[throwaway2037]

When you say "cooking" here, do you *only* mean roasting coffee beans? Or do you use the term "cooking" more generally? If specific, I agree with your point. If general, I would say that cooking proteins fundamentally changes the food and makes it more digestible (meat, fish, eggs, etc.).

[fuzztester]

>If general, I would say that cooking proteins fundamentally changes the food and makes it more digestible (meat, fish, eggs, etc.)

Applies to vegetables and other vegetarian foods, too :)

Ever tried eating raw wheat, rice, pulses or vegetables? Only some vegetables are okay in salads.

[fuzztester]

And cooking fundamentally changes the food because cooking is a chemical and physical reaction caused by the heat on the food being cooked. Proteins get denatured, food gets softer or harder (depending upon the amount of liquid and heat added or removed), etc.

I am not a expert on the science of cooking, these are just my casual, slightly scientific observations as a layman :)

[searealist]

I mean all cooking, including roasting.

[roflyear]

I mean, you can agree that there's a difference between raw beef, a rare steak, medium, well done, and carbonized, right? Same deal. Some people may prefer well done and maybe even carbonized, but you have to agree that when you cook a steak that much you lose a lot of what the meat can offer.

[searealist]

Would you consider a medium or medium-rare steak losing a lot of what meat can offer?

[roflyear]

No, but I would say the same about coffee. I would consider these roasts: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/46... and https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/47... to have roasted a lot of what the coffee has to offer away.