After observing how NHS staff avoid breaks because of their time constraints, researchers identified the amount of time it takes to prepare a safe, tasty cup of tea.
In keeping with the tradition of pairing tea with biscuits, and because dunking may help cool the tea faster, they also assessed four varieties of biscuits for nutritional content and durability after dunking.
Their findings are based on six tests carried out with resources that might normally be found in the staff room of the Department of Surgery at the University Hospital of Wales.
After agreeing on a procedure for preparing a standard cup of tea, they collected data on the rate of decline in tea temperature and the overall time required to achieve a comfortable, and therefore potentially safe, drinking temperature (drinking time). referred to as Time for Qualified Tea or TTDT).
They then selected four different types of round non-chocolate biscuits – Oat, Digestive, Rich Tea and Shorty – based on nutritional content, absorbability, crispness and integrity after dunking to pair best with tea. To find the best biscuit.
The researchers recorded tea cooling and TTDT data for each biscuit variety and repeated the tests three times with freshly prepared cups of tea. The biscuits were ranked from first to last (scored 1 to 4), with penalty points awarded for adverse events such as scalds and breakability.
Although results varied, the key findings were that it took approximately 420 seconds for a cup of tea to reach optimum flavor (61ºC) with 30 mL of semi-skimmed cow’s milk, and just 370 seconds with 40 mL. .
OT Treat for Healthcare Workers
Oat Biscuit overall first place after all six trials. For example, it had the highest energy content (70 kcal per biscuit) and the highest average dunk time of 34.3 seconds for the dunk break point.
Digestion came second. Although it had the lowest crunch reduction volume (15%) of all four biscuits, it broke in three tests of absorption capacity and structural integrity (saturation, dunk break point and practical dunk break point).
Shorty was ranked third, absorbing only an average of 4 mL of tea during the three satiety tests, while Rich Tea (the only biscuit awarded penalty points for breaking during the sting-break point test) ranked fourth. Although the penalty points did not directly affect Rich Tea’s ranking.
the art of dipping biscuits in tea
Based on these results, the researchers suggest that NHS staff can easily enjoy a cup of tea with biscuits in less than 10 minutes.
Biscuit dunking also has a beneficial effect on cooling the tea and should be encouraged, and the oat biscuit was the best at achieving this, compared to the digestible, rich tea and shorty.
The authors acknowledge some study limitations, such as differing opinions on whether to prefer a delicious cup of tea and limited biscuits, but say they are confident that their methods reflect real-world approaches to tea-making in NHS staff rooms. represent.
and they say Biscuit dipping pleasure enhanced the tea break experience and can have an important place in team building and engagement across different hierarchies and disciplines.
Although this study did not evaluate changes in employee morale and performance, they say: “Taking time for tea is an important daily ritual, and should be encouraged to help improve the mood and performance of healthcare workers.”
Source: Eurekalert
