Seeking Pizza-related Science Project Ideas

[parallei]

How about something materials oriented?  Like different baking stone properties.  Which stores the most heat, which gain and give it up the quickest?  How would you set up the experiments so every thing is apples to apples?  How do you measure these properties?   

[PizzaioloCow]

For my science fair at school in a couple months I think I'm going to do something along the lines of testing flours with various protein contents and comparing it to gluten structure in the baked pizza.  The science fair at my school is usually late January, but sometimes it's held before Christmas break.  I'll be sure to post pictures of my board/presentation when it gets to that time.

I would be interested in seeing something regarding different baking surfaces, but all I have to compare is a Pampered Chef baking stone and a WFO. 

I can't wait to see what your children end up doing, TXCraig1.

Thanks!
-Jake

[TXCraig1]

For my science fair at school in a couple months I think I'm going to do something along the lines of testing flours with various protein contents and comparing it to gluten structure in the baked pizza.  The science fair at my school is usually late January, but sometimes it's held before Christmas break.  I'll be sure to post pictures of my board/presentation when it gets to that time.

I would be interested in seeing something regarding different baking surfaces, but all I have to compare is a Pampered Chef baking stone and a WFO. 

I can't wait to see what your children end up doing, TXCraig1.

Thanks!
-Jake

What would be your hypothesis?

[juniorballoon]

I think a historical look at pizza would be interesting. Especially if you could find some dough recipes, with handling instructions and flour types that are not common today. Recreating some of the leavening procedures or even unleavend breads, toppings and cooking methods. Then make these different pizze and let people taste what it might have been like 2500 years ago.

jb

[pizzaneer]

I think a historical look at pizza would be interesting. Especially if you could find some dough recipes, with handling instructions and flour types that are not common today. Recreating some of the leavening procedures or even unleavend breads, toppings and cooking methods. Then make these different pizze and let people taste what it might have been like 2500 years ago.

jb

That's actually possible.. Nan bread would be a good place to start

[juniorballoon]

That's actually possible.. Nan bread would be a good place to start

I had never heard of Nan bread until just a few weeks ago. I was looking for a different kind of bread to use with some home made sausage. These were soft, easy to wrap around the sausage and very tasty.

jb

[Chicago Bob]

Naan pizza...then and now. Show the evolution of the types of ovens it is baked in....
Don't forget the free samples...

[TXCraig1]

Science projects are serious business in our district - no research reports or demonstrations are allowed. Question, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, conclusion.

[juniorballoon]

Science projects are serious business in our district - no research reports or demonstrations are allowed. Question, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, conclusion.

Question: What did pizza taste like 2500 years ago?
Hypothesis: Pretty good.
Experiment: I'll cook one in this Wood Fired Oven.
Analysis: Let's try the pizza.
Conclusion: Mmm, very tasty. Therefore the Babylonians were able to sustain their armies on long campaigns and conquer the Philistines.

Just kidding.

jb

[bfguilford]

What about the effect of temperature on dough volume expansion during the fermentation process, dividing into several dough balls for the same period of time and measuring the effect of 3-4 different temperature ranges using Peter's poppy seed trick?

The ultimate effect of temperature would be when the dough hits the WFO (bonus marks).

Barry

[norma427]

Craig,

Just throwing out another idea I recall of November’s at Reply 10 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5173.msg44215.html#msg44215

Norma

[Chicago Bob]

Craig,

Just throwing out another idea I recall of November’s at Reply 10 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5173.msg44215.html#msg44215

Norma

Doesn't look like that "scientific method" was very well received...

[TXCraig1]

What about the effect of temperature on dough volume expansion during the fermentation process, dividing into several dough balls for the same period of time and measuring the effect of 3-4 different temperature ranges using Peter's poppy seed trick?

The ultimate effect of temperature would be when the dough hits the WFO (bonus marks).

Barry

Been thinking of some things along these lines. I have a data logger, so we can do some interesting things. pH vs. time in a sourdough culture at different temps might be interesting.

[Bill/SFNM]

Similar to Barry's suggestion, here's an interesting one with very practical application to the membership:

Can you double the quantity of all of the ingredients in a pizza with no changes in the final product? Specifically, do pizza dough recipes scale linearly? Why not? 

[TXCraig1]

Similar to Barry's suggestion, here's an interesting one with very practical application to the membership:

Can you double the quantity of all of the ingredients in a pizza with no changes in the final product? Specifically, do pizza dough recipes scale linearly? Why not? 

1kg -> 2kg flour may be one thing and 1kg -> 25kg may be another. I'm not sure how we would test sufficiently large quantities?

[Cdragon]

How much energy is in the equal slices of several different styles of pizza? You could probably make an estimate of caloric energy based on amounts of ingredients in the slice. Compare that to the actual readings when you try to burn the dry pizza slice to raise the temp of a known amount of water.

[Pizza3.14]

What about taking a look at the social science of pizza. You could simply show pictures of different styles of pizza to people and have them rate them.  You could break this down by age, male, female, ect...

What type of pizza do people prefer...   Would a group of people show to be more susceptible to major trends in advertising? 

It is not connected to a hard science but it could be run through the scientific process.  Results could be analyzed for statistical significance.  Your pictures of pizza could be used to see how visual appeal can create an enticement.   

[TXCraig1]

What about taking a look at the social science of pizza. You could simply show pictures of different styles of pizza to people and have them rate them.  You could break this down by age, male, female, ect...

What type of pizza do people prefer...   Would a group of people show to be more susceptible to major trends in advertising? 

It is not connected to a hard science but it could be run through the scientific process.  Results could be analyzed for statistical significance.  Your pictures of pizza could be used to see how visual appeal can create an enticement.   

I think this would be a fascinating project, but the number of test subjects needed to have valid results is daunting.