You have to follow a recipe, measuring out the right amount of stuff, mixing it together before you add the next thing. There is a specific order and technique, and if you make a mistake it can turn out badly!
But you can also experiment and add in extra or different ingredients to change the flavour. Sometimes you add something like cocoa to a cake, and that stops it rising as much, but if you use less flour, it should be less dense.
So I think this is a lot like following a method in a lab and trying different things to get your experience working with a new type of cell or sample!
A number of years ago we worked with some food scientists who were using CT scans to see how many holes there were in loaves of bread. They wanted to get the right dough to give less holes, so you didn’t lose the butter down a hole in a slice of bread. I’d call that science definitely.
We have a school of food science at our university and they do regularly studies with food (including baking products) and also have master students who optimise existing foods or find health-improving use for it. They have a huge food lab, which has commercial size kitchen machines and supplies and they regularly cook and bake in there for scientific reasons. I know a number of PhD students who are related to that school and do research on particular ingredients, e.g. a wheat protein.
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Gill commented on :
A number of years ago we worked with some food scientists who were using CT scans to see how many holes there were in loaves of bread. They wanted to get the right dough to give less holes, so you didn’t lose the butter down a hole in a slice of bread. I’d call that science definitely.
Marleen commented on :
We have a school of food science at our university and they do regularly studies with food (including baking products) and also have master students who optimise existing foods or find health-improving use for it. They have a huge food lab, which has commercial size kitchen machines and supplies and they regularly cook and bake in there for scientific reasons. I know a number of PhD students who are related to that school and do research on particular ingredients, e.g. a wheat protein.