> See also: > - Reference # Chemistry of Cooking ## What Happens to Meat? Meat is primarily composed of water, proteins, and carbohydrates 1. When meat is heated, the [[proteins]] within it will **denature** and unwind. 2. Over time, the denatured proteins will begin to **coagulate** and shrink down, forming new bonds in the process. There is generally a *shrinkage* present when cooking meat due to the loss of water and the coagulation of proteins