Biscuit Appreciation
█ The Biscuit Appreciation Society
http://www.biscuit.org.uk/dunk/index.html
If you enjoy biscuits, this is the website for you. Members of the Biscuit Appreciation Society meet and taste biscuits from all around the world.
The society has become so popular there is a 17-year waiting list to join. The website suggests things you can do in the meantime. You can signup for their mailing list even through you have not yet become a member. The mailing list has up-to-the-minute biscuit news, including the latest information about biscuit baking technologies.
While waiting you also can form your own local biscuit appreciation society — host a local biscuit fete, play biscuit games, or simply enjoy eating biscuits together.
Another thing you can do is start memorizing biscuit recipes.
■ Dunking Instructions
http://www.biscuit.org.uk/dunk/index.html
This website has very useful instructions on how to dunk. I studied these instructions carefully. My dunking experiences have been greatly enhanced.
First you should test to make certain the biscuit fits in the cup. This test should be done before you add any liquid – in effect, make a dry run. If the biscuit doesnÕt fit, then find a bigger cup. After the dry run and before doing it with liquid in the cup, make certain you have placed a saucer under the cup. Then select the liquid, such as tea or coffee with milk, hot chocolate, or just simply hot milk. Lemonade is not recommended.
■ Physics of Dunking
According to the article ÒBiscuit Dunking PhysicsÓ on the website Great Moments in Science, tea or coffee was not always used for dunking biscuits.[1] Tea and coffee did not exist in Roman times. Romans dunked their bis coctum in wine.
Even today, according to research done by Dr. Len Fisher, University of Bristol, tea and coffee are probably not the best for dunking. Milk is better.
In 1998, Dr. Fisher began researching the physics of biscuit dunking. He found that a biscuit consists of dried grains of starch that are glued together with sugar. Liquids cause the grains of starch to swell and soften. Liquids also dissolve the sugar. Eventually the biscuit loses so much of its structural integrity that it collapses under its own weight.
Biscuits get wet because they are porous. They are full of interconnecting hollow channels. When a liquid gets into these channels, capillary action sucks the liquid deeper into the biscuit.
Dr. Fisher used an old equation from 1921, the Washburn Equation,[2] to predict how long it takes for liquid to rise in a biscuit. He made experiments and found that the best dunking time for various biscuits. The best dunking time for a gingernut biscuit is three seconds; for a digestive biscuit, itÕs eight seconds.
In 1999, Dr. Fisher continued his research. This time he delved into which liquid is the best for dunking. This was when, much to his surprise, he found that milk — not tea or coffee — is the best.
As for lemonade, Dr. FisherÕs research confirms that it is the worst drink for dunking. Lemonade causes the biscuitÕs flavor to drop by a factor of ten according to Dr. FisherÕs calculations.
■ National Biscuit Dunking Day?
The concept of a National Biscuit Dunk Day has been raised but no date has been set yet. A web page has been set up where you can vote on this.[3] ItÕs also been proposed that Tea Dunking be an event in the Commonwealth Games.
■ Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down
http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/
This website is very much related to the subject of biscuits. It has information about biscuits. I especially like the websiteÕs biscuit of the week feature. I look forward to it every week.
The websiteÕs mission statement is concise, to the point:
ÒWe should all sit down and have a nice scup of tea, and some biscuits, nice ones mind you.Ó
They have a book that is available through the website:
■ Digestive?
As for the answer to an issue that has been bugging me for years – why are some biscuits called ÒdigestiveÓ biscuits (arenÕt all biscuits supposed to be digestible?), I found the answer on WikipediaÕs website. Digestive biscuits are thought to aid digestion because they contain bicarbonate of soda — an antacid.[4]