Do you really need fluid dynamics to cook one pack of instant ramen?

Of course not.

But we did it anyway.

This experiment starts with the 550 milliliters of water printed on the package and follows nearly everything happening inside the pot:

convection in boiling water,
heat transfer from induction heating,
diffusion of dissolved seasoning,
heat and moisture penetrating the noodles,
starch gelatinization,
and finally, the elastic texture of the noodles themselves.

As the water heats up, temperature differences create continuous convection currents throughout the pot.

The moment the seasoning is added, dissolved compounds and ions begin dispersing through the broth.

Once the noodles enter the water, heat and moisture start moving into their porous structure.

Over time, starch molecules absorb water and swell, while starch gelatinization and changes in the protein network alter the texture of the noodles.

But cooking longer doesn’t mean better noodles.

Eventually, the structure softens and the elasticity we’re trying to preserve begins to disappear.

So this time, we analyzed water volume, heating power, convection, diffusion, starch gelatinization, cooling, and noodle elasticity one by one.

Theoretically, it was almost perfect.

But cooking has one variable that is extremely difficult to calculate.

Does it actually taste good?

Did we really need to analyze all of this just to cook one pack of ramen?

No.

So naturally, we took it even more seriously.

Far more serious than necessary.
Surprisingly useful once you understand it.

Useless Cooking Science

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