Why did my protein powder do this in the microwave?

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SwampWitch666
SwampWitch666 Posts: 110 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I was trying to experiment with making different diy protein bars with supplies I had on hand. The particular one I was working on is a peanut butter cup. (fyi: I normally melt chocolate over the stove in a glass container surrounded by the water.) I already had my base chocolate and peanut butter in place, all I had to do was cover and seal it in with the top layer of chocolate.

I want to say my ratios for the top layer of chocolate were 1/3 scoop vanilla protein powder (see brand below), maybe a teaspoon of water and 8 dark chocolate chips, but I made some changes to my recipe and erased my scratch paper.

Anyway, I put the warm melted dark chocolate and protein powder mix on the counter and when I got momentarily distracted it started to harden. I figured what the heck, I'll just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the chocolate back. What would it hurt, right? Apparently the whole damned thing. Less than thirty seconds later, my chocolate puffed up and turned into a cake. A CAKE. And not a very good one, might I add. While it was dense and spongey at first, it quickly hardened into a weird dried-out muffin.

Then I remembered, back when I got protein powder for the first time I tried to mix it in with my oatmeal when I was in a rush (again, normally I do this over the stove) and it gave it a kind of weird plastic-y texture. I only had that problem with the microwave.

I guess this is the universe's way of telling me that patience pays off.
:(

The protein powder is GNC's Pro Performance® AMP Amplified Wheybolic Extreme 60™ - Vanilla.

http://www.gnc.com/GNC-Pro-Performance-AMP-Amplified-Wheybolic-Extreme-60-Vanilla/product.jsp?productId=3513369&cp=3593186.3593187.2108294

Contains: Soybeans and Milk
Other Ingredients: Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Hydrolyzed Whey), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Polydextrose, Lecithin, Salt, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium

Any ideas?

Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,968 Member
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    Wow, sound like science gone wrong........sorry I can't be much help without duplicating it myself, but I suspect the heat had started the denaturing process and that can and will thicken/harden pretty quickly.....more liquid I suspect or less powder for your ratio's but <i'm really not sure.
  • eslcity
    eslcity Posts: 323 Member
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    I've been really wanting to make my own protein bars..... I have been looking at youtubers and they seem to make it sound soooo easy.... In Korea they cost so much you would think there was gold flakes in them...

    Did you look at different reciepts or are you... doing the trial and error method... that i normally do..
  • SwampWitch666
    SwampWitch666 Posts: 110 Member
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    I started off trying to follow some recipes I looked up online, but I have a lot of ingredient limitations due to my financial budget, so I've found myself having to test out a lot of substitutes. Now I just enjoy testing out new things!
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
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    I don't have a foody scientific answer for you...can't channel Alton Brown...but I know that whey protein powders are basically just manipulated dried milk. Just like you would go to the store and find dried milk in a can, so with the process of adding water, it basically becomes "milk". So whatever recipe you have that would call for milk and flour, you could basically substitute protein powder with the appropriate added liquid.
  • Sinisterly
    Sinisterly Posts: 10,913 Member
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    Oh hey, I want to make protein muffin cakes!
  • Llamapants86
    Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
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    It is the heat. Microwaves make pockets of really hot (where the microwaves are at a peak, modern ones spin to try to move these around but it isn't perfect). The really hot spots cause the protein to denature, turning into nasty-ness. Same with when you made oatmeal, just to hot the proteins couldn't handle it. I did that with my coffee once, so angry when I was on the road to work and my coffee had floaty plastic ickies in it.

    ETA: an ant can survive a minute in a microwave because it just walks out of the hot spots when it gets to hot.
  • SwampWitch666
    SwampWitch666 Posts: 110 Member
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    How cool! I never knew about that. I thought it had something to do with the ingredients!
  • LoupGarouTFTs
    LoupGarouTFTs Posts: 916 Member
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    I wonder if it's related to the process that makes the microwave chocolate cake in a mug?

    http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/microwave-chocolate-cake-in-a-mug-how-to-make-recipe.html
  • SwampWitch666
    SwampWitch666 Posts: 110 Member
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    That's what my first thought was!

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