Eleventh Grade, Cooking & Food Science Science Experiments (Page 12)

St. Patrick’s Day Science: Brew up Some Green Soda Pop!

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

4 reviews

Have you ever wanted to make your own soda pop? Even if you haven’t, maybe as a treat on a relaxing afternoon you like to open a can of your favorite carbonated beverage and take a deep drink. The bubbles in the soda tickle your tongue’s taste buds and propel the ingredients to your palate and nose so that you get a kick of flavor. But how do the bubbles, fizz and taste get into the water? In this tasty science activity, you will work with baking soda, citric acid and sugar to… Read more

Stand Up! Investigate the Effect of Different Bowls on Whipped Egg Whites

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Whipped egg whites are used in many sweet and savory recipes. They are used to add air into cake batters, meringues, and soufflés. Egg whites, also known as albumin are 15 percent protein dissolved into water. When egg whites are beaten or whipped, the protein chains unravel. This is called denaturation. The process of whipping egg whites adds air to the mixture, in addition to denaturing the proteins. The denatured proteins create bonds with each other and trap air bubbles within… Read more

Steamy Standing Time: How Food Size Impacts Carryover Cooking

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

"What? My food needs some standing time? How can food stand? I don't see any legs on those baked potatoes!" Whether you're using a traditional oven or a microwave, standing time is an important concept in cooking or baking. When you remove a food from an oven or a microwave, the food retains heat and continues to cook for several minutes after it has been removed from the heat source. This process of the food continuing to cook, using the retained heat in the food itself, is called carryover… Read more

Sweet as Sugar: Comparing the Sweetness of Sugar & Sugar Substitutes

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

7 reviews

Picture your favorite treats: chocolate fudge cake, vanilla ice cream, pink lemonade… Yum! Can you imagine what these might taste like without the sweet flavor of sugar? Your sweet tooth might be aching without the chemical compound of sucrose that is so appealing. Much of the food we eat contains sucrose or natural sweeteners such as honey. There are of course other sweetening options. Have you ever seen "zero-calorie and sugar-free lemonade" at the store and wondered how it… Read more

Tasty Arrangements: How to Position Food in Microwave Cooking

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

When you think of successful inventions from the 1900's that have dramatically changed how people live, what comes to mind? The car? Radio? TV? The computer? What about the microwave oven? You might not remember a time when microwave ovens were not a standard part of most kitchens, but your parents or grandparents probably do. They can remember when heating leftovers took a good 30 minutes in a traditional oven. Or thawing a food from the freezer meant leaving it in the refrigerator overnight.… Read more

The Curdling Properties of Different Milks: How to Avoid Little Miss Muffet's Curds

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Has a milk-based soup, sauce, or gravy ever curdled on you (formed lumps) as you were preparing it? Curdling is the process of coagulation that occurs where the proteins in the milk clump together. Sometimes curdling is desirable—for example, if you want to make a delicious cheese or yogurt—but if you are trying to make a milk-based soup or gratin, or if you're adding milk to a hot drink, curdling is very unwanted because you lose the smooth, creamy texture. Nobody likes clumps and… Read more

Top Crops: Finding Hidden Grasses and Beans in Processed Foods

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

It's the bottom of the ninth, and you've spent a great afternoon at the ball game with a hotdog, a soda, and an ice cream in hand, but I'll bet you're not thinking about how many crops went into those classic baseball snacks. Sure, the bun contains wheat, but did you know that the hotdog might contain wheat, too? And soybeans may have been used to give that ice cream its perfectly smooth texture, while corn was likely used to sweeten the entire meal! Crops can be changed and added to processed… Read more

Invisible Marshmallow Ink – Send Sweet Secret Messages Using Marshmallows!

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

7 reviews

When we put toast in the toaster, or add marshmallows to the top of our sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving, we expect them to turn brown, and to develop a sweet, caramelized flavor. Although we expect it to happen, do you know why certain foods take on these new colors and flavors as they are toasted? In this activity you will explore the reaction that creates these tasty, toasty treats, and experiment with speeding up and slowing down the process. Read more

Making a Sugar Thermometer

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

1 review

Bakers (and those who help bakers!) know that at some point in every baking recipe, the instructions will tell you to preheat your oven to a certain temperature. But if you’ve ever tried to bake cookies and they come out flat, or take too long, it’s possible that your oven is to blame. You might set your oven to 350°F, but how do you know that the inside of your oven actually reaches that temperature? You could use a thermometer…. or you could use sugar! Because we know… Read more

Saucy Science: Exploring the Science of Marinades

STEM Activity

Have you ever tasted a delicious burger and wondered how it got so much flavor? Maybe you have heard your family talk about marinating foods before cooking or grilling them. A marinade is a mixture of seasonings used to flavor or tenderize food. Most cooks have strong opinions about the best way to marinate their favorite food, be it a large steak or a tofu burger. In this activity, you will do a test to see what factors might be most important in making a marinade stick to the surface of food.… Read more

Eleventh Grade, Cooking & Food Science Science Experiments (121 results)

Explore Our Science Videos