As part of our Lakrisal investigation, we enlisted the help of the great Dr. Dina Merrer, associate professor of chemistry at Barnard College. Dr. Merrer is an organic chemist, as opposed to a food chemist, but she helped us learn more about the candy's composition.
Ammonium chloride is a type of salt, and one of the three main ingredients in the super-salty European "candy" known as Lakrisal. It is used in agricultural feed and fertilizer, but also used in labs when chemists need a weak acid to quench reactions or for reduction purposes.
Our goal was to try to figure out how much of this stuff takes up Lakrisal. To do that, we needed to create a control solution to compare it to. Dr. Merrer used a 5% weight volume ammonium chloride solution mixed in water. The most fascinating thing about the control solution (for the non-chemist crowd) was the way we stirred it:
Once the control was set, we tested its pH level using a pH reader. The pH of the standardized solution read 5.13 - a weak, or mild acid. So on the basic pH scale, around here:
Right between urine and coffee - awesome!
Once we had the pH level, it was time to set the test solution. After we weighed the Lakrisal tablet (it clocked in at around 1.59 grams) we crushed the darned thing and diluted it with some water.
And the color turned out to be quite a disgusting surprise:
Next up in our investigation: the big reveal of the Lakrisal pH level, and what that means for our tasting purposes.
Leave a Comment:
The Rachel Maddow Show Science Advisory Board lives!
Only the top photo and first ph test shows up!!?? :- (
What does "a 5% weight volume ammonium chloride solution" mean?
Many kinds of candy (lemon drops and most other fruit flavors) are distinctly acidic, so the pH of your solution may not be controlled by ammonium chloride. A moderately acidic pH is probably normal for candy.
5% w/v means 5 g of solute in 100 mL of solvent.
Vafalls! Det är ju jättegott ju!
pH meters are not at all easy to calibrate. There are quite exact pH papers - and I am not talking about litmus papers - there are just silly. Just a thought. But if you really want to find an exact pH of a solution you need to titrate....that will make your magnetic stirrer look rather elementary!!
Oh Christ, titrations. The memories of high school chem it evokes, of the fatal error of letting the class moron do the titrations while you plead with the other class moron to please stop playing with the hydrochloric acid, yes I know it's a dilution but it'll still burn like a mother so cut it out, stupid, and then turning around to see that your other colleague has spurted all the acid into the beaker and you have to start over.
Titrations, a test of patience and conscientiousness like none other.
Fish Based candy , Ive had some, and I will not ever again!
I think you should spell it "peeH."
Ain't science grand!
I got hooked on salted licorice after a trip to Sweden in the early 80's and bought it from import shops whenever I found it. Nowadays, it seems they've added ammonium chloride to it just like this Lakrisal stuff. It has a distinct, disgusting ammonia aftertaste that makes it taste poisonous. Why did they have to ruin it? Blech!
Lakritsal and Fazer Salmiakki are the best stuff. Yum.
Really salty black licorice is also a Scandanavian favorite.
I'm puzzled. How did this get to be a topic of conversation? I've never even heard of this stuff.
@Lisa, start here. Basically, Vanessa had some in the office. A couple of us tried it. And the rest is science.
For the whole Lakrisal saga:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/lakrisal
These folks eat fermented fish, so what do you expect for dessert? LOL
We used the magnetic stirrers in chem class in 1964. When you need exact measurement, the liquid that sticks to the stirring rod can throw off the calculation. The magnetic stirrer stays in the liquid, so nothing gets removed from the beaker.
I think this is hilariously interesting , so thank you....Anyone who has ever eaten Thia food has probably ingested FISH SAUCE , on its own it is horrifying , but if you ever travel to Thialand , you can see how it is made , in great big open dumpsters on the street , with every kind of the part of the fish that does not get eaten in it , hopfully they have different standards for the commercial stuff they sell , but now I just love the stuff when mixed in the right recipe