CHEMISTRY OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES October 20, 2009
Posted by Ms. Klemundt in Help with Assignments, Web Resources.trackback
For students in Chemistry classes, here are some suggestions for places and ways to search for information for your project on the chemistry of Christmas cookies. Don’t forget to invite your helpful Library staff to the cookie exchange!
Some things you might need to be researching:
- basic ingredients (see the list from your teacher);
- ingredients specific to your cookie;
- heat and its effects: conventional oven, microwave oven, baking, frying, “no-bake”;
- order of mixing ingredients;
- grouping of ingredients in a recipe: wet, dry, etc.;
- processes: whipping, creaming, refrigerating before shaping;
- reactions in mixing and preparing
- reactions in the oven or other heating process
Not all of these things will affect the chemistry, but some might, so you want to consider them.
Some search terms you might want to try for Keyword and Subject searching:
- chemistry AND cooking
- science AND cooking
- chemistry AND cooking AND cookies
- molecular gastronomy
- Food — Analysis
- Food — Composition
- food AND chemistry
- [specific ingredient] AND chemistry
You can use these terms in library catalogs and subscription databases and search engines on the web. Some will work in some places and some in others. Try a few searches and see what you end up with. The word “AND” should be written that way. It is a Boolean operator and tells the database or whatever you are searching that you want the terms on either side of the AND to be in the same article, webpage, record, etc. It is a way to help focus your search and narrow the list of results.
Some places to search or resources to use (and maybe some help with search techniques):
- Britannica Online (http://school.eb.com) Get a blue sheet from the Res library with the username and password for this subscription database. This is an online encyclopedia. Use the “High School” level and just enter baking in the search box. The baking article has good introductory information The Table of Contents for the article is listed along the left-side and you can expand the topics by clicking on the + sign next to each topic.
- On Food and Cooking : The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee. Updated edition published by Scribners in 2004 (9780684800011). Many, many public libraries have this book. It is used as the textbook for the “Kitchen Chemistry” course taught at MIT.
- EBSCO Science Reference Center (http://search.ebscohost.com) Get a blue sheet from the Res library with the username and password for this subscription database. Once you login, click on the EBSCOhost Research Databases link to get to the Science Reference Center.
- The Accidental Scientist : The Science of Cooking from the Exploratorium (http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/) Look at the section on Eggs and Bread. Also click on the Ask the Inquisitive Cooks icon on the right-side of the main page and look at the topics in their archives.
- When examing books you’ve found through searching library catalogs, use the book’s Table of Contents and index to find out if the book has information that will be useful. Don’t forget to look at the bibliography in books and articles to help you find more information.
- How Baking Works (http://www.baking911.com/howto/how_baking_works.htm) from the Baking 911 website. This site is authored by Sarah Phillips, a cookbook author, speaker, and consultant.
- Butter Through the Ages (http://www.webexhibits.org/butter/) Click on the Composition link and work through the sub-pages for more detailed information. This site is sponsored by the Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement.
- Cook’s Illustrated magazine from America’s Test Kitchen. They have a Food Science section in the magazine, but you will have to find a public library that keeps the back issues since online access is only available to magazine subscribers. Use the online listing (http://www.americastestkitchen.com/foodsciencelist.asp) to find relevant articles and then look for the print copy. If you find an article you want, come and see us in the library and we will try to get it for you through interlibrary loan.
- BakeWise by Shirley Corriher, published by Scribners in 2008 (9781416560784) Corriher is a former research biochemist and the book’s strength is in the explanations of the underlying principles of baking. This book should be available at many public libraries.
- Good Eats by Alton Brown, both his books and episodes from the TV program. There’s an episode called “The Cookie Clause” that looks promising if you can find it.
- readings and related resources from the “Kitchen Chemistry” course at MIT. The course materials are available on their OpenCourseWare site (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Special-Programs/SP-287Spring-2006/CourseHome/index.htm)
- King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Companion cookbook (9780881505818) and King Arthur Flour’s Cookie Companion cookbook (9780881506594) Both of these books are produced by the King Arthur Flour Company of Vermont and while they are primarily filled with recipes, there is also a great deal of background information on baking. Find them at your public library.
I know this has been a long post, but I hope it has been useful to you. If you have questions or run into problems, please come see us in the library.
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?