Milk and cookies go together like peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper. According to scientists, there is a right way and wrong way to dunk a cookie in milk. In 1998 a scientist at the University of Bristol in the U.K., developed the ideal method for dunking a British biscuit (aka a cookie) into a drink, using the concept of capillary action (the way fluids move spontaneously through small tubes in porous materials) and Washburn’s Equation, which describes the journey. It was determined that the typical British biscuit is best dunked for 3.5 to 5 seconds. Using this same technique in 2016, scientists at the University of Utah’s Splash Lab determined the perfect dunk time for the much-loved Oreo. Although the amount of time to perfection depends on preferred sogginess levels and milk fat content, the Utah researchers determined that 3 seconds was enough to thoroughly saturate the Oreo without losing structural integrity.
One of the many questions for new Olson Orthodontics patients is can I eat Oreos with braces? While you generally should consider avoiding Oreos with braces because these beloved cookies are too hard, dunking the cookie in milk is an easy trick that’ll make it possible! Just remember Oreo’s are sugary treats. Be sure to brush to keep those brackets and teeth clean, following a delightfully perfect 3 second- Oreo milk-dunked snack!