Assembly Line

Cooking and boiling

Heat in a liquid drives off water, changes proteins and sugars, and kills microbes.

77 lines that use it

Bacon 7 stations · 7 raw sources Bagel 6 stations · 13 raw sources Beer 8 stations · 22 raw sources Brown sugar 6 stations · 4 raw sources Candy cane 7 stations · 14 raw sources Canned meat 9 stations · 23 raw sources Canned soup 9 stations · 23 raw sources Canned tuna 7 stations · 19 raw sources Caramel 5 stations · 11 raw sources Caramel color 5 stations · 8 raw sources Cheddar 9 stations · 3 raw sources Cheese 7 stations · 3 raw sources Chicken nuggets 7 stations · 15 raw sources Cola 7 stations · 23 raw sources Corn flakes 8 stations · 19 raw sources Corn syrup 6 stations · 2 raw sources Cough syrup 8 stations · 18 raw sources Cream cheese 7 stations · 3 raw sources Decaf coffee 7 stations · 7 raw sources Donut 6 stations · 20 raw sources Ethanol 6 stations · 6 raw sources Fish sticks 6 stations · 20 raw sources Formaldehyde 5 stations · 3 raw sources Frozen french fries 7 stations · 7 raw sources Frozen peas 6 stations · 4 raw sources Gelatin 7 stations · 4 raw sources Gelatin dessert 5 stations · 6 raw sources Green tea 7 stations · 1 raw source Gummy bears 6 stations · 7 raw sources Ham 6 stations · 7 raw sources Hot dog 7 stations · 7 raw sources Imitation crab 7 stations · 9 raw sources Instant noodles 7 stations · 13 raw sources Jam 6 stations · 10 raw sources Jarred salsa 9 stations · 25 raw sources Jelly beans 6 stations · 7 raw sources Ketchup 8 stations · 15 raw sources Kitchen sponge 7 stations · 13 raw sources Koji 5 stations · 3 raw sources Kombucha 5 stations · 12 raw sources Lacquer 8 stations · 8 raw sources Licorice 6 stations · 10 raw sources Light beer 6 stations · 19 raw sources Linseed oil 7 stations · 1 raw source Lollipop 6 stations · 5 raw sources Maple syrup 7 stations · 1 raw source Marshmallow 6 stations · 7 raw sources Matcha 5 stations · 1 raw source MDF 7 stations · 8 raw sources Mezcal 6 stations · 12 raw sources Modeling compound 7 stations · 14 raw sources Molasses 5 stations · 2 raw sources Mozzarella 7 stations · 3 raw sources Non-alcoholic beer 6 stations · 21 raw sources Oak wine barrel 7 stations · 12 raw sources Palm oil 8 stations · 2 raw sources Parmesan 8 stations · 3 raw sources Petroleum coke 6 stations · 1 raw source Phosphoric acid 5 stations · 6 raw sources Popping candy 6 stations · 6 raw sources Popsicle stick 6 stations · 1 raw source Potassium hydroxide 5 stations · 2 raw sources Potato chips 7 stations · 10 raw sources Rolled oats 6 stations · 1 raw source Sake 8 stations · 14 raw sources Sausage 6 stations · 4 raw sources Silk 6 stations · 4 raw sources Soy milk 6 stations · 2 raw sources Soy sauce 7 stations · 6 raw sources Sugar 8 stations · 4 raw sources Table salt 5 stations · 2 raw sources Toffee 9 stations · 25 raw sources Tofu 7 stations · 3 raw sources Tortilla 7 stations · 12 raw sources Vanilla extract 7 stations · 7 raw sources Vodka 7 stations · 15 raw sources Wine cork 8 stations · 11 raw sources

What it looks like on the line

  • LacquerStir over gentle heat. The kurome step stirs and warms the sap slowly until excess water evaporates. What remains is a see-through, brownish, viscous coating material called refined lacquer.
  • Palm oilSteam the bunches. Horizontal, vertical or continuous sterilizers steam the bunches, halting the enzymes and loosening the fruit. Condensate drains off as a waste stream.
  • Gelatin dessertDissolve in hot water. The mix is stirred into hot water until every granule is dissolved. Sprinkling the powder into liquid several minutes before heating, called blooming, helps it dissolve.
  • Wine corkBoil the planks. The planks go into stainless steel tanks of hot water for an hour. That cleans them and softens them. They come out flatter and about a fifth bigger.
  • Canned meatCook in a pressure retort. Baskets roll into a pressure vessel and heat well above boiling. Low-acid food like meat has to be sterilized this hot, because botulism spores survive plain boiling. Each product and can size needs its own schedule set by specialists.
  • Soy sauceSoak and cook the beans. Soybeans are soaked in water and then steamed or boiled until soft. Heat unfolds the proteins so mold enzymes can attack them later.
  • Jelly beansCook the gel centers. Sugar, corn syrup and a gelling agent such as pectin or starch are boiled together. Tapioca can be included in the mix. Flavor and color are added at the end, and each flavor has its own small adjustments.
  • MolassesBoil the juice down. Boiling the juice to a concentrate makes sugar crystallize. What is left after this first boiling is the first syrup.
  • BaconSmoke over wood. Cured bellies hang in a smokehouse. Different woods give different flavors, and the process can take up to eighteen hours depending on how intense the smoke flavor should be.
  • Brown sugarCrystallize from dark syrups. In the brown pan the syrup boils and crystallizes again into a thick mass of crystals in liquid, called massecuite. Britannica describes a blend of brown and yellow syrups, plus caramel for the darkest shades.
  • Fish sticksFry to set the crust. The coated sticks go through a fryer that cooks them at least partly and fixes the coating, with the fish staying frozen inside.
  • Maple syrupPreheat the sap. The sap is warmed with hot vapor from the evaporator, which saves fuel. Sap at this stage is only two to five percent sugar.