Chemistry of Cooking
How does the ingredient you experimented with affect the food’s overall characteristics? Be specific and discuss the chemical structure of the ingredient and the chemical structures of the aspects of the food the chosen ingredient interacted with as part of your answer!
The ingredient I experimented with was baking soda. I wanted to see if the amount of baking soda affects the density of the gluten free banana bread I made. Baking soda is also known as sodium bicarbonate, and it can react with acids as well as heat to make carbon dioxide gas. When carbon dioxide gas is released it can cause the bread to rise. For the banana bread there were no acids for the baking soda to react with, however, when it was heated it still released gas because of thermal decomposition. This means that when a certain temperature is reached the structure of the substances breaks down because it’s bonds begin to break. When I put more than the recommended amount of baking soda in the bread the loaf over expanded and caved in on itself, it also was denser and very salty.
In what way(s) are cooking and doing science similar and in what way(s) are they different? How are a cook and a food scientist similar or different?
Cooking and doing science are similar in many ways. First, a cook and a scientist both require precision in their professions. When food is being made, if there is too much or too little of something, the food will taste different from what is intended. Similarly, if the measurement of an ingredient is off it can change the outcome of the experiment. Both require methods/recipes to make the products. Both a scientist and a cook need to be able to follow as well as write their own methods/recipes. The products that a scientist and a cook make need to be recreated by others. When a cook makes a new dish it others should be able to make that dish. A scientist should be able to do the same thing so that others can test their ideas.
Some ways that a cook and a scientist are different are that a scientist does experiments to make new discoveries as well as prove others work. When we do science we do it with the intention to learn new things. We look to discover and solve problems. A cook's main job is to make good tasting edible food for people to enjoy. That’s not to say they don’t try to discover new things, it’s just that the primary focus is on the taste of the food, how attractive it is, and it’s presentation to the consumer.
Materials, Trash, And Recycling Project
How does the chemical composition and structure of a substance determine its properties with
regard to its use, capacity for reuse, and capacity for recycling?
The chemical composition and structure determine the use and reuse of the bioplastics we made because in some cases bioplastics can’t be used. For instance, in the tests, we conducted the bioplastics did not prove to be better than plastic water bottle plastic. The biggest example of this was that when it was put in water the plastics began to break down and fall apart. We researched this and found out it is a concept call starch gelatinization. Simply put starch gelatinization happens because water can break down the molecular structure of the starch and thus because our plastics were made from starch they fell apart. This can impact it's used because it can’t be used as a water bottle or in anything that could get wet. Also, it can impact the reuse because if it’s used and gets wet then it can’t be reused to the same functionality as before it got wet. We found this from the tests we ran after the plastic got wet. We ran the same tests on it when it was dry and wet and found that it wasn’t reusable after it got wet. Another particular issue with how the bioplastic could be used as the structure of both the corn and potato starch plastics. The corn cornstarch fell apart with little force and the potato starch was too rigid to actually use well. As for the ability to be recycled, it is made from food products which means it could affect the purity of other recyclables and make it harder to recycle. The benefits of bioplastic, however, is that it is biodegradable.
How do the choices we make as consumers (purchasing, use, reuse, recycling, and discarding of materials) impact our local community and environment, and the global community and environment?
It’s not just the choices we make as consumers. For instance, according to DataUSA who’s data comes from the Census Bureau and other sources, 13% of Durango lives in poverty. That means they can only buy cheaper products. These products are not only as healthy but can come in packaging that isn’t recyclable or are products that aren’t recyclable. This can impact us because there is a percentage of people who can recycle due to the inability to. Durango also has single-stream recycling which can allow people to recycle without putting in a lot of effort. That can help Durango because that means fewer people are throwing away plastic. The choices we make as consumers tend to be what we are comfortable and we don’t change how we do it. For example, when Durango tried to tax plastic bags it caused some blowback. People will not agree to make choices that will cost them more initially such as buying organic food or taxing plastic bags. As for how it affects the environment, plastic that isn’t recycled is buried in a landfill, so it doesn’t affect ocean life or much else as it is in an area away from agriculture. I could affect local wildlife if they somehow stumble upon the landfill and eat what's in it. It could also affect the occasional bear that gets into town because plastic can’t be digested, however, bear-proof trash cans and taxes ensure that doesn’t happen.
What else did you learn through this project?
I learned a lot about making effective infographics. The majority of it was self-taught and also Steve critique. I struggled with making the graphic aesthetically pleasing and give enough information to the reader. One big thing was trying to avoid the graphic being too wordy as that’s not how the structure of an infographic is supposed to work. I also learned how to make bioplastics, it was an interesting concept of using food product and other substances to mimic normal plastic. I also learned a lot through our tests that the bioplastic made from tapioca looks similar to normal plastic and is the closest in test results.
What grade do you believe you earned on this project?
I think that in answering the essential questions I deserve a B because our product does discuss the first question in much more detail than the second. In answering the first question we looked at the use and reuse of different starch-based bioplastics compared to normal plastic. As said in the answers of the above questions, bioplastics use and reuse are greatly affected by water. The answer to the second question was lightly discussed in our infographic advising consumers to buy industrial grade bioplastics as it would most likely not be affected by the same problems our bioplastics encountered. For the second part, I feel as though we deserve an A or a B because our Infographic displayed our learning through fun and aesthetically pleasing graphics. I also received initial help on the look of the word on the infographic from Steve and refined it as best I could from the suggestions he gave me.
regard to its use, capacity for reuse, and capacity for recycling?
The chemical composition and structure determine the use and reuse of the bioplastics we made because in some cases bioplastics can’t be used. For instance, in the tests, we conducted the bioplastics did not prove to be better than plastic water bottle plastic. The biggest example of this was that when it was put in water the plastics began to break down and fall apart. We researched this and found out it is a concept call starch gelatinization. Simply put starch gelatinization happens because water can break down the molecular structure of the starch and thus because our plastics were made from starch they fell apart. This can impact it's used because it can’t be used as a water bottle or in anything that could get wet. Also, it can impact the reuse because if it’s used and gets wet then it can’t be reused to the same functionality as before it got wet. We found this from the tests we ran after the plastic got wet. We ran the same tests on it when it was dry and wet and found that it wasn’t reusable after it got wet. Another particular issue with how the bioplastic could be used as the structure of both the corn and potato starch plastics. The corn cornstarch fell apart with little force and the potato starch was too rigid to actually use well. As for the ability to be recycled, it is made from food products which means it could affect the purity of other recyclables and make it harder to recycle. The benefits of bioplastic, however, is that it is biodegradable.
How do the choices we make as consumers (purchasing, use, reuse, recycling, and discarding of materials) impact our local community and environment, and the global community and environment?
It’s not just the choices we make as consumers. For instance, according to DataUSA who’s data comes from the Census Bureau and other sources, 13% of Durango lives in poverty. That means they can only buy cheaper products. These products are not only as healthy but can come in packaging that isn’t recyclable or are products that aren’t recyclable. This can impact us because there is a percentage of people who can recycle due to the inability to. Durango also has single-stream recycling which can allow people to recycle without putting in a lot of effort. That can help Durango because that means fewer people are throwing away plastic. The choices we make as consumers tend to be what we are comfortable and we don’t change how we do it. For example, when Durango tried to tax plastic bags it caused some blowback. People will not agree to make choices that will cost them more initially such as buying organic food or taxing plastic bags. As for how it affects the environment, plastic that isn’t recycled is buried in a landfill, so it doesn’t affect ocean life or much else as it is in an area away from agriculture. I could affect local wildlife if they somehow stumble upon the landfill and eat what's in it. It could also affect the occasional bear that gets into town because plastic can’t be digested, however, bear-proof trash cans and taxes ensure that doesn’t happen.
What else did you learn through this project?
I learned a lot about making effective infographics. The majority of it was self-taught and also Steve critique. I struggled with making the graphic aesthetically pleasing and give enough information to the reader. One big thing was trying to avoid the graphic being too wordy as that’s not how the structure of an infographic is supposed to work. I also learned how to make bioplastics, it was an interesting concept of using food product and other substances to mimic normal plastic. I also learned a lot through our tests that the bioplastic made from tapioca looks similar to normal plastic and is the closest in test results.
What grade do you believe you earned on this project?
I think that in answering the essential questions I deserve a B because our product does discuss the first question in much more detail than the second. In answering the first question we looked at the use and reuse of different starch-based bioplastics compared to normal plastic. As said in the answers of the above questions, bioplastics use and reuse are greatly affected by water. The answer to the second question was lightly discussed in our infographic advising consumers to buy industrial grade bioplastics as it would most likely not be affected by the same problems our bioplastics encountered. For the second part, I feel as though we deserve an A or a B because our Infographic displayed our learning through fun and aesthetically pleasing graphics. I also received initial help on the look of the word on the infographic from Steve and refined it as best I could from the suggestions he gave me.