As everyone knows by now, I do not enjoy cooking. I am a food scientist and I love food, but I do not have the patience or the willingness to spend my day in the kitchen. With that said, I know that technique/methodology is key to making some good food. When I was a professor in academia, I taught all about the science of poultry meat and eggs. To entice students to learn to cook as well as to teach them a valuable food science lesson, we always made angel food cakes. It was one of the best labs because we always ate very well that day. Angel food cakes topped with strawberries and whipped cream — Yum!

The treatments we used in lab were always developed to teach lessons on methodology. For example, we always made two good angel food cakes, then we added treatments which included over beating, under beating, not adding enough sugar, and yolk contaminated (1-2 drops). It was not very hard to identify the treatments after the cakes were cooked. The only ones that were eaten in full were the angel food cakes made with the correct methodology. In just about every lab report, the conclusions were always based on the lesson that methodology is critical to ensuring a consistent and good result.

The entire point of having hands-on labs like this one was to learn lessons that can stay with us for life. Whether it be cooking at home, working in a lab setting, conducting a biomapping, or just diluting weed and feed on a weekend, methodology matters. Methodology is what decides accuracy and precision. Methodology defines whether you hit the success or the failure button.

I have left my academic job in the past, but I still use this platform in my work and personal world today. Probably one of the biggest topics of discussion that I have today is around methodology. There are so many ways to test for pathogens and so many ways to conduct biomapping. But the most important component is consistency and paying attention to methodology, both when sampling in plant as well as in the lab. Different results can mean differences in methodology or it can mean differences in actual values. Ensuring consist methodology takes the guessing out of the equation and provides confidence in decision-making. How many of us really pay attention and ask the right questions around methodology and not just end results?

With that said, knowing and understanding methodology allows us to ensure proper comparisons and discussions around data. We cannot directly compare data obtained from different methodologies. Asking the right questions about sampling methodology, lab methodology and analysis methodology is critical to understanding the pitfalls and limitations of all data. Y’all have heard me say that data tells the story, but the accuracy of that story lies in the methodology.

Growing up, there was one thing I loved to eat: Tea cookies. There is nothing better than dipping cookies in some hot tea for breakfast. My mom’s tea cookies are the best. My mom shared the recipe and I tried to recreate them for a long time without success. Until finally I went home, and my mom made them with me. Ah-ha moment! My methodology was wrong — I didn’t handle the dough correctly. Simple concept, yet it changed the entire cookie texture. It was a valuable lesson. Don’t overlook and underestimate the importance of methodology when it comes to food safety or quality. Methodology matters.

There’s a madness to the method

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