Chemistry Food Project Planning Document - Hot Chocolate

Alan Duncan
Chemistry Food Project

Planning Document
Hot Chocolate
[The following is a collection of notes and methods used and cataloged throughout
the process of this project (mostly before testing). It has been modified and added to
over time and is, admittedly, rather unorganized and sprawling. Nevertheless, it
contains quite a bit of information that is not included in the recipe card as well as
several scrapped ideas and methods, which may give the reader an idea of what the
planning process was like for this project. Enjoy! ]
 There are three aspects of the drink that I would like to alter in order to attempt to
produce a better drink. These are the thickness, creaminess, and the effects of
added flavors, which will contain it’s own subcategories for individual testing.
The lattermost part is something that I am not entirely sure about, however, as it
may contain more unknowns than I can handle. If I were to test a single flavor it
would be easier, but simply limiting myself to, say, vanilla or caramel flavoring
seems to limit the creative potential for this. Thus, I plan to do this as something
of a challenge extension for myself, if testing for thickness and creaminess proves
to be too little for any reason. If even that proves to be too little or I find myself
with the desire to do yet more, I’d very much like to attempt altering the richness
of the drink. This is the final extension of my project due to the fact that no one
seems to know how to properly define it in a culinary context; many people state
that it depends on the oils, fats, sweetness, or perhaps all of the above. On top of
that, many people have different tolerances to richness and, as previously stated,
define it in entirely different ways (I stated this again to reiterate the importance
of this observation; no one can seem to define richness). All of this is why I have
made this an entirely optional goal, only to be done if all other parts of my project
have been completed. Lastly, I should note that I am planning to mix together
these tests later on once I have reached definitive results for what is the “best” hot
chocolate. In other words, if I find the best thickness as well as the optimal level
of creaminess for the drink, I will combine the two recipes in order to create a
superior drink. This may, however, have unexpected results, but I will address this
at the time. This also applies to the added flavors, so if I find the best flavoring
(which may not actually happen, as this phase will be considerably more
complicated, as stated previously) I will add it to the best mix of creaminess and
thickness, to hopefully create an even better drink.
 Hot chocolate mix: Rocky Mountain Chocolate Cocoa

 Alternate choice: Swiss Miss Chocolate
 Amount in each cup: 4 Tbs.
 Possible methods for altering thickness: (Only ONE method will be chosen)
 Increase the concentration of hot chocolate mix per unit of water (might just result
in powdery water with a strong flavor, though).
 What if… I added actual chocolate? Melted it into the drink? This would be easy
enough to measure, but I worry that it may not turn out as planned. I’ll only find
out if I try it, of course. Nonetheless, I’ll keep this here in case I want to try it.
 Some kind of syrup? Might work similarly to the chocolate, though. Might not do
this one, but it’s worth throwing out there.
 Honey? Might alter the flavor too much, but could be worth trying. Might even
change the flavor for the better. (Maybe?)
 Flour? Might dull the flavor, but there would surely be a happy medium in there
somewhere.
 Cornstarch? Similar to flour, but I’d need to purchase it for myself, I think. I
might have some, though.
 Final Decision: Bluebird white wheat flour
 Just adding the flour to the hot chocolate will not thicken it; heat is a requited
catalyst. From what I have found, the gelatinization temperature for wheat flour
(C6H10O5 – diethyl pyrocarbonate) is 53-66ºC, meaning that the hot chocolate
that I make will need to be served pretty toasty. I would be unable to measure the
temperature the change of temperature by microwaving it, and I don’t think that
our Keurig serves at that temperature (I will need to test this to be sure, however,
as the only remaining method is inefficient), therefore the best means by which to
heat the water will be by heating it up in a pot on the stove.
 Methods:
 I will add varying amounts of flour in order to test how the thickness changes
based on the amount of flour added and what thickness is most desirable for this
drink.
 HCt 2: 1 tsp
 HCt 3: 1 ½ tsp
 HCt 4: 2 tsp
 [More tests will be added if necessary. If this range of flour is for any reason not
enough, consider these amounts doubled. If this range is too much, all values will
be halved.]
 [CHANGED TO CORNSTARCH]
 Cornstarch chemical formula: C27H48O20; 692.661g/mol
 Possible methods for altering creaminess: (Only ONE method will be chosen)
 Milk, of course, but I should first do some research and determine what kind of
milk will be optimal based on how the lipids interact with the sugars and cocoa.
Depending on my findings, I may choose whole, half & half, non-homogenized,
and/or a variety of other types of milk.
 While milk seems to be the way to go, there are always other options. I may want
to investigate the value of trying powdered milk, coffee creamer, or another non-
milk creamer. I would also have to consider that some creamers have sugars of
their own and different levels & types of fats than milk. (I’ll probably just do
milk, but this option will remain on the table (pun somewhat intended).)
 Final Decision: Regular, homogenized milk
 Milk is apparently exceedingly complicated when it comes to chemistry, most
notably due to the fact that it cannot be assigned a single chemical formula.
However, we can get a basic idea of what is inside of milk. Everything from the
fats to the minerals are all mixed in to the milk in various ways. From what I
understand, it is as if you have a bucket of water, then put a bunch of powdered
protein, minerals, et cetera into the water and mixed it in. That is essentially what
milk is. However, since fat present as an oil, it tends to rest on the top and needs
to be manually mixed in; this is here homogenization comes in. Most organic &
natural milk that you’ll find is non-homogenized, meaning that the fats and stuff
are separated and it needs to be shaken before each use. The process of
homogenization removes this need by basically pulverizing the milk in order to
break the fat globules in the milk down into much, much smaller ones that stay
mixed with the water; most milk that you will find at the store is homogenized.
Unfortunately, the side affect of having fat globules be so small is that they may
slip last your intestinal lining and get into your blood stream & all that. (I should
do more research to confirm this, however, but I got it from a reliable source
nonetheless.) [CORRECTION: The source (James Ranch) may be biased against
homogenization as a result of their support of doing things in an all-natural
manner. Thus, this may be false information or, more likely, information that is
misinterpreted and not the whole truth—though still likely true on some level.
More research should be done, but it is currently irrelevant to this particular
investigation.]
 87.5% Water
 3.9% Fat (Emulsion type oil/water)
 3.4% Proteins (Colloidal solution/suspension)
 4.8% Lactose (True solution)
 0.8% Minerals (True solution)
 Creaminess itself is quite a bit like richness in that, at this time, no one can truly
define it chemically. However, there do seem to be a couple of theories about how
we define it with our taste buds. Two main theories have emerged to explain creaminess,
one that it is a chemical process based on molecule detection by taste buds, the other that it is a
physical process based on sensing by mechanoreceptors and nerve endings in the
mouth. Although the two theories are contradictory, both have experimental evidence to support
them. (http://blogs.rsc.org/fo/2012/08/31/understanding-the-perception-of-
creaminess/?doing_wp_cron=1524064146.4483249187469482421875) The
article also mentions that we have many substitutes for fats in foods, but not for
true creaminess (a by-product of fat, often associated with dairy (which makes
sense, as dairy is rich in fat)).
 Methods:
 HCc 1: 1/3 Cup
 HCc 2: ½ Cup
 HCc 4: 2/3 Cup
 [The above is susceptible to change.]

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Alan Duncan

Chemistry Food Project

 Hot chocolate mix: Rocky Mountain Chocolate Cocoa

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