This was an interdisciplinary project between Chemistry and Humanities. In Humanities we studied the ethics of food in America, and In Chemistry we studied the chemistry behind cooking food.
In the Chemistry portion of the project, we learned about stoichiometry, the calculation of reactants and products in a chemical reaction. We studied how a chemical reaction takes place while cooking, and how similar cooking and chemistry are.
If you would like to view the Humanities portion of the project, use button below:
In the Chemistry portion of the project, we learned about stoichiometry, the calculation of reactants and products in a chemical reaction. We studied how a chemical reaction takes place while cooking, and how similar cooking and chemistry are.
If you would like to view the Humanities portion of the project, use button below:
Project Reflection:
How did your cooking process transform your food macroscopically and affect the food’s overall characteristics?
For my project, I decided to manipulate the taste and moisture of a cheeseburger by using different fat to meat ratios. I used three different types of ratios: 80/20, 73/27, and 93/7. Usually, fat makes burgers juicier while meat makes them more compact. Through my cooking process, I observed how these characteristics acted. Burgers with more fat made a louder and longer sizzling sound when they first touched the oven top. Burgers with lots more meat cooked a little slower than the burgers with less meat. The Maillard Reaction is what takes place during the process of cooking a burger, the carbohydrates and proteins within the burger react to create a brown substance surrounding the burger. The burgers with more meat contained more proteins and carbohydrates, which means more ingredients had to bond to finalize the Maillard reaction, this made the reaction slower for burgers with more meat. During the cooking process, I got to see the Maillard reaction take place. The burgers were cooked on an oven top rather than the grill which made the cooking process slower, this made it easier for me to see the Maillard reaction happen. As the burger got browner, the meat and fat began to mix. They clumped together and bonded which expanded the burger, the more fat continued in the burger, the fatter it got. This also changed its flavor, when the sugars bonded with the proteins it released flavor molecules. Before I put the burgers on the oven top to cook, I had to form the burgers. To keep everything together and compact I added organic flour and egg to each patty. During the cooking process, because I made this decision the burgers stayed intact. The burgers didn't lose much mass and instead gained it. The burgers did not fall apart, and their flavor was greatly benefitted from the flour and egg as well. This didn't change the look of the burger, but rather helped the fat and meat bond which made the final patty more fat. How successful was your experiment in helping you understand your food and improve its characteristics? What would be next steps if you were to continue research on this topic? In this experiment, I learned a lot about meat, burgers, especially that I did not know previously. During my initial research, I discovered what myoglobin was. Myoglobin is the primary protein in beef and is what makes raw meat red. I also learned about the Maillard Reaction. I did not know that there was a specific reaction for cooking meat. This was really interesting to me and made me more invested in my experiment. I had to change my experiment multiple times during the planning process. I started by wanting to manipulate the spices and seasonings used to change the flavor, however then moved on to adding water as moisture. None of these had any independent or dependent variables. During my research, I grew fonder of the idea of manipulating fat content to change the composition and flavor of a burger. I was a lot more interested in this idea that I was in my first, so I decided to experiment with fat content. This experiment had conclusive results and added desirability of the food. I got to record which one looked more desirable and which one tased the best. Unfortunately, in my recipe card I did not talk about which burger my subjects said looked the most delicious, but it was an interesting observation. This experiment also answered my research question and actually contradicted my initial hypothesis. If I were to continue this experiment I would want to compare my burgers to burgers that were processed differently. Beef from different parts of the country, some grass fed and some not. I would want to research about the fat content in different fast food burgers and compare them to each other, then compare them to mine. I would research what possible reactions happen with those burgers in the kitchen and how different ingredients they use to bond with each other. I would cook multiple more batches of my burgers, this time with even more fat to meat ratios and possibly try to mock a fast food burger, in terms of taste. If I could I would try to get a hold of some of the ingredients that many fast food chains would usually use to cook burgers and see how that reacts with the protein to affect its taste. Ever since the start of the project, I was very interested in finding out exactly what ingredients fast food restaurants use for their food. I never got to really immerse myself in this research, but if I were to continue this project, that is where I would take it. Exhibition Thoughts: Overall I would praise this project and the exhibition. In the small amount of time we had to set up the exhibit, I believe our grade did a great job creating, fun, interactive, and delicious exhibits. We had taste tests, cooking shows, and trivia which made our exhibition have a bunch of different activities to take part in and I really enjoyed that aspect of All School Exhibition. One refinement I would give this exhibition is organization. While our grade did a great job in setting up this exhibit and giving a lot of different routes to take, some were more visited than others. Cooking shows, one of my favorite aspects of the exhibition was hidden and not a lot of community members showed up to watch students teach them the chemistry behind their recipe while they cook it. If this project was to be shown again at all school, I feel like the organization of the different exhibits would greatly impact the project. |
My Recipe Card: |