When it comes to desserts, people have divisive views, especially on chocolate ones like brownies. Some people prefer their brownies to have a fudgy texture with chewy edges where the batter meets the pan, while others are not big fans of the crisp edges and prefer the soft center. Shane Wighton, the engineer behind the YouTube channel Stuff Made Here, dislikes the overcooked edges. So he decided to find a way to make brownies evenly cooked, resulting in a soft center throughout. The answer: cook them inside out. But how?
Let’s understand the science first: the edges of the pan, and thus the edges of the brownie batter inside, heat first, with heat gradually flowing to the center of the batter. This uneven cooking process makes the edges of the brownie slightly chewy compared to the soft middle.
Wighton sought to redefine the heat distribution with a clever design and precise engineering. He turns good ol’ brownies into a mechanical marvel by baking them inside out by creating special tins. He starts with a tiny sphere to remove the edges altogether, the result of which tasted pretty cake-like to his wife, whom he calls the ‘brownie expert.’ While the concept of the cornerless brownie was a good one, the spherical design was flawed.
Then, Wighton decided to introduce aluminum spikes into the batter for better heat conduction. He created a small, personal-sized pan with removable tapered spikes. This pan cooked the brownies to perfection, but there were still some edges.
Also Read: Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Returns to Fall Menu on August 26
Next, he designed and made a full-size pan with 272 retractable aluminum spikes. The design had a lever mechanism to retract the spikes after baking, leaving the brownie slab edge free. The result was a fudgy brownie without any crispy corners, which scored a 10/10 with his wife.
Creating this mechanical marvel came easily to Wighton thanks to his background in engineering and a plethora of tools at his home. Unless you have the same prowess, we advise you to share the crispy edges with someone who enjoys them, while you savor the soft centers of the brownie.
