Chillicothe, MO is known as the town where sliced bread was invented!  Recently the Chillicothe Missouri High School Family & Consumer Sciences bakers honed in on another national challenge!  Americans LOVE mug cakes, muffins and meals. But  when are they “done” and safe to eat instead of gooey or half-raw? 

“We’ve learned flour is a “raw” ingredient” like eggs, and not okay to eat,” says FCS veteran teacher and baker Connie Nieman.   “But mugs come in every size and shape and the end result can be barely cooked batter or dough. That’s inviting food borne illness for the home baker.”

So Hornet bakers, using the Home Baking Association’s lesson – Blueberry Mug Muffins, began testing how long to microwave the mug muffin to achieve the internal “doneness” recommended for muffins, a quick bread.  (200-209°F).  They used different mugs- a variable—and compared size of mugs and variations they observed.

Teacher Connie Nieman’s observations include  “I really liked this lab. This was my students first lab of the semester and it gave them a great chance to apply food safety steps and take internal temperatures of baked and cooked products. 

For consistent temping, we all used the Thermopop® digital thermometer, (photo with red Thermopops)—in Hornet RED of course!  We also viewed a short video, Quality Baking Temperatures they offer.

Students observed the following:

1.  When the mugs were not the same size of thickness, cooking times varied to achieve the target internal doneness temp- 200-209°F.

2.  Some of the muffins said 190-200° F. temperature but still had gooey batter in the bottom and some on sides.  Shape of mug might have affected this. 

3.  These are huge muffins and could easily be split with 2-3 students

4.  We made one with a gluten-free flour blend and it turned out fantastic. 

Photo: girl testing mug muffin to 203°F. 

A couple of Red Hornet baker tips:  

1- If possible use mugs that hold about 14-oz and are straight-sided–not mugs that curve on the bottom—for best results!   

2- Baking food safety 1-2-3:  If flour, eggs, mixes and batter are all baked until done at center and bottom of the mug (200-209°F),  the raw ingredient spills are cleaned up, and tools, counters and hands are washed before eating it really decreases the chance of anyone getting a food borne illness.  

Tasting raw batter and dough are just not worth it if you end up in the ER! 
Don’t miss more great Mug Cakes and Meals Recipes with Chef Gemma, Bigger Bolder Baking! ‘