BCBT 100 Rasmussen College Science of Cooking Lab Report
This is Discussion 1:
Introduction
There are very few ways to cook an egg inside the shell. According to the text a hard egg that has been cooked properly is described as being solid and tender, not rubbery, shell intact and easy to peel. The yolk should be centered and not discolored. My question is which cooking technique will make the egg tender, not discolored or rubbery, and easy to peel. The method of cooking will be boiling, steaming, and pressurizing.
Hypothesis: I predict that steaming the egg will make solid, tender, and not discolored compared to boiling and pressurizing. The reason I chose steaming is because the text mentions that boiling an egg tends to overcook it and causes cracking discoloration. Pressurizing is very similar to boiling except it cooks it faster, therefore I think pressurization will cause the same problems. Steaming lightly cooks food and will keep it below boiling temperatures.
Method:
To begin I will use three eggs, all a size large, all from the same carton. The eggs were bought the day of the experiment, so they are brand new and not already cracked. The eggs will all be cooked for the same number of time- 12 minutes because the text recommends that hard eggs be cooked between 10-15 minutes. A timer will be used for this. These steps should reduce any confounding variables to my experiment. My independent variable will be the cooking techniques; steaming, boiling, pressurizing. My dependent variable will be the properties of the egg to compare; the color of the yolk, if the egg is firm or tender, if the shell is intact and easy to peel, and if it feels rubbery to the touch. Each characteristic does have a guideline to follow since everyone’s touch, eyes, and judgement varies.
Tender vs Firm
According to the food definition, something that is tender is easy to cut or chew. Food that is firm is going to be more difficult to cut in a way that is similar to trying to cut cold butter and does not easily glide through.
Rubber Feeling
According to the food definition, food that is rubbery will look or feel soft like elastic. It will also be very chewy or present difficulties.
Easy to peel
According to the text, eggs that are easy to peel should peel away cleanly.
Yolk color
The textbook says that an egg that is overcooked will have discolored yolk. This means that the egg will have another color outside of a bright yellow. There are also different shades of yellow as well. The color of the yolk of a hard cooked egg should not be a dark yellow.
Results
Cooking Technique
Easy to Peel
Rubber Texture
Yolk Color
Firm or Tender
Pressure
Not easy to peel
Pieces of shell remained on the egg
Did not feel like rubber
Was not elastic
Bright yellow color
Easy to cut
Tender inside
Boiled
Easy to peel
Shell came right off
Did not feel like rubber
Was not elastic
Bright yellow color
Easy to cut
Tender inside
Steamed
Easy to peel
Shell came right off
Did not feel like rubber
Was not elastic
Dark yellow color
Easy to cut
Tender inside
My hypothesis was incorrect. The method I chose, steaming an egg, met all the criteria except the yellow was a darker then the egg that was boiled and used in a pressure cooker. The Boiled egg was easy to peel, did not feel like rubber, the yolk was a bright yellow color, and it was tender.
This is Discussion 2:
What came first the chicken or the egg? While I don't know the answer this statement proves eggs have existed since the beginning. Eggs are a source of protein that is used in multitudes of amounts of foods. Crafty Baking states that beaten eggs are keys to making foam cakes and gives then their structure and puff. Eggs are an important component in not only breakfast foods but roughly most baked goods. In anywhere other than America, eggs are not expected to be kept in the fridge because the chickens are given shots to avoid salmonella. Eggs are looked at differently all across the world. Some places prefer to avoid eggs wholeheartedly while others find themselves using eggs in close to everything. For this lab I will be seeing how frothing an egg effects it. I will be using the materials stated below to finish this lab.
What happens to an egg when it is frothed?
Goal : To froth the egg and note the differences between differing froth times : 30 seconds, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes frothing.
Hypothesis : If the egg if frothed more, the egg will get a lighter color and lighter consistency.
Scientific Rational : The egg got smaller bubbles the more it was frothed which led it to be more airy and ‘fluff’ up more.
Materials : 3 eggs, pepper, garlic powder, butter, bowl, scale, measuring spoons, timer, frothier, pan, spatula (or egg flipping tool), and stovetop.
Variables :
Independent V: The longer the egg is frothed.
Dependent V: The color of the egg, the weight, and bubble observations in the egg.
Documentation of Process :
Bowl – 80 g
Egg – 50g without the shell
Butter – 8g
Seasonings – 1/8 tsp of garlic powder
Seasonings – 1/8 tsp of pepper
Steps :
Froth the egg in the bowl within the proper time limit. (aka 30 sec, 5 min, or 10 min)
Put the butter in the pan to melt and pour egg after it is frothed.
After the butter is melted then put the egg onto the melted butter and pan and cook for 5:45 minutes.
Then use the spatula to flip the egg when the egg is slightly cooked (either it has lifted slightly on the ends, or is browning).
Froth egg in bowl for 30 sec, Add 1/8 tsp garlic powder, and Add 1/8 tsp pepper
Weight after frothed : 50
Quite a few bubbles, when stirred it was of moderate size, The bubbles didn’t take up the entire egg, but there was quite a few. When poured there was a bit of bubbles remaining in the bowl, I’ll call this residue. While cooking the bubbles seemed to separate from the less bubbled parts of the egg. The yolk seemed to not mix thoroughly after cooking in the pan. The butter also made the egg appear somewhat slimy. Due to the egg being so thin and it seems to have the consistency of a crepe.
Froth egg 2 in bowl for 5 min, Add 1/8 tsp garlic powder, and Add 1/8 tsp pepper
Weight after frothed: 50
Size increased significantly as time increased. When poured in the pan, the bowl has more residue thana egg 1 did. started to come up on the ends, the pepper and garlic seemed to go into the center of the egg (could be due to the mixing or the fluffiness), egg doubled in thickness, and bubbles consumed it all as the yellow became lighter. When finished, the egg looked similar to a pancake when cooked, but significantly thinner. Due to the egg being so thin and it seems to have the consistency of a crepe.
Froth egg 3 in bowl for 10 min, Add 1/8 tsp garlic powder, Add 1/8 tsp pepper
Weight after frothed: 50
Similar to egg 2, the egg became larger when stirred. When poured into the pan, a lot of egg bubble residue was left on the bowl. It came up on the ends when cooking, the seasoning went to the center but was only seen when cooled because of the fluffiness of the egg, and the egg turned very light and bubbles were in every part of it. It was made of bubbles. After cooked, the egg appeared thicker than the others, but still quite thin. Where the seasoning centered, the egg seemed to cook more and browned. Due to the egg being so thin and it seems to have the consistency of a crepe.
Data Table :
Weight (Before and after froth)
Bubbles
Color
Residue
Size
Egg 1 (30 sec)
50 before
50 after
Half liquid half bubble
Very yellow
Minimal amount
Thin, like a crepe.
Egg 2 (5 min)
50 before
50 after
Moderate amount
White, cream, yellow color
Quite a bit
Thin, but thicker than egg 1.
Egg 3 (10 min)
50 before
50 after
Made of purely small bubbles
Slightly lighter than egg 2
A lot
Fluffy, but still relatively thin.
Explanations of Results :
The egg gets lighter in color the more it is frothed because of the increase of bubbles in it. I originally believed that the more the egg is frothed the weight of the egg would change accordingly, but that is not the case. The amount the egg is frothed does not alter the weight of said egg. The more the egg is frothed, the more the bubbles.