Kitchen mystery

[nancylebov]

I was in a what-the-hell cooking mood, and I had some fresh cranberries. So I thought I'd stirfry them with some salmon and kale.

I thought I'd stirfry the cranberries first, so I heated the pan as high as it would go, then put in some olive oil and the cranberries. After a little bit, the cranberries burst into foot-high flames! I turned the heat off, and the flames went away after a little while.

I can't figure out what happened. The pan was clean. The stove is an ordinary kitchen gas stove, and stirfrying in olive oil has never led to flames. The berries weren't fermented. Any theories?

Otherwise, the berries tasted good in themselves, but don't go especially well with salmon--cranberries are too strong. Maybe a orange next time.

Comments

wre they fresh or frozen+

[wolfdancer.livejournal.com]

I will post this on food porn if you like, Did they have the seed removed? Am told that the seed might explod under heat.

Re: wre they fresh or frozen+

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Fresh. A little older than they should have been-- I threw out the ones which had gone soft. I didn't notice seeds when I ate them, but they weren't sold as seeded. And they were heirloom cranberries, but I don't know what breed.

[nosebeepbear.livejournal.com]

That must have been impressive! (and scary)

I was in a what-the-hell cooking mood

Huh. I've heard this from other friends, but this is a mood I just really can't wrap my brain around. I have to force myself to try new things when it comes to food, and if I have to go to the effort of making it myself, I want that effort to go into something I'm sure will end with something I want to eat. I've had "experiment with new things to cook" on my to-do list for ages, and it never happens.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I think it's that I like a pretty wide range of foods and will tolerate a wider one.

If you actually want to experiment with new things to cook rather than just thinking abstractly that it would be a cool thing, maybe you could try new combinations of ingredients you already like.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

As for impressive (and scary), I was very startled, but once I was sure it was confined to the pan, it was just moderately unnerving. It would be cool as an intentional effect. Unfortunately, I don't think any of the chemicals which make interesting colored flames are especially edible.

[gildedacorn.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I don't know.

It is funny you should talk about stir-frying fruit -- someone was telling me about fried rice with apples and raisins, to which my first reaction was "huh?" But on second thought ... I wouldn't use olive oil, though, because it has an emphatic flavor which would clash with most fruit in my opinion.

Try peeled, membrane-free clementine sections with the salmon?

[(Anonymous)]

Reminds me of Dave Barry's famous Pop-Tart experiment...

Oil + Water + Heat = Fire

[sgsguru.livejournal.com]

My guess would be that the cranberries leaked juice (mostly water) into the oil. Since water is heaver than oil, it sank, and when it got far enough above boiling, it "popped" and sprayed hot oil into the air. The oil was above its flash point and FOOM! Burning oil.

Couple of months ago, a friend sent me a video of a fire department demo from GB where they added water to some deep fat. The resulting fireball was about a half- meter across. Seriously impressive -- makes me glad I don't deep-fry.

Re: Oil + Water + Heat = Fire

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

More than that. dunkelpig makes cranberry sauce, and the berries pop like crazy, exploding in the (covered) pot as she boils them. I would guess it's due to their fairly hard surfaces: they don't give up easy, and the steam inside bursts them open explosively, like tiny culinary grenades. If the cranberries were submerged in oil, each such steam explosion would have thrown a spray of oil into the air, and with a lot of them the air right above and around the pan is full of tiny droplets of oil. As soon as that cloud reaches flame, POOF! And the continuing explosions would keep feeding it till you turned off the flame. I would think you can probably do this safely if you cover the pan, maybe with an indirect vent, but I Am Not A Physicist (or Chef).

Re: Oil + Water + Heat = Fire

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I am a chef (mad scientist) and I concur that your hypothesis is highly likely. I expect that the pan had something to do with it as well. Some pans are more likely to allow for aerosolized inflammables to get in contact with the flames. To test the idea (carefully) I suggest using a similar food such as popcorn to confirm it was explosive creation of fuel/air mixture causing the effect.

Further I think I should wear a white lab coat and giggle manically if I do get impressive flames on film. And goggles. There must be goggles.

Re: Oil + Water + Heat = Fire

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Are you going to be at Arisia? I'm moderating* the Mad Scientist Laugh Contest at 11pm on Sunday ("Let the world hear your madness. Who can be most maniacal?")

*Moderate? Hooahh-hah-hahhh! That's what I let them think!

Dr. McKoko, Lord High Evil Genius of Nesfan

Re: Oil + Water + Heat = Fire

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but I rarely travel more than 500 miles from Denver. I just have reached a point in my life where I'm no longer willing to put up with coach in airplanes or more than ten hours in a car.

Re: Oil + Water + Heat = Fire

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Alas. I know what you mean, though.

Re: Oil + Water + Heat = Fire

[sgsguru.livejournal.com]

I agree about the cranberries popping. However, the cloud of oil doesn't have to hit a flame. If it's hot enough, BOOM. And oil in a spray of droplets will ignite much easier than bulk oil in a pan.

Here's the video:

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

I bet I know. The cranberries had enough water content that the water hitting the hot oil in the pan caused the explosion. Water + hot oil = bad stuff.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Could be, but I've stir fried much juicer fruits without fire. But cranberries explode even without oil. When cooking them down for sauce the make a sound not unlike popcorn and they need to be handled carefully lest you get spurts of hot cranberry goo on you. I suspect they started popping and that caused the oil to be turned into a little fuel air mixture.