Leeds scientists discover the perfect piece of toast

Scientists at the University of Leeds have found the formula for how to make the perfect piece of toast. Just follow this simple equation!

Lurpak, the nation's favourite butter brand made by Leeds-based Arla Foods, has commissioned the scientific research to be carried out into the melting properties of butter and how this affects the taste of one of the most popular breakfast treats.

The team at the University of Leeds Procter Department of Food Science have been busy slicing bread, testing toasters and tasting toast to come up with the formula.

But if figuring it out seems a little complicated first thing in the morning, they have also devised some more toast-lover-friendly tips on how to start your day with the perfect piece of toast:

* Make sure you heat your bread to a minimum temperature of 120°C
* Spread the butter within two minutes of the bread popping up from the toaster, when the temperature reaches between 60-70°C
* Use butter straight from the fridge and apply it unevenly. This will create tasty unmelted patches of butter to add to your perfect toast experience
* Use a hard butter with a high melting point temperature, such as Lurpak, to create more pools of unmelted butter
* Use a minimum amount of butter, equivalent to one-seventeenth the thickness of the bread, to ensure the scattered patches appear

The researchers' professional advice is based on taste tests carried out at the university which proved that people prefer their toast to have patches of partly melted butter, to tantalise their tastebuds and improve the taste and texture of the toast.

A group of toast-tasters were found to have a strong preference for the "mouthfeel" of toast with these pools of partly melted butter (73%), compared to toast on which the butter had fully melted (27%).

Professor Bronek Wedzicha, Head of the Procter Department of Food Science, said: "This has been a very interesting piece of research for the department and has resulted in some fascinating facts about butter, how it melts into toast and how this affects the taste."

Dave Hughes, brand manager for Lurpak, said: "As a Leeds-based company, Arla Foods was very keen to work with the team at the University of Leeds on this research.

"Everyone loves toast and butter and we hope these tips will help people enjoy one of the nation's favourite snacks even more."

Arla Foods UK plc is home to some of the UK’s leading dairy brands including Cravendale, Lurpak and Anchor. Processing approximately two billion litres of milk a year Arla continues to be one of the UK’s leading dairy companies and a supplier of fresh liquid milk and cream to the top seven retailers.

Over 2,500 daily deliveries are made directly to stores nationwide and Arla brands can be found across the dairy category. As well as the leader of the butter, spreads and margarine sector, and a major supplier of other added value products including flavoured milk and cheese, Arla continues to build working relationships with Arla Foods Milk Partnership, a unique group of dairy farmers, which supplies around 90 per cent of Arla's total milk requirements.

Behind this leading business is a team of circa 2,800 people across the UK located at our dairies, distribution centres and head office.