cooking the perfect steak using real science · 9. the steak would be perfectly cooked if the whole...

COOKING THE

PERFECT STEAK

USING

REAL SCIENCE

Year 10 Chemistry - LOGBOOK

Monday 3rd of April 2017

Our Teacher handed out the official handout marking rubric for the science project. He also gave us holiday homework to do. We must complete our research plan for the first week back of term 2.

TIME: 12:45 PM 2TMB5 accepted to be my mentor for this science project.

Tuesday 4th of April 2017

Our teacher started talking about the rules and what we must do to have the correct log book. Then we had the chance for 20-25 minutes of going through past projects and their log books we did this so we can understand the layout and the way the science projects work. Then I went up to the teacher and we discussed that for this project I would need a thermal imaging camera. Then we discussed the way that my project would be experimented, and what the experiments would be.

Tuesday 11TH OF APRIL 2017

Started to work on the research plan. Completed it and just needs to be checked. Figured out the table and went through the procedures on how to make this experiment work.

Steaks Rare Medium Well-Done

Steak A-Don’t touch the steak

Steak B- Turn every 8 minutes

Steak C- Turn every 4 minutes

Steak D- Turn every 2 minutes

Steak E- Turn every minute

Steak F- Turn every 30 seconds

Steak G-Turn every 20 seconds

Steak H- Turn every 10 seconds

Steak I- Turn every 5 seconds

Monday 24th of April 2017

Writing a research plan- for your science project.

Marking deadlines- Monday Midnight- week 2 – no penalty

-Every single week lose 2 marks so by Friday week 9- loses 15 marks. The research plan is out of 20.

In class for the two periods S5M33 went through how to produce a research plan that is at a high standard is explaining what the topic is on.

Talked to my mentor about how the experiment is going to work out and to advice from him. Then went through the research plan found some mistakes and redid the research plan to make it perfect.

Friday 28th of April 2017

My mentor and I sat down and we talked about the question of my science project then the idea of the heat came up. So now we are still looking at if we should flip it or not but then looking at getting the meat to a certain temperature.

Friday 5th of May 2017

1. RATIONALE: My research is about; How to cook the perfect steak? I am doing this project because on television there are always adds on what methods people use on how to cook the perfect pork, but I rarely see meat. My family owns a food business, a kebab shop so I am familiar with how to cook meat when its grilled and how to cook it after it is sliced but it got my interest when the topic of how to cook the best steak came up. When I looked online to do background research on this topic, there are all different sources and all those different sources say different stuff about what method is used to cook the perfect steak. If I do this research and find out how the perfect steak is cooked, then everyone would know how to cook the perfect steak and there would be no worry. I want to find out how to cook the perfect steak when it is rare, medium and well done.

2. QUESTIONS:

A) Is it better turning the steak or leaving it untouched when cooking? B) How would you get the exact heat of the steak? C) Would this project turn out in a positive or negative way? D) Would this project be completed by the due date? E) Is this project have a good topic? F) Would this project have a lot of data and graphs? G) Would this project help society? H) Would this project cause less confusion? I) Is it having the right temperature when it is rare, medium or well done?

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis is that if you turn the steak every 4 minutes you would have the

perfect steak, when it is well done, turning it every 2 minutes when it is

medium and every 1 minute when it is rare.

ENGINEERING GOALS

My main goal is to figure out how many times you would need to turn a steak

to get it at it’s perfect temperature, maybe it wouldn’t even need to be turned.

To do this project I would be using a thermal imaging camera, this camera

allows to see the heat of the meat.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

My expected outcome is by the end of this project; people would know how to

cook the perfect steak, when they want to cook it rare, medium and well done

and that there would be no trouble finding the answer on the internet or in

books because I have done a whole project on it and researched it. I hope

that it would be a topic that is enjoyable and that is needed in the society

today.

3. PROCEDURES AND DATA ANALYSIS

1. Get 10 pieces of steak all the same size 2. Cut the pieces of steak into 2 equal pieces – so I can do the experiment

more than once 3. Get the thermal imaging camera and a normal camera- thermal imaging to

get the heat and normal camera to take pictures of the experiment taking place

4. Do the experiment in the following order and complete the table:

Steaks Rare Medium Well-Done

Steak A-Don’t touch the steak

Steak B- Turn every 8 minutes

Steak C- Turn every 4 minutes

Steak D- Turn every 2 minutes

Steak E- Turn every minute

Steak F- Turn every 30 seconds

Steak G-Turn every 20 seconds

Steak H- Turn every 10 seconds

Steak I- Turn every 5 seconds

5. After cooking a slice of steak taking a picture of it with the thermal imaging camera to see if it is evenly cooked

6. Then trying it again with the other slice 7. After doing all the slices, which is 27 slices and all the pictures are taken

with the thermal imaging camera, then getting to the solution of this topic 8. Filling out the final report and proving the hypothesis 9. The steak would be perfectly cooked if the whole steak has the same

temperature, so while cooking the steak we must time and make sure we are turning it the slice of steak at the correct time so the investigation turns out correct.

RISK AND SAFETY

The Barbeque Might get burned, watch out. Going to do the project at home and at school. If at home get a parent next to me and if at school, then my mentor next to me.

Cutting the meat The knife might cut a finger or skin so make sure there is a first aid kit around, if anything goes wrong.

Eating the meat It would be good not to eat the meat, because it is getting experimented on and lots of hands might have touched it, and maybe it is even not properly cooked.

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rare Medium Well Done

BBCGoodFood- 3.5cm Thick Fillet Steak- 2 ¼ minutes on each side 2cm Thick Sirloin Steak- 1 ½ minutes on each side www.bbcgoodfood.com

Jamie Oliver- Turn every minute www.jamieoliver.com

BBCGoodFood-4-5 minutes on each side depending on thickness www.bbcgoodfood.com

Taste.Com- 2cm Thick piece of steak 2-3 minutes on each side www.taste.com.au

BBBGoodFood- 3.5cm Thick Fillet Steak- 4 ½ minutes on each side 2cm Thick Sirloin Steak- 2 ¼ minutes on each side www.bbcgoodfood.com

Instructables Turn the steak continuously for one minute on each side until it is fully brown www.instructables.com

beefandlamb- cook few minutes on each side (depending on thickness) turn once only www.beefandlamb.com.au

Taste.Com- 2cm Thick piece of steak- 4 minutes on each side www.taste.com.au

Taste.Com- 2cm Thick piece of steak 5-6 minutes on each side www.taste.com.au

These are the sources that I would be working on. Some of these sources say the

same thing and some differ, my project will only have one answer.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/

http://www.jamieoliver.com/


http://www.taste.com.au/


http://www.instructables.com/

http://www.beefandlamb.com.au/



Thursday 1st of June 2017

Today, S5M3G, told me that it would be better to change the duration of the steaks,

so instead of following the table in my research plan, I am now going to follow this

research plan:

Steak Number Weight Trial Duration on

hotplate

5 167.08g 1 1 Minute

6 176.17g 2 1 Minute

33 183.65g 3 1 Minute

19 170.08g 1 2 Minutes

20 174.49g 2 2 Minutes

22 183.56g 3 2 Minute

16 171.88g 1 4 Minute

8 175.03g 2 4 Minute

9 179.49g 3 4 Minute

10 173.83g 1 8 Minutes

11 173.39g 2 8 Minutes

17 178.58g 3 8 Minutes

1 183.83g 1 15 Seconds

2 178.52g 2 15 Seconds

15 194.19g 3 15 Seconds

3 166.34g 1 30 Seconds

21 178.24g 2 30 Seconds

24 183.76g 3 30 Seconds

Tuesday 6th of June 2017

Today my mother, S5M33, and myself went down to the meat shop to purchase the meat that I am going to use for my project. Then we came back to school and weighed each meat.

Meat Slice 1 183.83 grams





































Sunday 23rd of July 2017

Tonight, I took out 18 steaks out of the freezer and into the fridge so it would not be

frozen for the research. The steaks that I took out were:

Steak Number Weight Trial Duration on

hotplate

5 167.08g 1 1 Minute

6 176.17g 2 1 Minute

33 183.65g 3 1 Minute

19 170.08g 1 2 Minutes

20 174.49g 2 2 Minutes

22 183.56g 3 2 Minute

16 171.88g 1 4 Minute

8 175.03g 2 4 Minute

9 179.49g 3 4 Minute

10 173.83g 1 8 Minutes

11 173.39g 2 8 Minutes

17 178.58g 3 8 Minutes

1 183.83g 1 15 Seconds

2 178.52g 2 15 Seconds

15 194.19g 3 15 Seconds

3 166.34g 1 30 Seconds

21 178.24g 2 30 Seconds

24 183.76g 3 30 Seconds

Monday 24th July 2017 Experiment Day – Stage 1

Today I started doing stage one of my research at my science teacher’s house. The

whole idea of stage one is cooking the steak on BBQ for the duration that it was set.

The steaks are organized, so all the trail ones would have steaks that have a similar

weight, then all the trial two’s would have steaks that have a similar weight. This is

so, the results are not completely different. Every steak was cook for 8 minutes. So,

the process is:

1. Put a probe (for measuring the temperature) in the centre of the steak

2. Then put the steak onto the hotplate

3. Then leave the steak on the hotplate for the amount that it is set: so, if its 1

minute; the steak would be flipped every minute. A photo would be taken with

the thermal imaging camera before and after the steak is flipped. By the time

it reaches the 8-minute mark there would be 16 photos from trail 1 steak

number 5.

4. After the steak reaches the 8-minute mark then I would take a photo of the

steak, when it is cut in half, this is so the inside of the steak can be seen.

5. Then the steak would be put away, for a new steak to be cooked.

I had the privilege of borrowing two thermal imaging cameras: the first one from

Thermal Imaging Australia and the second one was borrowed from Flir Systems

Australia.

After cooking for 4 hours, I felt unwell and couldn’t continue the stage one

experiments; the thermal imaging camera’s that were borrowed had to be returned

the next morning, so the experiment had to be completed that night. Therefore, my

science teacher finished off the last bit of cooking.

Steak # Mass (g) Time before flipping

(s) Triplicate Av. Mass

(g)

18 153.08 to be used for testing

1 183.83 15

2 178.52 15

7 164.09 15 175.48

3 166.34 30

21 178.24 30

24 183.76 30 176.11

5 167.08 60

6 176.17 60

33 183.65 60 175.63

19 170.08 120

20 174.49 120

22 183.56 120 176.04

16 171.88 240

8 175.03 240

9 179.49 240 175.47

10 173.83 480

11 173.39 480

17 178.58 480 175.27

Wednesday 26th July 2017

Today I am starting to analyse all the data from Monday night’s experiment. I will

analyse the steaks in chronological order and I will include all the photos for the first

steak only, showing how all the results for Table 1 – 8 min Trial 1 Steak are sourced.

Steak 10 (173.83 g)

Time: 0 minutes

Side A

Surface temp. 19.5°C

Time: 1 minutes

Side A


Time: 2 minutes

Side A


Time: 3 minutes

Side A


Time: 4 minutes

Side A


Time: 5 minutes

Side A


Time: 6 minutes

Side A


Time: 7 minutes

Side A


Time: 8 minutes

Side A


Time: 9 minutes

Side A in aluminium tray


As this steak was not flipped at all

during the 8 minutes, I have no

thermal readings for Side B as that

side was always cooking away on

the hotplate.

This thermal photo is a lateral shot

of Steak 10 at the end of the

cooking period and 2 minutes

resting in the aluminium tray

This is a photo taken from a Nikon camera and it shows a lateral view of Steak 10

when it was cut down the middle. It is clearly evident that the cooked side on the

bottom is very different from the raw red colour of the uncooked side that never

touched the hotplate. In essence the bottom of the steak is Well Done and the top of

the steak is Medium Rare, not the ideal mix for a perfect steak.

Thursday 27th July 2017

The Data Harvest graph for the internal temperature for 8 min Trial 1 Steak 10 is

shown below:

From this graph the internal temperatures at each minute interval are calculated and

recorded on the excel spreadsheet with the thermal temperatures calculated by the

thermal camera and a scatter plot is then formed.

Steak 10

8 min flips Trial 1

Time Side A Side B Internal

0 19.5 8.6

1 19.8 13.5

2 21.3 23.4

3 22.5 32.8

4 27.6 41

5 29.3 47.4

6 31.6 53.6

7 34.8 58.5

8 39.9 62.5

9 26 63

10 59.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Steak 10: 8 minute flips Trial 1

Side A Side B Internal

Discussion for Steak 10 - 8 min (meaning no flips) Trial 1

The most noticeable finding is that the cooking was very uneven throughout the

steak. With no flipping all the heat was on the one side. The core temperature rose

to over 60°C, while the side facing up did not even reach 40°C, so the heat did not

spread through the whole steak. Therefore, the top side remained uncooked

(Medium Rare) while the side on the hot plate was overcooked (Well Done).

Steak 16 (171.88 g) – 4 min (meaning one flip at 4 min mark) Trial 1

Th

This is a cool (or hot) thermal photo of the barbecue set-up for Steak 16

The thermal camera was great in demonstrating the contrasting temperatures

between the side of the steak on the hotplate and the side facing up. These images

below were taken a few seconds apart, before and after flipping at the 4 minute

mark.

There is a 60°C difference between the two sides of the steak. It is interesting to note

from the Data Harvest data logger graph below that the internal temperature at the

centre of the steak at the same time was 42.5°C, which is an indicator that the heat

was distributing evenly in the top half of the steak.

The other interesting feature of this graph is that the internal temperature of the

steak continues to rise when it is taken off the hot plate and placed in a cold

aluminium tray. It was 62.5°C when it was taken off the hot plate and it continued to

rise to 64.1°C. I currently have no explanation of this.

Discussion: The lateral view above shows that the Steak that was flipped just once at

the 4 minute mark is evenly cooked on top and bottom but is still quite red in the

middle, typical of a Medium steak. It is also interesting to note that the temperature

inside the steak is the same as the top of the steak for the last minute of cooking so

the temperature at the top of the steak is evenly spread.

Steak 16

4 min flips Trail 1


0 6.6

1 14.9

2 30.8 23.7

3 32 31.8

4 47.2 110 40.4

5 80.5 44

6 63 49.6

7 52.9 56.2

8 57 61.2

9 42.5 62.1

10 41.4 58.4

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0 2 4 6 8 10 12



Friday 28th July 2017

Tonight, I am going to continue to collate and analyse more of the results from my

experiment on Monday night. My aim is to get Trial 1 finished which is another 4

steaks.

Steak 19 (170.08 g) – 2 min (meaning three flips at 2, 4 & 6 min marks) Trial 1

Steak 19

2 min flips Trial 1


0 24.4

1 30.3

2 23.2 86.2

3 64.4

4 85.2

5 60.1

6 51.6 102

7 68.1

8 65.5

9 38.6

10 42.2

Unfortunately, I discovered that I failed to record the internal temperatures of this

steak. For some reason I must not have pressed the start button hard enough so I

have only the thermal camera results for this steak.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0 2 4 6 8 10 12



Discussion: Ignoring the section of fat in the middle of this cut, the steak was a more

uniform colour, more typical of a Medium steak.

Steak 5 (167.08 g) – 1 min (meaning seven flips at 1, 2, … 7 min marks) Trial 1

The data logger graph below shows a distinct increase in temperature after the steak

is removed from the hot plate at the 8 minute mark. From the Excel Raw Data file it

goes from 62.5°C to 65.5°C in 30 seconds after it was placed in a cool aluminium

tray to rest.

For the spectral analysis of the lateral view of the cut steak, the mean red channel

pixel count was 141.18 with a standard deviation of 17.73 which is quite uniform

when compared to the first three steaks.

The final analysis table and graph is shown below:

Steak 5 1 min flips Trial 1


0 9.5

1 34.2 12.6

2 31.7 80.5 24.1

3 57.7 57.3 34.9

4 88 80.7 44.5

5 66 56.9 51.8

6 104 69.4 57.3

7 69.2 80.7 60

8 66.8 62.5

9 49.3 64.7

10 47.1 61.7

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0 2 4 6 8 10 12



Steak # Mass (g) Time before flipping

(s) Triplicate Av. Mass

(g)

18 153.08 to be used for testing

1 183.83 15

2 178.52 15

7 164.09 15 175.48

3 166.34 30

21 178.24 30

24 183.76 30 176.11

5 167.08 60

6 176.17 60

33 183.65 60 175.63

19 170.08 120

20 174.49 120

22 183.56 120 176.04

16 171.88 240

8 175.03 240

9 179.49 240 175.47

10 173.83 480

11 173.39 480

17 178.58 480 175.27

Steak 3 (166.34 g) – 30 sec (meaning fifteen flips every 30 seconds) Trial 1

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Steak 3: 30 second flips Trial 1

Side A Side B

Internal 2 per. Mov. Avg. (Side A)

2 per. Mov. Avg. (Side B)


0 34 17.7

0.25 73.6 19.8

0.5 69.1 22.7

0.75 83.6 24.5

1 71.4 27.2

1.25 75.6 28.8

1.5 70.7 30.8

1.75 78.2 32.2

2 74.2 34

2.25 78.3 35.5

2.5 76.4 37.4

2.75 75 39.2

3 78.1 41.5

3.25 80.1 42.6

3.5 81.4 44.6

3.75 77.7 45.1

4 80.7 46.5

4.25 75.7 47.3

4.5 79.3 48.8

4.75 79.2 48.6

5 83.6 49.3

5.25 72.7 49.4

5.5 80.9 51.1

5.75 80 51.4

6 77 51.9

6.25 78.2 51.5

6.5 77.6 51.9

6.75 81.2 53.4

7 77.8 55.3

7.25 75.4 57.3

7.5 75.6 57.2

7.75 78.6 56.2

8 55.1

9 52.2 50.3

10 51.8 21.2

Steak 1 (183.83 g) – 15 sec (meaning thirty-one flips every 15 seconds) Trial 1

Steak 1 15 second flips Trial 1


0 34.8 12.7

0.25 36.4 14.6

0.5 69.1 16.8

0.75 65.2 18.3

1 69.3 18.9

1.25 66.7 21.6

1.5 69.6 23

1.75 24.9

2 70.1 26.5

2.25 69.7 29.2

2.5 70.8 30.5

2.75 65.8 33.4

3 66.7 34.5

3.25 71.2 36

3.5 68.1 38

3.75 71.6 39.5

4 72.4 41.7

4.25 71 42.6

4.5 76.5 43.1

4.75 78.6 44

5 74.1 44.5

5.25 72 45.3

5.5 76 45.4

5.75 70.4 46

6 79.8 45

6.25 76.5 41.4

6.5 63.8 42.9

6.75 53.7

7 80.1 56.1

7.25 86 57.5

7.5 74.7 58.8

7.75 59.6

8 76 60.2

9 55.4 59.7

10 51.6 57.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Side A Side B



Saturday 29th July 2017


Steak 2

15 second flips Trial 2


0 34 17.7

0.25 73.6 19.8

0.5 69.1 22.7

0.75 83.6 24.5

1 71.4 27.2

1.25 75.6 28.8

1.5 70.7 30.8

1.75 78.2 32.2

2 74.2 34

2.25 78.3 35.5

2.5 76.4 37.4

2.75 75 39.2

3 78.1 41.5

3.25 80.1 42.6

3.5 81.4 44.6

3.75 77.7 45.1

4 80.7 46.5

4.25 75.7 47.3

4.5 79.3 48.8

4.75 79.2 48.6

5 83.6 49.3

5.25 72.7 49.4

5.5 80.9 51.1

5.75 80 51.4

6 77 51.9

6.25 78.2 51.5

6.5 77.6 51.9

6.75 81.2 53.4

7 77.8 55.3

7.25 75.4 57.3

7.5 75.6 57.2

7.75 78.6 56.2

8 55.1

9 52.2 50.3

10 51.8 21.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 2 4 6 8 10



0

20

40

60

80

100

0 2 4 6 8 10 12


Side A

Side B

Internal

2 per. Mov. Avg. (Side A)


Steak 21



0 27.7 10.3

0.5 70 15

1 71.2 19.1

1.5 75.4 20

2 76 22.3

2.5 72.9 25.6

3 74.2 29.7

3.5 75.8 32.9

4 74.8 36.7

4.5 78.8 39.6

5 77.3 43.1

5.5 77.8 45.5

6 80.5 48.2

6.5 86.6 49.9

7 79.2 52.7

7.5 85.3 54.6

8 59.1 56.9

8.5 58.5

9 53.9 58.7

9.5 57.9

10 49.5 56.7


0 min Side A

1 min Side A

1 min Side B

7 min Side B

8 min Side B

9 min Side B

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 2 4 6 8 10 12





0 25.2 9.5

1 27.3 82.5 11.8

2 71.3 56.4 22.7

3 48.4 80.3 32.7

4 82.8 59 39.7

5 58.6 89.9 47.3

6 87.4 65.9 53.8

7 66.1 92.3 59

8 71.8 64.7

9 57.3 68.2

10 49 64

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 2 4 6 8 10 12



Steak 20

2 min flips Trial 2


0 26.9 10.7

1 28.4 29.4

2 30 78.4 43.3

3 61.1 43.4

4 86.8 48.6 40.5

5 62.3 52.5

6 55.6 82.2 61.3

7 62.1 58.8

8 60.7 56.4

9 49.1 55.7

10 45.3 54.3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 2 4 6 8 10 12





0 27.1 11

1 32.6 18.6

2 32.4 29.3

3 31.3 38.1

4 32.6 80.4 45.1

5 65 46.3

6 52.2 51.1

7 50.3 56.9

8 46.2 60.4

9 38.4 56.7

10 36.5 53.5

Steak 11 (173.39 g) – 8 min (meaning no flips at all) Trial 2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 2 4 6 8 10 12



Steak 11

8 min flips Trial 2


0 28.6 11.5

1 31.1 13.9

2 31.6 16.1

3 32.2 18.6

4 36.7 22.1

5 40.4 25.7

6 38 28.9

7 40.2 32.4

8 55.7 36.4

9 36 39.7

10 30.5 40.8

Steak 15



0 28.3 8.2

0.25 71

0.5 63.2 10.8

0.75 69.2

1 65.7 13

1.25 72.9

1.5 68.1 15.9

1.75 73.4

2 68.2 19.9

2.25 68.2

2.5 70.7 23.1

2.75 70.7

3 69.9 26.6

3.25

3.5 68 29.7

3.75 64

4 69.3 32.5

4.25 59.1

4.5 72.5 34.9

4.75

5 68.4 36.9

5.25 64.1

5.5 69.4 38.8

5.75 76.4

6 72.6 40.7

6.25 68.4

6.5 74.4 42.5

6.75 71.7

7 71.2 44.2

7.25 74.6

7.5 73.6 45.7

7.75

8 48.8 47.6

9 44 48.4

10 42.2 48

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 2 4 6 8 10


Side A Side B



0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 2 4 6 8 10 12


Side A Side B



Steak 24



0 21.3 8.3

0.5 71.2 10

1 61.7 12.6

1.5 72.6 16.4

2 74 19.7

2.5 75.7 23.8

3 65 27.6

3.5 74.9 31.1

4 72.5 33.8

4.5 70.2 36.4

5 84.3 39

5.5 79 40.9

6 83.7 43.1

6.5 77.6 44.9

7 82.4 46.8

7.5 73.4 48.1

8 49.6

8.5 50.4

9 50.1

9.5 49.2

10 48.1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 2 4 6 8 10 12



Steak 33

1 min flips Trial 3


0 19.8 8.3

1 20.2 68.1 12.6

2 69.3 46.6 19.7

3 49 70.5 27.5

4 47.4 48.6 33.8

5 50.6 70.3 39.1

6 72.6 71.8 43.1

7 54 46.8

8 49.4 49.7

9 47.1 50.1

10 44.8 48.1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 2 4 6 8 10 12



Steak 22

2 min flips Trial 3


0 15.1 8.5

1 17.9 13.9

2 14.4 72.4 17.7

3 50.7 21.9

4 65.1 41.9 27.9

5 44.4 33.6

6 38 73.2 37.9

7 50.9 41

8 58.6 44.5

9 46.3

10 45.6

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0 17.9 9.3

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7 49.1 58.8

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9 39.7 63.7

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Steak 17 (178.58 g) – 8 min (meaning no flips at all) Trial 3

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5 32.1 28.3

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7 41.4 40.6

8 42.6 46.2

9 29.1 51.2

10 29.4 52.3

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Monday 31st July 2017

!! Compiling all the results !!

Now that I have analysed each of the 18 individual steaks, the next major task is to

try to find some trends and patterns in the results and then come up with some

conclusion as to which flip rate produces the best steaks.

To do this, I am going to start by looking at the three trials for each flip rate and see if

there is any consistency and reproducibility in the results.

I will be considering the thermal top surface temperatures of each steak (obtained by

the Flir Thermal Imaging Camera) and comparing them with the internal core

temperature (obtained with the Data Harvest data logger and temperature sensor).

Obviously when a steak is flipped, the top surface is initially very hot as it has just

been cooking on the hot plate. However as it cools down it would be ideal if the top

surface temperature, ends up being similar to the central core temperature so that

the upper half and middle of the steak cooks consistently. I will use these three

examples to explain what I am trying to achieve:

Steak 1 - flip every 15 s Steak 9 – flip every 4 min

These are two extremes in what I am trying to achieve. For Steak 1, the steak is

being continually flipped every 15 seconds so the heat energy from the hot plate is

not able to penetrate into the middle of the steak. As a result there is always a large

temperature gradient between the top and bottom of the steak compared with the

middle, which results in an unevenness of cooking. Now some people do like this

type of steak with crispy outer layers and a rare centre, however, this is not what I

am trying to achieve.

For Steak 9, the upper surface cools down too far as it is spending too much time

away from the hot plate and the cooking is once again uneven.

What I am trying to achieve is represented below in Steak 5 which is flipped every

minute.

The red and the blue lines which are the thermal surface temperatures of the

respective sides of the steak facing upwards, return every minute to a similar

temperature to the central core temperature. Therefore there is an eveness in the

cooking for the centre and upper section of the steak. The heat from the bottom of

the steak is penetrating just enough to cook the middle of the steak and the bottom

of the steak is not staying there long enough to become overcooked.

As this graph clearly shows, when you remove the steak after 2 minutes (blue rare)

or 4 minutes (rare) or 6 minutes (medium rare) or even 8 minutes (medium) you are

guaranteed to have a steak that has an eveness of temperature throughout, which is

my criteria for a perfect steak, a view shared by many experts!

Tonight I will have time to look at just the 8 minute steaks, the ones that do not get

flipped at all. I will compile all the results onto a single spreadsheet, have a look at

the graphs superimposed on each other, and if they are reproducable then I will take

an average of all the results.

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8 minute Overall Results

Trial 1 Top Trial 2 Top Trial 3 Top

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Overall Results for 8 minute (no flip)

The thermal results (blue trendlines) using the Flir Thermal Imaging Camera look

very consistent. The data logger measurements of the central core temperature of

the steaks are not as consistent. Trial 1 and Trial 2 are fine but Trial 3 is generally

15-20 °C higher than the other trials. My reasoning for this anomaly is that the data

logger temperature probe for Trial 3 may have been too close to one side and it was

that side that was on the hot plate for the whole time.

Therefore I have redone this graph, neglecting Trial 3 and I will see later when I

analyse the other sets of triplicates whether this becomes a recurring feature of my

analysis.

By removing Trial 3 results, I now have some consistency of results.

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8 minute Average Results

Average Top Average Middle

This is my final graph for the steaks which do not get flipped.

As the centre core temperature only reached 41°C during the 8 minutes and the top

surface only reached 49°C during the 8th minute, it is not surprising that the top half

of the steak was still very rare. As you can see in the graphic below, the centre has

still not even reached Blue rare status.

46°C 57°C

49°C 66°C

52°C 71°C

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Trial 1 Top A Trial 2 Top A Trial 3 Top A

Trial 1 Top B Trial 2 Top B Trial 3 Top B

Trial 1 Middle Trial 2 Middle Trial 3 Middle

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Average Top A Average Top B Average Middle

Overall Results for 4 minutes (1 flip)

These three trial results are very close to each other which shows that my results are

very reliable and reproducable. I had been worried that the Data Harvest

temperature sensor poked through the side of the steak will yield results that will

fluctuate as each steak has varying thicknesses at different points of the steak, even

though they were all sliced at 20mm from the same rump cut of meat. Also the FLIR

thermal imaging camera was very sensitive so if I pointed it at a slightly different

position on the steak, the temperatures would change. So I had to be careful that I

pointed the camera at the same position of the steak every time.

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2 minute Overall results



Trial 1 middle Trial 2 middle Trial 3 middle

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2 minutes Average


Overall Results for 2 minutes (3 flips)

This is the set of data where the data logger failed to start (probably my human error)

for Trial 2 so I only have duplicates of the central core results and Trial 1 (shown in

pink) is very up and down which is an indicator that the probe was closer to Side B

than Side A. Despite, this the thermal results of the top surface, which is recorded

separately with the FLIR Thermal Imaging Camera, are in triplicates and are each

very similar for each time period shown above.

The other pattern that is readily observed in the averages graph below is that the

rate of cooling of the top surface is similar for each time period as the slopes are all

parallel with the same negative gradient.

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Average Top A Average Top B Average middle

Overall Results for 1 minute (7 flips)

Once again, the experimental method used is most reproducible as each trial

replicated the other. It needs to be remembered that these trials were cooked a

couple of hours apart and each steak has its own shape and fat distribution

characteristics, although they were all from the same cut of rump.

The criss-cross nature of the Side A and Side B results demonstrate that the Data

Harvest temperature probes must have been very well centred as each side heated

and cooled at similar rates when flipped. The other significant feature is that the

surface temperatures were always consistently close to the centre core tempartures

which means that flipping every minute yields uniform temperature gradients in a

cooking steak, which is what I am looking for.

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30 seconds Overall Results




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Overall Results for 30 seconds (15 flips)

Very consistent results once again for all 3 trials, however it is clearly seen that the

surface temperatures are well above the central core temperatures so the heat from

the hot plate is not effectively penetrating to the centre as the steak is flipped before

the heat can reach the centre, producing a classic medium rare steak if the steak is

removed at the 6 minute mark (50°C + resting time).

The other intersting feature that is highlighted by the averages graph below is that

the core temperature of the steak continues to rise by 3-4°C after the steak is taken

off the hot plate and placed in the cool aluminium tray. The juices also start pouring

off the steak during this resting phase - something I would like to pursue in the next

stage of my experiment.

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15 seconds Average Results

51.6 57.2

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15 seconds Overall Results


Trial 1 Top B Trial 3 Top B Trial 1 middle

Trial 2 middle Trial 3 middle Trial 2 Top B

Overall Results for 15 seconds (31 flips)

Just like the 30 second flipping results, the difference between the central core

temperatures and the surface temperatures is very evident and actually amplified in

the first few minutes of these results. When flipping every 15 seconds, the upper

surface temperature remains around 70-80°C for the duration. Meanwhile the central

core temprature reaches 40°C after 4 minutes and only 46°C after 4 minutes which is

more typical of a rare steak.

Again, the similarity between the heating curves of each trial is very evident and

makes these results I have obtained very reliable.

Friday 11th August 2017

After comparing the thermal qualities of the heating process for each steak, the next

mode of comparison is looking at the consistency of the colour of the cooked meat.

To do this I have utilised a spectral frequency tool attached to Corel Photo Paint.

This tool looks at the colour of each pixel in a selected area and gives a statistical

analysis of the variation in the colours. Obviously the lower the standard deviation

the more consistent the colour and hence the more consistent the cooking process. I

will just be using the Red Channel to make this analysis.

As a guide, I will demonstrate how I will analyse the colour by taking the three trial

samples from the steaks that were flipped every 15 seconds.

The three spectral values are:

Trial 1: mean 163.83, standard deviation 19.69



These average out to be 162.88 ± 17.41, indicating that approximately 68% of the

pixels lie in the red channel range of 145.47 180.29

Using this method, the overall results for the six different flip lengths are as follows:

Flip rate Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

15 seconds 163.83 ± 19.69 164.39 ± 14.02 160.45 ± 18.52 162.89 ± 17.41

30 seconds 161.60 ± 16.30 156.07 ± 17.78 145.43 ± 21.40 154.37 ± 18.49

1 minute 141.18 ± 17.73 157.79 ± 16.42 147.77 ± 23.27 149.08 ± 19.14

2 minutes 151.47 ± 22.89 159.93 ± 20.62 137.92 ± 18.41 149.77 ± 20.64

4 minutes 149.24 ± 23.14 151.24 ± 22.24 134.69 ± 16.24 145.06 ± 20.54

8 minutes (no flip)

159.92 ± 21.33 140.88 ± 28.05 142.13 ± 24.95 147.66 ± 24.77

Discussion:

The general trend is that the redness does change to a darker red (or brown to be

precise) as the flip rate decreases. On the RGB colour wheel for the red channel,

255 is fully red and 0 is no red, so 162.89 is redder than 147.66. Therefore the colour

of the cross-section shows that the centre was more cooked in the centre as the flip

rate was reduced. So for the steaks that were flipped every 15 seconds, the heat

was not given the opportunuty to penetrate to the centre of the steak so the centre of

the steak remained red, or raw in cooking terms. In contrast the steak that was

flipped just once was most cooked in the centre, even more that the steak that was

not flipped at all. It does need to be pointed out that the final colour of the cooked

meat was quite similar for steaks that were flipped every minute, 2 minutes, 4

minutes and not flipped at all – for steaks that are left on the hot plate for 8 minutes.

The second consideration and probably the most important aspect of having a well-

cooked steak is the uniformity of the cooking process. The 8 minute (no flip) steak

had the greatest variation of colour with a standard pixel deviation of 24.77. This was

clearly apparent in the photograph below, where the top of the steak was red raw as

it never touched the hot plate, while the bottom was clearly well done. No chef would

receive complements if this variably-cooked steak was served up to a customer!

Interesting enough, the steaks with the highest frequency of flipping had the least

variation in their spectral frequency histogram and therefore had the greater

uniformity of cooking consistency.

Conclusion of colour comparison of steak cross-sections

Based on the level of cooking at the centre and the uniformity of the cooking, I would

have to say that the steaks flipped every minute, produced the best looking steaks

and the steaks that were not flipped at all resulted in the worst looking steaks.

However, the 30 second flips and the 2 minute flips were very close behind.

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Comparison of internal core temperature in relation to flipping times

15 seconds 30 seconds 1 minute 2 minutes 4 minutes 8 minutes

Saturday 12th August, 2017

Based on the overall results of the thermal analysis of the upper surface and central

core temperatures and the spectral analysis of each steak’s cross-section after

cooking it is apparent that flipping the steak every minute yields the steak with the

best uniformity of cooking. Obviously if you prefer a red centre with a singed surface,

you would go for the 15 second or 30 second flipping procedure.

My final analysis is simply comparing the core temperatures of each flipping rate to

see how timing a steak for the desired cooking level (blue rare, rare, medium rare,

medium, medium well and well done) is effected by the flipping rate.

Below I have put all the average central core temperatures for each flipping rate on a

common spreadsheet and scatter graphed the different results. The lighter colours

reflect the rare stages of cooking and the darker brown colours reflect the steaks that

are more well done.

Obviously, the main negative aspect of these results is that the 8 minute steak which

is never flipped, never reaches a suitable central core temperature to go above rare

in the centre. Between 4 and 6 minutes, it is interesting how the core temperatures

are so similar for the different flip rates. The main difference occurs after 6 minutes,

where 4 minute and 1 minute flipping reach the highest core temperatures, while the

2 minute flipping rate starts to flatten out around 50°C for some reason. Of these,

similar flip rates it is also interesting to note that the 1 minute and 30 second flipping

rate steaks continue to warm up during the resting phase when they are taken off the

hot plate. This does not happen for the 2 minute and 4 minute steaks.

After comparing the thermal qualities of the heating process for each steak, the next

mode of comparison is looking at the consistency of the colour of the cooked meat.

To do this I have utilised a spectral frequency tool attached to Corel Photo Paint.

This tool looks at the colour of each pixel in a selected area and gives a statistical

analysis of the variation in the colours. Obviously the lower the standard deviation

the more consistent the colour and hence the more consistent the cooking process. I

will just be using the Red Channel to make this analysis.

As a guide, I will demonstrate how I will analyse the colour by taking the three trial

samples from the steaks that were flipped every 15 seconds.

The three spectral values are:




These average out to be 162.88 ± 17.41, indicating that approximately 68% of the

pixels lie in the red channel range of 145.47 180.29

Using this method, the overall results for the six different flip lengths are as follows:

Flip rate Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

15 seconds 163.83 ± 19.69 164.39 ± 14.02 160.45 ± 18.52 162.89 ± 17.41

30 seconds 161.60 ± 16.30 156.07 ± 17.78 145.43 ± 21.40 154.37 ± 18.49

1 minute 141.18 ± 17.73 157.79 ± 16.42 147.77 ± 23.27 149.08 ± 19.14

2 minutes 151.47 ± 22.89 159.93 ± 20.62 137.92 ± 18.41 149.77 ± 20.64

4 minutes 149.24 ± 23.14 151.24 ± 22.24 134.69 ± 16.24 145.06 ± 20.54

8 minutes (no flip)

159.92 ± 21.33 140.88 ± 28.05 142.13 ± 24.95 147.66 ± 24.77

Discussion:

The general trend is that the redness does change to a darker red (or brown to be

precise) as the flip rate decreases. On the RGB colour wheel for the red channel,

255 is fully red and 0 is no red, so 162.89 is redder than 147.66. Therefore the colour

of the cross-section shows that the centre was more cooked in the centre as the flip

rate was reduced. So for the steaks that were flipped every 15 seconds, the heat

was not given the opportunuty to penetrate to the centre of the steak so the centre of

the steak remained red, or raw in cooking terms. In contrast the steak that was

flipped just once was most cooked in the centre, even more that the steak that was

not flipped at all. It does need to be pointed out that the final colour of the cooked

meat was quite similar for steaks that were flipped every minute, 2 minutes, 4

minutes and not flipped at all – for steaks that are left on the hot plate for 8 minutes.

The second consideration and probably the most important aspect of having a well-

cooked steak is the uniformity of the cooking process. The 8 minute (no flip) steak

had the greatest variation of colour with a standard pixel deviation of 24.77. This was

clearly apparent in the photograph below, where the top of the steak was red raw as

it never touched the hot plate, while the bottom was clearly well done. No chef would

receive complements if this variably-cooked steak was served up to a customer!

Interesting enough, the steaks with the highest frequency of flipping had the least

variation in their spectral frequency histogram and therefore had the greater

uniformity of cooking consistency.

Conclusion of colour comparison of steak cross-sections

Based on the level of cooking at the centre and the uniformity of the cooking, I would

have to say that the steaks flipped every minute, produced the best looking steaks

and the steaks that were not flipped at all resulted in the worst looking steaks.

However, the 30 second flips and the 2 minute flips were very close behind.

Monday 14th August (Written up on Tuesday 15th August)

After school, I once again went to my Science teacher’s house to carry out

Experiment 2 and 3 of my project.

I had 17 steaks left from my initial purchase at Pendle Hill Meats and these were

generally the heaviest of the 36 steaks. These are the numbers of the 17 steaks that

I cooked on this night. I started cooking just after 4pm and finished around 10pm so I

am writing this on Tuesday, however, all this happened yesterday.

This is the list of the 17 steaks in order of increasing mass:

Steak # Mass (g)

12 184.54

14 185.65

37 190.42

4 190.88

36 193.38

32 193.48

15 194.19

13 200

35 203.53

23 203.75

30 206.76

31 209.54

28 210.34

29 216.57

34 216.83

27 234.98

26 236.61

For Experiment 2, I was just taking photos of the cut cross-section of each steak in

the resting phase so it was a qualitative study rather than a quantitative study.

Therefore I used the heaviest and the lightest steaks so that the 12 remaining steaks

were as similar as possible in mass. Therefore I used the buff coloured steaks i.e.

Steaks 12, 14, 26, 27 and 37 and I heated them on the hot plate for 4 min, 6 min, 8

min, 10 min and 12 min respectively and had them flipped every 1 minute.

Then the idea is to analyse each of the photos using Corel Photo paint’s sprectral

histogram analyser in the red channel. Hopefully, I will be able to measure the extent

that the steak browns as it is sits in the “resting phase”.

For Experiment 3, I was doing a quantitative measure of the juices that were

released by the steak during the “resting phase”. Therefore, I needed to control the

times cooked and the masses of the steaks. As I only had 12 steaks left I decided to

do duplicates of each time period. I arranged the steaks in such a way that I was

able to make the average masses of each duplicate very similar. As you can see in

the table below, the average mass of each duplicate was 203.27 ±1.20g, which is

most consistent.

I cooked the steaks in Experiment 3 in the same order that is listed above and I

allowed them to rest until the internal core temperature started to significantly

decrease and the juice stopped running of the steak in the aluminium tray set-up.

On the next few pages I have some photos of last night’s experiments.

Steak # Mass (g) Trial name Average Trial mass

(g)

4 190.88 2 minute Trial 1 203.86

34 216.83 2 minute Trial 2

36 193.38 4 minute Trial 1 204.98


32 193.48 6 minute Trial 1 201.91


15 194.19 8 minute Trial 1 201.87


13 200 10 minute Trial 1 203.38


35 203.53 12 minute Trial 1 203.64


mean 203.27

standard deviation 1.2

Experiment 2 – Cooking the steak to a set time

Taking photos every 30 seconds as the steak cross-section browns during the

“resting phase”. Taken from a Nikon camera on manual focus positioned on a tripod

Experiment 3 – More complex set-up where a tray set-up is used to collect the juice

as it sits in its “resting phase”

Close-up of tray that is tilted with a hole in the lowest corner

Juice starting to run out of steak as meat tissue relax and release their fluids

Juices starting to run down the tray to the hole in the corner.

Steak juice dripping into the collecting bowl on the data logging scales

Out of focus shot of my teacher’s cat taking a particular interest in the steak juice

running off the steak. He was removed from the scene after the photo, before he had

a chance to consume any of the juice.

Juice starting to collect in the bowl

This is the total juice collected from Steak 32 (193.48g) during the “resting phase”.

So after cooking and all the evaporation during that process it still retains a lot of

moisture and releases 2.9% of its’ original weight as the meat tissues relax.

Experiment 3 – Experimental set-up explained pictorially

Steak 32 being cooked for 6 minutes

Data logger recording

core temperatures

Expert cook now onto my 28th steak

Data logger temperature

sensor monitoring internal

core temperatures

Last remaining 7 steaks

lined up ready to cook

Aluminium tray with

hole on tilted base Logical Interface data

balance collecting juices Computer interfaced with

balance collecting mass data

Wednesday 16th August Analysis of Experiment 3

Although I did two experiments on Monday (see below), I am going to analyse

Experiment 3 first as I need one of the teacher’s computers who has Corel Photo

Paint to do the spectral analysis and I have to arrange for that tomorrow or Friday.

Experiment 2: Qualitative analysis of steak browning during “resting phase”

Experiment 3: Quantitative analysis of steak juice release during “resting phase”

For Experiment 3, I was collecting 2 sets of data (i) central core steak temperatures

during “resting phase” and (ii) mass of steak juices released during “resting phase”.

Therefore I will be downloading the data from the respective data loggers and

presenting the results in the next few pages.

Experiment 3 involved 12 different steaks in 6 duplicate sets. For the first set I

cooked the steaks for 2 minutes, flipping them at the 1 minute mark. At the

completion of the 2 minutes, I moved the steaks to the aluminium tray and left them

to release their juices, which I then collected and measured the mass. I ended up

lifting up the steaks so the juices could run off but I was very careful not to squeeze

the steaks at all. The other duplicate pairs were cooked for 4 minutes, 6 minutes, 8

minutes and 10 minutes respectively. For each steak I kept the flip rate constant,

flipping them every minute.

I simply let them sit in the aluminium tray until the juices stopped running off which

ended up being a similar time to the cooking time.

There was generally a minute time lag for the juice to accumulate enough to run off

the steak. But as soon as it started the juices kept poring out.

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Juice Mass (g)

2 Minute Trial 1 Results

Juice Released: 1.28g

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Mass Balance recording didn’t work!! Don’t know why

Juice Released: ?

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Juice Released: ?

Overall Results of Experiment 3

Time cooked and flipped every 1 min

Mass of Juice released in ‘Resting phase’

Trial 1 (g) Trial 2 (g) Average

2 min 1.28 0.31 0.80

4 min 3.47 2.77 3.12

6 min 4.83 2.83 3.83

8 min 2.83 4.61 3.72

10 min approx 5.00 5.90 5.45

12 min approx 3.00 approx 5.00 4.00

Although the mass was showing on the screen of the balance, I was unaware that

the computer was recording values around 0g for 3 of the last 4 readings. I am pretty

confident that my approximations are correct as I noted that 10 min were the highest

out of all the readings and their was a definite drop-off for the 12 minute steaks.

There was a good deal of variation of juice released for this experiment, especially

within each duplicate set. There was a general upwards trend for the amount of juice

released until the 10 min mark. After that point, dehydration due to overcooking

would most likely have being taking place.

In all cases, it was quite amazing to examine how the steaks took around a minute

for the pores to start releasing the juices in this “resting phase”. Then all of a sudden

the juices started to run out and this added moisture would have provided a medium

for the heat to be conducted around the steak which would have influenced the

increase of temperature that existed in the centre of the steak when the steak is

removed from the hotplate.

Friday 18th August Analysis of Experiment 2

Today I had the opportunity to use one of my teacher’s computers who has Corel

Photo Paint to do the spectral analysis.

Experiment 2: Qualitative analysis of steak browning during “resting phase”.

To do this accurately, I opened up the first photo in Corel Photo Paint an enlarged

the image so that the steak filled the width of my computer screen. Then I masked a

rectangular area of the steak’s cross-section which covered as big as an area as

possible. At this point I took note of the size and positioning of this mask. In the case

of this image below the X and Y coordinates of the top left hand corner of the mask

was 22.35 and 12.53 respectively. The width and height of the masked area was W

= 11.76 and H = 5.75.

Then in the case of this image below the X and Y coordinates of the top left hand

corner of the mask was 6.26 and 19.38 respectively. The width and height of the

masked area was W = 16.08 and H = 3.89.

Then for the analysis of the 6 min steak, photographed at the 7 min mark, the

histogram tool was selected and histogram was generated.

Now, when enlarged the features of this histogram, that I took special note of was

the mean value of the red channel which in this case was 137.78. With 0 referring to

black and 255 to bright red, 137.78 is rather central on this scale and the frequency

peak suggests. I also noted the pixel count of 9542.

As the camera remained on a tripod unmoved for the remainder of this set of photos

of the 6 minute steak, all subsequent masks had the same dimensions, coordinates

and pixel count so any change in redness can be mapped.

The only variable that did change was the ambient light level which got slightly

brighter or duller with cloud movements. So that is why I selected to take a frequency

histogram of the chopping board as well. If this got brighter then I will be able to

determine the change that took place and then mathematically composite for this

change of light. The Sun was also getting lower in the sky as these photos were

taken after school between 4pm and 5pm so the cutting board histograms were used

as a reference point.

Then this is the photo of the steak one minute later, at the eighth minute mark

And finally I have the steak cross-section photographed at the 11 minute mark to see

if the colouration of the steak did brown during the resting phase.

Time of photograph Steak mean redness Cutting board mean redness

7 min 137.78 ± 22.41 152.03 ± 24.81

8 min 145.85 ± 23.80 158.69 ± 25.04

9 min 145.89 ± 22.19 157.47 ± 24.47

10 min 145.08 ± 22.18 156.69 ± 24.40

11 min 144.21 ± 22.09 155.68 ± 25.02

12 min 142.69 ± 21.83 154.67 ± 24.91

To compensate for the changing light conditions, I have standardised the cutting

board mean redness to 152 and adjusted the steak mean redness accordingly.


7 min 137.75 ± 22.41 152.00 ± 24.81

8 min 139.16 ± 23.80 152.00 ± 25.04

9 min 140.42 ± 22.19 152.00 ± 24.47

10 min 140.39 ± 22.18 152.00 ± 24.40

11 min 140.53 ± 22.09 152.00 ± 25.02

12 min 140.02 ± 21.83 154.67 ± 24.91

From these results it is quite obvious that the mean redness of the steak when

adjusted to equal light levels, remains constant so the 6 minute steak did not brown

as it was sitting in the resting phase. Neither did the standard deviation change much

so the spread of the colours remained constant also.

Visually this can be seen when you compare the resting phase steak at the 7 minute

mark and the 12 minute mark

7 minute

12 minute

Saturday 19th August

Yesterday at school I finished the analysis of the spectral frequencies for the steaks

cooked for 4 min, 6 min, 8 min, 10 min and 12 min and last night I finished writing up

my results for the 6 min photos.

On the next few pages will be the results for the steaks cooked for 4 min,10 min & 12

min. On Monday, when I did the experiment, I started the 8 min sequence but

unfortunately I had forgotten to charge the camera battery and it was flashing at the

end of the 6 min and died on me during the 8 min test, so the 8 min test had to be

aborted. I charged the battery for 15 minutes and this was enough to complete the

10 & 12 min sequence of photos.

Experiment 2.04 – Browning experiment for 4 minute steaks


5 min 117.88 ± 23.16 140.67 ± 11.55

6 min 122.04 ± 24.16 142.47 ± 12.90

7 min 121.95 ± 23.82 142.21 ± 13.11

8 min* 134.96 ± 21.26 151.81 ± 12.52

*Photo too light




5 min 117.21 ± 23.16 140.00 ± 11.55

6 min 119.57 ± 24.16 140.00 ± 12.90

7 min 119.74 ± 23.82 140.00 ± 13.11

8 min* 123.14 ± 21.26* 140.00 ± 12.52

*Photo too light

Ignoring the last photo which had a totally different light level than the others, the

other standardised results were very similar and again the colour of the steak didn’t

seem to change much at all.



11 min 122.13 ± 15.04 141.45 ± 13.41

12 min 123.22 ± 15.20 144.04 ± 13.75

13 min 124.03 ± 15.99 147.91 ± 15.35

14 min 127.98 ± 15.70 150.98 ± 13.43

15 min 126.32 ± 16.02 150.77 ± 13.92

16 min 129.79 ± 14.86 152.65 ± 13.90

17 min 127.50 ± 15.02 150.57 ± 12.80

18 min 127.48 ± 15.04 148.65 ± 12.05

To compensate for the changing light conditions, I have once again standardised the

cutting board mean redness to 140 and adjusted the steak mean redness

accordingly.


11 min 120.68 ± 15.04 140.00 ± 13.41

12 min 119.18 ± 15.20 140.00 ± 13.75

13 min 116.12 ± 15.99 140.00 ± 15.35

14 min 117.00 ± 15.70 140.00 ± 13.43

15 min 115.55 ± 16.02 140.00 ± 13.92

16 min 117.14 ± 14.86 140.00 ± 13.90

17 min 116.93 ± 15.02 140.00 ± 12.80

18 min 118.83 ± 15.04 140.00 ± 12.05

Once again there was no apparent browning of the steak as the standardised

redness levels oscillated around the 117-118 mark throughout.



13 min 166.43 ± 26.29 104.89 ± 18.16

14 min 171.44 ± 28.92 81.87 ± 19.51

15 min 170.14 ± 29.30 85.24 ± 18.23

16 min 166.28 ± 30.89 81.58 ± 18.80

17 min 169.65 ± 29.59 84.87 ± 17.74

18 min 165.87 ± 32.19 86.28 ± 14.13

19 min 167.28 ± 32.45 85.80 ± 18.02

20 min 165.53 ± 33.28 85.78 ± 16.51




13 min 146.54 ± 26.29 85.00 ± 18.16

14 min 174.57 ± 28.92 81.87 ± 19.51

15 min 169.99 ± 29.30 85.24 ± 18.23

16 min 169.70 ± 30.89 81.58 ± 18.80

17 min 169.78 ± 29.59 84.87 ± 17.74

18 min 164.59 ± 32.19 86.28 ± 14.13

19 min 166.48 ± 32.45 85.80 ± 18.02

20 min 164.75 ± 33.28 85.78 ± 16.51

Disregarding the first 13 min result which was very different from the rest, there was

a slight drop in redness as the resting time increased, but not significant enough to

be a major observation. Below I have the steak at the 14 min mark as opposed to the

20 min mark.

14 min 20 min

I don’t see much change in colour, I think it is just the reflected light in the 14 min

Sunday 20th August

Today, while writing up some of my report, I decided that I want to repeat my

Experiment 2. When thinking about my methodology I realised that I had a

fundamental flaw in my experimental design.

When you check whether a steak is ready you usually get a knife and make a small

cut and look to see whether the level of redness is to your liking. You keep on doing

this until it is right. The problem I had with my design is that I wanted to visually see

and quantify the browning of the steak while it was still cooking away internally

during the resting phase. However, when I cut the steak right through and

photographed the cross-section, the meat cells and proteins in this particular region

were then exposed to the cool air and would have cooled down immediately causing

the cooking process to stop at this exposed edge. Therefore, it is quite easy to

understand why it has not continued to cook.

I had finished my experimentation and handed all the data logger equipment back to

the school but I decided that I will redo Experiment 2 by cutting the steak one-third in

for the first cut and then another one-third of the remaining meat and then another

one-third … so I would have repeated cuts every minute and it would mean that the

remaining steak would have been cooking away internally for an extra minute or two

minutes … In this way I should get a better look at meat that has not been exposed

to the cool air until it is cut.

So to do this I asked my mum to get me three more steaks from Coles and I will do

the modified Experiment 2 tomorrow night. I was going to be working on my report

with my teacher after school tomorrow anyway so that should not be a problem

getting some more steaks.

Monday 21st August Experiment 2 Modified

Mum did get 3 steaks from Coles and dropped them off to me after school today.

I asked mum to get three lean steaks for I wanted steaks with large areas of meat

and not fat. I had rump for my other experiments but as I am doing a qualitative

study with colour, having a different type of meat is not an issue.

The steaks were weighed and they were:

156.20g

178.63g

177.96g

I didn’t worry about the data logger equipment measuring the internal temperatures

as I was doing a qualitative study of the colour. This made cooking the steaks really

easy as I didn’t have to contend with all the data logger leads and making sure they

did not come in contact with the hot plate. For the three steaks, I cooked the first for

three minutes turning it every minute, the second for 6 minutes turning it every

minute and the third steak for 8 minutes turning it for every minute.

Experiment 2 Modified – Steak cooked for 4 minutes

Here are the photos of the steak cross-sections. It does introduce a new variable in

that the photographs are of different areas of the meat, however, the meat looked

very consistent.

8 min

7 min

6 min

5 min

Visually it is a bit difficult to tell whether it has browned during the resting phase. In

the photo at right, the bottom section is the 5 min and the top section is the 8 min.

The 7 min is the only one that has seemed to take on a browner shade.

Tomorrow I will do the spectral analysis to see if there is a difference.

Below is my teacher’s dog who enjoyed this short experiment:


Here are the photos of the steak cross-sections.

10 min

9 min

8 min

With these sections cut from the 6 minute steak, you can definitely see some

browning happening.


Here are the photos of the steak cross-sections.

12 min

11 min

10 min

9 min

Tuesday 22nd August

Today, I was able to do the analysis of spectral frequencies for this last experiment.

For this analysis I have made a modification that I think is more accurate. As natural

light fluctuates, it is very difficult to have controlled lighting when you are outside at a

BBQ. Last week, I standardised the readings against the redness of the cutting

board. This time I used the full RGB channel spectral histogram as the reference

point for standardised results. As light changes both the RGB and Red channels

should be affected in the same way. Therefore, if there is a definite change in the

redness this should be able to be observed analytically as well as visually.


RGB 114.34 ±19.60 Red 144.60 ±16.11 RGB 95.27 ±15.70 Red 128.43 ±15.49 RGB 98.99 ± 25.14 Red 130.37 ± 24.69 RGB 121.69 ± 30.00 Red 154.39 ± 25.16

Time of photograph Steak Red Channel Steak RGB Channel

8 min 144.60 ± 16.11 111.34 ± 19.60

7 min 128.43 ± 15.49 95.27 ± 15.70

6 min 130.37 ± 24.69 98.99 ± 25.14

5 min 154.39 ± 25.16 121.89 ± 30.00

Standardised the RGB mean to 120 and adjusted the Red Channel accordingly.


8 min 153.26 ± 16.11 120.00 ± 19.60

7 min 153.16 ± 15.49 120.00 ± 15.70

6 min 151.38 ± 24.69 120.00 ± 25.14

5 min 152.50 ± 25.16 120.00 ± 30.00


RGB 122.67 ± 19.13 Red 145.13 ± 17.36 RGB 122.51 ± 22.31 Red 143.63 ± 18.76 RGB 116.95 ± 23.19 Red 143.25 ± 21.62 RGB 111.28 ± 20.08 Red 138.28 ± 18.06


10 min 145.13 ± 17.36 122.67 ± 19.13

9 min 143.63 ± 18.76 122.51 ± 22.31

8 min 143.25 ± 21.62 116.95 ± 23.19

7 min 138.28 ± 18.06 111.28 ± 20.08



10 min 142.46 ± 17.36 120.00 ± 19.13

9 min 141.12 ± 18.76 120.00 ± 22.31

8 min 146.30 ± 21.62 120.00 ± 23.19

7 min 147.00 ± 18.06 120.00 ± 20.08


RGB 134.81 ± 30.26 Red 161.49 ± 27.03 RGB 124.24 ± 32.91 Red 150.69 ± 27.84 RGB 84.44 ± 24.84 Red 110.30 ± 23.41 RGB 97.88 ± 24.42 Red 127.44 ± 22.96 RGB 90.89 ± 26.36 Red 118.37 ± 24.88


13 min 161.49 ± 27.03 134.81 ± 30.26

12 min 150.69 ± 27.84 124.24 ± 32.91

11 min 110.30 ± 23.41 84.44 ± 24.84

10 min 127.44 ± 22.96 97.88 ± 24.42

9 min 118.37 ± 24.88 90.89 ± 26.36



13 min 146.68 ± 27.03 120.00 ± 30.26

12 min 146.45 ± 27.84 120.00 ± 32.91

11 min 145.86 ± 23.41 120.00 ± 24.84

10 min 149.56 ± 22.96 120.00 ± 24.42

9 min 147.48 ± 24.88 120.00 ± 26.36

Discussion

This method of standardising the results for the fluctuation of light levels worked

really well. I standardised all the RGB Channel values to 120.00. The mean red pixel

count for the steak cooked for 4 minutes was very consistent around the 152 value.

The steak portions with the greatest visual variation were from the steak that was

cooked for 6 minutes. Visually the bottom two layers are much redder than the top

two layers. This is reflected in the quantitative values obtained through spectral

analysis. The bottom two layer had a redness value of around 147 while the two

upper layers had a redness value of around 142 so there was a measurable

difference to support the qualitative observations.

Finally, for the portions of the steak that were cooked for 8 minutes, the differences

in the redness were negligible. All the spectral redness values were around 147 and

visually they were all similar.

In conclusion, this modified experiment showed that for the resting phase there is a

greater level of extra cooking or browning for steak that is cooked for 6 minutes, as

opposed to 4 minutes and 8 minutes. This is somewhat supported by the juices

released in Experiment 3 (see below) where the steak cooked for 6 minutes released

more juices than 4 and 8 minutes. Regretfully I didn’t test the browning for 10

minutes, which would have been useful in retrospect.

Time cooked and flipped every 1 min

Mass of Juice released in ‘Resting phase’

Trial 1 (g) Trial 2 (g) Average

2 min 1.28 0.31 0.80

4 min 3.47 2.77 3.12

6 min 4.83 2.83 3.83

8 min 2.83 4.61 3.72

10 min approx 5.00 5.90 5.45

12 min approx 3.00 approx 5.00 4.00

Well that brings me to the end of my logbook!

I have to now spend the next few days finalising my report which is a huge job. I am

very pleased that I had some definite findings of flipping the steak every minute gives

the most consistent and uniform level of cooking and if you want the juiciest steak on

a great Aussie BBQ where you just have a hotplate with no bells or whistles, cook the

steak for 6 minutes. You will get a medium rare steak that is cooked evenly and if you

allow it to rest for a few minutes it will allow the excess juices to run off, however, it will

still be hot, juicy and delicious.

Postlude:

I can’t wait for the next family BBQ when my uncles start to argue about the best way

of cooking a steak.

cooking the perfect steak using real science · 9. the steak would be perfectly cooked if the whole...

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