They challenged groups of three or four students to change the recipe through the various causes and effects of each of the ingredients to create three styles of pancakes; Jawbusters (dense and chewy), clouds (light and fluffy) and superspreaders (flat and delicate). The students tampered with the basic recipe, as demonstrated by Mr. Forster. They tried many combinations; adding water, reducing milk or buttermilk, beating their batter longer, reducing flour, upping butter, using fewer egg yolks or whites, all to see if they could replicate each pancake style. 

 

As the period progressed, the chem lab grew fragrant with the aroma of butter-fried batter. Is a chem lab suitable for cooking? No worries, aside from a fireproof mitten that Mr. Fenton used to grasp and pour a hot bowl of melted butter for each group, he assured us that no test tubes or other toxic stuff came in contact with the pancakes, ingredients and utensils, and all cooking surfaces were well covered with brown paper.

 

View the video and photos to learn more.