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This is incredibly confusing: 37% of what? By mass or by volume? The answer about even distribution pre-supposes physical dispersion characteristics, but does

by 001sky 13y ago

This is incredibly confusing: 37% of what? By mass or by volume? The answer about even distribution pre-supposes physical dispersion characteristics, but does not mention which measure of proportion is relevant (it would seem volume); nor any means of reliable testing. As another commenter has aluded, the "100% chocolate%" concept (even for the chocolate) is also at best inaccurate. So, this looks to be more of a coincidental alignemnet of numbers, and a game of causation/correlation. To wit: A cookie with 37% by volume of 72% chocolate is in no way the same cookie as one with 37% by mass of 40% milk chocolate. Either by taste, consistency, or chemistry. So, i would think any proper answer for this question would need to be robust the these particulars.

tpurves 13y ago
I read the hypothesis as relating the appearance of the cookie. That is the proportionate ratio of visible chocolate to dough on the surface of the cookie as it relates to the maximizing the visual appeal of the cookie on product packaging. So we are talking about "perceived" cookie quality based on visible surface area of chocolate. Now in this case, what I think is happening here is that we are observing a simple case of the golden ratio. Humans, consistently and subconsciously see distributions of ~38% to be harmonious (sometimes crudely approximated as the rule of thirds). Therefore it stands to reason that this "golden mean" ratio of visible chocolate creates the most visibly appealing image. With the cooperation of a chocolate chip packaging manufacturer or online retailer we could test this. Simply conduct some extensive A/B testing of chip packaging that varies only by ratio of visible chocolate. And see if the golden mean comes out best. However, I suspect this testing has already been done. As for the best tasting ratios of all ingredients (including chocolate) in a chocolate chip cookie, fortunately, significant research in this area has recently been published. You may have seen this link from the food lab: http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/12/the-food-lab-the-best-chocolate-chip-cookies.html http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/12/the-food-lab-the-best-...
- 001sky 13y ago
  > great article.

by 001sky 13y ago

tpurves 13y ago

I read the hypothesis as relating the appearance of the cookie. That is the proportionate ratio of visible chocolate to dough on the surface of the cookie as it relates to the maximizing the visual appeal of the cookie on product packaging. So we are talking about "perceived" cookie quality based on visible surface area of chocolate. Now in this case, what I think is happening here is that we are observing a simple case of the golden ratio. Humans, consistently and subconsciously see distributions of ~38% to be harmonious (sometimes crudely approximated as the rule of thirds). Therefore it stands to reason that this "golden mean" ratio of visible chocolate creates the most visibly appealing image. With the cooperation of a chocolate chip packaging manufacturer or online retailer we could test this. Simply conduct some extensive A/B testing of chip packaging that varies only by ratio of visible chocolate. And see if the golden mean comes out best. However, I suspect this testing has already been done. As for the best tasting ratios of all ingredients (including chocolate) in a chocolate chip cookie, fortunately, significant research in this area has recently been published. You may have seen this link from the food lab: http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/12/the-food-lab-the-best-chocolate-chip-cookies.html http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/12/the-food-lab-the-best-...

001sky 13y ago
> great article.