First Experiment (Kristy)

Before the Experiment...

Who?

Kristy from Group 17

What?

To test whether the amount the sugar added to the egg whites affects the height of the soufflé. The research hypothesis is that when a greater amount of sugar is added to the egg whites, the souffle would rise taller.

Where?

Kristy's home.

I have all the ingredients except egg at home so I bought some eggs from the supermarket.

I have all the tools at home.

When?

In four experiments, add a different amount of sugar while whisking the egg whites.

In each experiment, make sure the time of beating the egg is the same.

The height of the soufflé will be measured immediately after removing out from the oven.

Why?

To find out if the amount of sugar added to the egg whites affects the height of the souffle.

How?

Making soufflé according to the recipe. Measure the height of the souffle with a ruler. 

Independent Variable	Dependent Variables	Controlled Variables
Amount of sugar added to the egg whites	The height of the soufflé	Amount of all ingredients, source of all ingredients, beating speed of egg yolk and egg white, beating time of egg yolk and egg white, size of ramekins, amount of batter poured into ramekins, baking time and baking temperature

Ingredients:

1 tsp butter (for brushing ramekins)

2 tbsp caster sugar (for coating ramekins)

10g bread flour

80g milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

1 egg white

20g caster sugar

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven at 180‎°C.
2. With a pastry brush, grease the ramekins with softened butter in upward strokes (this will help the soufflé rise evenly). 
3. Coat the ramekins in caster sugar and keep the prepared ramekins in the fridge to set (this will help the butter to solidify) until ready to use.
4. Whisk egg yolk with caster sugar until even.
5. Add vanilla extract into the milk. Heat the milk in a small pan over low heat to a simmer (just when it starts bubbling around the edges). Remove it from heat. 
6. Add flour and stir until thickened. Let cool and add egg yolk mixture. Mix well.
7. Whisk the egg white until foamy. Add 20g caster sugar little by little. Whisk until the egg white becomes stiff. Scrape out 1/3 egg white with a plastic spatula and combine with the egg yolk batter.
8. Pour egg yolk batter in 2 or 3 smaller portions into whisked egg white. Mix well swiftly with a spatula.
9. Pour into cups until each cup is 90% full.
10. Bake in the oven in a tray with water at 180°C for 25 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Results

 (Height of the souffle: 6.2cm)

The souffle made are very short. This can make the experiment results not obvious to tell the difference between experiments. I would say this trail is a fail and I may consider changing the recipe later. The souffle falls down very quickly. The souffle has a shallow structure too.


Limitations/ errors
Using a ruler to measure the height of the souffle can be quite inaccurate as the height of the ramekin is counted in too. Also, I only filled up 80% of the ramekin and there could be a difference in the amount of batter poured into the ramekins. The little amount of batter poured in also contributes to the short height of the souffle.


Improvements to be made
In the next experiments, I will use a bamboo stick to insert into the souffle to measure its height to prevent possible errors. Also, I will fill the ramekin to around 90% full as to make sure the amount of batter poured in the ramekins are all the same. I will also measure the time used to beat the eggs and the egg whites in the experiments to make them controlled.