Soggy Biscuit

[amp88]

Firstly, get your minds of the gutter, I'm talking about biscuit dunking.

I wanted to make a nice cup of tea and dunk some hob nobs, but alas, all that was left in the cupboard was a packet of Rich Teas. Everyone knows Rich Teas aren't the best choice for dunking, but given it was all that was left I decided to take a shot. So, I make my cup of tea and go to the fridge to get the milk, but another hurdle was thrown in my path by fate; there wasn't much milk left. Not wanting to deprive my parents of their tea and given that I wasn't intending to drink the cup of tea anyway I decided not to add any milk and run the risk of burning my mouth. I sat down ready to dip my Rich Teas with low expectations, I didn't think they'd last long before crumbling. You can imagine my surprise when I dunked the first biscuit for 2 seconds and removed it from my cup fully intact and not in the least bit sagging. I was amazed to tell the truth. I scoffed the first and put it down to luck. The second Rich Tea, however, repeated the amazing feat and then I knew I was onto something. For whatever reason it seems the addition of milk to a cup of tea makes the Rich Tea highly susceptible to sogginess and catastrophic structural failure. To test this I tried again this morning with a cup of tea with and without milk. My results were astonishing. The biscuit could survive a full 3 second submersion in the milk-free cup without any ill effects whereas after a 3 second sumbersion in the cup containing milk it either broke in half on extraction from the cup or was bent out of shape.

So, I ask you...what is it in the milk or about the milk that causes this phenomena?

 

[sutton.a]

lol i have no idaer. But thumbs up for noticing lol

 

[ferrari_chris]

'Tis a fascinating life you lead there amp88!

Sorry I can't help on the milk vs. no milk scanario - but well done for taking time to consider the smaller things in life.

Bugger this terrorism, war and rising oil prices! Why do my Rich Teas dunk differently with an abscence of milk?!

👍

 

[Touring Mars]

I reckon it's to do with the fat content of the milk.... have you tried doing this with different types of milk, skimmed, semi and full fat?

 

[Colinod]

Milk is acidic, could break down the fat in the biscuit perhaps?

 

[Danny]

I reckon it's to do with the fat content of the milk.... have you tried doing this with different types of milk, skimmed, semi and full fat?

Social-lifeicide!

 

[Dave A]

well the water breaks down the sugar that holds the buscuits together in the first place, so the water is what breaks the biscuit down, other than that I would assume it's because milk is thicker than water, so when the biscuit soaks the milk up, the milk causes the biscuit to expand more than water on it's own does while it's breaking down at the same time.

That's my quick assumption anyway.

 

[amp88]

I reckon it's to do with the fat content of the milk.... have you tried doing this with different types of milk, skimmed, semi and full fat?

My dad suggested the fat in the milk was to blame. We don't have any more Rich Tea at the moment though, so further experiments are on hold. I'll update some point in the future when I gather more experimental data.

 

[TheCracker]

I forsee a thread with plenty of tables, pictures and explinations leading to major rep points and possibly a Nobel Peace Prize for science.

 

[IMTDS]

Is it worth trying this experiment with different types of biscuits, to see if milkyness plays a part in the breakdown process of all biscuits?

Can any biscuit better the king of dipping biscuits, the hob nob, given the correct circumstances?

Will any biscuit fall short of the rich tea and become the new one dip?


I will endevour to find some answers, but it may be next weekend before I try as I've only just done the weekly shop and don't have any biscuits at the moment.

 

[daan]

I think you'll find the ginger nut is the king of dunking biscuits.

 

[amp88]

I think you'll find the ginger nut is the king of dunking biscuits.

Whoa there. If you can't keep a civil discussion you know where the door is...

@IMTDS: Good questions, I look forward to seeing the results of your research.

 

[IMTDS]

I think you'll find the ginger nut is the king of dunking biscuits.

Wrong!

I take my information from Peter Kay, Live at the Bolton Albert Halls.

May I suggest you watch this, in particular, the bit about dunking biscuits. Here is where you will also find the deffinition of a "one dip".

 

[Dave A]

Quick, grab a spoon, me biscuits fallen in me tea........ No forget it, it's gone now. - One dip.

 

[Dark Elite]

Very nice, Amp, very cute

Bugger this terrorism, war and rising oil prices! Why do my Rich Teas dunk differently with an abscence of milk?!

I think you'll find the ginger nut is the king of dunking biscuits.

You know, if it weren't for the formatting restrictions, I'd put that in my sig! *rofl*

DE

 

[G.T]

Digestives + tea = THE BEST!

Say no more.

 

[daan]

I don't care that most of the ginger snap ends up at the bottom of my mug. That, to me, is part of the fun. Its a competition between me and the ginger snap, and it loses all the time!

 

[Dave A]

Hob nobs are the best, oh yes. You have to hold them in for longer "dunk me again" but they're great biscuits to have with a hot mug of tea.

 

[IMTDS]

Ok, I know I said that the Hob Nob is the dunking king, and I'm pretty sure that it is the best for stick togetherness in a dunking situation, but my personal favourite is the chocolate hob nob (not quite supreme ruler of the dunking world, but close).

Mmmm... the way the chocolate melts in the hot drink and you get the moist biscuit too!


And finally, I know I sort of started the "What's your favourite biscuits?" discussion, so I feel it is my duty to point it back in the direction of a scientific biscuit discussion.

Maybe a favourite biccie thread would be a good idea?

 

[ÄŁPĨЙΣ]

rich teas are the best for dunking!! they go incredibly soft & taste great!!

hob nobs = not good

 

[Touring Mars]

Is it worth trying this experiment with different types of biscuits....?

Yes. Yes it is....

I forsee a thread with plenty of tables, pictures and explinations leading to major rep points and possibly a Nobel Peace Prize for science.

Some initial findings:-



Actually, if anyone was going to know much about biscuits, I would have thought it would have been TheCracker...?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Nice ceiling effect there TM!

I personally don't like dunking. I do know that Peter Kay was very funny on the subject though.

 

[TheCracker]

Some initial findings:-

I would guess that the milk:tea percentage axis of the chart needs to cover 0% - 20% rather than 0-100% milkyness. - No one has more than 20% milk content in their tea!
(unless this is a chart for those soft, southern nancies cuppas)

Actually, if anyone was going to know much about biscuits, I would have thought it would have been TheCracker...?

True, my knowledge is extensive, but covers only the one biscuit. (and that's not a soggy biscuit game reference before you start )

 

[Dave A]

I don't think I go much over 5% milk in my tea.

 

[TheCracker]

I don't think I go much over 5% milk in my tea.

Exactly, anything over 20% is just flavoured hot milk. A rusk is all you'd want to dunk in that.

 

[Touring Mars]

I would guess that the milk:tea percentage axis of the chart needs to cover 0% - 20% rather than 0-100% milkyness. - No one has more than 20% milk content in their tea!
(unless this is a chart for those soft, southern nancies cuppas)

That's why is says % relative to tea-iness... it's a weird concept, but it stems from the inate human ability to gauge when you've just put in that little bit too much milk - it's a bit like putting hot water into a Pot Noodle... you just know when you've gone too far...

 

[Dave A]

But surely 100% milkiness relative to tea-iness is still 100% milkiness and 0% tea-iness.

 

[markj_87]

Maybe it's something to do with the protein casein, found in milk? I remember once being told that adding tea/coffee to milk rather than adding milk to tea/coffee gives a better taste because the casein is broken down easier, or breaks something else down easier.

Just a thought.

 

[Touring Mars]

This is getting too technical for this time of night

Although I am going to test this out for myself because we do have loads of different milks here at work in the tearoom, and you never know, if the results are convincing enough, I might even get a publication out of it 👍 If you google dunking biscuits and tea, you will see that some people actually do research this stuff for real... now that sounds like my idea of research Indeed, even I have done some work on milk proteins - alas shedding little light on their interaction with the matrix of a Rich Tea biscuit...

 

[DuckRacer]

Ok, I'll be the first non-European to post in here.


...Why would you dip biscuits in milk?

Are you talking about this biscuit:

Or this biscuit?: