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MIT researchers tried to unravel a doubt from their childhood with only pure science.
A group of engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) submitted the famous cookie Airing to scientific tests in order to answer a question from his childhood: Why does the cream always stick to only one side of the cookie when it separates?
“When I was little, I would try to twist the cookies to spread the cream evenly between the two parts so that there was a little on both halves, which in my opinion tastes so much better than having one cookie with a lot of cream and another with almost nothing. This was hard to do when he was trying to do it manually,” he said. Crystal Owens, lead author of the study published in the academic journal American Institute of Physics.
Seeking a logical answer for lovers of the Nabisco brand, a division of Mondelēz International and Kraft Foods, MIT researchers put several Oreos through standard rheology tests in the lab to prove that only the oldest cookies can the cream spreads more evenly between the two cookies.
“There is the fascinating problem of trying to get the cream to spread evenly between the two biscuits., which turns out to be really hard”, says Max Fan, a student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT.
Engineers also measured the torque to open an Oreo and found it to be similar to that used to turn a doorknob, meaning they measured and compared the force per area required for cream to flow or deform, concluding that the cream response to stress is defined as “soft texture”, rather than brittle, hard or rubbery.
All this to get to a point. Perhaps the manufacturing process of Oreo cookies is the culprit that you can not eat a piece in two equal parts.
“Videos of the manufacturing process show them placing the first cookie, then dispensing a ball of cream onto that cookie before placing the second cookie on top. Apparently that little delay can make the cream stick better to the first cookie,” says Crystal Owens.
Brand inspires new instrument: the Oreometer
Oreology: The study of cream-filled chocolate chip cookies is the test that explains the dip, twist, and pull apart in the ultimate Oreo cookie-eating experience.
Researchers at MIT devised an Oreometer, a device to open the cracker with the scientifically precise amount of torque (a measure of the force used to turn an object) in the hope that, with the perfect twist and force, they could manipulate the filling. creamy.
However, the results were precise: if the biscuit is separated evenly, it is probably not the result of delicate and precise work. It has more to do with the level of adhesion between the cream and the cookie.
“We learned, sadly, that even if you twist an Oreo perfectly, the cream will almost always end up mostly on one of the two cookies, with a delamination of the cream, and there’s no easy way to get it to spread across the cookies, for those of us who aren’t Oreo scientists, delamination is when something splits into layers.”
“We didn’t even begin to answer all the questions someone might have about Oreos or cookies, so we made our Oreometer, so anyone with access to a 3D printer can do other measurements,” Owens explained.
Thus, in conclusion, consumers will have to resign themselves to always eating more cream with their cookie if they decide to separate them or get used to eating them whole, with both sides attached to the filling (the way it is scientifically believed that an Oreo should be eaten).
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