How do you dunk your biscuit?

Imagine dunking your biscuit into your tea and not having any remnants in the bottom of your cup!

There’s a new product on sale in the UK that dips into your cup and catches any stray biscuit, letting you enjoy your drink in peace even after subjecting it to a gruelling dunking session. That’s tea drinking, or thinking, at its best!

What is your best biscuit dipping time? How long would you dunk yours for?

Test yourself – Grab a cup of tea and a yummy biscuit from your local Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse today.

The $3.25 Cookie Catcher (shown) is a meshed pouch that is lowered into a beverage. When a biscuit is dunked inside it the bag catches any breakages. Using a string the drinker can then get the bag and the crumbs out of the tea

The device was designed by dad of two Andrew Tinsley from Watford, Hertfordshire. solved the age-old problem with a canny mesh pouch which is immersed inside a mug of tea.

The drinker dips their biscuits in the mug like normal but the pouch collects any unwanted bits that might float off during the dunking process.

And even if the biscuit becomes too soggy and breaks off altogether the gadget will guarantee drinkers are not left with a heap of biscuity sludge at the bottom of their cup.

Once the drinker has finished dunking they can lift the washable pouch out using an attached string and continue drinking the tea as normal.

Mr Tinsley apparently dreamed up the design after watching family members dunking their biscuits for too long.

‘The idea came to me when after a big lunch my family were all sat around drinking tea and tucking into a selection box of biscuits,’ said Mr Tinsley.

‘My brother had drunk a bit too much tea at lunchtime and kept over-dunking his biscuits in his tea. Every time he left them in the tea too long and they would break off.

Even if the biscuit becomes too soggy and breaks off altogether the gadget will guarantee drinkers are not left with a heap of biscuity sludge at the bottom of their cup.

‘We all said that someone should invent a device that catches the crumbs and stops your tea being full of bits.

‘It got me thinking. I’ve always been entrepreneurial so I took the idea away and came up with this little mesh sack that sits inside your tea cup and catches all the bits.

‘When you’re done dunking you whip it out of the mug using the attached string and you can enjoy the rest of your tea with no bits in.

He adds that it can also be washed out and used over and over again as it is made from nylon.

‘Anyone who has ever dunked a biscuit in tea will understand what this product is all about,’ he continued.

‘It’s a British solution to a very British problem.

‘We have only just launched and we’ve already sold about 600 Cookie Catchers, so they’re obviously striking a chord with the tea drinkers of Britain.’

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE DUNK

Dunkers know that insufficient biscuit submersion results in an unsatisfying experience; waiting too long causes the biscuit to break apart, leaving an unpleasant sludge in the bottom of the mug.

But research, conducted by Dr Stuart Farrimond, suggests there is a science behind the dunk, with the humble Rich Tea biscuit named most robust biscuit for dunking.

In addition vertical submersion is best, and the fat content of the biscuit and the temperature of the liquid are crucial in the success of your dunking ventures.

The length of time a biscuit can be dunked is roughly proportional to the amount of fat and sugar in a biscuit. The sweeter and more buttery a biscuit, the faster it will break apart when dunking.