Science in the Kitchen - Bread Part 2 (Gluten)

Gluten. Not just a new allergy.


I've learned a lot about gluten during our Science in the Kitchen series. Let's hope Liam has also picked up a tidbit or two. So here's the low down.


Flours that are high in protein will produce more gluten in your dough. There are basically 2 proteins in dough, whose names I cannot remember, that combine during the kneading process to create strands of gluten. Think of gluten like a balloon. The gluten will hold the gas needed to make a dough rise. Therefore, you should use a flour high in protein for yeast breads. Flours low in protein are best for pastries and cookies.


For our experiment, we took four different kinds of flour; all purpose, whole wheat, pastry and semolina. We created 4 separate "doughs" by mixing the flour with water. After letting it sit for 15-20 minutes, we took each dough ball and ran them under water. We did this until most of the starch was washed away and we were left with only the gluten strands.



After looking at only the gluten strings in each ball, we could tell which dough ball had the most gluten and which had the least. I won't tell you our findings....you have to do the experiment on your own!!



Here's one of our gluten balls. I think this was the Whole Wheat.

Science in the Kitchen - Bread Part 1

Yeast. It's all yeast these days!

Liam and I are continuing our studies in the kitchen. We've exhausted our studies of the egg and we are moving on to bread! Look out hips, here comes another 5 pounds.

We started our studies by discussing leavening agents. We made some cookies and muffins using baking soda and baking powder. But everyone knows that the Mack-daddy of leavening agents is yeast. And yeast is so entertaining. First question of the day....."does yeast like sugar?"

We did a quick little experiment by using equal amounts of yeast and warm water in two separate bowls. In one bowl we also included a teaspoon of sugar. Can you guess which bowl had the sugar?

If you guessed the bowl on the left, then you are right. In the same amount of time, the bowl with sugar created huge amounts of yeast foam compared to the bowl without the sugar. So the next time you make a yummy bread, be sure to proof your yeast with sugar.

Science in the Kitchen - The Egg, Part 3

We continue our egg investigations with a little Flan!! How could science be so tasty? So if you are wondering how flan could possibly be tasty AND educational, well sit back and learn. Proteins! I won't bore you with all the details, but it all boils down to the proteins....oh and the fat. Gels love protein and fat.

Science in the Backyard (aka- Steve!)

Look at Steve! It seems like only months ago that Steve was this very large tadpole.

Now, he is this sorta small bullfrog!!

The boys found Steve in a pond near the house this Summer. After some negotiating and some terms discussed, Steve was given a home on our deck. It has actually been quite fun to watch Steve grow and shrink. I had no idea that they were bigger as tadpoles. I'm sure Steve will grow into a healthy, large Bullfrog and go on to populate the world with many more little Steves. This all hinges on whether or not I can convince the boys to release Steve back into the WILD!! I've tried explaining to them that the aquarium will freeze solid this Winter and leave Steve with no place to hibernate. AND, under no circumstances will Steve reside in our nice and cozy home.

Science in the Kitchen - The Egg, Part 2

The Translucent Egg.
Did you know you can remove the hard shell of an egg by simply soaking the egg in vinegar? It is so cool! This is your classic acid/base chemical reaction. The egg shell is basically made of calcium carbonate. The vinegar, containing acetic acid, separates the calcium and releases the carbonate as carbon dioxide gas. You can see all the bubbles of gas in the picture below. These bubbles started happening immediately.

After soaking for about 2 days, the shell has completely dissolved away and you are left with a translucent egg. You can't tell by the picture, but you can even see the egg yolk inside.
Now you would think that the egg would be fragile without the loving protection of its hard outer shell. Not so! This sucker is durable. It has the consistency of a rubber bouncy ball. You can see in the pictures below that I'm squeezing the egg pretty hard. Next up...to cut it open and see what it looks like inside!

Science in the Kitchen - The Egg, Part 1

Liam's current interest (which changes frequently) is cooking. Uncle Jeremy would be proud! If I tell the kids they can watch a video, 1/2 the time they will pick a Good Eats video. I might need to give credit to Alton Brown for schooling my children. Even Quinn is coming up and telling me how to pickle vegetables and how to get the seeds out of a vanilla bean. There's one thing I know for certain, these boys will know how to cook for themselves. I won't have a daughter-in-law coming to me and telling me their man can't take care of himself. Next thing they will all learn is LAUNDRY!
But I digress...
With this new found love of cooking, the homeschooling Mom took over (with Dad's creative insight as well!) and decided to take school into the kitchen. First up....The Egg!

Specifically....The Egg White! What better way to teach about proteins and amino acids in egg whites, than Meringue Cookies!! Mmmm...Mmmmm
Here's Liam giving those egg whites a good whipping.

And here are the fruits of his labor, or I should say the cookies of his labor. We may have let them cook a little too long but they were still tasty little numbers. They tasted a bit like a nice toasted marshmallow. The Egg, Part 1....success!