ABSTRACT
In culinary circles, the phenomenon of osmosis is sometimes given as an explanation for water transfers during culinary processes, but the mechanisms given are not always correct. Osmosis can be readily observed with the product obtained after putting a chicken egg in vinegar. First, the shell dissolves, so that an egg inside a soft membrane is obtained. Osmosis occurs along with other phenomena in many culinary processes. Osmosis is widely used for various applications, but one of the most important is seawater desalination. In a different approach, forward osmosis makes use of draw solutions to counterbalance the salinity-induced osmotic pressure. In the kitchen, many incorrect ideas about osmosis are transmitted by textbooks, and, on the other hand, there are many circumstances in which a liquid has to be concentrated, or diluted, or modified, and the full potential of osmotic techniques is in its infancy.
