Do you split your Oreo? Researchers at MIT explain how to make the filling stick to one side



Oreology is the study of sandwich cookies with cream inside.

Not familiar with it? You've undoubtedly studied it and experimented with dipping, twisting, and slicing Oreos to determine the perfect way to consume them.

Researchers have posed the age-old quandary: "How can you make sure you get the Oreo precisely the way you want it every time?" Whether you want the filling intact on one side of the biscuit or spread equally when you open it.

When I was younger, I experimented with twisting the wafers to distribute the cream equally so that there is some on both parts. In my view, this method tastes much better than having one wafer with a lot of crème and one with nearly none. This was challenging when I tried to do it by hand, according to Crystal Owens, a mechanical engineering researcher at MIT and the study's primary author. The research was published on Tuesday in the journal American Institute of Physics.

She then increased the intensity. Researchers created the Oreometer, a tool that uses a scientifically accurate amount of torque to break the biscuit (a measure of force used to rotate an object).

The idea was to control the cookie's contents so that it distributed evenly across the two wafer biscuits with the right twist. Sadly, they were unable.

We regrettably discovered that there is no easy method to get the cream to split across wafers when you precisely twist an Oreo; instead, it nearly always ends up predominantly on one of the two wafers. Delamination is the process by which something separates into layers for those of us who aren't Oreo scientists.

According to the study, even if you are able to divide the cookie evenly, it was probably not the product of your careful, exact labor. That has more to do with how well the crème and cookie stick together, which is affected by anything before it reaches your hands.

What that could be is a matter for further investigation.

We created the Oreometer so that anybody with access to a 3D printer may perform more measurements since, according to Owens, "we didn't even begin to address all of the questions someone might ask about Oreos or cookies."

Science that is relevant to a foolish question

The work was being reviewed one evening by Randy Ewoldt, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, when his son, who was 11 at the time, peered over his shoulder.

He is aware that his father investigates the movement of matter between liquids and solids in the field of rheology, but, like most children, he is not particularly interested in his father's job. That is, until he noticed the word Oreo on the page.

When discussing the physics of complex materials, of which there are many, Ewoldt noted, "The Oreo cookie crème is one that is readily accessible to many people." "This may be an entrance point to draw people into a much more sophisticated universe."

Every time Owen eats an Oreo, she thinks of the research, and now she is hoping that it will pique the interest of those outside the field.

When cracking open an Oreo or dipping a cookie in milk, Owens hoped that consumers would utilize this knowledge to make better cookie choices. "I hope people will be inspired to use scientific methods to solve other culinary problems." Even at MIT, the finest scientific study is inspired by a person's desire to learn more about the world around them or when they see something strange or unusual and take the time to ponder, "I wonder why something happens like way?

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