In honor of Thanksgiving, here is activity for exploring the science behind one of the staples of any feast – cranberry sauce!
Thanksgiving is right around the corner. In honor of the holiday, I have decided to include an activity designed to explore the science behind one of the staples of any Thanksgiving feast – cranberry sauce!
Here’s What You Need
- 12 ounces of fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 1/4 of cup water
- Orange rind or orange juice (optional)
Here’s What You Do
Wash the cranberries and pat dry. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine sugar and water. If you like, you can add an orange rind and juice. Cook the mixture over medium hear. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add cranberries to sugar syrup and bring to a boil. Cook the mixture until the cranberry skins start to break or pop (about 1 minute). Remove the cranberries from the heat and pour the mixture into a 3-cup bowl or storage jars with lids to cool. You can store your sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days or in airtight jars in the freezer for up to 3 months. (Leave 1/2-inch space between sauce and jar lid.)
The Science Behind Cranberry Sauce
Making homemade cranberry sauce is a lot of fun and a great way to experiment with the creation of gels. What exactly is a gel? A gel can be thought of as a liquid that acts like a solid. The gel that you are probably most familiar with is Jell-O. The jelly you put on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is also a type of gel. Cranberries and other fruits can be used to make gels and jellies because they contain a gummy substance called pectin. By boiling cranberries in water, we can extract the pectin from them and create a delicious gel known as cranberry sauce!
Fast Fact
Research has ranked the cranberry as number one in antioxidants. A comparison of some of the most common fruits found that the little red berry — in its pure form — contained the highest quantity of disease-fighting phenols, a type of antioxidant that is believed to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart disease.
