Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/11
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Damm! You sound just like the guy on Good Eats program on the Food
Network.. ;-)
gene
Sonny Carter <sonc@sonc.com>
Sent by: To: Daniel Ridings <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
owner-leica-users@mejac.palo cc:
-alto.ca.us Subject: Re[2]: [Leica] OT (of course) Crisco
11/11/2003 09:06 AM
Please respond to
leica-users
Daniel wrote:
DR> It's the word "shortening" that gets me. What is shortening?
Margarine is
DR> a vegetable fat, is it a shortening?
From baking911.com:
Shorteners include butter, margarine or vegetable shortening. They coat the
flour proteins or water-proof them, contributing to tender baking by
reducing their contact with the moisture in the recipe and preventing
gluten from forming. They also shorten the length of the gluten strands
when the flour is stirred with that moisture (that's why they're called
"shorteners"), preventing a tough baked good or tenderize. Fat coats the
flour particles so the elastic formation slows down; it makes the gluten
strands slippery so the gas bubbles can move easily; and it gives the final
recipe a finer grain. Generally, when people refer to "moist" in a baked
product, they are referring to the fat content.
In traditional baking, where solid fats are creamed with crystalline sugar,
tiny air cells are incorporated into the batter, so the baked good will
have a fine, aerated texture. When a shortener is removed or reduced, it
increases the chances that the end product will lack flavor and be tough
and full of tunnels.
Different types of fat do different jobs in baking. A well-known baking
fat, butter makes a very important flavor contribution, whereas margarine
does not have as fine a texture and taste. When choosing a shortener, I
always go for the butter, even in reduced-fat baking where the small
amounts help to retain a great taste and aroma. If you have dietary
restrictions that make it necessary for you to reduce saturated fats in
your diet, you can substitute a butter-margarine blend. The recipe won't
taste the same if you use margarine. Fat can be found in other baking
ingredients, such as the egg yolk which serves as both a tenderizer and
emulsifier due to its fat and lecithin content.
Oils do not act as a shortener because it is a liquid and won't cream with
crystalline sugar in the same way that solid fat does. Oils tend to coat
each particle of flour, which causes a lack of contact of moisture and
helps prevent gluten development. It reduces dryness and enhances flavor. I
use it sparingly in reduced-fat baking because it has the same number of
calories and fat grams as butter, even though it has less saturated fat.
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