Monday, March 19, 2007

Flavor Enhancing Oxygen



Progressive Technologies' Micro Kettle (distributed at Target in the microwave aisle, at least as late as last week) comes in a package with the claim:
Perfectly boiled water retains more flavor enhancing oxygen thus preserving the natural flavors of hot foods and drinks
I parse this claim as:
  1. Water contains oxygen.
  2. Boiling transforms liquids into gases until no liquid remains.
  3. Heating water just to boiling means more liquid water, which means more oxygen.
  4. Oxygen enhances flavor.
  5. Oxygen preserves the natural flavors of hot foods and drinks.
  6. More liquid water means more oxygen to enhance flavor, blah, blah, blah.
I'm willing to accept the idea that I'm ignorant of how oxygen enhances flavor. It seems a bit too far into the pseudoscience area for me to accept without further information. My gut tells me it's more likely that someone at Progressive crafted a creative way to sell the product rather than the line being a scientifically insightful truth.

Link: http://www.dmturner.org/Teacher/Library/5thText/ChemPart6.htm

Unfortunately, this text doesn't exist on the web site blurb, but I found one Google result for "flavor enhancing oxygen" which probably reflects the actual wording on the box:

Ever boil water in your micro wave and it boils all over the bottom of the oven? No more with the amazing Fuller Brush Micro Kettle™. MicroWhistle sounds at the perfect boil, so hot water tastes its best. Perfectly boiled water retains more flavor enhancing oxygen thus preserving the natural flavors of hot foods and drinks. The Fuller Brush Micro Kettle's patent pending safety boil-stick mechanism brings water to a safe boil.* The soft grip handle is cool-touch and the cup has measurements in ounces, cups and milliliters. 2 cup capacity. Made of plastic and silicone. 5-1/2" H x 4" W. Dishwasher safe.

*Patent pending feature prevents super-heating. Other containers allow super-heating which causes the temperature to exceed the boiling point, even though it does not appear to be boiling. The patent pending feature in the Micro Kettle will activate the boiling of water so the water temperature will not exceed the boiling point.
So hot water tastes its best? x_x

UPDATE: I e-mailed Progressive customer service Monday evening and received this response Tuesday afternoon:
Dear Kevin,
Very good question.
Strange as it sounds, keeping as much of the oxygen content as possible in the water by * briefly* boiling (vs overboiling) Keeps the water tasting the best.

Best regards,
Kathy
Consumer Relations PIC

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