Ask HN: Spoon vs. Fork for mixing sugar in milk/tea/coffee

7 points by garyiskidding 2 years ago | 21 comments

Generally speaking,

between a spoon and a fork, which shape would induce better dissolution and diffusion of sugar into milk/tea/coffee ?

I am wondering about this because

Forks: Their tines (usually 3-4 tines) should theoretically cause more agitation and enable better dissolution and diffusion of sugar with more "churns" while stirring.

Spoons: They act as a shallow bowl and help in serving sugar into the liquid, and can also double up and do the job of mixing it.

Strictly for the purpose of mixing the sugar into the liquid, do spoons have any design advantage over forks if we ignore the aspect that they help in transferring the heap of sugar into liquids ?

RetroTechie 2 years ago |

Aeons ago, my mom used to have a tea spoon with an S-shaped cutout (so, meant for stirring not scooping). Worked pretty well. Strange thing is I have never, ever seen a spoon like that since. Not new, not as a novelty gadget, not in thrift stores / eBay etc. Don't know why.. maybe it's not that useful but the idea wasn't half bad.

Also: the smooth edge of a spoon is less likely to scratch a cup than the teeth of a fork. But probably irrelevant for normal use.

P.S. skilled is basically saying: bigger (spoon / fork / other object) mixes better.

JoeAltmaier 2 years ago | |

Amazon, 'pierced spoon'

https://www.amazon.com/Pierced-Serving-Spoons/b?node=3672970...

fckgw 2 years ago | | |

Those are larger serving spoons though, not a teaspoon.

garyiskidding 2 years ago | | |

this makes me lean towards the fork even more.

garyiskidding 2 years ago | |

While i do understand that a larger surface area of the spoon will "flap" the liquid around better, but assuming similar motion with a fork might mean a more heterogeneous mix.

Of course we haven't mentioned the intensity of mixing. A food mixer's blades appear more closer to a fork than a spoon.

skilled 2 years ago |

Spoon.

The larger surface area of the spoon compared to the tines of a fork means that when a spoon is used for stirring, it moves a greater volume of liquid with each motion. The broader stirring action helps not just in moving the particles around but also in ensuring that sugar is not concentrated in one part of the liquid.

You can also test it yourself with a transparent liquid (green tea), a fork will cause the sugar to be stirred in place at the bottom.

giantg2 2 years ago | |

This assumes you stir the same with the fork and spoon.

You can generally stir more quickly and chaotically with a fork. Stirring with a spoon will require a slower stir to avoid splashing over the cup edge. This ge really means that when you stir with a spoon you create a vortex concentrating the solute in the bottom center of the cup.

There's a reason bakers use whisks and not spoons for mixing - tines create more mixing actions.

Jugurtha 2 years ago | | |

>This ge really means that when you stir with a spoon you create a vortex concentrating the solute in the bottom center of the cup.

This is considered improper with regards to "table manners". Many people do a circular motion with the spoon moving around the glass/cup wall. This creates a big stable vortex. The mass of the liquid is pushed against the wall and moves as a whole, similar to an annular flow, as you describe.

Another technique, the one I use (which appears to be "considered" proper, but our focus is on efficiency here), is a linear back and forth motion where the spoon moves forward and backward creating four unstable vortices every motion's period (T): two vortices on the left and right of the spoon when it moves forward (T/2), then two vortices on its left and right when it moves backwards (second half period, at date T, for a total of four vortices). These are quickly broken as they collide against one another every half period, and I suppose each particle's trajectory is more irregular with respect to a neighboring particle, which would mean a faster dissolution and a faster change in the concentration gradient.

That's how I've always thought about it. I'm not certain.

garyiskidding 2 years ago | | |

thanks. Yes this is in line with my original thought too.

garyiskidding 2 years ago | |

Thank you .. will do this experiment.

11001100 2 years ago |

What about shaking?

I always drink my post training coffee with whey, glycine and creatine monohydrate. The shaker mixes the ingredients quite well.

garyiskidding 2 years ago | |

Yes i think shaking may induce good dissolution and mixing and may be higher intensity than mixing using spoon or fork.

My thought was on the lines of non turbulent mixing with spoon or fork, entirely on the basis of mixing efficiency.

giantg2 2 years ago | | |

The whole point of the spoon or fork is to create turbulence. In a clear container, you can even see the turbulence created as the solute dissolves creating mirage (portions of the solution have different densities, refracting light differently), provided you stir slowly enough see it happening.

aynyc 2 years ago |

In Asia, it’s chopstick.

brezelgoring 2 years ago | |

What versatile tools, those chopsticks, they are like extensions of your fingers. All motions are so intuitive and natural after that initial adaptation period. I have a pair of extra long wooden ones, I read they were made for cooking, they are great. Instead of having a spatula, tongs, forks and various spoons, all made with a specific motion and purpose in mind - I can just use the chopsticks.

It's so nice.

garyiskidding 2 years ago | |

Haha.. yes.. missed this candidate.

pestatije 2 years ago |

you might be looking for a spork:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spork

giantg2 2 years ago |

The fork will create more turbulence for faster/better mixing. You can get even faster/better mixing from increasing the number of tines and making it round to spin it between your hands - a whisk.

garyiskidding 2 years ago | |

Thank you for concurring with me. This is also the explanation i could come up with while observing food mixer blades(they resemble a fork more than a spoon), tough the flow is more turbulent in that case.

incomingpain 2 years ago |

Spoon.

But also no sugar and no tea/coffee. Energy drinks all the way.

garyiskidding 2 years ago | |

Yes. This makes the debate futile haha.