INGREDIENTS - Shortenings

Any fat acts as a shortening in baking because it shortens gluten strands and tenderizes the product. However, we generally use the word shortening to mean any of a group of solid fats,usually white and tasteless,that are especially formulated for baking. Shortenings generally consist of nearly 100% fat. Shortenings may be made from vegetable oils, animal fats, or both. During manufacturing, the fats are hydrogenated. This process turns liquid oils into solid fats. Because shortenings are used for many purposes, manufacturers have formulated different kinds of fats with different properties.There are two main types: regular shortenings and emulsified shortenings.

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INGREDIENTS - Fat Emulsions

Most bakery ingredients mix easily with water and other liquids and actually undergo a change in form. For example, salt and sugar dissolve in water; flour and starch absorb water and the water becomes bound up with the starch and protein molecules. Fat, on the other hand, does not change form when it is mixed with liquids or other bakery ingredients. Instead, it is merely broken down into smaller and smaller particles during mixing.These small fat particles eventually become more or less evenly distributed in the mix. A uniform mixture of two unmixable substances,such as a fat and water,is called an emulsion. Mayonnaise is a familiar example of an emulsion from outside the bakeshop—in this case, an emulsion of oil and vinegar.There are also emulsions of air and fat,such as that formed when shortening and sugar are creamed together in the production of cakes and other products. Fats have differing abilities to form emulsions. For example, if the wrong shortening is used in certain cakes, the emulsion may fail because the batter contains more water than the fat can hold.We then say that the batter curdles or breaks.

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CONTROLLING GLUTEN

Flour is mostly starch, as you know, but it is the protein or gluten content, not the starch, that concerns the baker most. Gluten proteins are needed to give structure to baked goods. Bakers must be able to control the gluten, however. For example, we want French bread to be firm and chewy, which requires much gluten.On the other hand,we want cakes to be tender,which means we want very little gluten development.

Ingredient proportions and mixing methods are determined, in part, by how they affect the development of gluten.The baker has several methods for adjusting gluten development:

1. Selection of flours Wheat flours are classified as strong or weak, depending on their protein content.
Strong flours come from hard wheat and have a high protein content. Weak flours come from soft wheat and have a low protein content.
Thus, we use strong flours for breads and weak flours for cakes. Only wheat flour develops enough gluten to make bread.To make bread from rye or other grains, the formula must be balanced with some highgluten flour, or the bread will be heavy.

2. Shortening Any fat used in baking is called a shortening because it shortens gluten strands. It does this by surrounding the particles and lubricating them so they do not stick together.Thus, fats are tenderizers.
A cookie or pastry that is very crumbly, which is due to high fat content and little gluten development, is said to be short.
You can see why French bread has little or no fat, while cakes contain a great deal.

3. Liquid Because gluten proteins must absorb water before they can be
developed, the amount of water in a formula can affect toughness or tenderness. Pie crusts and crisp cookies, for instance, are made with very little liquid in order to keep them tender.

4. Mixing methods In general, the more a dough or batter is mixed, the
more the gluten develops.Thus, bread doughs are mixed or kneaded for a long time to develop the gluten. Pie crusts, muffins, and other products that must be tender are mixed for a short time.
It is possible to overmix bread dough,however.Gluten strands will stretch only so far. They will break if the dough is overmixed.

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SELECTION OF INGREDIENTS

In addition to measuring, there is another basic rule of accuracy in the bakeshop: Use the exact ingredients specified.

As you will learn,different flours,shortenings,and other ingredients do not function alike. Bakers’ formulas are balanced for specific ingredients.For example,do not substitute bread flour for pastry flour or regular shortening for emulsified shortening.They won’t work the same way.

Occasionally, a substitution may be made, such as active dry yeast for compressed yeast, but not without adjusting the quantities and rebalancing the formula.

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