Effect of Cooking Time on Fat Absorption

Title

Objective: To demonstrate the influence of cooking time on fat absorption by donut holes and to gain experience in using correct deep-fat frying techniques.

Method: See below

Results: After frying biscuit donut holes in fixed intervals, we are able to determine how cooking time effects fat absorption.  We suspected the donut holes cooked the shortest would weigh the heaviest and the ones cooked the longest to weigh the least. We began this experiement by cutting two biscuits into eight separate pieces. From there, we began to heat two cups of oil until it was at 375 degrees Farenheit. Once the temperature was achieved we placed a small piece of bread inside the hot oil to test and see if it was ready. The bread browned very quickly as our temperature rose to above 400 degress Farenheit. We proceeded by turning the burner off and allowing the oil to return to 350 degrees farenheit before reheating it, and this time, ensuring we heated it to 375 degrees farenheit exactly. Once our desired temperature was reached, we again put in a small piece of bread to test it. This time, after about two minutes, the bread was browned and we could begin our tests.

Taking two of the biscuit donut holes that weighed nine grams before cooking, we placed them in the frying pan for two mintues, one minute per side.  As these finished, we reweighed them at a weight of ten grams. The donut holes cooked for two minutes gained one gram of weight. Second, we placed two more donut holes, weighing nine grams as well, into the fryer for four minutes. After they were cooking in the allotted time, they were removed and weighed in at nine grams. The donut holes cooked for four mintues stayed at the same weight. Third, we placed two more donut holes in the fryer for six mintues weighing ten grams, and after these finished cooking, they weighed eleven grams. The donut holes cooked for six minutes gained one gram. Lastly, with the remaining two donut holes weighing in at eleven grams, they were placed in the fryer for ten mintues. Upon removing them, they weighed ten grams, loosing one gram.

Conclusion: Fats do not boil but rather decompose and form blue smoke once a high enough temperature is reached, resulting in their “smoke point.” When deep-frying foods, fat absorption is increased the longer the food takes too cook. By applying that method to our deep-frying of biscuit donut holes, we were able to determine that is an item lost weight, it did so because it lost water weight, which evaportated upon cooking. On the opposite spectrum, if the item gained weight, it was because more fat was absorbed into the item because it was cooked for too long. Incorporating the previous statements, we were surprised that the biscuit donut holes which were cooked for two minutes, the shortest cooking time, actually gained one gram of weight, rather than loose water weight like we expected. However, the biscuit donut holes cooked the longest, at ten minutes, also surprised us by loosing one gram of weight after cooking. By our observations, we can conclude that deep-frying certain items will produce different results, but it seems by our deductions that deep-frying for four minutes will yield the best results with minimal fat absorption.

Thanks for reading,

Alex Kikel