Every food has an optimal temperature for the best taste. Kitchen thermometers have become common in most Western countries to precisely measure the optimal temperature of food, allowing you to cook the most delicious meals. The temperature of food is closely related to its texture and nutritional value.
Tea
The optimal water temperature is 70°C—80°C. This ensures the tea has a perfect color, aroma, and flavor, and that nutrients like vitamin C, caffeine, and tannins are not destroyed. After brewing, the tea should be kept at 65°C.
Drinking Water
The optimal temperature for daily drinking water and mouthwash is 35°C—38°C, as this temperature is least irritating to the mouth and teeth. Cooled boiled water is most refreshing when it reaches 12°C—17°C.
Soup
Soup tastes best at 60°C—65°C. At this temperature, the solid ingredients and broth blend well, and the seasonings can fully release their flavors, resulting in the best texture.
Milk
Milk should not be boiled for a long time. Generally, 60°C—70°C is sufficient for pasteurization and preserves its best flavor. This is because the proteins in milk undergo significant changes when heated.
Vegetables
From a nutritional standpoint, cooking methods like eating raw, stir-frying, steaming, stewing, and microwaving are preferable, while pan-frying, boiling, grilling, and deep-frying are less suitable. Vegetables can lose some vitamins at temperatures between 60°C—80°C. When making soups, vegetables should not be cooked for too long to avoid further destruction of vitamin C. The best temperature for eating vegetables is 50°C—60°C for the best texture.
Meat
Meat is most aromatic, delicious, and tender at 70°C—75°C. A whole poultry should reach an internal temperature of 82°C to ensure the thickest part is fully cooked. Minced meat is most susceptible to bacterial contamination during processing, so it must reach at least 71°C to be safe.
Honey Water
The optimal temperature for mixing honey water is 50°C—60°C. Using boiling water not only alters honey's sweet flavor, making it sour, but also denatures the enzymes in honey.
Fried Seafood
Fried seafood should be removed from the oil at around 90°C and served at 70°C. This temperature is not too hot and allows the flavor to be at its best. If the oil temperature is too low, the undercooked seafood is unhygienic and can cause diarrhea. If the temperature is too high, it will coagulate the proteins in the seafood, making it harder to digest.
Cold Drinks
Cold treats like popsicles are best enjoyed between 0°C—6°C, while ice cream is most refreshing at 6°C. Soda is most pleasant to drink at 3°C—5°C, and the optimal temperature for fruit juice is 8°C—10°C. Adding ice to juice may be trendy, but it can irritate the stomach. Heating juice not only ruins its original texture but can also destroy its vitamins.
Wine
The ideal serving temperature for red wine is around 18°C, though this can vary slightly with the season. The difference should be no more than 2°C. Beer is most crisp and refreshing at 6°C—8°C in the summer and most mellow at 10°C—12°C in the winter.
Adding MSG
MSG should generally be added when a dish is almost done or just out of the pot. At this point, the food temperature is around 70°C—90°C, which is the ideal temperature for MSG to dissolve and deliver the strongest umami flavor. Conversely, when the temperature exceeds 120°C, the sodium glutamate in MSG will caramelize, losing its flavor and becoming somewhat toxic.