The article we read this week talked about a number of compounds with several different chemical bonds. I have chosen two compounds, sugar and salt, to go into more detail about. Salt is an ionic bond, because chlorine steals sodium's valence electron to form the bond. Sugar forms a covalent bond because oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen share their valence electrons equally between them.
Pancakes rise, like my other baked goods, because carbon dioxide gets trapped in the batter when you mix it, helping fluff the pancakes out. In pancakes, most of the protein comes from eggs and the gluten in flour. The chewable texture is formed by the carbon dioxide bubbles trapped in the batter by mixing, and the tenderness formed by the sugar and butter. It is mainly the fluids in the batter tat allow all the chemical reactions to occur.Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) is made up of both ionic and covalent bonds, which occurs when positively charged sodium bonds with the negatively charged oxygen and carbon. When you mix acid with a carbonate (such as baking soda with vinegar) you get lots of fizzing as the two react. It is important to remember when adding buttermilk to pancakes that since buttermilk is slightly acidic, it will react with the carbonates. Because of this, if you leave buttermilk pancake batter out for a while, the batter will go flat, like soda when it's left out.
The Maillard reaction is caused by a chemical reaction bet
ween hot sugar and amino acids. During the reaction, small molecules are let out, creating the delicious smells that reach our noses. Two examples of the Maillard reaction or furanones and thiophenes. Furanones create a sweet, caramelly burnt smell while thiophenes generate more of a meaty, burnt smell. An example of something that undergoes the Maillard reaction is onions when they are caramelized - they exude furanones.All in all, pancakes have a lot of chemical reactions to thank - the ingredients in the batter, the properties of sodium bicarbonate, and the browning process caused by the Maillard reaction. Together, they make pancakes look, smell, and taste good.
