Debunking Pine Needle Soda, a Medical SCAM & flat cookie hacks | How To Cook That Ann Reardon

Debunking fake Tik Tok recipes, a medical scam & hacks to fix flat cookies.
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[@StrongMed]

Ann, thanks so much for the shout-out, and I'm glad you liked the Niceta (woman who faked a brain tumor) video. Your channel rocks! (Though I personally remain a mess in the kitchen.)

[@Greenteabook]

I have so many more questions now, so I'm heading over to watch it right now Who was the reporter confirming the scans with if the Oncologist doesn't exist‽ Why did it take multiple professionals to recognize a Photoshop job I could have done on my phone‽

[@thebeastfromwithin3024]

You did some great investigating.

[@masondegaulle5731]

I believe sentencing for that trial is today, is it not? Update? 😁 Great work persevering to out her clumsy fakery.

[@StrongMed]

@@thebeastfromwithin3024 Thanks!

[@StrongMed]

@@masondegaulle5731 >I believe sentencing for that trial is today, is it not? Update? Her original sentencing hearing was in January, but it got rescheduled due to her attorney become ill immediately beforehand. It was rescheduled for today, and believe or not, it got delayed again because her attorney either got sick again or hasn't yet recovered from the first time around. Personally, it seems suspicious.

[@ctrl-alt-smile]

Hey canadian here, the indigenous people of my area (ojibwe) have been making pine needle soda with white pine for thousands of years! The yeasts on the pine needles depend on the type of pine as well. Because of the different reactions we only used white pine in this area, and because we know the yeast on them is harmless. Please do research before trying this recipe and foraging in your area though! Maybe the folks in your area have their own history with pine needle soda too :)) Edit: I'd like to acknowledge that Ann, as a scientist and content creator with a large platform did not do her due diligence with her experiment or research. Intentions aside, there's a long history which continues to this day that vilinizes indigenous culture including their foods and drinks. I don't believe this was intentional on Ann's part but it's just another way that culture becomes stigmatized.

[@KittySheep]

This is a great contribution! As someone who enjoys researching and experimenting with fermentation, I felt a bit unsettled with what seemed like a bias against home fermentation. Yes, people should do proper diligence finding out the right information, but it's not good to just use a broad sweep to undermine generations of practice and knowledge. I would have been happier if she had just said "I can't guarantee that the correct pine/yeast grow here, so the experiment wouldn't be accurate."

[@SandraNLN]

I grew up in Arizona and the Dine (Navajo) and Hopi peoples used Ponderosa Pine in ALL kinds of things for millennia. Not sure where the miscarriage thing comes from that she mentioned. Plus, I lived in Austria for years and used to drink Zirbenschnapps and elderflower beer/syrup and a LOT of neighbouring countries have their own versions of Pine Schnapps and Pine Soda. I don't get why TikTok makes out trends to be "new" things. It's probably just a tragic result of urbanization that people get out of touch with historical foods and get amazed when they try rustic stuff. Kinda like "homesteading" aka wealthy city folk trying peasant traditions. Can't wait for a "mushroom foraging" trend to pop up and have people getting violently ill because they dont hire a mycologist to come with them and teach them how to tell their local species apart. Definitely gotta just go ask an elderly person if their parents/grandparents used to make something and see how many of these "new" trends are old staples for sure :)

[@isabelleblanchet3694]

From what I've read, pines, fir and spruce are safe to use.

[@Lynthari]

I prefer your comment over her smug and superior attitude. Is seamless like the thing that she's getting from her books and being on the internet a lot is going to her head all of these videos coming out here recently her attitude just has changed she used to be fun and factual now she's got a looking down her noes at people feel.

[@childofcascadia]

@SandraNLN Here too, where I live in the pacific NW, everyone here has made pine tea and pine soda for probably millenia.

[@Adelynoir]

As someone in Korea, we also drink pine needle soda. It is not a health drink, but a cultural food that is part of Korean heritage.

[@starcherry6814]

Yummy

[@wolfforce58205]

If you don't mind me asking, do you know what type of pine is usually used?

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

What on earth is a “cultural food” 🤣 first of all, it’s not food it’s a drink. And secondly, it’s literally a drink. It’s not that serious, Jesus Christ

[@bobblelooble3530]

@@handsoffmycactus2958 cultural foods have attached meaning beyond simply being food. If you’re American then traditional thanksgiving foods like turkey and pumpkin pie would be considered cultural foods. They’re deeply embedded in a cultural event or experience. Chicken soup when you’re sick might qualify too! Or birthday cake.

[@56hatethis]

​@@handsoffmycactus2958 🤡

[@viatrixaoctavius]

About the pine needle drink... It's not a new concept 😛 here in Finland they sell a drink extract made from conifer trees. You can taste the forest! Also tea. 😊

[@hanalexcranealister6799]

Wanna marry me?

[@TheMonime]

In România as well and it's traditionally used in colds and sore throats. It can also be combined with sparkling water, but that is just for the taste. 😁

[@guichabanaano27]

Heh, torille! Mietin ihan samaa. Myös muumithan syövät havunneulasia ennen talviunia😉

[@Twiddle_things]

WTF en oo ikänä kuullu tästä. Minkä nimine se on?

[@viatrixaoctavius]

@@Twiddle_things Havupuu-uutejuoma! Tokmannist saa, terveyskaupoista myös ja joistain isoista S-marketeista ja K-kaupoista! 😁

[@Max-ql2pv]

I'm Canadian, and the pine needle "soda" is what we call "spruce beer" here. It's based in Indigenous knowledge and was drunk often in winter because spruce is very high in vitamin C. Basically it use to save colonizers from scurvy. Contemporary spruce beer/soda tend to add varying amounts of sugar, and imho are very yummy. But lots of people don't like the taste of spruce. It's also sold commercially, so I'd imagine those versions are safe.

[@sweetlorikeet]

Oh 'spruce beer' makes so much more sense to me, that's a much better name.

[@eloisecole3579]

@@sweetlorikeet Bière d'épinette en français.

[@xenialafleur]

I was in scouts in Michigan. We were shown how to make pine needle tea in order to get vitamin C.

[@pyro-millie5533]

I made pine needle tea once after seeing it in Man Vs Wild. Its really good (and very tart).

[@Axecapoeiracomoxvalley]

Thank you for this amazing knowledge!!!! 🙏

[@helgijonsson3537]

Fermentation enthusiast here! The pine needle drink is a kind of wild fermentation. The fact that there are wild yeasts and bacteria in the drink does not necessarily indicate that they are unsafe for consumption. Wild fermentation can be tricky because the results are unpredictable. For anyone who wants to try this at home, here's a couple of tips from someone with several years of homebrewing experience: 1. Don't add too much sugar. There are lots of resources online to figure out how much to add, but as a reference, when I prime a 10 liter batch of beer, I only use about 50-55 grams of sugar which is not a lot. Try a homebrew priming calculator to get the right amount of sugar you need. 2. Try fermenting in a plastic bottle instead of glass. You can squeeze the bottle to feel for the amount of Co2 that has been released. If the bottle is hard, you're in for a fizzy drink. 3. Put the bottle in the fridge about 24 hrs before drinking. One of the reasons the people in the video got these huge geysers of carbonation but then the liquid itself wasn't fizzy at all, is because they didn't chill the drink properly. Chilling the drink makes the liquid re-absorb the Co2 that has been released. This results in a nice overall fizz. It also makes the yeasts and bacteria go dormant and settle at the bottom of the bottle. 4. Don't fill the bottle up all the way! Leave a gap of about 2-3 cm under the cap. If you fill it up all the way, say goodbye to your nice clean kitchen. 5. TRUST YOUR NOSE AND TONGUE. If it smells bad, dump it. If it tastes bad, dump it. If it smells and tastes good, you're probably ok. Our senses are really good at sniffing out bad fermentations. If you get some bad yeast and bacteria in the bottle, you'll know straight away when you smell it. I hope these tips help anyone who wants to try this, or is interested in any sort of homebrewing or fermentation project. Good luck!

[@Pheobus3309]

I really hope that Ann reads this because there's just... I love her, but oof.

[@ogopogo83]

Haha I just wrote a similar comment! Happy to see other homebrewers stepping up to the plate :)

[@wyattwarner2457]

I appreciate this--this is exactly the information I was hoping for when I clicked the video, but came away very disappointed.

[@purplebean8989]

You can't turn pine needles into sprite. People like you are why her channel is so important.

[@christineb8148]

YESSSS ! I said something similar but less detailed. MANY years of fermenting and home brewing (literally) under my belt. Be clean and use your senses and it's a great way to make good products at home!!

[@AvidCat5000]

My grandpa used to ask people if they wanted a "Pine Float". If you answered yes, you would get a toothpick floating on the top of a glass of water. Hilarious, grandpa.

[@ginnii25]

My grandmother said she used to go to a soda shoppe with her friends as a kid and talked about getting Pine Floats there! I thought it was just something silly from that one place - apparently it was a thing?

[@QueenZinnia707]

My dad did that! This video reminded me of his laughing at my shock upon receiving the "Pine Float". Such a dad joke!

[@janemiettinen5176]

This isnt dad humor, this is grandpa humor - perfect!

[@AvidCat5000]

@@ginnii25 he actually was a soda jerk. He had a whole setup from a pharmacy, that was being renovated, installed it, but only the faucet worked. The rest was for show.

[@clpjones1964]

My Mom did that to us when we were kids. (I was under 8) She thought it was hilarious. We didn't. I got her back many years later. (Mac & cheese made with habañero cheese.🙂)

[@amandawayne829]

The pine needle soda is using wild fermentation, and results can very depending on several factors including the naturally occurring organisms in the air and the temperature at which you fermented. More organisms or higher temperature= more fizz. Fermentation is safe and very healthy when done correctly.

[@gargledavid]

@@screamingopossum7809 youre so mad when she literally just said she can't confirm whether it's safe or not, which is true. take a deep breath baby

[@gargledavid]

@@screamingopossum7809 something being cultural doesn't mean it's safe, have a nice meltdown though

[@squares4u]

@@gargledavid it sounds like you’re the one having a meltdown 😬

[@gargledavid]

@@squares4u ok lmao

[@MeeplandHeights]

"when done correctly" the average person is following tiktok videos with zero information and home "fermenting" themselves into botulism. the point is most don't do it correctly, especially the idiots blindly following tiktoks without doing further research

[@greatestbear]

I think Ann's conclusion on the pine needle soda was way too conservative. The Co2 bubble explosion, alcohol reading, and petri dish tests showed a remarkably clean beverage containing just wild yeast. Wild yeast fermentation is a common cultural practice all over the world, and when the results are clean like hers, it's remarkably safe. I don't mind that she chose not to drink it, that's fine. But as an educator and someone people look to as an authority on food, it would have been nice to give viewers a little more context about how common these beverages are and for how long people have been drinking them.

[@cleargreen123456789]

I think she's often very limited when it comes to "cultural foods"

[@ultracapitalistutopia3550]

I still have a dissatisfaction when Ann in her older video called the Dragon Beard Candy "Korean" when it is originated from China and is still commonly available in China today. On the other hand, I think Ann is entitled to be conservative on home fermentation in her video. If someone drank a homebrewed pine soda and got sick, Ann might face undeserved criticism for not discouraging people from consuming it.

[@buddies8154]

Kudos to that doctor for not giving up when everyone else just believed the lies! It's amazing that no one else has picked up on this Ann. Well done for digging up a real medical hero

[@tuomasronnberg5244]

I'm more worried about that oncologist who claimed that the pictures were real, what is that guy doing? It can't be legal.

[@kylebeatty7643]

I watched Dr Stones most recent update the the story is completely wacko

[@HowToCookThat]

@@tuomasronnberg5244 I believe that the phone number supplied for the 'oncologist' was fake!

[@joz534]

I would expect a doctor to be able to tell. What im impressed with is the politician that called the bluff and didn't back down when it became a news story.

[@BoSmith7045]

The whole story is insane on so many levels that I am surprised it hasn't gotten national attention yet.

[@kylehanley5564]

So much respect for changing only one variable during experiments, and your commitment to that. I'm married to a secondary school science teacher and he is in furious agreement! But I'm very sorry for your walls 😂

[@OriLOK2]

Not only that but making multiple cookies per experimental group to account for variation

[@mxttmed]

@@OriLOK2😂e no

[@grantadamson3478]

Ann is a qualified food scientist, I expect she is quite familiar with the correct procedures.

[@johnracine4589]

This is a good way to demonstrate the scientific method to children in a way that they’re familiar.

[@user-lw5bw1fy2r]

I really wanna know the cookies recipe)

[@MemeMan42069]

14:40 keep in mind some species of pine have needles that are poisonous so check what type of pine you're getting the needles from and if its poisonous.

[@curlzOdoom]

While conifers can be poisonous, I don't believe any pine is. But there are a lot of handy guides you can get from your local library or from trusted resources online that can help you with identifying a safe spieces. It's actually pretty easy to do! The main thing to be careful of is ensuring you are foraging somewhere far from highways and pollution.

[@MemeMan42069]

@@curlzOdoom iirc some are poisonous during certain times of the year or before they're a certain age. I remember warnings from my grandma about making pine cone syrup and pine needle jelly about avoiding it during certain times due to that. Keep in mind my grandma wasn't well educated so it might not be literally pine and totally could be conifers instead.

[@curlzOdoom]

That's why research is important. There are a lot of resources out there. You need to be cautious, not afraid.

[@Mr._Sleepytime_T]

I thought this was interesting, so I looked it up. There are a few that are poisonous: Lodgefolk, Monterey, Ponderosa/Yellow(!), Norfolk/Australian, Yew, and Loblolly Pine are toxic to humans and animals. Also, common Juniper, Fir trees, and Poinsettias are all mildly toxic. Hope this helps!

[@roosanneli]

My mind immediately went to 'Sima' after seeing the pine needle sprite. Sima is a Finnish mead made in the springtime for Vappu (a celebration of Finnish university students and Labour Day). But sima is typically made with lemon, brown sugar, raisins and baker's yeast although there are many different variations to this recipe nowadays with other fruit and berries also being used. The baker's yeast starts the fermentation process to make the drink fizzy like lemonade. After the mixture is left to ferment at room temperature for about a day in a bucket it's bottled and put in the fridge for a week or left at room temperature for a few days if you're in a hurry. I remember the popping of the bottles always spooking me as a kid when the rubber corks flew off of the bottles when we didn't remember to release the pressure ourselves, but luckily there was never any mess! :) And due to the very low level of alcohol content this is a drink enjoyed by all ages and is really delicious too. I wonder if making 'sima' from pine needles or other conifer needles would be possible as young spruce buds or 'kuusenkerkkä' in Finnish can be eaten as is. And even young pine cones can be used in cooking. They can both be boiled with sugar to make syrup or just be left in a jar with brown sugar (more water content in brown sugar which helps with the process) in equal amounts by weight to spruce buds or pine cones. I believe that the latter of the two methods to making syrup is called Cheong in Korea and has been used for centuries. The syrup can be then used for all kinds of desserts, on top of ice cream and to make different drinks such as tea or fizzy drinks paired with sparkling water. The flavor is said to be fruity and floral with citrus and even cola-like flavor depending on the tree, species and season of collection. A more traditional Finnish way of consuming spruce buds is to brew a sort of tea by boiling them in some water. It was important back in the day to treat scurvy as spruce needles contain high amounts of vitamin C. It was a great source of vitamin during long, harsh and cold winters with access only to little amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables. It was also used to treat colds and other ailments and it contains antibacterial properties and antioxidants. But one thing to note is that not all evergreens are safe to ingest as some are toxic to humans. But worry not there are commercially made pine and spruce products like conifer extract drink and pine cone jam if you're interested in trying them out but are worried about choosing the wrong tree or the cleanliness of it. I unfortunately need to be careful not mix pine with spruce as I'm allergic to pine trees. Which sucks because that means I'm also allergic to pine nuts and I can't have pesto.

[@onerva.]

here to simply add that sima is basically the same as mead!

[@Twiddle_things]

My foster parents used to make sima by hand. They told me it was ready when the raisins stopped (or started) floating. It's a shame I never looked further! One time my foster mom left the sima bottles outside while I drew on the terace. I got the crap scared out of me when one of them exploded and the sima shot up at the roof

[@loriki8766]

Gross Food that must be tasted => "Here you go Dave!" Tons of delicious cookies => Dave is nowhere to be found.

[@strehlow]

"Dave's not here, man..."

[@Sh4dowdy]

Cookiemonster has to be feeded

[@luwildy]

Poor Dave

[@canesugar911]

😂

[@nonyabizniss1840]

Classic Dave 😂

[@Norbrookc]

The pine needle "sprite" harks back to what used to be called a spruce beer. Pine needles and spruce are actually fairly high in vitamin C, and yes, are edible - if not exactly tasty. While heating them removes the vitamin C, this was more just a way to prevent scurvy. Townsends has a great video on it.

[@achanwahn]

Yes!! Love Townsends and Tasting History

[@EphemeralTao]

If you get the new spring growth, and not the mature needles, they are quite tasty. They have a tart citrusy resinous taste, like hops but without the bitterness.

[@ZeroPlayerGame]

I personally like young spruce and pine shoots. They taste pretty zesty.

[@eveleynce]

call me crazy but I actually do think they're tasty, I sometimes make tea out of them, but only if I can identify the tree and know that it doesn't get sprayed with any pesticides or other chemicals

[@youmukonpaku3168]

you're not crazy, that's an old indigenous drink in my part of Canada. If you can identify the safe kind of pine to do it with and get fresh spring needles (as zero player game notes) from a tree safely isolated from pesticides and road salt, it's actually pretty good.

[@AlexIsModded]

The pine needle sprite made sense to me when I saw the sugar and when you mentioned yeast in the pine needles. Yeast makes things expand, to start with. But yeast is also used in CO2 generators for planted aquariums. Sugar is sometimes used in CO2 generators as well. By having yeast and sugar in the bottle together and fermenting it for 3 to 4 days, you're basically creating gas build up, which is why there's fizzing and a little bit of carbonation. This is basic nature-made chemistry.

[@wbfaulk]

This is also how beer and champagne work. You don't have to cite aquarium carbon dioxide generators.

[@Omnibushido-]

@@wbfaulk ok

[@skye387]

And at least in Mrs.She video, it looks like she added lemon to it to make it closer to "sprite".

[@muciSAD]

that's why it should be opened at least once a day or even the cap left loose, so the bottle won't explode.

[@AlexIsModded]

@@wbfaulk You're just pissed off cause I knew something you didn't.

[@BigIndianBindi-jy1cz]

pine needles are high in vitamin c. fermenting pine needles is just like making your own kombucha, or kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, cheese, etc. there are always risks with home fermentation if you do it improperly.

[@outoftheforest7652]

exactly. First, obviously make sure that all your utensiles are clean and sterilized. Always use the proper materials.. like airlocks and proper glassware. Sigh.

[@Flameclaw123]

Back when I was starting out as a ghostwriter, I wrote a bunch of cookbooks for clients. I can absolutely confirm that SO many cookbooks and articles out there use stock images rather than actually making and photographing their food. Worse, I can also attest to the fact that in some of these books, the recipes themselves weren't even tested before making it to the page. Now this is mostly for cookbooks self-published on sites like Amazon with minimal quality review, and probably not for a cookbook you would buy in a real bookstore or from a trusted seller. But it's definitely happening with online articles, so for those who tend to browse online for dinner ideas like I do, know that it might not be an error in your cooking; it could just be the product of an overworked and underpaid content writer

[@hannahk1306]

I think that even if you can't afford a professional photographer and hours of recipe testing, everyone should do the bare minimum of making the recipe at least once and taking your own photos of it. Most people nowadays have a smartphone with a decent enough camera and if you're publishing recipes online then you probably have a computer and can get some basic editing software.

[@BlackCanary87]

I once got a recipe from a purchased kit that was missing a step. Did some googling and found not the full recipe, but the site they'd probably taken the recipe from. Eventually I found an alternative recipe with the information!

[@cordeliacullen2621]

My husband's favorite cook book is from America's Test Kitchen. They spend a lot of time resting recipes and finding alternatives that will work as well or almost as well as the intended ingredients, and even tell why certain steps are necessary/common mistakes to avoid.

[@Eventide215]

Yeah if you watch B. Dylan Hollis he does videos where he makes recipes from old cookbooks and you can tell none of them were ever tested. They'd just be randomly made up crap based on a certain ingredient the book was trying to push. These would be actual big cookbooks too not just little independent people. I think, if anything, it's more likely from the bigger places because they're a big company that didn't want to spend the time nor care if the recipes are real. Meanwhile a small independent baker writing a cookbook (at least back during the recipes Dylan makes) would have more pride and take more care in their book. Nowadays though it's much easier to do things like publish on Amazon or a blog so people just don't care really.

[@hagbau]

Even getting a cookbook from a reputable publisher is hit or miss. I have a gorgeous hardbound cookbook from a chef who had her own restaurant in Austin TX and it’s so clear that no one tested the recipes, there are errors everywhere and many of them just don’t work.

[@Safra62]

Hello, German here! In northern Germany we make a fizzy drink like a sparkling wine from elderflower. It's done here since olden times and besides sometimes a cork suddenly coming out while sitting and fermenting I never heard about anything bad happening.

[@quiffed1]

Same in Northwest UK, My mum used to regularly make elderflower cordial and wine from foraged elderflowers.

[@atherisGAY]

Yeah!!! My grandma used to make that. Reminds me of my childhood. I still forage elderflower, but I make syrup with it for cocktails!

[@HansWurst-gm2rx]

Even cider and "Most" (talking about german fizzy drinks) from apples are made this way. Yeast fermentation.

[@pannajohns5255]

Same in Hungary!

[@sarahsander785]

Where I live in Germany there are people making jelly from young spruce or fir needles growing in spring. They are called "Maispitzen" and the jelly is really delicious, tatstes a lot like honey. But with older needles I would assume they would taste quite bitter. Like the resin.

[@dankmemewannabe7692]

is this a certified Pälzisch moment ??

[@hyrunnisa997]

if you don’t want a ferment to bust or get everywhere you should release it everyday maybe twice a day.

[@daalelli]

or use a fermentation lid which 'burps' itself as long as it isn't obstructed

[@todo9633]

Free range booze. Gotta let it out to run free.

[@nefarious69poopi]

Or a cheap airlock, people don't seem to get how accessible options like this are 😭

[@EchoSappho]

I wish I knew about this before my triple kimchi explosion...

[@outoftheforest7652]

I know.. she is a scientist but doesn't understand how to properly run an experiment or perform a fermentation recipe??? Any basic Fermentation 101 book tells you have to do that. This woman makes it seem like "oooh this is dangerous and messy... see you should not play around with fermentation...." .... 🤨🤨

[@XenusMama]

Pastry chef here … I’ve used baking powder that was 5+ years old . Still worked perfectly . My yeast is 6+ years old … still makes perfect bread .

[@Tawnos_]

Yeah, there's missing or incomplete information here. To start, baking soda doesn't go bad. Baking powder is a mix of baking soda (alkaline) with cream of tartar (acidic). It takes a very long time to "go bad" if kept dry. However, moisture can ruin it immediately as the powders will react with each other given the chance.

[@Tawnos_]

In other words, properly testing "old" baking powder would mean spritzing some water onto it a few mins before mixing it in, and the effect of not having it wouldn't be apparent at the surface, but in the CO2 bubble pockets inside.

[@felinefunk]

@XenusMama do you refrigerate your yeast or is that unnecessary?

[@loitran533]

ive also been producing my own yeast i use for baking from the dried bits in my undies

[@joycegathoni4563]

​@@loitran533what 😂

[@TheGallicWitch]

Pine-needle soda is a traditional drink in my region of France! We have many species of pine needs (which we don't all call pine needles in French, they have very different names) and there is a long history of using pine as medicinal herb. We still use herbal medicine a lot in my region for minor illness and injury and pine is great for winter sickness. It also smells amazing so we throw bundles of it into the fire during the winter solstice and holidays to make the hearth and main room of the farm house smell great. We make pine needle soda a lot and we also make something we call "Champagne des Fées" or "Faery Champagne". It's made with elderberry flowers in the summer, with the same recipe as pine soda. Sugar and water, mainly, but in our community we also add some lemon and lime juice and a table spoon of apple cider vinegar per litre of mixture. Anyway, so happy to see you cover this as it's such a core part of a kid's childhood in our region of the Black Mountain!

[@Acinnn]

in czechia it's the same .. there is one for drinking and different one for massages which has 60% so when in begining of pandemic were all hand sanitizer sold out, we bought this massage ointment.

[@Dominator150395]

> Champagne des Fées We also make it in Romania! We call it "socată", from "soc" meaning "elder tree". We also let the natural yeasts take care of the fermentation, although some people use store-bought yeast instead.

[@WilczycaCzarownica]

Really? Wow! I'm from Poland, but we also use pine needle for medicine. It's great to know where pine-needle soda come from.

[@IreneWY]

Pine needles and pine comes have many medicinal properties and I've seen them used in many countries across Europe :) Drinking some pine schnapps as I'm watching this 😅

[@Angelface11]

Yes turpentine helps a lot here and we're not talking about the kind they reformulated in America and then use it as paint thinner although many things can be used that are natural as well. We're talking about pine in a tincture. Deworms you etc

[@ProbablyBees]

The yeast concern is a really weird take. Various types of fermentation, including wild fermentation like this pine needle soda, has been used by humans for centuries. Just because something grows on a petri dish doesn't mean a thing about its ability to be dangerous. I agree that people making this soda should learn more about how it works and what they're doing so they can safely ferment. But just going "it grew something :/ you should tip it out. I won't test further to show why" is not good science

[@iclynnx]

It's interesting to see how many cultures have used pine needles to make a form of drink. In Sweden, it's also a thing. I would say making your own berry juice is a classic tradition during the Swedish summer. I've never tasted it personally, but we have lots of pines, and I like their smell on a hot day.

[@muciSAD]

Right, that's interesting how common it is. In Bulgaria we use pine needles for to make tea or syrup.

[@haelrc8415]

I think the pine needle soda is meant to be a homemade version of the Korean pine bud drink from Lotte. They probably said sprite because people are more familiar with it

[@CherryGryffon]

It's essentially a pine kombucha, which CAN taste sprite-adjacent, IF you use more than JUST pine needles lol

[@theseokchanist8810]

i imagine adding citrus would help make it a more sprite taste since its lemon lime​@@CherryGryffon

[@Emeraldwitch30]

I wonder if its supposed to be like Canadian spruce soda?

[@earlydetectionmaui]

The species of pine makes a huge difference, too, in the amount to sugars and flavor. It is helpful for these recipes to be knowledgeable about the different pine species that are popularly consumed in your area. In North America the pine species eill be different than Korea, or China, etc. I'm not sure if Australia has any of the types of pine that are good for tea native to there. Are any of the introduced subtropical pines good for consumption?

[@hagbau]

People have been making drinks from evergreen needles for millennia, it’s only a “trend” because someone put it on TikTok.

[@venusalexa7367]

You can make pine needle soda. The problem is in australia, we call things like connifers and norfolk pines pine trees. They are not. Theyd be carcinogenic. Basically, it is only easy to get pine needles from vic as far as i know. There are people who seel these pine needles fresh for tea who have safety measures too because they farm pine needles. Basically, you just need to do research. Its no morw harmful than yeast on home grown grapes.

[@janetchennault4385]

Russian kvas is traditionally made with chunks of old bread and some sugar or honey - and a handful of raisins to provide the leavening. Then you let it ferment for a while. We added lemon, and it came out tasting like mildly alcoholic lemonade.

[@ahuman5772]

It's one of my favourite drinks!

[@remilacorne5607]

Spruce soda is very common in a lot of northern countries like Canada and nordic ones, but it's never called sprite.

[@Mlle_Bleue]

Spruce soda, which is called Spruce beer or bière d'épinette, when brewed the traditional way does turn alcoholic if let to brew too long, hence the 'beer'. Today, it's made with spruce-flavoured syrup and carbonated water. It's delicious, but it's not Sprite at all!

[@SandraNLN]

Reminds me of Zirbenschnapps. Just mix that with some soda water-- delicious! Nothing like a sprite or any sugar-soda

[@horsinacz]

Never heard of the spruce soda, but my grandma prepared spruce sirup by boiling water + needles + sugar until it got that thick sipury consistency. She prepared a lot of different sirups depending on season and what ingredients she had at hand and I always loved visiting her and making myself drinks from them. I don't know if spruce soda tastes the same as spruce sirup, but of it does, it doesn't taste anything like Sprite. Now I've never had pine sirup, but I have a beautiful pine forest behind my house so I might try making some just to compare it to spruce😅

[@rhill571]

Yeah, though the recipe I've seen you boil the spruce tips and strain rather than leave the needles in the bottle. I suspect leaving the needles in when pressurized makes the bubbles more active when you open it. Which makes for fancy video but is a waste if you wanted to drink it instead of spray it everywhere.

[@valolafson6035]

No. Sprite is something else.

[@der.Schtefan]

The pine soda is something we drank decades ago in the south of Austria, but mainly we use the pine needles by extracting their contents with a 60% sugar solution. The result is something that looks like honey, and is an amazing syrup for a tea when you got a cold, or to slowly swallow when you have a sore throat, cough, or that annoying coughing that you keep for 2 weeks after you were sick and there is this tickle and you go insane.

[@kicunya12]

In Ukraine, when I was growing up, we used the preserve of spruce tree cones for the same exact purpose. It's made from very young cones when they are still soft, and it was the only thing that would actually help with colds that I managed to constantly catch back then.

[@austrianpenguin]

What? Where? How is it called? What does it Taste like?

[@michellel9739]

I infuse honey with cinnamon and get a nice syrup. I'm thinking it could be a similar outcome.

[@c6q3a24]

Very high content of vitamin C.

[@blackkitty148]

Had this at my bf's grandma too... A syrup... It's good thooo

[@ericmueller8505]

Another thing that can cause inconsistency in home baking vs recipes is oven temp. Some ovens can have hot or cold spots, or be off in temperature by quite a bit. This video showed that it doesn't matter hugely for chocolate chip cookies, but it can matter more for other things. Getting an oven thermometer can help identify if this. In my case my apartment had an oven that wouldn't turn the heating element back on until it was ~100F below the set temperature! Great video as always.

[@chichi77tim]

Oh my GOD, THANK YOU. I've read, metaphorically, a thousand different solutions of dubious impact before finding your video. I was desperate because, no matter what I did, my presumably perfect recipe produced incredibly flat cookies. I thought of everything: chilling the dough, buying silicone sheets, not buttering the pan, setting higher or lower temperatures, everything. The silicone sheets helped a bit, but not enough, and nothing else seemed to work. I couldn't fathom why. I was blaming the hoven Itself. But in reality It was so stupid simple. Thank you. ❤ It was the butter. 🤣 I simply used too much butter. 🤣 Two more spoons of flour in the batter, and the cookies came out PERFECTLY. You saved my cookies. You hero, you genius woman.

[@LynnHermione]

everything in this video is wrong. to have cookies not spread use casters sugar, and freezing the dough DOES help regardless of what this says

[@wowanothercookie]

@@LynnHermione She baked a bunch of cookies and told you what happened, how is "everything" wrong. You might also use a slightly different recipe, where it makes a difference but she mentioned the leaving time matters so that could be the reason that freezing works. If you know why the sugar or freeze makes a difference say so.

[@hamzamotara4304]

​@@LynnHermioneshe legit just proved that you ate wrong, so if you left them outside of the freezer for the same time you would have froze them it would be the same.

[@verity3616]

One of the other differences she missed is milk. Lots of people just use whatever is in the fridge, but if the recipe calls for whole milk, you need that fat, skim milk will change the end product. There is also a problem of substituting butter for non-butter (margarine, low-fat, dairy free, etc.), and I'm wondering if the type of chocolate chip might make a difference as well, particularly if it's one of the cheaper types. Won't the vegetable oil leak more, making it a greasy, spreadable cookie? I'm not even touching the topic of different egg sizes around the world or egg freshness, but that's a variable too. Finally, I agree with the professional bakers who are saying some of what she said is potentially bad overall advice. The problem is Ann tested each of these one at a time. And yes, that is a scientific first step, but many recipes combine multiple changes in order to achieve a particular texture. So increasing that butter quantity, freezing it, and using a specific type of chocolate chip might be right BECAUSE of the temperature/time the recipe indicates.

[@hansg9826]

17:14 "alcohol has a higher boiling point than water" I think she meant to say it has a *lower* boiling point than water, which means alcohol boils at a lower temperature and therefore would evaporate quicker than water

[@miloradvlaovic]

Nice catch

[@fatimascrying]

yeah that really caught me off guard 😭

[@XianHu]

15:30 Noted: When testing a recipe that supposed to produce fizz, open it outside. Thanks for taking the hit for us! 😊

[@Lardman678]

I've made that mistake. Had 2 bottles of kombucha that I let ferment for a little too long. Painted my ceiling and walls with the first. Learned my lesson and opened the second outside. Shot the cork off about 50 feet. Those glass bottles were basically bombs and if I dropped one it probably would have put me in the hospital.

[@Hawk7886]

​@@Lardman678probably not the hospital, but definitely a massive mess.

[@LuckyStone888]

"Spruce Beer" is a very niche drink in norther New England USA and Quebec Canada. I love it but it is a strange drink for most.

[@eb5165]

It was also common in some parts of the south east in the 18th century. Mostly northern Georgia and western South Carolina

[@LuckyStone888]

@@eb5165 I just wish I didn't have to drive so far in order to buy it.

[@finyafuxfell3031]

As someone from Austria, I can smell that drink and what would I do to taste that! We use a specific type of pine to do syrups, infused honey, but 99% we consume it in form of schnaps and liquor. Although for alcohols and drinks, we use the pinecones, not the needles. Once a year, we're going on holidays in the mountains and at night, there is always someone who brings out a bottle of Zirbenschnaps. I am yearning for this the whole year!

[@zimtfuchs3093]

Good old Tirola Kola ❤

[@esverker7018]

The experiment on the alcohol content is SO important. It's only around 2% but many people are extremely strict about being sober (religious reasons, recovering addicts, medication interference, etc.). I've seen so many videos online telling people to make this and none mentioned that it could be slightly alcoholic.

[@SimonMester]

I mean, if you put organic material with sugar and water into a bottle, and dont know that will produce alcohol, that is on you. No functioning adult should be that uneducated on basic matters.

[@justabloke7222]

Also for people with liver diseases, it’s highly recommended to avoid alcohol

[@zeezee796]

As a straight edge I appreciate the consideration, I don’t think ppl quite understand how terrible it would feel to even accidentally consume alcohol when you have decided against it

[@BabsFan-lw1yh]

Yes, I remember seeing Emmy’s video and thinking it would be a good gin alternative. Apparently not!!

[@Lady.Fern.]

All fermentation creates ethanol while breaking down sugar, that’s how alcohol is made.

[@christopherkarr1872]

One experimental note - you used a dry swab as a control. A swab dipped in boiling (sterile) water, then swirled in the air until approximately room temp would be a superior facsimile to the primary test condition, as well as our yeast condition, as a liquid is more capable of both holding and lending deposits than cotton.

[@ReviewTechAFRICA]

LMAO somebody just finished microbiology 101

[@christopherkarr1872]

@@ReviewTechAFRICA Lol. Good one. The truth is that I studied mycology and culturing practices when I was a around fifteen. Learning is just a passion of mine, which explains my love for Ann's content.

[@ReviewTechAFRICA]

@@christopherkarr1872 Of course lol. It's always the "self-taught" people who try the hardest only to end up sounding like a fruitcake to anyone who actually has formal training in that field. I knew you were a pseud as soon as you said "superior facsimile" 🤣

[@razrv3lc]

@@ReviewTechAFRICAyour comment history is very angry

[@juniuws]

@@ReviewTechAFRICA its rlly not that serious

[@FirlowXD]

I was always told that fridge time was for flavour and shaping, not necessarily preventing it from going flat. You can refridgerate all you want, but if theres too much butter itll spread like mad.

[@trudi0s]

Since you don't like the pine needles sprite.... how do you feel about homemade Kambucha, Sriracha, or sour dough starters? How about fermented pickles? Fermented Salsa?

[@ProbablyBees]

Exactly my thought. This video seems to say if anything grows on a petri dish from it, toss it. Just absurd

[@fatimascrying]

also any type of kimchi! it ferments naturally and is actually very healthy because of it, which is why it's such a big tradition in korean culture. and if you don't invite any "foreign" bacteria into the kimchi (like using a utensil with saliva on it etc) it won't grow mouldy and lasts for a long time. fermentation has a long history especially in indigenous canadian communities or various asian cultures, so it's odd to dismiss it like she did

[@jessicaj2990]

@@fatimascrying as an anglo australian she should be familiar with bread, cake, beer, wine, cider, champagne, sourkraut, yoghurt, cheese and fermeted pickles like cucumbers. these are all fermented foods and drinks common in her culture. her being weird abt fermentation makes no sense really. maybe australia is too hot to still make these things at home safely so they're not familiar with these traditions anymore? but in europe a lot of people still make pickles, sourkraut and fermented fruit drinks ("wines") themselves, especially when they have a garden

[@tardwrangler1019]

@@fatimascrying fatima you sure are crying. you think only non white people ferment things? racist trash

[@sweettthings]

Going by this we'd all better take to our "bubble boy" bubbles, as exposure to....anything....is going to involve unknown strains of wild yeast.

[@Hawlo]

19:50 I thought this moment would cut out to Dave trying the pine sprite 😂

[@kylahkropp7250]

this made me LOL

[@ratrobber15]

Same! 😂

[@Cemhta]

Yes I thought so too but my guess is she didn't want to after making the yeast test

[@sd-ch2cq]

Dave: *snif* *taste* Honey! You've started home-brewing 🤩🤩 *whips out micro-brewery starter-set that every dude has stashed away*

[@SylentTiger]

I wanted a taste test on the cookies!!!!

[@tookitogo]

In 2001 or 2002, I was working as an on-site computer consultant, specializing in Macs, so most of our clients were in graphic design, advertising, or the arts of some kind. One day I had a service call at a photographer. While waiting for a long install to finish, I was chatting with the photographer’s wife, who was busy baking cookies. Turns out they had a commission to take the glamour shots of a cookie for a major cookie manufacturer, to go on the packaging of the single-serving package. The manufacturer had sent some real sample cookies, but they had too many imperfections to photograph, so the wife set out to make perfect ones, studding them with the chocolate candies by hand rather than mixing them into the dough. But after many batches, it wasn’t working out: if she baked them to the right color, the texture was rougher than the actual product. But if she took them out of the oven when the texture was right, they were a touch too pale in color. So I asked her: “Do you care if they’re edible?” - “No! I never wanna eat a cookie again!” - “You’re using vanilla extract in them, right?” - “Yeah.” - “Try using soy sauce instead, since it’s much darker.” The following week, she told me my soy sauce trick worked perfectly, giving her the right shade of golden brown at the right time. :) I don’t know whether they actually tasted one of the soy sauce cookies, but those are what actually made it onto the packaging! That concludes my professional contributions to the world of food photography and to America’s waistline! 😂

[@annaandrews4252]

That's so funny, I add a teaspoon of soy sauce to my cookies because they add a nice flavor contrasting the sweetness of the dough. I dunno if I noticed a color change as well!

[@woodfur00]

I can't stand the "arranging the chocolate chips" thing. It doesn't make cookies look good, it makes them look fake, which is one thing if they _are_ fake (see above), but when people use it to elevate their recipe online I take it as a sure sign that they don't understand cookies.

[@jimb1713]

There are FTC regulations saying food ads must match the product prep and serving. Campelle’s soup got in trouble for putting glass marbles in the bowl to make the vegetables rise.

[@tookitogo]

@@jimb1713 Yes, but only if used to deceive. Food photography rarely involves the actual foods in an edible state. Burger buns have sesame seeds placed by hand with Vaseline, and the burger itself is rigged internally with toothpicks to hold each component in place, including the deep-fried beef patty; ice cream is actually shortening mixed with pigments; cereal is shown in spoonfuls of white glue; and ice cubes are invariably plastic imitations. A lot of this is because real food would not last long enough for the actual photo shoot. You can use whatever you want in the picture, as long as it is a reasonably honest representation of the product.

[@tookitogo]

@@annaandrews4252 Yes, in the intervening decades I’ve come to learn that the added umami might actually have worked! (Of course, for that she would have had to add both the soy sauce and the vanilla!)

[@n0tb4by]

Further context on alcohol content of pine needle sprite: orange juice has an alcohol content of 0.5%, so pine needle sprite would be the exact half way point between light beer and orange juice

[@rfldss89]

17:00 Gravimetry readings also don't work to determine whether there is alcohol being produced or not, they simply allow you to calculate approximately how much alcohol has been produced **assuming** that the microbes present did in fact convert most of the sugars they consumed into alcohol and CO2 through anaerobic respiration like baker's/brewer's yeast would.

[@eryana9437]

The pine needle sprite reminds me of finnish spring mead (sima) that is traditionally made every year for 1st of may celebrations. It uses bakers yeast to achieve a slight fizziness and the rest is just sugar, typically lemon although other fruits and berries can also be used, and water. You let it ferment at room temp (or direct sunlight if you are in a time crunch). Results in a really low level of alcohol and is enjoyed by people of all ages. Important thing is to slightly open the bottle at some point during fermentation to release the pressure in the bottle so that you don't end up with sima on the ceiling.

[@LeafyK]

I love sima! My grandparents discovered a recipe for sima that matches the oral tradition from their Inkeri parents (they called it kalja, but we can’t find a recipe for that word). My favourite sima was when I tried using wild grapes over here in Canada. It’s great because I can’t tolerate carbonated drinks but I can enjoy naturally fermented mild meads

[@Sableagle]

I've seen a thing for home fermentation that shouldn't be too hard to make: an M-shaped pipe with water in the middle scoop, allowing pressure to vent through gas escape as bubbles through that water. The deeper the water, the more pressure it'll hold, but obviously it'd have to be ground-to-rooftop to hold even 1 atmosphere.

[@mariawhite7337]

​@Sableagle fill the bottles only halfway. This is a tip from me in my mead making escapes. 😂 I made matcha mead! And some earl Grey mead then... mead with Juniper Berries.

[@Ristikettu]

Yes, it reminds me of sima and also of the many "kuusenkerkkä" or spruce tip products. I for example love spruce tip syrup (made by myself) and sparkling water mixed together! And after watching this I wonder how would sima made with spruce tips taste like 🤔

[@Narangarath]

@@LeafyK What they meant by "kalja" is probably known as "kotikalja" or "home beer" these days, aka a non or low alcoholic, slightly carbonated dark beer. It's very bitter and slightly sweet and most people would say it's an acquired taste. It's made pretty much the same way as sima, it just uses malted rye instead of lemon etc for flavor. Look for "Tuoppi Kaljamallas" (or the extract version, "Tuoppi Mallasjuomauute") by Laihian Mylly if you want to try to make some. If you do get some and end up not enjoying the drink, you can use up the rest of the bag in baking bread or rolls (you can use the spent grain from making kalja in baking too).

[@CyanPhoenix_]

Might not matter too much for cookies, but I'd think that regional differences in the type of flour used would also make a difference - I wonder how different an "all purpose" flour would be from america vs australia, and also just different brands.

[@kalesmash1339]

All purpose flour in the US has more gluten due to the wheat being bred to be more resistant to the cold

[@cyberlight]

i know in particular king arthur brand flour has more gluten in it compared to others

[@Mrhullsie2]

Which I believe is the reason in the US and Canada all purpose flour is sometimes used in breads. In GB the equivalent plain flour would be much less successful.

[@mehere8299]

@@kalesmash1339And Canadian AP flour contains significantly more gluten than American! Canadian AP flour even has more gluten than American bread flour. The reason is not cold tolerance, though; high-gluten wheat varieties grow better in areas that get more daylight per day in the growing season. In fact, any variety of wheat will contain more gluten when grown further away from the Equator. There's a reason that the most common brand name of bread flour in Italy is "Manitoba".

[@thedistinguished5255]

​@@mehere8299what does manitoba mean

[@livus3787]

In Hungary we traditionally drink the "pre-wine" we call "Murci", the grape juice thats already a bit fermented after pressing A lot other traditional drinks that are light ly frizzy & alcoholic after quick fermentation..

[@Wowthatsabighat]

Ann, I love you, but you're gonna have to leave Ms Shi alone. She is a treasure and home fermentation is not necessarily dangerous unless you use the wrong ingredients or process.

[@justme0910]

I forage edible wild plants as a hobby, and I can tell you from experience that while all pine needles are safe to consume in reasonable quantities (assuming you're not pregnant), they do not all taste the same. One really, really important factor when using them for cooking is their age. You want fresh, soft, young pine needles, preferably gathered in late spring. Those have a pleasant citrus aroma, while mature needles just taste like hay with a hint of paint thinner. If you want to use them, the really young, tender ones can be eaten raw and are rich in vitamin C. However, I recommend boiling them with water and sugar to make pine needle syrup, which can then be used to make drinks, cakes, jello, and even ice-cream. For pine needle sprite, just mix some of the syrup with sparkling water. It doesn't taste like Sprite, exactly, but it does make for a refreshing soda.

[@junbh2]

One thing I find important to mention is that some people have so little plant knowledge they don't actually know what a pine is. Or they think every conifer is a pine. Where I live the native conifers include a couple of different pines, spruces, firs, as well as eastern hemlock and white cedar, and all are edible and nutritious. However if you are in urban or suburban areas you will also sometimes see imported yews, which look completely different but are also conifers (aka evergreens) and are poisonous. So while you don't need very much plant knowledge, you do need _some_. But it's kind of akin to knowing the difference between a raspberry and some random wild berry. It's very very easy to tell apart in the end.

[@matcha8904]

I lost a 16 year old family member to glioblastoma weeks ago. It's a terrible thing knowing someone who wasted away from such an aggressive and debilitating disease. It's also horrifying that someone would pretend to have brain cancer to get themselves out of trouble. They should be ashamed of themselves.

[@protagiswatching]

sorry about your loss. it rlly is a horrible thing to see someone go through and its sick that someone would lie about it

[@cgi2173]

The other concerning thing is, 'here's evidence that you're faking it'. 'I refute that evidence, it's clearly this...' 'No, check this because...Google'. The whole back and forth with the evidence. ☹️ Sorry for your loss.

[@kaiyodei]

there are people who exist nobody would ever lie about being sick.

[@Thegreenpig22]

My friend has this, can’t believe someone would pretend to have this

[@makipowy]

I am so sorry for your loss. Words cannot express how awful it is to hear of children dying from such diseases. I’m so so sorry. I hope you and your family are holding up alright. All my love

[@sarah345]

Hello fresh is a bit scammy. They make it really hard to discontinue their service, I had to actually speak to an associate to do that, and then they phone you and email you a bunch to ask you why you left. I don’t like any subscription that hides the unsubscribe button, meanwhile you can sign up in a matter of minutes.

[@BetweentheVeils13]

They’re also union busters and there have been countless reports of mistreatment of their workers. There are many reasons not to support that company.

[@sarah345]

@@BetweentheVeils13 not surprising. I feel like every major company behaves this way nowadays.

[@pubbarian]

One small mistake. She misspeaks and says that alcohol has a higher boiling point than water. Alcohol has a lower boiling point and that is what allows the alcohol to boil off before the water.

[@fishsalter8799]

I want to be Mathew at this point, he is having a couple dozens of freshly baked cookies!

[@deejayk5939]

So happy he gets all those cookies!

[@Konani_the_unicorn_queen]

for all the scary and unpleasant food testing he's done, i imagine these are the types he like to test more XD

[@joystewart5193]

I’m confused by the concern over live yeast in the soda. Wouldn’t any fermented drink, such as kombucha or ginger beer, contain live yeasts?

[@trishoconnor2169]

Honestly, though I love Ann's work, I think sometimes she has a very "white modern financially secure suburban" kind of blind spot about traditional or other cultural preparation techniques, ingredients, and equipment. She's used to yeast being something you buy, not harvest.

[@rayhimmel7167]

@@trishoconnor2169 how it changes the scientific results tho?

[@trishoconnor2169]

​@@rayhimmel7167 The problem wasn't her test results, but her unscientific conclusion. Her test showed that yep, there's some kind of yeast in there. That much is fine. However, her conclusion was that it would be imprudent to consume the product unless you had the facilities to sequence the DNA and determine the precise species of yeast. Her risk/benefit analysis didn't seem to be supported by real data, just by a gut feeling that naturally occurring ingredients are dirty and scary, so you should go buy the prepackaged ones. She showed no awareness of historical data about natural fermentation. (Pine needle soda goes back to indigenous peoples for at least centuries, possibly millennia.) That's bad science, even if one of your petri dishes is a control.

[@curlzOdoom]

Yes! And if you look at her website that provides the articles referenced, none of them are about how yeast is bad for you. The one discussing live yeast in stomach is about identifying probiotic yeasts. Another is about understanding the lineage of a yeast that commonly appears on pine (this yeast may cause issues such as yeast infections but is stated to be mostly harmless otherwise, and that almost everyone becomes infected with it at some point). Another article is just about yeast diversity on pine.

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

@@trishoconnor2169fancy bringing race into it. People of your ilk are so problematic. I think you should delete your comment. Awful

[@______IV]

7:30 Those extra butter cookies’ crispy edge looked SO good. Note to self…

[@flemm88]

100% can confirm, letting my Choco Cookies rest for 40mins minimized spread a ton!!!!! I used the recipe on the back of the Ghirardelli bag verbatim and the only thing I did different was to let the cookies rest after scooping for 40 mins at Room Temp. Baked up like a dream! Thank you Ann.

[@rizahawkeyepierce1380]

Another thing to consider with the cookies is altitude! My parents live at a really high altitude outside of Denver, CO, which means water boils at a lower temperature, which can throw off all sorts of things in baking. My mom's cookies always come out flat unless she adds extra flour (there are high-altitude adjustment charts that you can use to adjust for the difference).

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

Exactly. I hate this water boils at 100°C nonsense people spout. It’s not entirely accurate. Also it depends on mineral content of the water.

[@dDoodle788]

​@@handsoffmycactus2958 it's not nonsense, water boils at 100°C when the pressure is 1atm ,if you are at a high altitude the pressure is lower so water boils at lower temperature; theses things are taught in every high school science class .

[@Gatorade69]

Lived in a high elevation area and yeah, it took me around 5 or 6 attempts to get bread right.

[@GingerHoliday]

Yeah I grew up in co and hated baking but now I’m a professional baker at sea level lol

[@winniethepooh751]

I find for most home bakers who have difficulty with spreading cookies it’s because they melted their butter instead of softening it! I used to sell baked goods professionally and this was something people would ask me about all the time and 99% of the time it was melted butter and the other 1% were not measuring ingredients correctly.

[@MyFocusVaries]

That's what I was thinking

[@okamineo]

Correct me: softened butter is butter at room temperature, thus taken out of the fridge beforehand. Melted butter is heated butter in i.e. the microwave. Or as I would say: ups that was too long/ too much power.

[@lrizzard]

When following recipes cookie recipes online I tend to use less butter than they do. Seems to do the trick for me. I don't know if american butter has different water and fat content, or maybe I just suck at measuring flour haha! But regardless it seems to work.

[@theresas3482]

I was just coming on to say this. Softened butter is very different from melted butter

[@nemo7726]

Same! I made cookies with my cub scouts and because they handled them soooo much adding stuff in all the cookies went sooo flat because of how hot they got in their little hands it melted all the butter 😂.

[@juniperholden7653]

Pine needles are incredibly high in vitamin C and are used in many different Canadian Indigenous medicines. I actually make pine needle tea for people who have colds. It makes sense that a drink being made with it correctly would taste citrusy. I'll have to try making it, it could be a fun way of getting vitamins.

[@stephsaguudefan1753]

My mom found a good way to stop our cookies from going flat after cooling. She swapped out the butter for butter flavored crisco. Super high cookies that hardly spread at all. And don't forget to store a piece of bread with them to keep them soft.

[@emmam8320]

Hi, as someone who loves a good cookie, but also values nutrition and healthy foods, please avoid Crisco. It’s highly inflammatory and super processed! Adding less butter may actually be the best to prevent cookies from spreading

[@stephsaguudefan1753]

@emmam8320 We make cookies like once a year, I don't think it's a problem. You gotta have a little bit of unhealthy food sometimes or life is no fun. I eat raw dough too, life it too short to avoid it.

[@fireworkstarter]

Please dont use hydrpginated ouls in the pure calorie bomb youre making. Its the 8 grams of fat in those cookies thag eill kill you xD ​@@emmam8320

[@iracalisto6283]

I've noticed that brand on flour also plays a roll. Different brands have different amount of gluten in them. Even if you buy all purpose flour, they don't always give you same end results.

[@AnnaMorimoto]

Yes! In my country, you can choose between either high-gluten flour強力粉 or low-gluten flour薄力粉. High-gluten for bread, pizza, pasta, etc. Low-gluten flour is for cakes, deep fry batter, etc.

[@argunberkedogan168]

Exactly, even the flour from the same batch of wheat may behave differently in recipes due to the people who use it. For instance, the storage conditions or climate do have considerable effects. If the flour is stored in a humid environment, its liquid absorption capacity decreases, and recipes may not work for you.

[@robbiirvine1038]

@@AnnaMorimoto we do have different types of flours in the west. What OP is saying is that you can buy an "all purpose" flour from one brand, and it will have different gluten content than another brand's "all purpose" flour. We do also have heavy (bread) flours, or low gluten cake flours, larger grained semolina, etc; but none of them have any standard to follow for how much, or little gluten they contain. So you can bake two loaves of bread with the only change being the brand of flour, and have two completely different end products.

[@kikiblue7169]

agree, flour is the one thing i don't cheap out on for baking. some things don't matter as much but flour sure does

[@zwete]

And freshness too, moisture content will vary.

[@melsyoutube]

thank you for addressing the stock image unreliability!!! i feel so bad for amateur bakers / kids who try following recipes then end up feeling so disheartened when it doesn’t look the same. little do they know, it’s not their fault at all!

[@alexandrakonigsburg6474]

Sometimes bloggers will try to cover it up by stealing photos from other bloggers so they don't look too professional. You're not fooling anyone when your entire kitchen and equipment change from one recipe to the next!

[@LMvonLebkuchen]

And you know what's really messed up? I saw a post by somebody who claimed to work for a site (social media account?) that posts a lot of recipes who said that they had been instructed to use AI to create new ones. When they asked about whether or not it was a problem that these things wouldn't have been tested they were supposedly told no, it's not a problem because the middle-aged women that are their audience save a lot of recipes but rarely try them so the recipes are just "content" that doesn't have to actually be accurate. They didn't specify which one so it can't be validated, but there might be content farm sites pulling this and potentially wasting people's ingredients.

[@OrdericNeustry]

I've had cookies that were spreading too much, but I couldn't add more flour with how dry the dough already was. But adding an egg white and a bit more flour helped a lot.

[@MrDrokkul]

Dave: "What's for dinner?" Ann: "Cookies."

[@crowdemon_archives]

"Whoops it's all just cookies!"

[@suzz1776]

I make wild yeast mead (like how it was done back in the day). When working with ferments in closed bottles to naturally pressurize, u must be careful cuz if not done properly, u can get bottle bombs.

[@Gloupyli]

I tried with wisteria and it was nice! However the recipe did tell us to open the bottle several times a day so as to avoid the explosivity of the result 😅 the worst case scenario being shattered glass, but I scrupulously followed the instructions. So far so good

[@empty-voiid]

iirc, that's how Champagne was discovered! The monks making wine bottled the drink before the first fermentation ended and they were very surprised when the yeast did its job and made the bottles go boom.

[@countessa222]

My brother made wine a few years back with our grandpa and he said he didn’t know what he was doing but it said to put a balloon on the top well he forgot about it…until one day the balloon exploded and scared the devil outta both of them and grandpa was like 😱🤬ZACK!! 😂 and he’s like 😶 … uhh I think that must mean it’s done🤭 he said it was the best wine he’s ever had I personally don’t partake so I don’t have any gauge on that but regardless it was a great story lol 😂

[@a_lethe_ion]

@@countessa222 easiest eay is just getting winemaker cap where you fill in water, gas flees.

[@saeranchoi3343]

⁠@@Gloupyli Isn’t wisteria poisonous?

[@CarlaHolley]

I've found that some people have a different idea of what "softened butter" means. Some melt the butter! When I melt the butter, my cookies spread out a bit and are crispy.

[@ArthropodJay]

which honestly, imo is SO much better

[@Amethyist7]

100% agree. When I was first starting out baking I used to melt my butter and could not figure out why my cookies always turned out so greasy and flat. I love soft chewy cookies so figuring this out was a real game changer. The temurature of the butter makes the biggest different in the texture of the cookie.

[@user-fm5jk8gc9n]

@@Amethyist7 when i was a kid mum would have us stand at the kitchen bench and whip the butter and sugar with the woodern spoon in a basin sitting in hot water (kitchen sick) till it changed colour to a pale yelllow (NZ butter is very yellow because the cows eat grass) but never to the point the butter melted

[@yohanes2034]

@@ArthropodJaymee too I like mine bit spread out and crispy around the edges and bit soft on the center, punctuation on a bit. Accidentally my first recipe I tried had more flour than the current recipe I use. So after I got thick cookies, I tried different recipes and realize that more liquid (butter or just add water) will spread your cookies more.

[@mariokarter13]

Softened butter is also very sticky. If you're gonna roll out the dough you gotta chill it.

[@KryptosatanTemnozor]

Honestly, wild fermentation is something done for thousands of years all around the world. Having everything sterile and coated in protective plastic is definitely not way to go... But if you are really scared about what wild yeast can do to you, you can still kill the yeast by heating the finished product to 140 F (60 C) and of course then cooling it for at least 24 hours.

[@bluelover112]

The cookie bake is a great example. But also the thing I find with home bakers, they say they follow the recipe but then when I ask more questions to try help them, they’re using an (obvious to me) bad recipe or they aren’t doing the method correctly. Some people really don’t understand that it’s not as simple as just “following the recipe” So many factors and variable!

[@Crow_Smith]

And some people don't understand measurements at all and go "Eh close enough". Like noooo baking is a science, the more precision the better!!!

[@ettinakitten5047]

@@Crow_Smith Not really true if you know what you're doing. Precision is important if you're making a recipe you're unfamiliar with or writing a recipe to share with others, but if you're cooking a familiar recipe for yourself and your family, you really don't need precise measurements. In fact, in some circumstances trying to always stay consistent will cause inconsistencies due to factors outside your control, such as ambient humidity or barometric pressure, to have a bigger impact on the end product than they would if you just go by how the recipe is supposed to look and feel at each step.

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

I wish the internet wasn't so full of bad recipes.

[@mariokarter13]

If you chill the dough it's easier to roll out. It sticks because butter gets soft at room temperature.

[@ConstantChaos1]

I'm sorry but the entire leavened section was bull, she didn't even test or verify the "leavened can go out of date" claim, you would need to be storing them at a substantially higher temp than the rest of your house (room temp being considered 68-72°F while bicarbonate needs a minimum of 77 to begin degredation... )and thats only if your relative humidity is >60% So like no your leaveners are fine unless you're using yeast or have been very foolish about how you store your chemicals lmfao

[@Goldenhawk0]

Ann, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but workers for Hello Fresh have come out and said their working conditions are horrid. Workers also say the company has been union busting and preventing fair bargaining. I don't want to police your sponsorships, only to respectfully suggest that you not take sponsorships from this company until they stop union busting and explicitly allow fair and equitable bargaining for employees to improve their conditions. Thank you.

[@DefaultJane]

I really appreciate that you go through the whole experiment and show why things happen the way they do even when you could probably just tell us right off the top of your head why the hacks are failing, I really enjoy watching the whole scientific process and the information sticks in my brain better this way. And the advice about weighing your ingredients rather than using other measures blew me away because OF COURSE that's how it should be done yet it had never even occurred to me. Learned something new from you again. :D

[@mozi_rae839]

Love this! 💕 The only other thing I was hoping you'd test on the cookies was melted butter vs. softened butter. I love how well you control your variables. It makes my little chemist's heart happy. 🥰

[@ogopogo83]

Hi Ann! I love your videos! I am currently studying brewing science (beer, not coffee) and wanted to provide some additional information on the fermented pine needle drink and why it would be safe and/or not safe to drink. The live yeast would not be the issue in this particular instance. Many beers and other beverages are made using wild yeasts and the consumption of these by humans is safe (there is still live yeast in the final product unless it has gone through a sterilisation process). The issue here is that the pH (unfortunately not measured) and the alcohol content are either unknown or not in the safe range to inhibit the growth of harmful (or undesirable) microorganisms other than yeast. If however, you isolated and cultivated the wild yeasts, sterilised or pasteurized the pine needles, and then proceeded with the rest of the steps using sterile method; the drink would be safe to drink *fresh* despite the pH and alcohol level. I hope this helps!

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

This is a really helpful comment, thank you! The impression I got from all those people hopping on the "pine needle Sprite" TikTik trend was that they were falling for the common delusion that anything "natural" (ie found in nature) is safe without additional processing, which in itself seems to be a common counter-reaction to living in a modern urban world full of over-processed foodstuffs & artificial products? As a number of other commenters have already remarked, I just hope they don't choose mushrooms as the target of their next fad! 😵‍💫

[@evengeduld]

To add on the cookie debate, stock photo's of food doesn't always mean it is a picture of actually edible food the foam head of a beer glass in a photo is quite often dish soap added to that you also have digital retouches in the photo's

[@liamano7688]

True

[@empty-voiid]

Yup! Like glue being used to make stretchy cheese for pizza.

[@claritey]

​@@empty-voiidglue is also used to substitute milk in pictures of cereal

[@Sableagle]

Cereal in PVA glue doesn't go soggy like cereal in milk. Varnished sprouts gleam better than buttered sprouts. "Serving suggestion," my foot.

[@prettypinkpansy]

just found your channel and in love with your calm and polite demeanor and thorough scientific method!!

[@Fox-Mann-Fam]

I love how you educate us on how we can run our own tests to identify what makes a recipe work differently - this is an important skill for troubleshooting and modifying recipes to your taste. Thank you!

[@lazygardens]

"Spruce beer", which is beer made with spruce tips instead of hops, is great. And there are various recipes for making extracts of conifers to add to drinks or to use as a flavoring syrup with soda. They do usually have a tart overtone of citrus or wintergreen, depending oin the tree species.

[@xir1111011]

I've always wanted to try that pine needle sprite thing, but could never get past the whole "unwashed leaves steeped in sugar and sunlight" thing. In beer making, you have to be so careful to use very properly sterilized equipment, use a very specific type of yeast, ferment it under specific circumstances. I know people have been experimenting with fermented drinks since long before precise instrumentation and sterilization was a thing, but still. I just don't think I'll really ever have the courage to test that stuff out, as curious as I am.

[@futuristicgirl14]

The MrsSheMrHe channel is always showing how to make fermented drinks by leaving them out- one even grew mold and I’m not knowledgeable enough to know if it was safe to consume or not

[@touya_todoroki974]

You can wash the tree/branch you want on the tree before cutting...

[@paulherman5822]

Townsend's did a video on 18th century spruce beer. As alcoholic as the "small beer" of the time. A much safer recipe than most everything you'd find on Tik Tok.

[@claclarolo1]

I make wine, mead and beer. Plus I ferment with foraged fruit and flowers. The wild yeasts work great at creating fizzy juice, its like how you'd make tepache or elderflower champagne. Give it a try! Start with tepache!

[@ArchmageIlmryn]

Presumably you'd also kill a significant proportion of the yeast if you let it ferment for longer and got a higher alcohol content.

[@papastummyfuzz9281]

LOVED how you spoke about your food photographer! Also missed you, glad this series is back!

[@fallendeacon]

Found this video on a small Reddit thread, and it was so very well done that I logged in here to like/subscribe, and even comment that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wishing your channel the best!

[@cocoxcocoa]

I had no idea cup sizes were different from the USA and Canada, and that explains SO MUCH! Because its very obvious when American recipe developers use cups and tablespoons to develop their recipes, and then just plug their recipe into a converter to give the weighted measurements. And the majority of the time, those weighted measurements will be using non Amarican weights so they are saying 1 cup is = 250ml. So they wind up giving measurements that aren't accurate to their actual final recipe.

[@Sevicify]

To complicate matters before adopting the 250 ml metric cup Canada had their own cup size at 8 imperial fluid ounces which comes to around 227.3045 ml, it is quite possible some people are still using such cups or are looking at recipes that do. Then in the US you have the customary cup at 236.5882 ml and the legal cup at 240 ml. The UK uses the metric cup now but their traditional cup was 284.131 ml, however they tend to measure by weight so chances are a British recipe will include weights. Then there's the spoons. A metric teaspoon is 5 ml while a US customary teaspoon is 4.9289 ml, though US nutritional labels and medicine define 5 ml. Both define a tablespoon as 3 teaspoons which is 15 ml for metric and 14.7867 ml for US customary which is typically rounded to 14.8 ml, funnily (and annoyingly for me as I live there) though Australia despite being metric decided to use a 20 ml tablespoon (4 teaspoons) which I believe was due to being closer in size to our old 18~ ml tablespoons. It's definitely frustrating coming across a recipe online and seeing only cup and spoon measurements and having to convert to what I use, especially if they just calculated the weight after the fact using a convertor like you suggested instead of actually weighing things out. I find looking at recipes from different sources really helps to form a good understanding of the amounts.

[@punchpineapple]

​@@Sevicify Absolutely, I much prefer recipes based on measurements. And I tend to assume a recipe uses 15mL for a tablespoon unless I know it's Australian.

[@skwervin1]

My daughter who recently moved out of home, has been making things from recipes on the Web and keeps ringing me saying they are not turning out right. I ended up sending her a picture from an older cookbook of mine that has the different weights/volumes for UK/US/AUS plus the temperature conversions and another table with what does a Hot or Warm oven equal temperature wise. I also told her to make sure to note where the recipe came from as the USA uses different terms for the flours (all purpose instead of plain flour etc), cream (heavy instead of double thick or thickened, pouring etc), and they use a lot of unsalted butter then add salt to the recipe while here I just use salted butter and don't add any extra salt. Since that call, she has had a lot more success. We did four years of cooking at school back in the 70s/80s, did full meals, desserts, meat dishes, pastry etc, unlike my kids who pretty much made cakes or biscuits and decorated them at most. I remember making upside down cake and cornish pasties on the same day and brought them home for dinner!

[@Sevicify]

@@skwervin1 Different names is a great point for confusion. A common one is cornstarch in the US is called as cornflour in other parts of the world such as UK and Australia, meanwhile cornflour in US is different being a finely ground cornmeal made from whole kernels which is known as maize flour in those other countries. I imagine this cornstarch vs cornflour difference has caught many people out.

[@thelibraryismyhappyplace1618]

American fluid oz and pints are also different from Imperial fluid oz and pints. A lot of Americans think that the American system is called Imperial or 'standard', but it is not. It is called US Customary Units. So be careful if you use an online converter.

[@lark7657]

Tepache is another drink made with natural yeasts fermenting in water (from pineapple skin!) Tasty and perfectly safe as far as I know

[@Shamsithaca]

As always SO MUCH to learn from you! Thank you!

[@victoriagame_4113]

I love Ann! Love all the experiments! Thank you for teaching us!

[@AndyLundell]

There are quite a lot of drinks that include live yeast. Including many beers and brewed softdrinks. (Traditional root-beer recipes will have yeast in them. Although the commercial brands are not actually brewed, they're just made with flavor syrup and carbonated water.)

[@ypp0p]

Yeah she did not research this very well

[@muciSAD]

@@ypp0p so many foods have live yeast, idk what she's trying to say. has she never had kimchi or yogurt or natto.

[@Tala_Masca]

I think Dave and the boys were very happy testing the cookiebaking experiment!😊😂

[@OldManFerdiad]

"You can have as many cookies as you want if you help me clean the pine-soda off the walls"

[@ControversyCupcake]

@@OldManFerdiadthat’s golden 😂

[@dawnkindnesscountsmost5991]

Gotta say AFTER instead of IF. Clean _first,_ cookies after cleaning, with a litre of milk for each of them (some of those cookies are really crispy).

[@OldManFerdiad]

@@dawnkindnesscountsmost5991 ​ hahaha speaks the voice of experience? Milk and cookies are always a win, gotta say the only ones I don't think I'd have eaten were the ones still raw inside.

[@strawberry1025]

An educational joy as ever, thank you!

[@HeranBago]

I am so happy you are still going with this. It makes my day when you upload one of these! Thank you very much.

[@Enocia]

As for the cookies, I've always been told that different altitudes require different levels of flour. I grew up in Colorado which is really high above sea level and every box of cake or bag of chocolate chips had flour adjustments for altitude.

[@jessica-mariegervais9800]

Absolutely this! I live in Edmonton, which is some 671 m (2,201 ft) in elevation. The British recipes I use, I have to proof/prove longer and use more soda/powder.

[@mightisright]

I hope Ann can weigh in on this, because I've noticed that altitude does seem to affect baking. Even the difference between sea level and 1,000 ft seems a little different to me. Boiling is definitely affected, since at a mile above sea level water boils at 95 C rahter than 100 C.

[@fraukevinetabulow4064]

Altitude changes the boiling point - when making charts of the Himalaya height was actually measured by boiling water on a stove and at the same time using a thermometer to establish the temperature when water starts boiling, thus establishing the height of mountains. This of course only affects the flour/temperature ratio. Great idea! Here in Bavaria where I live a famous distillery compares a "mountain vs. valley" maturing of their whiskey - would you know anything about that?

[@AnnaReed42]

Humidity can also make a difference! Desert dwellers may find that their doughs end up with too much flour because the dryer flour weighs less. Here in Northern Utah we get hit with both issues. I'm a bit of an evangelist on the altitude issue whenever candy temperatures are mentioned. Most videos will just say "get it to exactly this temperature," but if someone follows that at a higher altitude, they'll probably end up going past the correct stage.

[@lesanimaux4416]

"It's up to you if you want to drink it or tip it out. I know what my choice would be " Why did I half expect the camera to go to Dave taking a swig of the sprite? I'm sorry Ann, but he's ate some pretty terrible things before in the name of science 😂😂

[@legumegirl]

I think they have a kid who is immune compromised, so I can understand not taking any risks.

[@junbh2]

​@@legumegirlFair enough if that's the case, but then I'd just say that and not be unnecessarily melodramatic.

[@AnuragDeshpande]

Your dedication and stick-to-itiveness for experimentd, 22 batches of it, is commendable. I wish you all the success. You are an inspiration

[@PurrloinQueen]

Pine needle soda is a cultural food…

[@eily_b]

I recently read a funny but true line: "Do y'all remember, before the internet, that people thought the cause of stupidity was the lack of access to information? Yeah. It wasn't that." - Sad but true 😞

[@mgratk]

Alton Brown in Good Eats did a couple outstanding episodes on cookies and how to get exactly the kind you want, whether flat and crisp, light and more cakey, etc. Very science-based approach.

[@loriki8766]

I miss Good Eats

[@breathlesshaste]

Those recipes are available on the Food Network website, too. They're called The Chewy, The Puffy, and Thin & Crispy. Excellent recipes!

[@vociferonheraldofthewinter2284]

A few weeks ago I showed my granddaughter the difference in the weight of flour when you pack it in vs no packing without telling her what I was doing. You would've thought I pulled a rabbit out of a hat right in front of her eyes and it was adorable. Only took a few seconds to figure out the answer, though. Lord, I love this age.

[@areej9639]

Love your dedication to these experiments ❤

[@Softsqueakyduck]

I've been baking for over 30 years now. About 20 years ago, I switched over to measuring by weight and never looked back. Baking IS a science and everything MUST be accurate for things to turn out perfectly. I grew up in the hills of Tennessee and I was always told that you need to be careful with pine needle. If you get bad ones you can really have a bad time.

[@nondisclosureable]

My biggest issue when people are struggling with a baking recipe is to find out the elevation the recipe was written in/for. Baking at sea level is different then baking at 5,000+ft.

[@bellablue5285]

Certain things are very different even being at 1000ft, more finicky baked goods often require a bit more flour for instance

[@SandraNLN]

@@bellablue5285 I live at 7,500 ft and the biggest thing for baking in my experience is that leavening MUST be cut in half. Otherwise, there's too much rise too quickly and things collapse. Also, adding a bit more flour as you say.

[@lynneconklin917]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for saying this. I lived at sea level for most of my life but moved to a place that's at 3000 to 4000 ft. Since most of my cooking is not baking, it's only a few, leavened recipes that are affected

[@can_ijust_watchstuff]

I really love your video's Ann. They are so well put together and give me so much information. Please keep being you! ^^

[@BlueBerryAccount]

Thank you soooo much, Ann for this video. I always thought that there's something wrong with my way of cooking, not the recipe :D

[@SysterYster]

Back in the 1700-1800's in Sweden (and probably older times as well), people would use a block of pine bark as yeast for bread. The dipped it into warm water and added to the dough. I found that fascinating, and very cool. :)

[@Oscitant_Otter]

You can also just stick a bowl of flour and water out somewhere and gather yeast that way. Not going to work in a desert of course, but yeast abounds.

[@muciSAD]

yep you can, but it takes days to start a dough starter, while this pine needle trick seems to work fast when you're in a pinch. @@Oscitant_Otter