Dan Explains the Role of Fat in Temperature Perception



Science expert Dan Souza explains the science behind fat and temperature perception.

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35 Comments

  1. Dan doesn't know what he's talking about. The temperatures of his hands have almost nothing to do with the difference in specific heat of water vs. butter. It's due almost entirely to the difference in heat conductivities. Water has much higher heat conductivity than butter does.

    (The butter makes up for it slightly because it melts faster than ice does, accelerating the increase in surface area for heat transfer.)

  2. Damn. That's so basic, and yet, after years of hearing about Maillard effect and such, decades of watching Food Network and PBS cooking shows, this is the first time I've ever heard this explained. Thank you.

  3. This time Dan isn’t completely right (at least with his example of hands in ice/butter).
    (Correlation do not imply causation). Ice is melting also far quicker (lower melting point) than butter fat. Melting then consumes energy which is drawn out of the hand…

  4. “You don’t have to add butter. But if you don’t, you’ll regret it”. — i think it was Julia Child’s quote. If not, if should have been!

    Thank you for a great informative video, as always..

  5. This video could almost be a nature documentary, why you ask? Well heat conservation is why animals like seals and killer whales have a layer of blubber (aka fat) between their flesh and their skin to keep all that life needed heat inside them when in freezing cold waters.

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