Believe it or not, much research has been done in how to perfectly split Oreos with an even amount of cream on both sides. Early studies suggested it simply wasn’t possible, with one side always getting the majority of the cream. However, [Ian Charnas] has now found a sneaky workaround.
First attempts involved heating in a microwave or chilling the cookies in the freezer. Neither helped in the slightest. A vacuum chamber only served to delaminate the cream from both sides of the cookie entirely, while water jet cutting made an awful mess.
[Ian] ended up realizing that crack propagation could be used to prepare Oreos for a perfect split. A knife was used to score a groove all around the cream layer, right down the middle. The Oreos were then frozen, turning the cream effectively solid. When the Oreo is then twisted, the groove serves as a starting point for a crack that propagates across the surface, splitting the cream neatly between both halves.
[Ian] took things further by building a 3D-printed lathe that grooves Oreos using a sterilized scalpel blade. This allows cookies to be quickly prepped for a perfect split. However, you are left eating frozen Oreos at the end of it, with some sacrifices to freshness.
It’s a neat way to approach the Oreo splitting problem, even if it’s only one step removed from simply using a knife. We’ve seen [Ian]’s work before, too, in the form of the radioactively-powered Game Boy. Video after the break.
And when he displayed it at a science fair,
A man from a large academy was there.
He took just one taste and widened his eyes,
And said, “Son, we’re giving you the Nobel Prize!”
It’s the incredible Oreo Cookie Splitter!
It can bring so many people joy!
Just toss in a cookie, flip the switch
And out comes that symmetric split
A treat for any little girl or boy!
Okay, that should really be “Just toss in a cookie, turn the spit”
+1
This biscuit splitting research is surely going to divide the scientific community!
Facepalm
That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
It is a clever hack, but…
They’re going the wrong way. You want all the cream on one side. Maybe take 2 double stuffed Oreos and tear them open with all the cream on one cookie for each. Smash the creamed cookies together to get quadruple stuff!
This is the way.
The only way! What’s the point of splitting it evenly? Out of standard Oreos, I can make double stuffed. Out of double stuffed, quad stuffed. If they make quad stuffed, I could make octo-stuffed. It’s comput-a-logical!
Exactly, my perfect oreo split has zero cream on both sides, so I can eat the creme and toss the boring cookies.
Yes we definitely want to trade up to a cookie with more cream! This is yet another example of society moving backward…
I caught the part in the video where it’s spelled “creme” due to there being no dairy in the stuff.
Next iteration?
Perfect hamburger split?
Can we do it with bananas?
Joerg Sprave had a neat method:
https://youtu.be/vZj5rMECi7A
I grew up pronouncing them Or-eo, he pronounces them O-reo!
Oreos just aren’t that good.
Try dipping them in Nutella, and wash it down with strong black coffee. It’s a simultaneous overdose of caffeine, chocolate and sugar and it will inspire you to write hundreds of lines of code.
Well, at least it is not about Climate Change!
B^)
Didn’t anyone consider using dental floss to cut through the cream?
I thought something like that would end up being the winning method. Maybe with cheese wire, or thinner like the type of wire used for separating a smart phone LCD from the front glass.
Molybdenum wire, good idea!
have like 6-8 wires that are arranged in an hexagonal/octagonal way with the radius getting smaller by rotation. sterilisation can be easily done by applying elictricity pn the wires.
Maybe use a Variable Sword. A wire of 1 molecule thick held rigid in a Slaver Stasis field.
Excellent literary reference! +1
So the answer to perfectly splitting an oreo is to use a knife. Got it.
Thanos would be proud
I came to HaD today – and got this :-(
Now it’s time for the “Oreofüllungssollbruchstellenverursacher” invention