Experimental cookery

Flakiness. Flakiness is considered a desirable quality in pastry. Melted fats and the oils usually give a more crumbly and a less flaky crust, although a flaky crust is often obtained with oil or melted fat. Bread flour tends to give a more flaky crust than soft-wheat flour. The temperature of the ingredients may affect the flakiness. With the harder fats there is a greater tendency for the fat to stay in layers, as flakiness depends upon the layers of fat and flour being separated by steam and probably to a lesser extent by air in the baking. The proportion of water to fat has some effect. When the proportion of water to fat exceeds or falls below a certain ratio, the pastry is less flaky. The extent of mixing the fat with the flour, as well as the method of combining the water, by mixing or by cutting the water into the fat and flour, may also influence the flakiness of the pastry. The method of handling the dough may have some effect. Rerolling and careful handling may increase flakiness and also toughness. The flakiness of pastry is also increased by rolling with thin layers of fat between layers of the dough. Soaking of crust in baking pies. Excessive soaking of the crust during and after baking occurs most frequently with fruit pies, as cherry, blackberry, blueberry, and loganberry, and custard pies. Many suggestions to prevent soaking have been offered and these have been collected in Experiment 98. Tests, using pastry made in one batch and rolling all to the same thickness, have shown that partially baking the under crust before adding the filling only increases the soaking. Brushing the under crust with butter or fat aids to a certain extent, but for cooked or canned fruit thickening the juice before adding the filling to the pastry is the most effective means of preventing soaking. If fresh cherries or berries are used, then mixing flour or cornstarch with the sugar is as good as cooking the fruit first before adding it to the pie. The only advantage of cooking and thickening fresh fruit before adding the hot filling to the pastry is that it shortens the cooking time in the oven. The best Avay to prevent soaking of the crust in custard pie has been mentioned in the chapter on eggs, that is, cooking the filling and pastry separately. If this is not desirable, scalding the milk before adding it to the eggs and using 3 eggs to a pint of milk help the custard to set more rapidly. LITERATURE CITED AND REFERENCES Andrews, J. T. R. Gaseous Decomposition Products of Rancid Oils, Oil & Soap. 12: 104 (1935). Bloor, W. R. Biochemistry of Fats. Chem. Rev. 2: 243 (1925). Blunt, K., and Feeney, C. M, The Smoking Temperature of Edible Fats. J. Home Econ. 7: 535 (1915). Browne, C. A. A Contribution to the Chemistry of Butter-Fat. III. The Chem- istry of Rancidity of Butter-Fat. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 21: 975 (1899). FATS AND OILS 573 Cawood, J. F. Shortening Value of Plastic Fats. Ind. Eng. Chem. 26: 968 (1934). Coe, M. R. Photochemical Studies of Rancidity; Induction Period of Protected and Non-Protected Oils. Oil & Soap. 13: 197 (1936). Coe, M. R., and Le Clerc, J. A. Antioxidants vs. Green Light Protection. Oil & Soap. 12: 231 (1935). Davies, W. L. The Deterioration of Fat in Foodstuffs. Food Technology 1 : 141,