The use of fats in baking

USE OF FAT IN BAKERY
BASIC FUNCTIONS of vegetable oils and animal fats
ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS OF OIL AND FAT

[USE OF FATS IN BAKERY.]

USE OF FATS IN BAKERY.

All types of fats have always been used in bakery and confectionery production.

Even in ancient times, people noticed that with the addition of melted fat, bread becomes softer and more fluffy.

In general, any fat can be added to bread, especially in black or mixed rolls, with almost the same effect.

The fatty component in the dough physically works in the following way: fat cells, as it were, lubricate the gluten threads, giving them additional elasticity, envelop the starch grains in the crumb, giving it elasticity, fluffiness and additional gas-holding capacity.

As a result, the elasticity and crumb friability inherent in “rich” baked goods increases, the crumb's freshness is prolonged, and a pleasant taste and smell of bread appears. In some varieties of bread, different varieties of vegetable oil are used as a fat additive, butter is used in confectionery baked goods, in the vast majority of pastry products, ordinary margarine is used, in some varieties of black bread, animal fat and lard are added.

With the addition of high-quality varieties of vegetable fat (olive, sesame, sunflower oil) or milk fat (butter), the products retain the pleasant "food" smell and taste inherent in these fats. When using block margarine, little smell and taste remains in the products.

The usual dosage of fat in bread is 1-3%, if a high-quality pastry is made, then fats are added in an amount of 8-10% or more. Fats envelop the yeast cells and prevent gas formation, therefore, in a fat "heavy" dough, the dosage of yeast must be increased.
To be continued...

[BASIC FUNCTIONS of vegetable oils and animal fatsFrom the book "Professional Baking" by Paula Figoni]

BASIC FUNCTIONS of vegetable oils and animal fats

From the book "Professional Baking" by Paula Figoni


Providing softness
Fats, oils and emulsifiers provide softening, enveloping thickeners - gluten proteins, egg whites and starch granules - and preventing them from absorbing water and forming the structure of the dough. Softness is the opposite of hardness. The soft product is easy to break, chew, crumble or squeeze because it lacks a strong structure. Generally, softness is considered a positive quality. Delicate baked goods are pleasant to bite off. However, leavening agents must be balanced with thickeners.
Too much softening can cause the product to become too crumbly or even destroy it.

Lipids shorten the gluten strands by enveloping them. Like shortenings, all fats, oils and emulsifiers have this property. However, not all lipids provide the same degree of loosening.

Butter and margarine, which contain only 80 percent fat (and water), are less effective softeners than shortening and lard.

The softer or thinner the fat, the easier it is to mix in dough or dough, enveloping flour particles and egg whites. In other words, with the same amount and quality of the remaining ingredients, a softer or thinner fat will provide more softening. This explains why the dough cooked in oil is crumbly and mealy. This also explains why whisked plastic fats loosen better than unbleached fats. Finally, this explains why the highly saturated, very hard cocoa butter in chocolate loosen up the baked goods very slightly.

In the case of puff pastry and other specific foods, loosening is increased when the flour and fat are mixed well before adding water. The smaller the fat particles, the more they envelop the thickening flour particles. This is why French puff buns are so crumbly. French chefs achieve this texture using frying, a process where flour and fat are carefully mixed by hand.

Emulsifiers are very effective in providing loosening. They work in two ways. Method one: Emulsifiers help fats and oils to spread throughout the dough so that fats and oils better envelop the thickeners present. Second way: emulsifiers themselves are very effective in enveloping thickening ingredients. In fact, the amount of fat can be reduced if emulsifiers are added to the dough. Check the packaging for low-fat foods. You will find that many of them contain a large amount of emulsifiers (such as mono- and diglycerides).

In conclusion, we add that the shortening and softening properties inherent in lipids depend on the following factors:
• amount: the more fat, oil or emulsifier, the more loosening;
• the softness of the fat: the softer or thinner the fat, the more loosening;
• particle size: the smaller the fat particles (from a long batch), the more loosening;
• presence of emulsifiers such as mono- and diglycerides.

Providing lamination in puff pastry
Lamination is determined by the number of layers in the baked puff product. There should be many peelable layers in a puff product. The flakiness requires flat pieces of fat to separate the dough. When heated in the oven, the fat melts and the layer structure hardens. This creates separate layers in the product. The more layers and the better they separate, the more layered the baked goods will be. The pieces of fat must remain large enough to separate the layers. Some cooks prefer to stir the fat with flour, not in a mixer, but with their hands to achieve the desired result. Note that layering can vary depending on the size of the fat particles.
If the hard fat melts too quickly during baking, no layers will form. Instead, the melted fat is absorbed into the dough, softening it. This is why puff pastry made with butter is best chilled before baking. For the same reason, fats with a high melting point often provide good layering in culinary products.
The ability of lipids to provide layering in the product depends on the following factors:
• how hard the fat is: the more solid it is and the higher its melting point, the greater the stratification;
• particle size: the larger the fat particle size, the greater the stratification.

Help in raising the dough
Fats increase the amount of air in the dough. They do not raise the dough by themselves; air, steam and carbon dioxide do this. But fat plays an important role in this process.
Fat provokes dough in three ways. The traditional way is to whisk plastic fats when air bubbles get stuck in the fat. Whipped biscuits and cakes get their bulk and good crumb mostly from plastic fats (even if baking powder is added to the dough).
All plastic fats, even when not whipped, contain air, and butter and margarines also contain water, which also helps to raise the dough. Puff pastry products, for example, are lifted by the air and water in the fats. For maximum product height, high melting fats and margarines containing water are used (instead of shortening). However, these fats leave a waxy flavor.
The third method is related to the properties of emulsifiers in highly proportional shortening. Emulsifiers help the proteins to capture air during mixing. That is why liquid shortening cakes are so light and airy.
There are three main ways fat can influence dough:
• air entrapment with plastic fats during whipping;
• with the help of air and water contained in some plastic fats;
• with the help of emulsifiers in highly proportional shortening.

Moisture content
Moisture is a characteristic of all liquid ingredients. Humidifier (water) and liquid oil provide hydration, but their effects are different. Liquid oil provides moisture, but not moisture, and butter, which contains moisture, provides less moisture than liquid oil.
Moisturizing does not mean loosening the product, but these processes can be related. Often, the ingredient that moisturizes the product will also loosen it up. However, chewy (gummy) foods are moist but not soft. And the crispy, crumbly biscuits are soft but not moist.
Not all fats provide good hydration, but only oils, which remain liquid at body temperature. Emulsifiers also help moisturize. Interestingly, fats often provide more moisture to baked foods than water does. The reason is that water often either evaporates or is tightly bound to proteins and starches.
The moisturizing properties of lipids depend on the following factors:
• how liquid the fat is: the more liquid it is at body temperature, the more hydration;
• the presence of emulsifiers such as mono- and diglycerides.

Prevent hardening
Lipids (especially emulsifiers in highly proportional shortenings) interfere with the process of starches retrogradation. Since the retrogradation of starches is the main cause of hardening in baked goods, lipids prevent hardening.
Influence on the taste of the product
The main reason for using butter is that it tastes good. Other fats that have a distinct recognizable flavor are lard, olive oil, and margarine. Since margarine does not have the mild butter flavor, it can only be used as a substitute in certain circumstances.
Even neutral (tasteless) fats affect the taste of the product, enriching it. In the case of fried foods, the breakdown of fats and oils at high temperatures gives the food a certain appealing taste.

To be continued...

[ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS OF OIL AND FATS.]

ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS OF OIL AND FATS.

Effect on color
Certain fats (butter and margarine) provide a certain golden yellow color to baked goods. Fats containing milk powder (butter and some margarines) undergo a browning reaction on the surface of the product. All fats increase the heat of the baked goods, causing them to darken quickly. This is especially noticeable when comparing regular baked goods to baked goods made from low-fat products. Low-fat baked goods are much lighter in color.
Ensuring good crumbling of baked products
Plastic fats and emulsifiers provide a less coarse crumb in baked products. There are several reasons for this effect. One of them is the property of plastic fats and emulsifiers to deliver small air bubbles into the dough or dough.
Adding fat to sauces, sweets and frozen desserts
Many sauces, sweets, and frozen desserts are emulsions of liquid droplets of fat in milk or other liquid. For example, vanilla sweet sauce or ice cream is an emulsion. Drops of liquid fat roll over the tongue like tiny balls for a rich, creamy texture.

Thermal conductivity
Fats and oils conduct heat from the oven, pot or pan directly to the food. Fats and oils can be heated much more than water before they begin to evaporate or break down (compare 177 ° C and 100 ° C). High temperatures allow a dry, crispy brown crust to form on fried or baked foods.

Providing volume and content for glazes and fillers
Hard crystals of fat provide volume and content to glazes, fillers and some other products. To understand this, consider the frosting.It contains approximately 30 to 50 percent solid fat. Without this fat, the frosting would consist of free sugar crystals or sugar crystals dissolved in an egg or other liquid.
While fats are not structure builders in baked foods (remember, the more fat, the more soft), in frostings and other foods that contain hard fat, the hard crystals create the substance itself that determines the size and shape of the food. From this point of view, solid fat determines the type of structure.

Improving the smoothness of sweets
Fats, oils and emulsifiers inhibit sugar crystallization, providing the desired smoothness in sweets.

Mixing and flavoring
When the fat is removed from the baked goods, the taste is "unfinished". The product has neither a rich and full-fledged taste, nor the usual texture. Fats affect the perception of taste, perhaps because many tastes dissolve in them.

Help in work
Lipids, used to grease the baking sheet or as an ingredient in a product, help to easily remove baked goods from the baking sheet.
Increase in softness and expansion of the dough
Lipids "lubricate" the gluten strands, making them softer and more stretchy. This facilitates the fermentation of the yeast dough and a higher volume. For this, some emulsifiers are used (sodium stearol-1-2-lactylate, DATEM). It is common to find one or both of these emulsifiers in yeast conditioners.

Straightening and thinning the candy shell
Fats, oils and emulsifiers (especially lecithin) coat and lubricate the solids of melted shells and coatings. This allows the particles to glide more easily and the candy and praline shells lay down evenly and thinly.

Increased cookie volume
Fats, oils and emulsifiers coat and lubricate the solid particles of the dough, reducing kneading time and thinning the dough. This allows the cookie to expand more during baking. Usually, the more fat, the more expansion.

[Admin,]

Admin,

I quickly read your posts about dairy products, oils, lubricants ...

Colossal material, you are just doing selfless work

I finally realized my desire to add to my dietary biscuits made from oatmeal and other flakes, not to add any fruit purees without sugar to baby food from jars, namely apple and prunes. After all, intuition is right. It turns out that instead of fat, they improve the quality of baked goods.

Thank you very much for the lessons, I will read everything carefully again.

Thanks for your feedback

I myself learned a lot while preparing the material, a lot of useful information specifically for use in baking, and not just about butter.

Good luck!

I baked bread today, trying to follow your recommendations ... I also greased the molds with your trademark grease. I liked it very much: the bread just popped out of the mold, at the same time it was not greasy, the crust was not oily-toasted, as it was when I just greased the mold with butter. Thank you so much!
I want to clarify one point: I knead the dough twice in a bread maker, and bake in the oven. As you advised, I tried to add all the flour to the dough during the first batch. But the butter, remembering that I had also read somewhere for a long time, put it in the second batch. It seems like I remember that the oil prevents something there (sorry for the darkness) to develop in the dough during the ascent. I wanted to clarify with you - do I remember correctly? Does it really make sense to put oil during the second batch, after the first rise, and not immediately ?!
The bread turned out wonderful! But I don't know how much% of this success I got thanks to such manipulation with oil ...

Congratulations on the bread!

It all depends on the recipe and the author's ideas, the method of kneading, whether there is dough or not, and so on ...
In ordinary bread in a x / oven, you can put butter immediately with flour, a small amount of butter will not interfere with anything.
And you need to have time to knead the dough if the butter is added to the second batch.

If you bake bread in the oven, then it is better to knead on the TESTO program, and at the end of the program, take out the dough, knead it, put it in a form for the second proofing and then bake in the oven. Wheat bread dough should have only two proofings so that the dough does not stand over in the future.

How did it work out for me (and it usually works): I knead all the components on a 20-minute dough kneading program, then I close the bread maker, the dough rises every 2-2.5 times, then I turn on the same program again, the dough is kneaded again for 20 minutes (here then I put the butter), then I take it out, cut it, into molds (I have 2 glass bricks) and rise in a slightly warm oven 2 times, then I bake. Today I baked with steam, as you taught.
And I also wanted to clarify this - is it better for the bread maker to knead the dough for 20 minutes after the first rise, or is it better to take out the dough and knead it with your own hands and into molds ?! If with your hands, then the oil will have to be put at the very beginning along with everything ...

Here, in these topics, I describe the process of kneading dough and proving in a x / oven, and baking in the oven:
The easiest white bread made from wheat flour
Wheat flour gingerbread man (master class)

And if there is a program TEST, then you do not need to invent anything, she herself will perfectly cope with the test. As a rule, this program has a kneading and one proofing, and the second is already done manually in the form (or on the hearth) and pastries.

Follow the recipes of our authors, they describe the process in detail, and each in its own way suggests the use of oil in the recipes

[Tatyana]

Tatyana, yesterday my eyes fell on coconut oil I bought ... Have you tried to bake on it? What can you advise?

[SoNika]

SoNika, no, I haven't tried
I keep a jar of such oil in the refrigerator, it began to appear in stores.
As far as I have seen enough of such information, vegetarians use it more instead of butter and other butter, and put it in their desserts, creams for cakes without baking, and wherever butter is required. But, I saw more exactly its raw application.
Although, nutritionists in Australia recommend using it for both frying and baking in the oven.

I rarely use oil and only a little when needed. And I try to make my own ghee more, a can is enough for me for a long time.

Ghee (Russian butter) in a multicooker Marta MT-1989 (Admin)

[Tatyana]

Tatyana, thanks, on the box it says that for frying and baking, and for booths ...

Noooo ... under the red fish, I'll put only butter Yes, and under another lightly salted one too
Albeit harmful, but mentally What to spoil the red fish, especially since today you will not really scatter for salmon, every day there is

under the red fish, I will put only butter

yes, familiar and tasty

Tatyana, please tell me if it is possible - which is better to choose for addition to the bread dough - lard or ghee? Both are home-made, I never baked with either one and I have little experience at all.
I seem to have heard that lard is good, but for ordinary white bread (it is planned for sandwiches), is it good?

[Olya]

Olya, in principle, the answer can be found in the material itself, depending on what exactly you want to get from baking

The same lard, and in large quantities is used in pastry baked goods, cookies, Easter cakes and other products.
Butter, ghee, is sweeter in taste and goes well with sweet bread.
For example, here's my butter bread:

Gastronomic bread, Italian (oven) I put flour into the bowl of the food processor, finely chop the yeast, pour in the whey and knead the thick dough. I do not knead, but rather stir, since there is no dough, lumpy. I add soft butter, egg ...Admin

And we can make an observation and conclusion that we use that butter and that fat in the bread dough that suits us according to taste, capabilities, perception
There are enough recipes using fat on the forum

Tanya, thank you very much, I was in a hurry, because bread must be made quickly, now. And I found the topics, I read a little.Bread with festive caviar - I slowed down, sweetish light taste with salty - good, probably. Okay, let's not risk it. Until the materiel has not been studied, we take melted. Thank you again.

[Olya]

sweetish light taste with salty - good, I guess.

Olya, it will be very tasty
After all, we make a sandwich with a red fish on a white bun, a croissant (and it is white buttery), before a bit of butter on a bun, on top of a fish, on top of a slice of lemon, on top of a sprig of parsley - lepota

[Olga **]

Olga **, just the other day a topic about ghee came up on the forum, and as far as I remember, the author of the question was persuaded not to use it, but to replace it with butter.

[Crown]

Crown, Galina, it's late! I have already failed, I will save the situation in my usual way, but I don't think the oil is to blame. Thank you.