Photo: Getty Images
A team of mechanical engineers at MIT recently developed a device to test the optimal way of separating the two halves of an Oreo cookie, so that the wafers and the creme filling inside remained unbroken. The team built their “Oreometer” to test how different types of Oreos separate, paying particular attention to the creme distribution across the two wafers once the cookie split.
… Researchers said their favorite twist was “rotating while pulling Oreos apart from one side, as a kind of peel-and-twist, which was the most reliable for getting a very clean break.”
… They tested regular Oreos as well as the Double and Mega Stuf varieties, which have more creme filling, and didn’t report any apparent correlation between the amount of creme and how cleanly the cookie separated.
… Oreos turned 110 in March. It was launched as an imitation of the Hydrox cookie manufactured by Sunshine company, which was introduced in 1908. The Oreo Biscuit was renamed in 1921 to “Oreo Sandwich”; in 1948, the name was changed to “Oreo Crème Sandwich”; and in 1974 it became the “Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie”, the name that has remained to this day.