cooked cereal cools down, the starch chains
slowly rebond to each other in tighter, more
organized associations, and the granule
becomes firmer and harder, a process called
retrogradation (right).
Starch Firming Can Be Useful Reheated
grains never get quite as soft as they were
when first cooked. This is because during the
process of retrogradation, amylose molecules
manage to form some clusters that are even
more highly organized than the clusters in the
original starch granule, crystalline regions
that resist breaking even at boiling
temperatures. These regions act as reinforcing
junctions in the overall network of amylose
and amylopectin molecules, and give the
granules greater strength and integrity. Cooks
take advantage of this strengthening to make
bread puddings and starch noodles; parboiled
(converted) rice and American breakfast
cereals keep their shape because much of their