Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Ask Dr. Universe Food Science

Dr. Universe: What’s the purpose of baking soda? What’s the purpose of baking powder? What’s the difference between the two? - Kyle, 9, Florida

When I got your question, I headed straight to my kitchen cabinet. I grabbed some baking soda and baking powder from the shelf and made some observations. Not only did the baking soda and baking powder look similar to one another but both contained an ingredient called sodium bicarbonate. Read More ...

Dear Dr. Universe: Why do some cheeses stink? – Cody, 11

When you take a whiff of stinky cheese, that smell is coming from one of its very important ingredients: microorganisms. Microorganisms are so small, you’d need a microscope to see them, but sometimes they give off a big stink. To find out more about stinky cheese, I talked to my friend Minto Michael. Michael is a professor of dairy science at Washington State University and told me microorganisms do a few different jobs to help make cheese. Read More ...

Dr. Universe: How do you make cider? -Julianna, 7

We can make cider with juice from apples. There are many different kinds of apples and a few different ways to squeeze out the juice. My friend Bri Valliere told me all about it. She’s a food scientist at Washington State University who knows a lot about cider. The first step is to pick out the apples. Honeycrisp apples will make a sweet cider. Granny Smiths are more acidic and will make a tart cider. “We could make a single batch of one kind, or we could mix different kinds of apples together and see how it turns out,” she said. “No matter what, it’s going to taste good.” Read More ...

Why do I like buffalo wings and not broccoli? - Joe, 10, New York City, NY

Dear Joe,

You’re not alone—cats don’t like broccoli much either. As a carnivore, I think a nice, meaty buffalo wing sounds great.

But humans are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and meat. They’ve developed a taste for all kinds of things growing and living all over the world. So where do individual people’s preferences come from?

To find out, I visited Carolyn Ross, a professor of Food Science at Washington State University. Like you, she is very curious about why people like the foods they like.

Read More ...

Hi, Dr. Universe! When I was eating breakfast today, I came up with this question. Why does crispy rice make a popping sound when I pour milk over it? It makes me curious as a cat! -Allison, 11, Pullman, WA

Dear Allison,

My ears perked right up when I got your question. Like you, I’ve heard the sounds crispy rice cereal makes. But the truth is, I wasn’t entirely sure why it happens. There was only one way to find out.

Read More ...