Most of us know someone who cooks by "feel." These folks can transform a few handfuls of flour and sugar into a heavenly cake, or the odds and ends of leftovers into a memorable meal. But while cooking can be an art, it is also a science: At its core, a delicious cake is the result of the chemical reactions that occur between its ingredients.

So for those of us who aspire to culinary artistry, knowledge of food science helps smooth out the journey to excellence.

Here are a few food-science tips, courtesy of food scientist and Asian-cooking instructor Walter Rhee, that will boost success in the kitchen:

» Sharpening steel: If you use a sharpening steel on your knives, understand that it doesn’t really sharpen; rather, it just straightens the edge and changes the electrical charge of the metal so that the blade repels meat, especially fat, and keeps it from sticking. The altering of the charge comes from the steel against steel, so running knife against knife does the same job. For true sharpening of the blade, use a whetstone.

» Sticky veggies: Annoyed with vegetables sticking to the blade when slicing? Alleviate the problem by decreasing the surface area of the blade that makes contact with the vegetable. Why? Hydrogen in water bonds to itself, so when you cut a slice, the moisture residue on the blade bonds with the moisture in the vegetable, causing slices to stick. Minimizing contact area minimizes bonding. Cutting at a steep angle, with the blade at a 45- to 75-degree angle, achieves just that.

» Defrosting meat: Thawing meat safely and efficiently can be a hassle. Microwaving produces uneven results, with some pockets of the meat warm and others still frozen. Soaking a frozen block in water can be a soggy affair if the meat isn’t wrapped in airtight packaging. Thawing on the counter is risky. Taking a frozen piece directly from the freezer to the refrigerator for thawing takes time.

Here’s a good alternative: Place a pan upside down on the counter and place frozen meat on it, then place another pan on the meat, bottom side down. Since metal conducts the ambient temperature in the kitchen, it draws the room temperature to the meat. (Or use one pan and occasionally flip the meat.) After 10 minutes, check the meat to see whether it’s thawed enough for preparation.

The thicker the metal, the more effective the technique (cast iron is therefore best). The thickness of the meat won’t affect thawing time as much as you’d think. Since meat conducts heat just as metal does, the heat travels inward, making for efficient defrosting.

A timing guideline: A block of fish for sashimi takes about 10 minutes to thaw enough for slicing.

» Insulation: A flannel blanket or sweatshirt serves the same insulating function as an ice chest, meaning you can wrap cold (or hot) items in it to maintain the temperature of the food. Rhee says that when he’s heading to a cooking class or home with frozen meat, he wraps it in a sweatshirt to delay defrosting. After 30 to 40 minutes, it’s still well frozen.

» Tenderizing techniques: For an alternative to chemical products, consider papaya, grated daikon and kiwi for tenderizing meat. Enzymes and acids in these fruits and vegetable cut the protein into smaller segments. Rhee say Korean cooks often incorporate kiwi into marinades, which accounts for tender kalbi and some of the sauce’s sweetness. Here are some guidelines for papaya, a strong tenderizer: Use 1 teaspoon ripe papaya per pound of meat, mix evenly and marinate for no longer than 15 minutes.

Replace a meat mallet with a bunch of wooden barbecue skewers tightly bound together with rubber bands. Stabbing meat with the sharp tips not only cuts through fibers, it also creates holes for marinades to penetrate the meat, intensifying flavor. Rhee says the holes close up when the meat is cooked.

» Fresh from the freezer: The same chemical reaction that causes freezer burn in meats helps preserve pantry items such as nori, dashi and bouillon. The mist in freezers draw out the hydrogen, or moisture, from foods (causing freezer burn). This means the freezer has the same function as desiccant packets designed to keep the product fresh. A side note: Refrigeration, in contrast, adds moisture and makes items wet and soggy.

» Oils and temperature: Certain oils burn at low heat, or low smoke point, while others can withstand high temperatures, or have a higher smoke point. Knowing which is which affects the end result of a dish. Keeping stir-fried vegetables crispy, for instance, requires high-heat oils such as canola, corn, soy or peanut, which maintain their molecular structure up to 400 degrees. Along with high temperatures, these oils draw out moisture from the food, keeping them from getting soggy as they’re cooked. Food becomes more concentrated in flavor without the added moisture.

In contrast, olive or sesame oil, as well as butter, have a low smoke point, meaning that beyond 170 degrees, carbon bonds that support the structure of the oil weaken, the structure falls apart and the oil burns off. Therefore, these oils are best added to a dish after it is cooked.

» Rice: Examine a handful of rice and you’ll notice there’s a mix of opaque and translucent grains. Opaque grains are drier, indicating age, while translucent grains are fresher and considered to be of better quality. A bag of Tamaki Gold rice, a premium rice (with a premium price tag), for instance, contains mostly translucent grains, which are sweeter and have a distinctive moist bite.

But fresher rice doesn’t always translate to better. Certain rice preparations, including sushi, require a combination of opaque and translucent grains.

» Browning: Maximize flavor using the browning technique, in which sugar is drawn out of a food and roasted. Butterscotch, for instance, is a milk-and-sugar combination that’s undergone a browning reaction.

Rhee says one of his favorite — and easiest — dishes to make is browned salmon: Place a frozen salmon steak (the individually wrapped kind that’s sold in Costco or Sam’s Club) in a bowl, then place that bowl in another bowl so it won’t be too hot to grab. Cook in the microwave on high for about 7 minutes, depending on your microwave. The fish will develop a brown crust; the longer the cooking time, the crunchier and thicker the crust.

Rhee says individually wrapped salmon is ideal because it’s usually packed in saline solution to prevent spoilage, so there’s no need to season the fish.

» Tempura: Achieving a light and crunchy tempura requires attention to detail. First, oil must be hot enough for frying, at 350 to 375 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, dip the tips of a pair of dry chopsticks into the oil. If little bubbles gather at the tip, the oil is ready.

Next, be sure to add ice cubes to the batter, which will keep it cold enough to suppress foaming at room temperature. Batter that bubbles up in the bowl rather than during the cooking process eventually deflates and breaks off whatever it’s meant to coat.