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

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

STEM Activity

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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

Succulent Science: The Role of Fats in Making a Perfect Pastry

STEM Activity

Have you ever wanted to bake the perfect pie to help warm up the cold holiday season? No matter whether it is apple, pumpkin, chocolate, pecan or pumpkin pie, every good pie needs a well-made pie crust. If the pastry crust is heavy or chewy then that can really affect how much you enjoy the pie. But how do you make a pastry crust that is light and flaky? In this scrumptious science activity, you will find out by investigating how the temperature of fat used (in dough) can affect a… Read more

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

STEM Activity

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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 Effect of Roasting on Color, Flavor, and Texture of Peanut Butter

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Peanut butter is a popular ingredient in sandwiches, cookies, and many other common foods. In this cooking and food science fair project, you will roast peanuts in the oven at 350 degrees for 20, 30, and 40 minutes to produce variable levels of color and flavor. Roasting not only adds complex flavors to the peanuts, but it also destroys enzymes that produce off-flavors. Each lot of roasted peanuts will be used to make a batch of peanut butter. You will evaluate each batch of peanut butter for… Read more

The Freezer: It Keeps Your Carrots Awake at Night!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Brrrr, freezing cold! It's the worst nightmare of any fresh fruit or vegetable! If the produce in your kitchen had legs, they would run in a panic every time the freezer door opens. Why? Well, freezing temperatures are not kind to fresh produce. Freezing kills the plant tissues and alters them on both a chemical and physical level. Chemically, the enzymes in the produce become more concentrated and do not work normally, so that discoloration, off-flavors, vitamin breakdown, and toughness may… 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

What's the Best Way to Guarantee Fresh Bread?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever bitten into a slice of bread only to find that it no longer seems fresh? Instead, it has the firm, undesirable texture that comes about when the bread is going stale. Chemically, what happens during the staling process? Can it be reversed (at least temporarily)? Do some background research to answer these questions and then apply those answers to one (or more) of the following experiments to find the optimal state to keep your bread fresh. Experiment 1: What Temperature Keeps… Read more

Fourth Grade, Cooking & Food Science Science Experiments (120 results)

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