more nutrients you will loose. It is best to cook food to the desired state of doneness.

Exposure to Air

Specifically, when fruits and other foods are exposed to the air for too long, they oxidise, breaking down the nutrients such as vitamins that they contain; the classic example of this in fruits is browning.

Strategies to Reduce Cooking Loss

Steaming Over Boiling

One of the simplest tricks is to serve vegetables without overcooking them: steaming vegetables retains more water-soluble nutrients than boiling, because the food is not submerged, and so fewer nutrients leak out.

Quick Cooking Methods

Stir-frying and sautéing are cooking methods that allow you to cook food quickly, which means less time spent in the presence of heat before foods can be removed from heat.

Minimal Food Preparation

In some cases, the fewer cuts or breaks the better. You can reduce the surface area exposed to air and water and so prevent oxidation and leaching by producing fewer pieces.

Use of Freeze Dried Foods

Freeze dried ingrediants have been preserved through a method in which the moisture is taken out of food by freezing it before reducing the surrounding pressure. This allows food to retain its nutrition, colour and shape. Also, by using freeze dried ingredients in recipes ensures that the nutritional value is maintained before cooking even begins.

Conclusion

At the same time, with basic knowledge and the right techniques, you can prepare foods while retaining the highest potential nutrient load: whether with freeze dried ingredients, smart preparation and processing, or optimal cooking methods. The cook of the future needs to be made of these two things: preservation and preparation.