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	TSR : Web boards : M/s D/s O&P : "The Butler's Pantry - Issue 2" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The Butler's Pantry - Issue 2 (79) This post is on the M/s D/s O&P web board. 4 Mar 09, 7:10 PM boston UK, 12 yrs We still have anomalies - we buy timber in sizes like 3" x 4" - but we can only buy it by the metre ... I can think/work in both metric and imperial - and in old money too *grin* Edited 4 Mar 09, 7:11 PM by boston 14 Mar 09, 9:45 AM PyroGX US(AK), 3 yrs SixThreeFive wrote: ... and this is why the world needs to be entirely converted to the metric system! Where a centimeter is a centimeter, a decilitre a decilitre, and no one can come up with their own damn definitions! yes because dust at the speed of light or the distance to the pole isn't arbitrary... I don't mind the base ten design, but holier-than-thou attitude from the rest of the world for their equally silly measurements isn't going to help us Yanks convert. :p furthermore any "American" recipe using cups and "spoon" measurements when done with a homogeneous set of measures will always come out fine. SixThreeFive wrote: Much more precise than "a pinch" or "a knife edge" bah, cooking is not making a model or puzzle. It is an artistic pursuit. You make a recipe once by the book, and from them on you modify from memory. Edited 14 Mar 09, 10:09 AM by PyroGX 21 Mar 09, 1:54 AM ChefSlave US(MI), 3 yrs Don't forget to mention that, after the pie dough is shaped in the pan, place it in the freezer (pan and all) to relax a spell before baking it. The flour needs time to rest from the kneading and the butter needs time to re-chill (kneading is friction which produces heat which melts the butter). If you don't allow the crust to rest in the freezer it may shrink from the edges of the pan when it is baked. Also, 50% butter and 50% lard makes for a more flavorful crust. A scant half-teaspoon of white vinegar also makes the dough more tender. Consider how you add vinegar to oil for salads, right? The vinegar cuts the fat, right? Same thing with pie crust which is rich in fat... a drop of vinegar cuts the fatty taste and is perceived as a more tender dough. An easy way to remember pie crust is 3-2-1. It works every time. 3 parts flour to 2 parts butter to 1 part water (by weight, not volume). I always make a batch with 3 pounds flour, 2 pounds unsalted butter and 1 pound ice water. I then wrap and freeze it for future use. You can scale up or down accordingly by recalling 3-2-1. Last, always sift the flour first. Sifting aerates the flour making it more tender to the mouth. -ChefSlave 21 Mar 09, 2:08 AM ChefSlave US(MI), 3 yrs You're not providing enough information. Are you using instant yeast? If so, start the culture the day before and let the bread rise under refrigeration overnight. The dough needs time to age to develop flavor, and rising in the fridge is the best way to accomplish that. Remove it from the chiller about an hour before meal service and bake once it has reached room temperature. Also, how many kneadings are you giving it? Mix the ingredients into a simple mass and allow to rest for 20-minutes on the bench. Then, knead into a ball until it passes the "window-pane test". That is, take a small piece and tug on it until it is so thin you can see light from the window shine through it. If it gets to this point without tearing, it is properly kneaded. If it tears, it needs to be kneaded more. Then place it in an oiled container covered with a towel and allow to double in volume. Then, punch down to release the gases, reshape into a ball and let it rise again. Then, shape into the bread pan and allow a third rising in the cooler overnight. Why punch down and reshape the second time? Because you need to rearrange the yeast so it has more food to consume. -ChefSlave 21 Mar 09, 2:10 AM ChefSlave US(MI), 3 yrs Why in the Lord's Good Name would anyone want to use a bread machine when making it on the counter is so easy? -ChefSlave 21 Mar 09, 2:18 AM ChefSlave US(MI), 3 yrs Chefs use weights, never cups. Most cup sizes vary from one manufacturer to another and besides, the humidity of your kitchen will affect the amount of product in a cup too. When humid, flour and sugar are damp and pack down more tightly then when the atmosphere is dry. More flour will fill a cup in humid kitchens then in dry ones. You can get a really good digital kitchen scale online or at most department stores. It is well worth the investment. -ChefSlave 21 Mar 09, 2:20 AM ChefSlave US(MI), 3 yrs Actually, the speed of light is not constant after all. 22 Mar 09, 2:39 AM ChefSlave US(MI), 3 yrs Tangie, When using instant yeast, bread will handle three risings. Each successive rise will take less time then the one before it. When you punch the dough down (actually, that's a misnomer... you should gently press the dough down so it is mostly flat but still has some bubbles, then fold it like a business letter and tuck the edges under) you redistribute the flour and yeast so those little critters can now find a new food supply to feast on). The more risings you give the bread, the more moist and airy the bread will be when baked. When you do the final rise in the refrigerator overnight, that is called "retarding". Retarding gives the dough more flavor. For whole decades, many of the yeast spores in store-bought (dried) yeast were killed during the production process. In the case of Active Dry Yeast, about 20% of the population is dead and will not come to life once water is added. Only recently did food scientists figure out a way to dry yeast so that 100% of the culture will survive. That is sold as "Instant Yeast". Because the population is healthier then Active Dry Yeast, you need less of it in a recipe and it will rise three times. However, dead yeast does impart some flavor, though no rise. This is why most all pizza dough recipes specify the use of Active Dry Yeast as pizzerias want that yeasty flavor in the crust. Regarding pie crusts, I forgot to mention that buttermilk powder also works well in place of white vinegar. It's the same principle as both buttermilk and vinegar are acidic and cut the fattiness of the dough, causing the perception of a more tender crust. Powdered buttermilk is usually sold in the same aisle next to powdered milk. Merely toss a Tablespoon in with the flour the next time you make a pie crust, and proceed as usual but without white vinegar. -ChefSlave 1 Jun 09, 10:57 PM FeistyPuppy US(CA), 3 yrs -R- Ohai. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU_rTX23V7Q Not because of who i am, But because of what You've done. Not because of what i've done, But because of who You are. And You've told me who i am. i am Yours, i am Yours.