Help with meat tenderizer portion of jello experiment

[schlotterer]

My daughter is doing the science fair project "Which Fruits Can Ruin Your Gelatin Dessert?" Everything is going well except for the meat tenderizer portion of the experiment. She has performed it on three different occasions, but the Jell-O has solidified every time, in every cup. At first, we couldn't get the tenderizer to dissolve in the 1:1 ratio of tenderizer to water. We finally decided to increase the water to ensure the tenderizer dissolved (a 1:4 ratio, tenderizer:water) and performed the experiment in three different cups; the first two contained 1 tsp of solution as the experiment instructs, but in the last cup we added 4 tsp to adjust for the ratio change. We also made sure that the Jell-O wasn't hot when added to the tenderizer solution. The Jell-O continues to solidify! Help! Her project is due October 6.

[deleted-211965]

Hi Schlotterer,

Do you know what type of meat tenderizer you have, because in some cases such as canned protease/tenderizer from pineapples and such go through a heating process through production, denaturing, or "breaking" and enzyme, much like a key would lose its bumps and not work anymore. This may cause the protease enzyme to not well in preventing the solidification of the jello. In this case you might want to look for a different meat tenderizer, particularly one that has not gone through a heating process.
In the other case in which your protease in your tenderizer is okay, you may want to consider explaining the error in on your board or paper and what external factors may have caused it. Also, make sure all of the groups are subjected to the same treatment i.e. all fridge or all hot water. If all else fails, just try it again under more controlled conditions.

If you have anymore questions, please ask.

-Chris

[bradleyshanrock-solberg]

I don't have much to add beyond what Chris said (he's right, the exact meat tenderizer used could radically change the results, as they do not all have the same formula. It's much easier to work with something like a piece of fruit, which isn't going to vary by manufacturer).

What I want to do is emphasize his final point.

Science is not entirely about making a hypothesis, testing it and having the test prove the hypothesis. Quite often the data does NOT conform with the expectation, or an attempt to duplicate the work of somebody else (what you are doing...replicating the experiment) results in different data.

If you're seeing differences between your data and that of the project you're trying to replicate, the most interesting thing from a scientific standpoint is to highlight that difference and then see if you can explain it.

So first, capture the results that worked, and also the result that didn't work (tenderizer). The one that didn't work is interesting, and now you're trying to answer a second question, which is "why did this work in the prior project and not in mine?". Getting that answer is almost a second science project - if you succeed you've not only shown you can follow instructions and replicate the work of others (you did that with the non-tenderizer parts already), you have also shown you can learn from unexpected results, which can then be used to strengthen the original research.

If, for example, you find out that your meat tenderizer chosen is significantly different from one that works, the original experiment can be modified with your results, adding to the tenderizer experiment "and be sure not to use one made with these ingredients....or the jello will solidify..."

If you can not find the answer by the due date, just publish what you did, with as much detail about the tenderizer used as possible, so a future researcher can build on what you did and maybe discover the answer.

It is OK to not get the exact results. Publish what you saw, and all the details of your procedure and ingredients. That's science. It's nice to be able to explain everything you see, but if you can't, the correct behavior is to say "This is interesting. Here is what I did" and let future research build on yours to get answers.

[schlotterer]

Thank you both so much for your help! I will have my daughter try another tenderizer (we used unseasoned McCormick's, which contains bromelain) and see if she gets different results. You're right, of course. The results of her experiment are what they are, and she'll have to explain them whether they fit with her expectations or not. Thank you again!