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Dunking biscuits in the name of science

David Gregory | 15:32 UK time, Monday, 7 September 2009

biscuits.jpgSo this morning I appeared on ´óÏó´«Ã½ WM to help out with their investigation into what a Worcestershire chef claims is the world's longest-lasting dunkable biscuit. Let's go to .

Now the science of biscuit dunking is well understood thanks to the work of scientist Len Fisher. He even came up with a formula for biscuit dunking. You can read plenty more about him and . But even without using Len's formula the new biscuit stood up well in our tests. Here's a round-by-round breakdown from WM Producer Tim Aviss;

In the first round the Rich Tea came up with a surprise win, beating the Malted Milk. There was also a shock exit for the Bourbon which came a cropper against the Custard Cream. In a heavyweight clash the Hob Nob narrowly defeated the chocolate covered Digestive. And in the final first round match the Ginger Nut failed to live up to high expectations by losing to the Jammie Dodger.

Onto the semi finals which saw the Rich Tea once again defy critics by demolishing the Custard Cream. And the early favourite the Hob Nob bowed out after another strong showing from the Jammie Dodger which went a full 1 minute 10 seconds before crumbling into the tea.

And so onto the big final, which, for the neutral, turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax. The Rich Tea, clearly showing signs of fatigue, managed just a few seconds before taking a tumble leaving the Jammie Dodger Victorious.

Then entered the monster biscuit from Worcester to take on our winner in the Champion of Champions bout. Both the Jammie Dodger and the Worcestershire Feast survived the first dunk, but moments after the second dip in the tea, the Dodger melted away.

So a victory for this new biscuit. But science says it's not how long your biscuit lasts that's important, it's how it tastes.

Biscuits are basically starch held together by sugar. Dunking melts the sugar leading to a more intense sweetness but also leading to disintegration. At the same time the starch grains swell which temporarily helps to hold the dissolving biscuit together. If we return to the work of Len Fisher then his formula gives us the perfect dunk time for major biscuits; 3.5 seconds for hobnobs and ginger nuts and 8 seconds for digestives.

Further research shows you're best to dunk at a very shallow, almost flat, angle and that for the best flavour abandon hot drinks altogether and go for chocolate milk. Let me know how you get on if you decide to do further research yourself.

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