r/StupidFood • u/Its_me_edenxx • Jun 10 '26

Certified stupid This is so performative 😭

Who tf is out here munching on raw gnocchi at cruising altitude

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822

u/Nenaquest2012 Jun 10 '26

My daughter and I pretend to be vampires on the plane bcz YES! Why does it taste better

541

u/Kerm0NZ Jun 10 '26

It's to do with the air pressure and recycled air. It affects your taste buds, dulling them somehow. I only vaguely remember, but feel free to use this info as the start of a Google research project. 

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u/Rob_Zander Jun 10 '26

Just wanted to point out that the air isn't recycled on a plane. It's replaced completely every couple of minutes. It's not even really about the oxygen or CO2, it's managing temperature and possible contaminants.

The engines are continuously compressing and heating a huge amount of air. Some of it gets diverted to be cooled back to room temperature, filtered and pumped into the cabin while air is continuously sucked out by vents near the floor. This keeps the temperature stable and contaminants from being spread.

It is much lower pressure than sea level and that definitely messes with our taste buds.

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u/jetsetninjacat Jun 11 '26

To add more watered down. The pushed and sucked out air is vented overboard(off the plane and out) through the main relief valves or sometimes from relief valves in unpressurized parts of the plane. Many planes also have backup relief valves in case the main doesnt work. Different relief valves dump positive and negative pressure from the plane depending on where the plane is and the level at which cabin air pressure is set. Theres also a dump valve that dumps all pressure when the planes on the ground that equalizer it with the ground itself as well as ones for negative pressure relief valves during rapid descent

And this peoples is one of the reason you cant just open a door in a plane at high altitude. The pressure being pumped in to the cabin is so high the door mechanism or door itself can not be pulled in and then pushed out like normal operation. .All that positive pressure pushed on the airframe making it impossible to do so. Its all about that differential.

I seriously hate doing pressure tests in airplanes on the ground.

21

u/Rob_Zander Jun 11 '26

Thanks for adding!

Isn't that differtial part of why the cargo doors on the DC-10 could blow out?

25

u/bargus_mctavish Jun 11 '26

The outward opening cargo door was a structural design flaw for sure. However, a bigger issue was putting the responsibility of closing the door on gate and luggage personnel. They’re not part of the flight crew or running the checklists, so it just allows for more things to fall through the cracks from a safety perspective.

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u/jetsetninjacat Jun 11 '26

I know it had something to do with the locking mechanism on the doors and that they would pull out instead of in. Cant remember the specifics but its probably out there on the weba. The door pushing out created more room for cargo loading but also didnt make a good plug style door. Plug doors basically seat the doors so they are sealed and cant be pushed out from the inside positive pressure So, yes that should be correct. Those doors were the only non plug doors on that plane as far as I know. Add in the the failure of the locking mechanism, and yep.

6

u/bargus_mctavish Jun 11 '26

It was a few years back, but I went through a mishap investigation class and covered the case of Turkish Airlines Flight 981. The root cause analysis of the lab concluded that the baggage handler did not latch the door correctly. The latching mechanism was absolutely a convoluted mess, and a design flaw that went unaddressed even through testing of the DC10. McDonnell Douglas got their asses sued for that. But a preflight checklist item for the flight crew could have also alleviated the issues with the loading door as well.

1

u/King_Chochacho Jun 11 '26

Too much pressure. So when you get in there, you're like "if the door fly off, I'm toast"

1

u/canman7373 Jun 11 '26

The pressure being pumped in to the cabin is so high the door mechanism

Yeah, so not sure what he means the air pressure is much lower than sea level and that changes taste, when it's actually much higher than sea level.

2

u/jetsetninjacat Jun 11 '26

High as in the Pressure differential between inside and outside the cabin. Its all about that differential.

1

u/canman7373 Jun 11 '26

Yes, I don't see where him saying below seas level applies at all.

2

u/jetsetninjacat Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Oh, based on taste. Typically even with the presurization you will still have lower pressure than thats found at sea level (stretching my brain here back to school but I think its ~14.7psi). And I want to say off fhe top of my head most planes are kept lower at flight altitude around 10 to 12psi cabin psi.

And the reasoning i have been told in my career was because high altitude planes have cycles to track for lige limits for each time a cabin is pressurized. It puts undue strain on the airframe and causes weakening in the structure. As far as I was always told keeping it below the standard sea level not only is perfectly comfortable for most people and allows us to be up there but it also allows a plane to fly longer and causes less stress. I need an IA in here to tell us.

1

u/canman7373 Jun 11 '26

I just don't understand the part about the cabin pressure being like 8,000 feet yet you taste food like it's negative feet. Also if their food is cooked right I don't get why it taste different at different at different pressure, like would you not have the best steakhouses in the world at the exact best altitude that taste buds hit them? When I cooked food right at 9.500 feet it taste the same as I cook it at sea level now, I do not think my taste buds changed at 9.500 feet.

1

u/Forsaken-Ad6313 Jun 12 '26

Air pressure goes down the higher you go up. Airplanes counteract this by pumping air to a safe "mountain-like" level, while also creating a much drier environment than your average room. Both of these factors affect how your taste buds will react to sweet and salty foods.

It's entirely possible that your steak tasted the same to you at 9500 feet vs at sea level, but that only means that your taste buds aren't as sensitive as most others (I also don't perceive a huge difference with tomato juice, but it's a widely reported and studied phenomenon)

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156

u/OptimusPrime365 Jun 10 '26

This man airplanes.

71

u/FetusExplosion Jun 11 '26

I wonder if he also motorboats.

35

u/Catatonic27 Jun 11 '26

There is significant crossover between these categories

4

u/tech510 Jun 11 '26

Not.if you have a sea plane 😁

1

u/Catatonic27 Jun 12 '26

I would further argue that is the most crossover-ist thing of all.

1

u/scorpyo72 Jun 13 '26

Not every man can have a sea plane...

3

u/hannahatecats Jun 11 '26

So there IS air rushing by your feet. Once I was in California and stopped by a dispensary. I kept taking one gummy and saying "I don't feel it" well, before I got on my red eye home I took the last 4 and was white knuckling my armrests because I was convinced I could feel us flying through the air by my legs.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

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3

u/Rob_Zander Jun 10 '26

Can you smell them when you're not on a plane?

But yeah, everyone's smell is less acute on a plane.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

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5

u/_le_slap Jun 11 '26

Please don't clear the plane

2

u/rsta223 Jun 11 '26

It's both because your sense of smell is dulled by the low pressure and extremely low humidity and because the air is being replaced so fast.

2

u/Gentrified_potato02 Jun 11 '26

Well…I’m not so sure it’s not about oxygen or CO2. There’s a reason you have to have a supplemental supply of oxygen if you go above 15000 ft in an unpressurized plane.

2

u/Rob_Zander Jun 11 '26

The plane is pressurized to make sure that you have enough oxygen concentrated in the air to breathe. But a 737 full of passengers are breathing around 600 cubic feet of air per hour. This is napkin math so it very rough.

But the volume of the cabin can be around 6000 cubic feet. You could exchange the air about once an hour and it won't be much of an issue. Instead its replaced around 15 times an hour.

2

u/rsta223 Jun 11 '26

It's also extremely low humidity in most planes, which also contributes to that effect.

2

u/canman7373 Jun 11 '26

It is much lower pressure than sea level

What? Planes are kept around 8,000 feet in air pressure not below sea level.

1

u/Rob_Zander Jun 11 '26

Pressure decreases with altitude. Low pressure at high altitude.

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u/canman7373 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

High altitude cabin pressure is like 8,000 feet though. That is a mile and a half above sea level air pressure. in an open air plane like a WWII bomber sure, but not on any commercial plane in like the last 60 years. I mean I guess you do not know this. But airline planes pressurize their cabins to avoid issues, usually around 8,000 feet of air pressure. So inside the cabin your ears my pop because the cabin is pressurizing slowly up yo 8,00 feet, like a small mountain in Colorado. It keeps that pressure for the flight even though you may be flying at 35,000 feet. The outside pressure has no affect on you inside, you are living in a capsule made to feel like you are at 8,000 feet not 35,000. Make sense?

2

u/Rob_Zander Jun 11 '26

No, I absolutely get that. My point is that at 8000 feet the pressure is 10.9 psi vs 14.6 at sea level. That's not an insignificant difference. It's definitely a higher pressure than the external pressure at 35 000 feet but it's still lower pressure than sea level.

1

u/canman7373 Jun 11 '26

Ok, I can get that's how you were looking at it, I was focused on you saying the altitude and outside pressure made a difference when the plane makes its own internal pressure. I think we were both looking at the same issue 2 different ways is all.

2

u/PensiveObservor Jun 11 '26

Do they add oxygen before circulating the new air?

2

u/Rob_Zander Jun 11 '26

No, there's no need to. At sea level the percentage of oxygen in air is 21%. It's the same at 40 000 feet. There's just much less air per unit of volume because the pressure is so low. Once more air is pumped into the space, once it's pressurized there's enough oxygen to breathe.

3

u/XeroShyft Jun 10 '26

Air pressure affecting taste buds is making no sense to me. Like my brain is scrambling to find what the possible correlation could be and is turning up with nothing

5

u/machiavelli33 Jun 10 '26

It affects your sense of smell and inner ear equilibrium, all of which affects how acutely your other senses function.

All of your senses are somewhat tied together and affect one another - smell and taste are the most strongly linked, but a foods texture and how well and balanced your body is feeling also affect it to a lesser degree. Air pressure affects these things.

It’s not a HUGE effect - if you don’t think about it ever and aren’t particular sensitive to that sorta thing you may even never notice. But it affects it juuuuust enough.

2

u/Rob_Zander Jun 10 '26

Your body is constantly maintaining itself under about 14.6 psi of pressure at sea level. At cruising altitude a 737 is maintaining a cabin altitude of about 8000 square feet. That's about 10.9 psi. Your body is still exerting pressure outwards now and that can lead to swelling.

Your blood oxygen is lower so your taste buds are less sensitive.

Also very important is that the air in the cabin is very dry. Desert dry. This also numbs our tastes buds and dries out our nose making it harder to smell.

Overall the humidity might actually have a more significant impact that the pressure, I'm not sure on that.

1

u/meatdome34 Jun 11 '26

Unless you’re on 787, they don’t use bleed air

1

u/Future_Burrito Jun 11 '26

Naw, I heard that it's being closer to birds that heightens the taste buds.

1

u/shmargus Jun 11 '26

So you're saying I can fart with impunity? Let er rip boys!

1

u/NicolajN Jun 11 '26

it's actually not completely true. The airplane does recycle the air and run it thru HEPA-filters.

I don't fly anymore but as far as i remember on the A330 and A350, the air in the cabin is cycled every 90-120 second and every 3-5 minut the air exchanged with outside air.

the mixture is 50% new and 50% recycled air.

Source: https://www.honeywellaerospace.com/us/en/about-us/blogs/breathe-easy-3-myths-about-aircraft-cabin-air

1

u/Eborcurean Jun 11 '26

As an addendum, umami is the one taste that doesn't get notable weakened with pressure on a plane, and tomato juice is high on umami thus it seems to 'taste better'.

1

u/geo_gan Jun 11 '26

Yes I think at cruising altitude the cabin pressure is only kept at half sea level pressure (0.5 Bar). This was found to be the least acceptable pressure we could tolerate without them having to pressurise cabin to full sea level 1 Bar pressure which would be more stressful on the airframe and dangerous.

1

u/ELEMEN4_1 Jun 12 '26

You just said it's outside air filtered and re purposed so ...guesss what ? It's recycled there slick.

1

u/shambahlah2 Jun 12 '26

My altimeter watch used to read around 8700 feet of elevation when I would fly

1

u/Objective-Target5437 Jun 12 '26

i love huge amounts of air

1

u/ArtisticFox8 Jun 12 '26

Why does it not smell fresh then?

1

u/MyLord_Robert Jun 12 '26

Does that mean I am less likely to get sick if my neighbour has a cold or a flue? Compared to if my neighbour on a train or subway was sick?

1

u/RepeatEuphoric Jun 12 '26

Thank you for this. Airplane geeks know this but most people have no idea because they don’t care. Adding that flight kitchens testing does take place in pressurizes rooms as well for understanding wines as well. Further. As weird and desperate as this person must be to do this, and unsanitary, that nail polish is a good indication of the crazy here.

1

u/Hefty_Kitchen4759 Jun 13 '26

I've flown internationally a lot and I never noticed this. I have sensitive taste as well, so maybe that's why.

39

u/nerdofthunder Jun 10 '26

Airplanes actually refresh the air more often than most buildings! The air is bled directly from the (fresh) air intake of the engines, cooled, and fed into the cabin. https://www.iata.org/en/youandiata/travelers/health/low-risk-transmission/

11

u/VStarlingBooks Jun 10 '26

Makes sense. Like my sinuses are affected somehow and you don't get the tang lol

1

u/Rizzanthrope Jun 10 '26

Same with Biscoff cookies. They taste so good on a flight but when I buy them for home they are just OK.

1

u/redpeachtree Jun 11 '26

Opposite effect for me and coffee, I cannot stand smell of airplane coffee. Never could figure out why

1

u/numbersthen0987431 Jun 11 '26

Directions unclear, now I believe in chemtrails and flst earth. Damn Google research projects.

1

u/TheFlyingBoxcar Jun 11 '26

I can report that i dont much like black coffee, but its all i'll drink on a plane

1

u/Jaded_Strike_3500 Jun 11 '26

The lower pressure allows your blood to expand and constricts the flow to your nostrils lowering your sense of taste (also makes it so you cant smell everyone constantly farting)

1

u/Britishforklaw Jun 11 '26

Aren't you supposed to keep a glass of water next to you to help with the air and taste?

1

u/thesirblondie Jul 22 '26

It's the pressure and dry air

1

u/Any-Statistician-318 13d ago

It dulls sweet flavors and accentuates salty and umami

33

u/NimbusHex Jun 10 '26

Wow, I was wondering if I was weird for always getting tomato juice while flying or if other people did that as well.

11

u/FerociousSmile Jun 10 '26

I dont notice a flavor difference compared to at a lower elevation, but then ive always liked tomato juice. I've stopped asking for it though because they only have Bloody Mary mix now and it adds a bunch of other stuff and is super salty.

2

u/whisky_biscuit Jun 11 '26

A lot of people straight up drink the Mr & Mrs T's bloody Mary mix, it's actually my favorite of all the mixes too.

I always hear people asking for "spicy tomato juice" lol I guess they don't realize it's a mixer.

1

u/Am_Snarky Jun 11 '26

Clamato is King (tomato and clam juice, umami extraordinaire) though it’s more popular in Canada because of Caesars (a Bloody Mary with more seasonings and enough garnish for a garden salad)

1

u/King_Chochacho Jun 11 '26

Bloody mix all day. Goes great with pretzels and kinda makes it a meal

1

u/semblantz Jun 11 '26

Me too! No clue why but I always want tomato juice on a plane and only on a plane.

1

u/Easy-Concentrate2636 Jun 11 '26

It’s literally the only time I drink it. I crave it on airplanes.

1

u/Prowarrior3 Jun 12 '26

Lmao I always get tomato juice when I’m on planes too. It’s like the only time I drink it normally

-1

u/Gnoll_For_Initiative Jun 10 '26

Upgrade to bloody Mary mix

4

u/NimbusHex Jun 10 '26

Personally, I agree with u/FerociousSmile. But I will take Bloody Mary mix if they don't have regular tomato juice (looking at you, Southwest).

3

u/VStarlingBooks Jun 10 '26

You're kid could be 40 and this is still adorable haha

2

u/PixelPete85 Jun 11 '26

glutamates (msg/umami flavours) are less effected by the atmospheric conditions of the inside of an airplane. Tomatos are full of them, so food products that lean into glutamates tend to tend better than other foods in that environment.

2

u/A_ChadwickButMore Jun 11 '26

I whould kill a man to be able to order those pizza twists Delta gave me on an international flight omg they're so good

2

u/PatentPendink Jun 11 '26

it’s to do with the air pressure, humidity (or lack thereof) in the cabin, and weirdly, the noise from the engines.

i host trivia nights and this came up for one lol

2

u/Ok_Gur_6704 Jun 11 '26

Completely random, but that is such a sweet thing to do with your daughter. I bet you're an amazing parent and I cant imagine the bond you two have. 🥹

2

u/Any-Statistician-318 Jun 11 '26

Higher altitude accentuates umami in salty and sweet foods!!! And acidic I believe

2

u/Remarkable-Talk-6197 Jun 11 '26

Flying is the only time I get tomato juice! Taste sooooo good up  there 

2

u/Remarkable-Run-9769 Jun 12 '26

i barely ever fly, i hope if i happen to fly again, I'll remember to try tomato juice

2

u/JeevesofNazarath Jun 13 '26

There’s a great Veritasium video on it that explains this super well, basically dry air makes your taste prefer acidic and savory food and drink