SOME LIKE ‘EM RAW 2
Some Like ‘em Raw, Some Like ‘em Soft, but Few Like ‘em Burnt to a Crisp: A Study of Ideal
Cooking Temperatures
J. J. Cieslewicz, Laurie Miller, Sandra Aguirre, Tonia Nielsen and Luke Carter
Southern Utah University College
Abstract
Our 2010 English class conducted a simple experiment testing a single variable: Temperature. Through testing a single variable we hoped to reduce any misleading data. We used the same dough, same brand of oven, and so on. The recipe used was that recommended by the chocolate chip producer, only the chocolate chip cookies were baked at varying temperatures producing a wide range of finished product. The resultant cookie consumption was monitored in hopes of discovering the preferred cooking temperature, thus verifying the chocolate chip manufactures’ recommendation for cookie baking. We found that the cookies baked at 375 degrees Fahrenheit were consumed the fasted and thus were the most preferred. This experiment concludes that the baking temperature suggested on the recipe is in fact ideal.
Some Like ‘em Raw, Some Like ‘em Soft, but Few Like ‘em Burnt to a Crisp:
A Study of Ideal Cooking Temperatures
We can all thank Ruth Wakefield for the invention of the most popular snack known to man, the chocolate chip cookie. Like most great discoveries the chocolate chip cookie was founded by accident in 1930. Wakefield stumbled upon this life changing discovery by simply breaking up a semi-sweet chocolate bar, which was given to her by Andrew Nestle, and placing the pieces into the cookie dough. She thought that the chocolate would melt into the cookies making a chocolate cookie, she was wrong. When the discovery became a success she struck a deal with Nestle stating that she would allow him to print her recipe on the back of his chocolate chips in return for a life time supply of chocolate (Ament, 2007)! Years later the chocolate chip cookie would become the most widely consumed cookie in the world, with an annual consumption of over seven billion cookies (Saco Foods, 2004).
Chocolate chip cookies became famous in 1939 after Betty Crocker used it in her radio show. Wakefield eventually sold the legal rights to Nestle so they could use the Toll House trademark, part of the agreement included Nestle supplying Wakefield with all the chocolate she needed to make her cookies for the rest of her life. In 1983 the Nestle Company lost their rights to the trademark in court. A study was conducted with chocolate chip cookies to see which cookies would be eaten the fastest; all of the cookies would be baked for approximately ten minutes in different ovens with different temperatures. After splitting into different groups, the hypothesis was that the cookies baked at three hundred and seventy five degrees for ten minutes will taste the best and disappear the fastest.
Method
Participants
Participants included university students enrolled in English 2010 as well as staff from the Foods Lab on campus and students who were in the hallway after we had finished baking the cookies.
Procedure
All of the materials were already set up when we got to the kitchen. Two student volunteers were chosen to mix the batter. They started by putting all of the ingredients into the bowl. They put eggs in the batter and then vanilla, baking soda, and then chocolate chips. They then blended the batter with an eggbeater. After that they got cookie sheets and got two more volunteers. The four students then took spoon fulls and put 24 cookies on 5 different cookie sheets. They then cooked each cookie sheet at a different temperature. One of them they did not cook, and the other ones were cooked at 325, 375, 425, and 475 degrees. The ultimate test was to see which cookies were consumed by the students the fastest. This showed us which batch of cookies was the most popular. We took the cookies out after 10 minutes and then set them out on the table to be eaten by the students. Every four minutes we kept track of how many were eaten
Materials
We used five baking sheets. Each sheet held 24 cookies.
Ingredients:
4 ½ c. Flour / 1 ½ c. Granulated sugar2 tsp. Baking soda / 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 tsp. Salt / 4 Eggs
4 sticks Butter / 2 pkg. Chocolate chips
1 ½ c. Brown sugar
Results
There were six different kinds of finished products, each resulting from the various temperatures. The 475o cookie was dark brown and had a crispy texture. It was hard and very crunchy when eaten. The 425o cookie was well done. It was a little dark around the edges, but the middle was golden brown. It was well rounded and only slightly crunchy. The 375o cookie was very well formed and rounded. It was golden brown throughout the cookie. It was much softer and lacked the crunchy quality. The 325o cookie looked like it was well formed, but fell apart when it was taken from the cookie sheet. It was very mushy and doughy. The 2750 cookie looked more like doughy pancake than cookies. They were a big flat mess of light brown dough. The unbaked cookies were sticky and uneven. They were light brown, and were very irregular in form.
To measure the rate of cookie disappearance, the cookies were charted on a graph, with amount of cookies versus time. An average rate of change was then taken over the five time measurements and compared. Table 1 shows the amount of cookies versus time increments (with 4 minutes per time increment) with the average rate.
Unbaked(70o) / 275o / 325o / 375o / 425o / 4750 / Time Increments (4 Min)25 / 25 / 25 / 25 / 25 / 25 / 0
11 / 17 / 21 / 12 / 12 / 20 / 1
2 / 17 / 9 / 4 / 10 / 18 / 2
1 / 17 / 9 / 0 / 9 / 18 / 3
1 / 16 / 9 / 0 / 6 / 18 / 4
Average Rate of Disappearance (Cookies/Time Increment)
Unbaked / 275o / 325o / 375o / 425o / 475o
-5.8 / -1.8 / -4.4 / -6.2 / -4.1 / -1.6
The fastest rate of disappearance came from the 3750 cookies, which had an average disappearance of 6.2 cookies per every 4-minute timing increment. The next three were the unbaked, with a rate of 5.8, the 3250 cookie with a rate of 4.4, and 425o cookie with a rate of 4.1 cookies per timing period. The 275o came next with 1.8 cookies per timing period while the 475o finished last with a 1.6 cookies per timing period rate.
After 30 minutes of observing we could get an idea of what cookies were liked best. Table 1 shows the temperatures of the cookies and the observations made as to their aspects. Figure 1 shows the consumption rate of the cookies by the class. As you can see, the cookies that were cooked to 375 ° turned out to be the popular ones.
Table 1
Cooking Temperature / Cookie CharacteristicsGroup 1 275 ° / Wet, doughy, soft,
Group 2 325 ° / slightly crispy outside, soft center, light brown
Group 3 375 ° / Slightly browned and crispy
Group 4 425 ° / Dark Brown, crispy
Group 5 475 ° / Dark brown, burned bottom, super crispy
Figure 1
Discussion
Our hypothesis was correct. The cookies that were baked at the more moderate temperatures were the most popular for being eaten. But then the more underdone cookies seemed to go faster than the overdone cookies. The more closely the manufacturer’s instructions were followed the results seemed to be the most popular.
Our study had several limitations. First of all, our study was completed at 9 am. At that time in the morning, many people may not be hungry for cookies, so it might be better to conduct this experiment later in the afternoon. Also, it might be that if we offered milk with the cookies, the rate of disappearance might change. In addition, some of the participants may have been dieting, so it might be helpful to have students fill out a questionnaire before participating in order to get a better idea about who was participating and what their circumstances were.
We also noted that not all of the baking sheets were exactly the same, and the oven door was left open longer in some cases when the cookies were being placed in the oven. More precise methodology would be helpful.
The temperature of an oven can directly affect the outcome of what is being baked. Let’s say cookies for example, when baked for the correct amount of time but at varying degrees of temperature the results were very different. The lower the temperature, the doughier the cookie was, and the higher the temperature, the cookies were just shy of being burned.
Following the manufacturer’s recommendations was validated in this experiment by charting how many cookies were eaten at various intervals. It would be interesting to try this experiment again using different types and colors of baking dishes and different sizes of cookie.
References
Ament, P. (2003). Fascinating facts about the invention of Toll House Cookies, The Great Idea Finder.
Retrieved from: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/tollhouse.htm
The chunks that made a cookie famous. (2010). Saco Foods Corporation.
Retrieved from: http://www.sacofoods.com/chocchunkstory.html
Hershey Foods Corporation. (2009). Hershey’s Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies; Product Packaging,