(upbeat synth music) - [Mister C] What time is it?

- [Science Crew] It's science time!

♪ Oh, it's science, science, science time ♪ ♪ Let's all stop and just unwind ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, here we go ♪ ♪ Learn so much, your brain explodes ♪ ♪ Lessons so cool, so fresh ♪ ♪ Feats so big you'll lose your breath ♪ ♪ Learning facts and real cool stuff ♪ ♪ Scream for more, can't get enough ♪ ♪ It's, it's science time ♪ ♪ It's fun, you best believe ♪ ♪ Explore and learn new things ♪ ♪ Come and join me, please ♪ (balloons popping) I'm Mister C, and this super smart group is my science crew.

Working together with my crew makes learning so much fun.

Actually, you should join us!

Let's give science a try with a simple DIY.

Today, we're talking about DIY cooking.

What time is it?

- [Science Crew] It's science time!

- Do, do, do-do!

Oh, hey, everybody.

Welcome back to "DIY Science Time."

My name is Mister C and I'm so excited that you're here to be part of our crew today.

(graphic slaps) Today, we're talking about cooking and science.

And earlier this week, I asked Linky to put together a little recipe that I could share with all of you.

(chuckles) But I think Linky took "little" to new a level.

Look at these little mittens.

(fingers blipping) (Mister C laughs) I can grab little pans out of the oven.

- I don't think we can use these pieces of equipment today 'cause it's gonna be very difficult to bake and do some things.

So I'm gonna get this picked up and I'm gonna have you gather some materials that we can follow along together and do some amazing science in the kitchen.

Let's get cooking.

- Having fun in the kitchen and making a mess?

Chemistry cooking is simply the best.

For today's experiment, (upbeat synth music) you'll want to grab the following items to make your noodles, worms, and spheres: Food-grade sodium alginate powder, food-grade calcium chloride, two mixing bowls, distilled water or tap water, food coloring or Kool-Aid, a syringe or squeeze bottle, a whisk or blender, measuring spoons, and don't forget your terrifically tasty science notebook.

Or should I say science cookbook?

- A science notebook is a tool that every scientist should have because it gives us a place to record all of our learning.

Taking notes and being organized allows us to be better scientists.

A science notebook allows us to go back and review all of the data and information we've gathered during our experiments.

Plus, it allows us to share results with other scientists who might be interested in learning more about what we've discovered.

Whenever you see the notebook pop up on a screen, like this, (notebook icon jingles) it's a reminder that this is a good place for us to jot down new information during the show.

I've already added a title and the list of materials for today's activity, but our crew is still going to have lots of information to collect and organize as we go through our experiments.

Most importantly, the more you use a science notebook, the better you'll get at taking notes and recording data.

If you don't have a science notebook already, download a copy of Mister C's science notebook from the website.

- Calories.

Calories?

Calories!

(upbeat music) When we think of the word calories, we often think of food and wonder how many calories are in a cookie?

How many calories are in a soda?

How much would I need to exercise to burn off those calories?

And honestly, many of us just wonder, what does the word calorie actually mean?

We have to fuel our bodies.

That means we need to take in as much energy as we use.

We lose energy when we talk, walk, think, and do science.

Calories are a way of keeping track of our body's energy budget because our bodies need a basic number of calories to function.

On average, adult men need 2,500 calories per day.

Adult women need an average of 2,000 calories per day, and kids need anywhere in between 1,000 and 3,200 calories per day.

So how do we measure a calorie?

One calorie, like the kind we measure in food, also known as a large calorie, is defined as the amount of energy it would take to raise one kilogram of water one degree Celsius.

All foods have calories, and that energy is stored in chemical bonds.

The average calorie count for an orange is roughly 65 calories.

For a chocolate cookie, maybe around 200 calories.

For a piece of chicken, it's 150 calories.

The calories represent the stored energy within the food.

When we eat these items, our body breaks down the stored energy and uses it to fuel basic functions and physical activity.

Go ahead, eat something.

Get that energy so you can do more science.

Are you ready to make something ooey-gooey, sticky, yummy, tasty, and possibly even messy?

(crowd cheering) Me too.

We're using molecular gastronomy to have some fun today to make spheres and worms.

First things first, we're going to measure out five grams of sodium alginate to mix with our one liter of water.

(light electronic music) There we go.

And for this experiment, we'll also need five grams of calcium chloride.

Oh, too much.

(graphic bleeps) Five grams.

I'm gonna get some of these things out of the way so we have more space to work.

(bell pings) First, we're gonna make our sodium alginate mixture.

I'm gonna use this blender.

You can use a whisk or a frother, whatever you have available at home, it'll work.

I'm gonna put roughly one liter of water.

It's technically about 900 milliliters.

And then I'm going to mix my sodium alginate in there.

I'm going to use the blender to mix it up really well 'cause we want it really smooth.

(blender whirring) (upbeat music continues) (notebook icon jingles) And as you can see, it's blended really well.

The problem though is I've aerated the solution dramatically.

So it's gonna take a little while for it to settle and to clear up.

But now that we have that, we need our bath, which means we need to do another mixture.

And I'm gonna do roughly a thousand milliliters or a liter.

Perfect.

And I'm going to mix in my calcium chloride.

We'll stir this until it's all dissolved and clears up.

(graphic bleeps) (stirrer tapping) All right, you can see it's already starting to clear up.

So what I'm going to do is bring over another little tub or a mixing bowl, and I'm gonna pour that in here.

And actually, this is a bigger bowl than I thought, so I'm going to make another batch of liquid because I want this nice and full so that we can have fun making spheres, worms, and all sorts of other shapes.

And now I need to replace this with some clear sodium alginate that's allowed all of the air to sort of dissolve and it'll be semi-clear now.

(graphic bleeps) And here I have the clear settled sodium alginate.

Isn't that beautiful?

And this has been sitting for about 45 minutes.

Now, we want to add some color to our sodium alginate solution here.

So I'm gonna put a few drops of food coloring in.

And I'm actually gonna put gloves on because I want to make sure my little thingies don't turn green.

(fingers tinkling) Yeah.

Oh, that looks so cool already.

And now we're going to put this into a large syringe.

That is so cool.

They're little teeny tiny spheres.

I'm gonna grab a spoon so we can get them out.

There you go.

You can see it right there.

Look at that little sphere.

Isn't that cool?

The sodium alginate is derived from seaweed and it's a thickener.

So the instant that this hits the calcium chloride mixture, it polymerizes.

And basically we get a polymer.

That's what this is.

Now we can actually take this and we can just pour in a little bit more.

I'm just gonna put it down in just a big clump.

What's fascinating about this is that the outside edge that touches the liquid turns into a polymer.

So we have this huge chain of molecules and I can pick it up.

Look at that.

And where it ripped right there, where it's kind of gooey.

Boop, I just plop it in and it'll basically polymerize again.

And what's really cool about this is you can eat it.

Now.

It doesn't taste like anything.

(graphic bleeps) Look at that.

It is mesmerizing.

And now it's only been in there just for a moment.

I can literally pull it out.

Look at this.

Oh, you have to give this a try.

Make a batch of sodium alginate and then dump it into the calcium chloride and make yourself a polymer that you can have fun with and play with.

And literally you can eat it.

So weird.

- Homemade popcorn is a fun way to explore physical changes in the kitchen.

Let's pop to it.

(upbeat music) (items clunking, whooshing) Place a pot on medium heat and add two to three tablespoons of canola oil.

Wait until the oil has heated a bit, and then add two to three test kernels.

Once the test kernels pop, the oil is hot enough to make your batch of popcorn.

(kernel popping) - Whoa!

- Carefully add one half of a cup of kernels to your pot and swirl the pot to coat the kernels with oil.

Once they are heated enough, the water inside the kernel turns to steam, building immense pressure until the hole ruptures, causing the kernel to explode.

Their insides burst out, transforming the soft starch into the fluffy popcorn we all love to eat.

Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.

- It's still popping.

(Mister C laughs) (kernels pinging) It's just popping everywhere.

That's so awesome.

Mm, popcorn.

Career Connections.

(air horn blasts) (soft ambient music) - I'm Paula Ray.

I am at the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen.

I'm employed by the Center for Innovative Food Technology.

And we have two kitchens: a general kitchen and a processing kitchen.

My goal here primarily is to run this kitchen, and I work with entrepreneurs (notebook icon jingles) that have an idea that they want to take to the market.

In the process space, I'm actually hands-on with them, but I teach them how to run the machinery, to set different parameters on it that's gonna help them with their product.

I work with them the whole time.

So I'm like, out here with them, just going through all of the steps.

From cooking your product, getting it up to whatever your temperature, your process authority letter is, to filling it, to capping it, and getting your coat on properly, and just all the way down the line.

(machinery whirs) (bottles clinking) This is a cobot.

As you can see, it's automated.

It's using a stirrer, a paddle.

(graphic bleeps) We have just water in there just as a sample.

So this kind of frees up one person that's in here working to go and do other things.

Safety is such an important piece because it's all part of being a commercial facility.

If we did not follow all the regulations and keep everything up to code and spec, we would be closed down.

And the part of that is, it's like we have 30-some tenants that are processing here, and I think we have 20 more companies that are onboarding.

So what we do here is huge.

And food safety is part of it.

Before I start setting the machinery up, we need to wash our hands.

You need to get any bacteria, bacteria, or anything that's on your hands, dirt, up to your forearms.

You don't want to transfer anything from you personally onto the machines when we're putting it together.

So that's very important.

Literally put your hands in.

It rinses, it washes, and all in like, I think 10 seconds.

- Oh, that's so weird.

That is cool.

(rinser whirring) Oh, it has a smell too.

- It's a sanitizer and soap.

Okay.

It's your business.

You know, it's your company, but we are here to help.

We have lots of good resources, so take advantage of that.

And if you have anything that, you know, that you need that we're not doing, we're open to that also.

- I love baking.

Why don't we try making a delicious brownie and a mug?

- Brownies!

(laughs) - Grab yourself a 10-ounce mug to mix everything.

Add three tablespoons of flour, two tablespoons of cocoa powder, one teaspoon of baking soda, and a pinch of salt.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Next, add three tablespoons of milk or a milk substitute.

One and a half tablespoons of vegetable oil.

One and a half tablespoons of maple syrup or honey.

And one fourth teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Mix all the ingredients until they are consistent.

To make it extra chocolatey, add a few pieces of your favorite chocolate to the center.

Microwave for 80 seconds or until it's cooked.

(microwave whirs) - Oh my gosh.

(chime bleeps) - Once it's cooled off, take a spoon and dig into your mug.

You'll notice the big pieces of chocolate went through a physical change and melted.

- That's good.

- And the brownie underwent a chemical change and transformed into a fluffy, soft sponge.

- [Mister C] Mm.

(screen wipe blips) - Let me tell you a secret.

- [Crowd] Ooh!

- There's a mystery happening in your kitchen and you might not even know about it.

(crowd gasps) Those bananas on the counter aren't what you think they are.

Bananas are actually berries according to plant science.

- Banana?

(telephone ringing) Barry.

You in there?

(Barry gibbering) Yeah, we're gonna cut it up and see what's going on inside.

Let's do it.

(Barry gibbers) - We usually think of berries as tiny fruits, like strawberries and raspberries.

But that's not actually scientifically accurate.

The scientific definition for a berry is a slushy fruit with many seeds inside soft, fruity layers.

A fruit is only a berry if it comes from one single part of a flower called an ovary.

Their teeny, tiny seeds are almost hidden inside the fruit.

You might not even notice them, but there they are.

These crazy bananas are actually berries.

So the next time you have a fruity snack, you can think, "That's bananas!"

Wait a second.

You should probably say... - That's berries.

- Oh my goodness!

- For this next activity, we're talking about emulsification.

That's right, emulsification.

What is it?

We'll get to that in just a moment.

But for now, I need to finish up this delicious science that I created.

This mayonnaise is delicious.

Mm!

Let me finish this and we'll do our next activity.

(bell dings) That mayo was delicious, and I'm gonna talk to you about how we made it in just a moment.

But first, look at this.

This is oil.

And if I mix some water in there with that oil, you can see that the water doesn't mix with the oil.

In fact, I can agitate it really, really good, and it looks like it's trying to mix.

But realistically, when I stop, it's going to eventually separate.

And once again, it's just going to be water and oil.

Now, that is what's happening over here with this vinegarette dressing.

And it's been sitting in this jar, and you can see that it's beginning to separate.

You can see the garlic, the pepper, the oil.

Here it is.

And if I want it to be mixed up before I use it on my salad, this is what I have to do.

(vinegarette sloshing vigorously) And now it's mixed up, and I can pour it on my salad, eat my salad, and enjoy a meal.

The thing is, this is going to separate again, but I would like to try to make a recipe that doesn't separate, or it uses a different recipe with different ingredients.

Let's give it a try and let's talk about what's going on.

First, we're going to take a cup of oil, pour it in.

And the recipe calls for three parts oil to one part vinegar of your choice.

I'm gonna do a third cup.

And as you can see, once again, just like the water and the oil, this doesn't want to mix either.

Now, here's the thing.

I can agitate it and do all those things, but instead I'm going to add some mustard.

Now, this is yellow mustard.

This is the recipe that one of our crew members gave us.

And I'm going to put this into this mixture to see what it tastes like.

(graphic bleeps) Whew, that is strong.

Oh-ho, that mustard is strong.

We're gonna do one tablespoon of mustard.

(nozzle squelching air) (Mister C laughs) (mustard splatters) There we go.

We're gonna pour that in.

And lastly, we're gonna do a teaspoon of salt.

And we're gonna mix it.

(mixture sloshing) Can you tell the difference between that and this?

This one is already starting to separate, but in this recipe, the mustard acts like a binder.

It is an emulsifier.

This is an example of emulsification.

We have the fat, the oil, plus the water.

Well, the vinegar, the liquid, plus the mustard, the emulsifier, and agitation gives us emulsification.

(voice slows, deepens) Emulsification.

And that's what's so cool about this.

You can make your own thing, and you can see that it's not separating the same way that this is separating.

Now I know what you're thinking.

"Mister C, what about that delicious mayo you were making?"

Well, we're gonna make that recipe as well because that also uses... (voice deepens) an emulsifier.

But this time, instead of the mustard, we're going to use an egg as the emulsifier.

The egg yolk has lecithin in it.

The mustard is mucilage.

These two things are the emulsifiers which allow things to bind with one another.

So in our mayo that we're about to make and maybe devour again, we're going to use an egg, some lemon juice, and some oil.

First thing, you're gonna crack an egg.

(egg tapping) This egg has been sitting at room temperature.

We want it warm.

We don't want to use a cold egg for this.

And then I'm going to take a cup of oil, pour it in.

And I'm also going to, for this one, use half a tablespoon of lemon juice.

And now I'm going to grab my immersion blender, cover up the egg, and I'm gonna start it.

Egg yolk is going to bind it together to create a fluffy mayonnaise.

(notebook icon jingles) (blender whining) Now I forgot, you can add a little pinch of salt.

Boop!

(chuckles) (blender whirring, grinding) (mixture gurgling) And the coolest part is you have your own homemade mayo.

Now I ate a batch of this earlier, so I'm probably not going to eat this whole jar right now, but your homemade mayo is delish.

Give it a try.

Emulsification.

Such a fun way to use science in the kitchen to combine things that otherwise would not want to hang out and be combined with one another.

- Would a donut be as tasty if it had any other shape?

(bright music) Evidence of fried dough foods have been found as far back as pre-historic Native American settlements.

Even ancient Romans and Greeks were known to enjoy sweetened fried doughs.

The problem was that frying brown balls of dough often meant that the middle of these treats stayed gooey while the outsides cooked too fast.

Uh-oh, a little science to the rescue.

The circular shape of a modern donut solves the problem.

Punching a hole in the middle allows hot oil to heat the dough evenly.

Who knew that subtracting could add up to something so delicious?

- The team sure was cooking up some seriously delicious science today.

I think my favorite activity would have to be the molecular gastronomy.

It was so much fun seeing those worms and spheres form as they contacted the solution.

It was like magic.

But we all know it's just science.

Speaking of making things, you should go to the grocery store with a crew member and gather the ingredients to make your own salad dressing.

Or maybe try making whipped cream.

Try making your own recipes and experiment to see what sort of delicious foods you could cook up in your kitchen.

- Make your own whipped cream at home.

It's super simple with these ingredients.

Measure one cup of cold, heavy whipping cream into a tall glass or mixing bowl.

Add one third cup of powdered sugar to the cream and a half a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Take an immersion blender and place it into the cup and turn it on high.

(blender whirring) This process will go very quickly.

And before you know it, you'll have the perfect DIY whipped cream.

Move your whipped cream into another bowl and test it.

Mm, that's good.

Then test it some more.

Oh, that's really good.

Or you can actually consider sharing this delicious topping with a crew member.

You got to make some of this stuff.

You want a bite?

- Ooh, yes, that looks delicious, Mister C. But you know the sugar fries my circuits.

Plus, that whipped cream looks pretty familiar.

It looks just like the mayonnaise you had earlier.

Let's roll back the footage.

(videotape warbling) Mister C actually used yellow food coloring to make his whipped cream look like mayonnaise.

It looks like he was eating way more mayonnaise than should be humanly possible.

- That looks like mayo, right?

Mm.

- Sometimes in movies or on television shows, food props are used in place of actual food items.

What may look like syrup could actually be glue, used so that it doesn't absorb into the food that it's on.

Or ice cubes could be made from clear rocks so that they don't melt while capturing lots of takes.

Mister C did the same thing with his whipped cream.

That's pretty tricky, Mister C. Whoa.

Slow down, Mister C. That's still a lot of whipped cream.

- It's a lot.

- You're gonna get a tummy ache.

- This mayonnaise is delicious.

Mm!

What an awesome day cooking up science with all of you at home.

We did some cool stuff today.

We talked emulsification.

We made mayo.

(mayo plops) (laughs) We made some salad dressing.

Look at that.

It's all mixed together.

We also had and talked about popcorn and how the steam inside (chime pings) makes it perfecto to munch on for a great quality snack.

And we also talked about making gel worms.

These polymer worms are so cool, through molecular gastronomy.

Whoop, whoop, whoop!

Awesome.

But before I try this in our last batch here, I want to remind you, hop online and download your "DIY Science Time" notebook.

You can get it, put all your information for all of your recipes or your experiments, and it's a great place to keep track of all of that so you can go back and look at things once you've actually completed them.

So are you ready?

This is cherry flavored.

And I am going to squeeze this in, in three, two, one... Boom.

(crowd yelling and whooping) Before I take out this polymer, I want to remind you, keep learning, keep exploring, keep having fun, and remember that science is wherever you are.

Keep cooking, everybody.

Oh, look at that.

(upbeat synth music) I'm gonna be like, la la la la.

♪ It's science time ♪ - Oh, no.

It's all over.

I'm getting water on my notebook.

No!

♪ It's science time ♪ - No water on the notebook.

First, we're gonna make our... (flaps lips) Oh my gosh.

It's exactly the same color.

It's exactly the same color.

(banana clatters) ♪ It's science time ♪ - Whoo, whoo, whoo!

♪ It's so much fun ♪ (Mister C growling) ♪ Everyone ♪ - Shh!

♪ It's science time ♪ - Don't tell anybody I'm eating a jar of mayo.

(laughs)