ACTIVITY 5 SCIENCE IN THE KITCHEN
EASY EGGSPERIMENTS

Have fun eggsperimenting to understand SUSPENSION, EMULSIFICATION, COAGULATION and LEAVENING. Use these directions in class:

SUSPENSION and EMULSIFICATION

  1. Put small amounts of oil and water in a jar, tightly cap the jar and shake it vigorously.

  2. On a separate sheet of paper, at different time intervals, record your observations about the ingredients, including color, thickness, texture and anything else you notice.

  3. Using the Mayonnaise recipe below, record your observations about the ingredients again.

  4. Prepare the Mayonnaise and record your observations about the ingredients once more.

  5. Compare the Mayonnaise results to the oil-and-water results.

COOKED MAYONNAISE
about 1 1/4 cups

2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
1 cup cooking oil

In a small saucepan, stir together egg yolks, vinegar, water, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper until thoroughly blended. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles in 1 or 2 places. Remove from heat. Let stand 4 minutes. Pour into blender container or mixing bowl. Cover and blend or beat at high speed.  While blending or beating, very slowly add oil. Blend or beat until thick and smooth. (Occasionally, turn off blender and scrape down sides of container with rubber spatula, if necessary.) Cover and chill if not using immediately.

COAGULATION

  1. Using the recipe for basic scrambled eggs on Food Safety Mystery (activity sheet 4), on a separate sheet of paper, record your observations about the ingredients before and after beating them, including color, thickness, texture and anything else you notice.

  2. Cook the eggs, spoon them onto a plate and record your observations again.

LEAVENING

  1. Using a large liquid measure for the whites and a small liquid measure for the yolks, separate 4 eggs.  On a separate sheet of paper, record the total volume of each and your observations about the whites and yolks, including color, thickness, texture and anything else you notice.

  2. Using an electric mixer and large mixing bowl, beat the whites on high speed just until they are foamy. Record your observations again.

  3. Continue beating. When the egg whites look stiff, but not dry, turn off the mixer. Tilt the bowl. If the whites no longer slip and slide in the bowl, they are done. Measure the egg white volume and record your observations once more.

  4. Using the electric mixer and small mixing bowl, beat the yolks on high speed until they are thick and lemon-colored, about 3 to 5 minutes. Measure the egg yolk volume and record your observations again.

  5. Record your observations about angel food cake (made with egg whites only) and pound cake (made with whole eggs).