|
Food Tricks, get your kicks! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Knight Ridder
|
|
Wednesday, 28 June 2006 |
|
|
|
|
You’ve seen the Diet Coke fountains. (If not, pull your head out of the sand and
turn on the computer, if you’ve got one.)
Grub isn’t just for grubbin’ — it’s for playin’, too. So stick the wrapped cheese on the barbie and the grapes in the microwave, it’s time to...
Warning: Do not try these food tricks at home. You could get burned, soaked or poked in the eye with — aw, whatever.
EXPERIMENT NO. 1
 Mentos & Diet Coke
About three to six Mentos mints were dropped rapidly into 2-liter plastic bottles of Diet Coke, regular Coke and Diet Pepsi by Abraha and fraternity brothers Chris Henderson and LaMar Smith. The technique, as perfected by Abraha, is to slide in the Mentos and run. The pop erupted almost immediately into geysers that shot about 4 to 10 feet into the air.
Precautions: This is an outdoor trick for those fleet of foot, wearing old clothes.
Results: The Diet Coke created the biggest geysers, followed by the Diet Pepsi and the regular Coke.
Explanation: Although Mentos have become the catalyst of choice, almost any object will create a foamy reaction when dropped into almost any type of carbonated beverage.
The scientific explanation is that craggy-surfaced Mentos candies help release the carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the pop. The carbon dioxide normally remains dissolved in the liquid.
EXPERIMENT NO. 2
 Cheese Racing
The frat guys took to the sport of cheese racing, a goofy Internet-fueled pastime that began in Great Britain. Participants toss plastic-wrapped slices of American cheese onto a hot barbecue grill. The cheese melts but the plastic does not. Slowly, the plastic sleeves inflate into fat little pillows. The person with the first fully inflated cheese sleeve is the winner.
Precaution: Don’t grab the hot packet with your hands. Duh.
Explanation: The cheese absorbs the heat faster than the plastic, so the cheese melts but the plastic doesn’t, said Manfred Kroger, professor of food science emeritus at Penn State University. The cheese emits gas as it turns from solid to liquid, blowing up the sealed plastic wrapper.
EXPERIMENT NO. 3
 Torch a Pop-Tart?
Can you catch a Pop-Tart on fire by overheating it in a toaster? A strawberry Pop-Tart was placed in a cheap toaster plugged into an outdoor fixture in the fraternity house parking lot. The lever was forcibly depressed for about 5 minutes. The pastry smoked but did not burn.
Precautions: Use flame-proof mitts and a toaster you don’t mind ruining. Or better yet, don’t try this at all. It wasn’t very exciting.
Explanation: Pop Tarts are indestructible.
EXPERIMENT NO. 4
 Peep-a-Wave
A 2-month-old marshmallow Peep was placed on a plate and microwaved for about 1 minute. It slumped appealingly and eventually melted.
Precautions: Don’t eat the hot Peep. Don’t use a foam plate, as we did, because the hot marshmallow will bore right through it, leaving your microwave a mess.
Explanation: Marshmallow melts when heated. Slumping Peeps are pretty cool, though.
EXPERIMENT NO. 5
Sparkling Grapes
Cut a green grape in half and place on a paper plate, cut sides up. Microwave on high power for about 30 seconds. The grape may merely lie there, mocking you. Or it may spark dramatically like a Fourth of July sparkler before igniting in a miniature fireball.
Precaution: Don’t arrange the grape cut side down because it won’t work. This experiment did not damage the frat microwave, but we make no guarantees.
Explanation: Neither Kroger nor Wolke knows why grapes and microwaves are such an exciting combination. Wolke says julienned carrots spark in the microwave, too. Kroger says spaghetti sauce explodes in the microwave because it contains sulfur, nitrate and carbon, the three ingredients of gunpowder.
Knight Ridder | Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
