Ben-Nadav Hafri

The key was to let our muffins get stale so they matched Thomas's. Rachel had made a batch the day before, which she'd left out in the open for this purpose. For the test, we were going to cut the muffins into sixteenths and put them in egg cartons. That would give us enough samples for about 100 tests.

The key was to let our muffins get stale so they matched Thomas's. Rachel had made a batch the day before, which she'd left out in the open for this purpose. For the test, we were going to cut the muffins into sixteenths and put them in egg cartons. That would give us enough samples for about 100 tests.

But as we cut up Rachel's muffins from the day before, it was clear that they were a little too crusty. We'd left them out uncovered, and they'd gotten very stale. We were both worried. And then Rachel found a bag of muffins under her desk.

But as we cut up Rachel's muffins from the day before, it was clear that they were a little too crusty. We'd left them out uncovered, and they'd gotten very stale. We were both worried. And then Rachel found a bag of muffins under her desk.

So these are the same as the final recipe.

So these are the same as the final recipe.

It looked exactly like a Thomas's. And to me, it tasted exactly like a Thomas's. We began furiously slicing them up. This kind of last-minute dramatic switch of the plan is exactly... There's two minutes until the test starts. We finished right on schedule. We wheeled our samples out into the packed student cafeteria.

It looked exactly like a Thomas's. And to me, it tasted exactly like a Thomas's. We began furiously slicing them up. This kind of last-minute dramatic switch of the plan is exactly... There's two minutes until the test starts. We finished right on schedule. We wheeled our samples out into the packed student cafeteria.

It was time to pit our formula against the greatest culinary minds in America. Cue the fight song. Hello, everybody. My goodness. At some point in your life, I hope you experience a moment so absurd, so profoundly unrecognizable, that you have an out-of-body experience.

It was time to pit our formula against the greatest culinary minds in America. Cue the fight song. Hello, everybody. My goodness. At some point in your life, I hope you experience a moment so absurd, so profoundly unrecognizable, that you have an out-of-body experience.

For me, that moment was standing in the cafeteria at the CIA, addressing a crowd of culinary students in white uniforms and skull caps regarding the several hundred egg cartons I had filled with English muffins. So, in each of these cartons, there's a slice of English muffin. Two of them are the same, one of them is different. Using taste, I want you to tell me which number is different.

For me, that moment was standing in the cafeteria at the CIA, addressing a crowd of culinary students in white uniforms and skull caps regarding the several hundred egg cartons I had filled with English muffins. So, in each of these cartons, there's a slice of English muffin. Two of them are the same, one of them is different. Using taste, I want you to tell me which number is different.

I had marked each muffin section with numbers like 302, 348, and 129. Blinding codes, so people wouldn't be biased by ABC or 123. In each test, you either had two Thomases and one Rachels, or two Rachels and one Thomases. I knew which numbers marked the odd muffin out. The goal was to see if they could tell. If they could, we'd failed. Which one do you think is different than the others?

I had marked each muffin section with numbers like 302, 348, and 129. Blinding codes, so people wouldn't be biased by ABC or 123. In each test, you either had two Thomases and one Rachels, or two Rachels and one Thomases. I knew which numbers marked the odd muffin out. The goal was to see if they could tell. If they could, we'd failed. Which one do you think is different than the others?

That was a wrong answer.

That was a wrong answer.

That's different. $3.99 is different. It's $1.09. Pretty sure it's $1.42. $1.42 is what's different. Pretty quickly it became clear that we were on track for over 60% of people correctly guessing which muffin was not like the others. This was not working. We're getting smoked so far. We're getting absolutely destroyed. it looked like our entire plan was going to fail.

That's different. $3.99 is different. It's $1.09. Pretty sure it's $1.42. $1.42 is what's different. Pretty quickly it became clear that we were on track for over 60% of people correctly guessing which muffin was not like the others. This was not working. We're getting smoked so far. We're getting absolutely destroyed. it looked like our entire plan was going to fail.

We took on Bimbo Bakery's legendary trade secret. And just like in Bimbo Bakery's vs. Chris Botticella, we were losing, and the secret was winning.

We took on Bimbo Bakery's legendary trade secret. And just like in Bimbo Bakery's vs. Chris Botticella, we were losing, and the secret was winning.