If you’ve ever grated a pound of potatoes—say, for latkes—and soaked them in water until you’re ready to fry, you may have noticed some white, powdery stuff sinking to the bottom of the bowl.

This is a technique that increases the starch and captures water via gelatinization when cooking a small mixture of water and flour on the stove top. Instant potato flakes are a step in this ...

If you want to make the fluffiest bread possible, you’re going to need to use chemistry. This week, we explore the science behind starch gelatinization, a phenomenon found in Chinese “tangzhong” and ...