Chemistry students compete in cook-off

Winners Kortney Lynum and Dresean Borders  in their kitchen chemistry class at Heights High.

Zach Tracy’s chemistry class is cookin’!

He teaches chemistry concepts through the lens of cooking. “It’s kitchen chemistry,” said Tracy. On Oct. 10, he hosted the first annual Chicken Breast Top Chef Challenge in his fifth- and sixth-period chemistry classes.

Part of the assignment was to test the effectiveness of brining chicken, the practice of soaking meat in salt water. The students researched how to prepare brining solutions at known concentrations and how brining times affect water retention in the chicken.

Each team used its own combinations of brining time, rubs and sauces. Some teams mixed spices in the brining solutions while others used rubs after the brining. 

Part of the scoring was based on the team’s knowledge of the chemistry behind the brining process. “The salt solution expands the muscle fibers, allowing the water to enter the cells and making the meat juicy,” said winning team member Dresean Borders. 

The winners, based on chicken tenderness and flavor, and student knowledge of brining chemistry, were Shontare Manning, Kimberly Thomas and Daria Germany in fifth period, and Dresean Borders and Kortney Lynum in sixth period. 

The judges included school administrators and teachers.