First Trial (Tracy)

FIRST TRIAL

How does buttering and coating the ramekin with sugar affect the height of soufflé?

Before cooking...

What?

Ingredients: unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, cake flour, milk, vanilla extract

Tools: electric whisker, bowls, butter brush, plastic spatula, electronic scale, oven, sieve, saucepan

Who?

I do the shopping and cooking. 

Where?

I buy all the ingredients from baking material shop. I got all the tools at home so no need to buy. 

When?

I do the experiment on 18, 19th March. 

Why?

By doing this experiment, I can investigate how buttering and coating the ramekin with sugar affect the height of soufflé. Also, to compare the results of buttering and coating sugar on the ramekin and without it.

How? 

I will make 4 soufflés with (1)only butter, (2)only sugar, (3)butter&sugar, (4)without butter/sugar. This can help me to compare the result of each soufflé and shows the importance of buttering and coating sugar on the ramekin. 

Independent Variables	Dependent Variable	Controlled Variables
l      Soufflé ramekin       - only butter       - only sugar       - butter&sugar       - NO butter/sugar	l   The height and fluffiness of soufflé	l      The amount of butter and sugar coverage in the ramekin l       Brand of all ingredients (butter, sugar, eggs, milk, cake flour, vanilla extract) l     The amount of other ingredients  l      Speed of mixing the ingredients l      Speed of beating egg whites l      Time of beating egg whites (until stiff peaks) l      Speed and time of mixing all the ingredients and egg whites l      Baking time l      Temperature of oven l       Volume of soufflé mixture in each ramekin l       Size of each ramekin

While cooking...

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C. 
2. Butter the ramekins and sprinkle some sugar into each. Place in freezer. 
3. Separate whites from yolks and set aside until ready to use. 
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, the flour, until it forms a smooth batter. 
5. In a saucepan, scald the milk, unsalted butter and vanilla extract over medium heat. Remove from heat when everything is melted.                                    
6. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the batter. Keep stirring to combine all the ingredients. 
7. Pour the mixture into the saucepan. Cook and stir the mixture with low heat until it has thickened. Remove from heat and let it cool until lukewarm.                    
8. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed. Add sugar at a few times. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. 
9. Pour half of the whipped egg whites into the batter at a time. Gradually fold and mix them well.
10. Divide the mixture evenly into four ramekins. Rub your thumb around the inside of the rim to create some space between the ramekin and the mixture. This will help the soufflé to rise straight. 
11. Place the ramekins into a baking tray and bake at 190°C for 10 minutes and at 180°C for 5 minutes. 
12. Sprinkle powdered sugar on each soufflé and serve immediately. 

          

After cooking...

Analysis
1. Result
The height between each soufflé was not obvious which shows that butter&sugar the ramekin does not affect much. However, the soufflé that butter and sugar the ramekin performed well and it was the tallest among those soufflés.

2. Trend/pattern/correlation between the soufflé ramekin(IV) and the height and fluffiness of soufflé(DV)
Filling the soufflé ramekin with butter and sugar did not influence much on the height of soufflé. The butter supposedly helps the soufflé mixture slide up the side as it expands, making the soufflé much easier to detach from the dish. For the sugar, it makes a nice brown crust. As a result, soufflés made in unbuttered ramekins can still rise high.


Limitations/errors
After doing the experiments, I found that placing the ramekin in different position in the oven performed differently. The temperature was uneven which directly affected the height of soufflé. Also, I think this topic is hard to investigate it deeply as there are not much scientific rationale to support.


Improvement
In order to get an accurate result for my next experiment, I should only bake 1-2 soufflé at once and place it in the same position. Plus, it is better for me to change to another topic as I was wondering how the soufflé be like if I place it in room temperature for a long period of time.

Reference
Cooking Tree. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJYvg1NhzMQ&t=342s.
Leiths School of food and wine. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.leiths.com/how-tos/how-to-whisk-egg-whites.
Hargittai, B. (2015). Culture of Chemistry: The Best Articles on the Human Side of 20th-Century Chemistry from the Archives of the Chemical Intelligencer. New York: Springer. 
Medrich, A. (2017). Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts. New York: Dover Publications, INC.