Muffins- A Study on Self Rising Flour

Kristyn A. Lloyd | Brother Rick’s- FS120-01 | Brigham Young University- Idaho

Abstract Objective Results Sensory Results

Muffin Preference- Liked the BEST
Self-rising flour was expected to rise more and have 6.00 2.00
1.80
a better texture than the other common types of flour. 5.00 1.60
17%

Compression Test
This was tested with an experiment with muffins that 4.00
1.40

Height (cm)
each used a different type of flour; one with Bread 1.20
All- Purpose flour
3.00 1.00
flour, one with All-purpose flour, and the last with Self- 0.80 Bread flour 50%
rising flour. 2.00
0.60 Self-rising Flour
0.40 33%
In the end the hypothesis was incorrect because 1.00
0.20
various testing proved a significant dislike towards 0.00 0.00
Sample #1 Sample #2 Sample #3 AVG Sample #1 Sample #2 Sample #3 AVG
self rising flour in flavor and texture. It also did not
Bread Flour Self- Rising Flour All- purpose Flour Bread Flour Self- Rising Flour All- purpose Flour
rise as much as the other muffins did.
Muffin Preference- Liked the LEAST

Research Question and Hypothesis Picture of Muffins 16%

• Question: How will self-rising flour affect the taste and texture of muffins?
Are there any other factors that change with use of each type of flour, like
height or color?
• Hypothesis: It was assumed that the “self-rising flour” would rise to be the
tallest of the three muffins. Because it is expected to be the taller muffin, it
would also be expected to have the softest fluffiest texture, making this the
preferred muffin. This is the collective hypothesis as the name suggests, it
should rise more than the others.
• To test this question and learn more about Self-rising this experiment was
created. Three sets of muffins were made, each with a separate type of
flower: Self-rising flour, Bread flour, and All-purpose flour. Detraining which
of the flours has a preferred texture and the highest rise will determine how
each flour might be used in future recipes.
Materials and Methods
Recipe: Chocolate Chip Muffins, Directions: Preheat oven 375 °F. Combine all dry
ingredients and sift. Combine all liquid ingredients including the oil. Stir together sifted
dry ingredients, liquid ingredients, and inclusions just until combined (20 strokes). Fill
lined muffin pans 2/3rds full with batter using a # 20 scoop. Bake 15 minutes.
Each batch of muffins was made with the same recipe and amount of ingredients; but
the type of flour was switched for each. One batch was made with All-purpose flour,
the second with bread flour, and the last was with self-rising flour. However because
self-rising flour has salt and baking powder in the mixture, those two ingredients were
eliminated from that single recipe. All muffins were baked for the exact same amount
of time.
Testing of the muffins was done in three ways; there were two objective tests and one
sensory test. The first objective test was a simple height test to see how much each
muffin rose in the baking process. They were measured then an average height was
calculated for each one.
The second objective test was a compression test. The muffins being tested were all
cut to an equal height (cut off the tops) and the compression was set to 15mm to test
the density of each muffin. These were calculated on the computer and then averaged
out. “During [this] test samples are compressed using a texture analyzer to provide
insight into how samples behave when chewed [however] It is not sufficient to deliver
a food with a target hardness and springiness value if consumers do not like it and it
does not meet their expectations for that food type.” (Texture Profile Analysis, W.C.1)
The final test was the sensory test which included simple questions for the panelists.
These questions asked the volunteers to use the 9-point hedonic scale to rate the
color, flavor and texture of each muffin. In the end each person tasting the muffins
was to choose their favorite overall muffin.
All-Purpose
Bread Flour
Flour
Discussion
• The results of the height test showed a significant difference in ability to
rise among the muffins. Contrary to the hypothesis the Self-rising flour
was the shortest of the three, and Bread flour was actually the tallest. The
compression test also proved to be opposing the hypothesis because the
self-rising flour was the thickest texture of the three and the all-purpose
was the one with the light and fluffy texture.
• Sensory tests showed that the color of the bread flour muffins were
preferred, the flavor of the all-purpose muffins were preferred, and
interestingly enough the baking flour and all-purpose flour both tied in
preference for texture. This shows that the tasters were in fact able to
recognize that there was an unfamiliar ingredient (the self-rising flour) in
the third muffin.
• A more in-depth study could look at the specific amount of salt and baking
powder in the self- rising flour and equalize that in the other muffins so
that they would all have the same ability to rise. It can be assumed that
the ratio of those other ingredients in the self rising flour is lower than
what they are in what was added to the other two recipes. This is why
they did not rise as expected.
All- Purpose flour
17%
Bread flour
67% Self-rising Flour
Self-Rising
Flour
Conclusion
• In all three tests done on the muffins the results between the bread
flour and the all-purpose flour were really too close for such a small
sample size. However, the Self- Rising flour results were different
enough that for this experiment we can conclude that is no way is it
preferred to the others. The color, taste, texture is all preferred in the
muffins containing bread flour or all-purpose flour.
• These results are opposing the predictions in the hypothesis. This
shows that the words on packaging “self-rising flour” can be misleading
to consumers because they might assume that it rises more than other
flours would. But from this experiment it is concluded that is not the
case.
• In the end the muffin with Self-rising flour was actually liked the least of
all other muffins tested. The results show a 67% dislike, and that is
significant enough to suggest to all users to just choose between bread
flour and all-purpose flour when baking. It must make a difference to
add the salt and baking powder separately.
Works Cited
1. Texture Profile Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved April 01, 2017, from
http://texturetechnologies.com/resources/texture-profile-analysis