Experimental cookery

Thus the weight or load for crushing the pastry gradually increased. Denton and Lowe found that in general the fats and the oils having the highest percentage of unsaturated glycerides gave the shortest pastries. They found an exception in butter, which gave less shortening power than coconut oil, although moisture-free butter, with only the butter fat used, drained free of curd, produced a very tender pastry. Here the heat- ing of the butter fat to render it moisture free may have affected its shortening power. From data. Table 65, it can be seen that the order for different fats in the table varies in some cases according to whether the crushing or the breaking average is taken. Therefore, the results should be taken in groups 570 FATS AND OILS TABLE 65* Breaking and Crushing Strength of Different Pastries Made under Standardized Conditions. (Each Figure an Average of 48 Tests.) Temperature of Ingredients When Mixed 80°F. {Denton and Lowe) Kind of fat Melting point, °C. Grams to break Grams to crush PufF pastry shortening Nutmargarine Puff pastry shortening (moisture free) Butter, sample I Butter, sample II Petrolatum Mineral oil, purified Nutmargarine (moisture free) Coconut oil Commercial coconut fat Lard, all leaf, sample Ilf Lard, all leaf, sample I Lard, largely leaf, sample I Lard, largely leaf, sample III Hydrogenated cottonseed oil Lard, bulk Cottonseed oil, emulsion made of oil and water Lard, second grade Butter, moisture-free, curd removed Cottonseed oil Corn oil Chicken oil or fat 61.0 28.4 34.7 19.5 44.6 40.6 45.4 41.4 612 644 592 530 525 402 418 340 334 350 344 327 276 317 316 266 261 268 249 240 233 1380 1096 1000 902 802 680 635 554 588 537 532 477 487 527 506 466 528 398 387 399 399 375 *Published by courtesy of Dr. Louise Stanley, Chief, Bureau of Home Eco- nomics. Experimental work on pastry done at the Bureau of Home Economics, Washington, D. C. fAverage of 96 tests. rather than individual experiments. The oils, corn, cottonseed, and chicken gave the most tender pastries. The pastries next in order were obtained with second-grade lard, bulk lard, or when a temporary emulsion was made by shaking the oil and the water and then adding this emulsion quickly to the flour. The latter is a method often suggested in recipes, as it tends to produce a flakier and less crumbly pastry than when the oil is first mixed with the flour and the water added last. Puff pastry shortening. The puff pastry shortening is a product con- taining about 30 to 45 per cent of oleostearin and from 45 to 60 per cent of cottonseed or other vegetable oil. It is prepared by mixing the ingre- EFFECT OF EXTENT OF MIXING 571 dients and heating to a common melting point, mixing, chilling in water, and working. The finished product has 7 to 10 per cent of moisture. It is very waxy, and is easily rolled in thin layers for use in puff pastry, for which it produces excellent results, but it is poor for ordinary pastry. Butter and margarine. Butter and margarine gave a very hard pastry. The emulsified fats, such as butter, margarine, and puff pastry shortening, gave harder pastries than their moisture-free products. To render the butter and margarine moisture free, they were heated at 75 °C.