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Food Science Science Fair Project

Ground Beef Doneness and Cooking Yield

Medium
Ground Beef Doneness and Cooking Yield | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
How much weight does a hamburger patty lose between medium and well-done? Cooking drives out moisture and melts fat. The amount lost depends on the fat content and how long you cook it. You shape 120-gram patties from regular and low-fat ground beef. You broil each patty to either medium or well-done and weigh it right after cooking. Then you calculate the yield as a percentage of the starting weight. A second experiment adds cooked wild rice to ground beef patties and compares the yield to plain beef. The data reveals how fat level and doneness and added grains each affect the final weight of cooked meat.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that the fat level and doneness of the ground beef, as well as the addition of wild rice, will affect the yield and composition of the cooked meat.

Method & Materials

You will shape ground beef into patties, cook them to different levels of doneness, and add wild rice to some of the patties.
You will need ground beef, wild rice, a broiler pan, aluminum foil, and a thermometer.

Results

The results of this experiment show that the fat level and doneness of the ground beef, as well as the addition of wild rice, affect the yield and composition of the cooked meat. The most interesting observation was that the addition of wild rice to the ground beef resulted in a higher yield.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting and unique because it explores the effects of different cooking methods and ingredients on the yield and composition of cooked meat.

Also Consider

Experiment variations to consider include using different types of meat, such as chicken or pork, and adding different types of grains, such as quinoa or barley.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.

Related video

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