The Difference Between Crispy and Crunchy Foods

Byamazingfoodstv


Science expert Dan Souza explains the science behind the sounds of texture to explain the differences between crispy and crunchy foods.

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39 Comments

  3. I once got normal and “well-done” fries at In N Out, and while people act like well done is “crispier”, I don’t agree. CRUNCHIER, a little bit, but I think the normal fries have plenty of crispiness.

    (To be clear, the fact that I like In N Out Fries at all is how you know I’m a real Californian.)

  20. I think I made this up but for me crispy is something that may be a shell or have a filling or inner part that isn't so crispy (like battered and fried fish) and crunchy is the whole food (like a potato chip) is crunchy.

  38. I think sound is really more of a proxy than the actual difference. To me, the difference is texture — crispy is more delicate than crunchy. The food breaks apart under slight pressure while layers and edges finesse apart in your mouth with each bite. The food may break more significantly around your bite than where your teeth make contact, perhaps unlike crunchy food. If something is crisp, it’s hard but you don’t necessarily feel it reverberate through your jaw. Crunch though requires more effort. It’s less delicate. You have to bite with enough force that you feel and even hear the crunch in your jaw and skull. Would not surprise me if the lower pitch is really a function of the sound being attenuated by the very firm bite required to chomp down tightly on crunchy food. Where you draw that line is up to scientific debate… and perhaps how it sounds is one data point we can use to identify the difference.

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