I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan or melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
Thanks, Ben
-- "What passes for wisdom may only be eloquent foolishness"
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I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan or melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
Let the margerine sticks warm a bit at room temperature before cutting into flour. Shouldn't require more than 15 minutes.... don't let the margerine get warm, or over mix, you want the shortening to remain in distinguishable bits... better to err on the side of less is more.
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I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan or melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
Thanks, Ben
Don't melt it. You might soften it just a little, but you'll get better results if you can work with it cold.
There's a device you use called a "pastry blender" that cuts the fat into bits and coats them with flour. Here's what they look like: fabulousfoods.comglossarOpen ↗ y/tools/pastryblend.html
I've also cut up a stick of cold butter with a sharp knife and blended the butter pieces into flour with my fingertips -- that actually worked better than I expected.
I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan or melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
Room temperature should do it If the margarine is in sticks, remove the wrapper and nuke it for a few seconds. That should soften it up just enough to be able to cut it in. If the margarine is too soft it will blend too much with the flour. The idea of cutting in the shortening is to get little blobs of it which will melt during baking to make it flaky.
I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan
or
Quoted message said:
melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
Thanks, Ben
Don't soften it in a frying pan or melt it completely. Either let it come to room temperature or nuke a few seconds at a time until it's slightly softened. You can use either a pastry blender (a hand-held kitchen gadget with five or six semi-circular wires or blades), two knives (one in each hand, with a criss-cross cutting motion) or your fingers. I'm of the old school - I prefer the latter. If you try the latter, lightly rub in the fat with the tips of your fingers until it looks like meal.
The whole idea is to disperse the fat evenly and quickly through the flour. Good luck!
"ben" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Hi,
I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan
or
Quoted message said:
melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
Thanks, Ben
The whole idea of cutting fat into flour when making pastry is to end up with bits of butter coated with flour. I actually put butter in the freezer to make it hard. I then use a bench scraper to cut the butter into chunks. Then I use the food processor to cut the frozen chunks of butter into the flour. Working with soft fat will result in a very tender dough that is not flaky - think fragile cracker rather than flaky dough. I would suggest using very cold fat and either use a food processor or a sturdy pasty blender. I would also suggest using butter, lard, or shortening rather than margarine. Most margarine has too much water to make good pastry. Butter is nearly ideal for making a flaky and flavorful dough. Lard is also good, but is harder to work with than butter. Shortening yields good results and an easy to work dough, but lacks flavor. Margarine is little more than shortening with color, artificial flavor, lots of water, and sometimes emulsifiers, gelatin, and starches added.
"ben" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Hi,
I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan
or
Quoted message said:
melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
Thanks, Ben
You can cut in butter/margarine/shortening with a pastry cutter, a couple of knives, or your fingers. And you want it hard. The idea is to keep small pieces of fat throughout the final dough, which will create crisp little pockets like with puff pastry. Just cut it into 1 inch pieces, toss in the flour, than use whatever tool you prefer to cut it in until the pieces are roughly the size of small peas (for most recipes).
I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan or melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
No, no, no. Do you have a food processor? Chill the margarine; cut the stick into about half-inch chunks; put the flour in the FP; add the margarine chunks; and pluse a few times until there are many small fat bits coated with flour. The idea is to end up with a dough that has little teeny separate bits of butter in it, not a thoroughly mixed mass. A hand pastry 'blender', as mentioned does the same thing. Directions often add "...until the mixture resembles a coarse meal." Then you add cold liquid (so as not to melt the fat), roll or press out the dough, and proceed.
use cold margerine or butter that has been in the fridge or freezer ,and then cover with a good dusting of flour then grate it. you may need to dust with flour a few times but this will stop the marge. from sticking to the grater too much.
"ben" <[email hidden]> wrote in message -"]news:[email hidden]- berlin.de...
Quoted message said:
Hi,
I have a recipe that says I should do this. How does this work? Margarine sticks are pretty hard. Can I just soften the margarine on a frying pan
or
Quoted message said:
melt it completely and stir it in or would that ruin things? (It is for a pastry dough for making franks in a blanket).
Thanks, Ben
The whole idea of cutting fat into flour when making pastry is to end up with bits of butter coated with flour. I actually put butter in the freezer to make it hard. I then use a bench scraper to cut the butter into chunks. Then I use the food processor to cut the frozen chunks of butter into the flour. Working with soft fat will result in a very tender dough that is not flaky - think fragile cracker rather than flaky dough. I would suggest using very cold fat and either use a food processor or a sturdy pasty blender. I would also suggest using butter, lard, or shortening rather than margarine. Most margarine has too much water to make good pastry. Butter is nearly ideal for making a flaky and flavorful dough. Lard is also good, but is harder to work with than butter. Shortening yields good results and an easy to work dough, but lacks flavor. Margarine is little more than shortening with color, artificial flavor, lots of water, and sometimes emulsifiers, gelatin, and starches added.
Real margarine (how's that for an oxymoron?) has exactly the same amount of moisture as butter. The problem is that real margarine is getting hard to find; manufacturers add more water to reduce costs and then call it something like "reduced calorie spread". These spreads don't meet the USDA minimum requirements for margarine, so they can't say "margarine" on the label.
"zxcvbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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Real margarine (how's that for an oxymoron?) has exactly the same amount of moisture as butter. The problem is that real margarine is getting hard to find; manufacturers add more water to reduce costs and then call it something like "reduced calorie spread". These spreads don't meet the USDA minimum requirements for margarine, so they can't say "margarine" on the label.
-bob
Yea, I hear ya but I find that even margarine that is marked "good for baking" has as much as 35% water added. Even if you read the nutrition label it is nearly impossible to tell how much water is added to some margarine. I have tried to think of a single good reason why one would use margarine over butter, or even shortening and have yet to find one. Since margarine is hydrogenated vegetable oil, then why not just use shortening, like Crisco? At least you know what you are getting with Crisco. For health reasons, butter is probably a better choice in addition to the fact that it tastes batter. The best thing I can say about hydrogenated oils is that they cost less than butter.
margarine. I have tried to think of a single good reason why one would use margarine over butter, or even shortening and have yet to find one. Since
Here's one: Some people do not want any milk products in their recipes. On such person like that is me so I don't use butter and haven't bought it in a long time.
Do those margarine tubs you buy (in the U.S.) which are softer and good for spreading just as good as the sticks when it comes to cooking? Any disadvantages or advantages etc.?
regards, Ben
-- "What passes for wisdom may only be eloquent foolishness"
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"Vox Humana" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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Even if you read the nutrition label it is nearly impossible to tell how much water is added to some margarine.
Calorie count tells the story immediately. 100 calories per tablespoon is the same fat content as butter. (120 calories per tablespoon would be pure fat.)
Yea, I hear ya but I find that even margarine that is marked "good for baking" has as much as 35% water added. Even if you read the nutrition label it is nearly impossible to tell how much water is added to some margarine. I have tried to think of a single good reason why one would use margarine over butter, or even shortening and have yet to find one. Since margarine is hydrogenated vegetable oil, then why not just use shortening, like Crisco? At least you know what you are getting with Crisco. For health reasons, butter is probably a better choice in addition to the fact that it tastes batter. The best thing I can say about hydrogenated oils is that they cost less than butter.
I like the taste of margarine better than butter because that's what I grew up with. But I've started buying butter for cooking with and "Smart Balance" to spread on my toast. I hardly ever buy stick margarine anymore unless I'm baking cookies for a bake sale or something; then I look for the word "margarine" on the box, and 100 calories per tablespoon on the nutritional label just to make sure.
"zxcvbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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I like the taste of margarine better than butter because that's what I grew up with. But I've started buying butter for cooking with and "Smart Balance" to spread on my toast.
Maybe it's just me, but I've found that the aftertaste of Smart Balance in or on most things is like I'd eaten axle grease. It tastes just fine, but afterwards the oiliness lingers and lingers and won't go away for hours. Can't figure out why, because I've had foods high in each of the individual oils in Smart Balance and they never gave me any trouble.
"Dan Levy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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"Vox Humana" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Even if you read the nutrition label it is nearly impossible to tell how much water is added to some margarine.
Calorie count tells the story immediately. 100 calories per tablespoon is the same fat content as butter. (120 calories per tablespoon would be
pure
Quoted message said:
fat.)
I thought of that, but the last time I checked, they all said 100 cal./tablespoon no matter if they had 20 or 35% water added. I figured there was some rounding rule in play. I have to go to the store tonight, so I will take a careful look.
"ben" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Vox Humana said:
margarine. I have tried to think of a single good reason why one would
use
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
margarine over butter, or even shortening and have yet to find one.
Since
Quoted message said:
Here's one: Some people do not want any milk products in their recipes. On such person like that is me so I don't use butter and haven't bought it in a long time.
Do those margarine tubs you buy (in the U.S.) which are softer and good
for
Quoted message said:
spreading just as good as the sticks when it comes to cooking? Any disadvantages or advantages etc.?
regards, Ben
That's a reasonable point. If I were a keeping kosher, I might choose margarine over butter for some applications. However, for baking, I think I would just use shortening. You would have no dairy and you wouldn't have to guess about the water and other additives. The tub margarines are classified as "spreads" and are definitely not a good choice for any type of cooking or baking.
"Vox Humana" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
Calorie count tells the story immediately. 100 calories per tablespoon
is
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
the same fat content as butter. (120 calories per tablespoon would be
pure
Quoted message said:
fat.)
I thought of that, but the last time I checked, they all said 100 cal./tablespoon no matter if they had 20 or 35% water added. I figured there was some rounding rule in play. I have to go to the store tonight,
so
Quoted message said:
I will take a careful look.
35% would have to be a 90 at most, even if by weight (by volume would be an 80). That's a difference of over 1 fat gram = 9 calories, too much to account for rounding.
"zxcvbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message -"]news:[email hidden]- berlin.de...
Quoted message said:
I like the taste of margarine better than butter because that's what I grew up with. But I've started buying butter for cooking with and "Smart Balance" to spread on my toast.
Maybe it's just me, but I've found that the aftertaste of Smart Balance in or on most things is like I'd eaten axle grease. It tastes just fine, but afterwards the oiliness lingers and lingers and won't go away for hours. Can't figure out why, because I've had foods high in each of the individual oils in Smart Balance and they never gave me any trouble.
There's a different brand (I don't remember the name) that I tried that that was like that; I threw it away. It wouldn't even melt if you spread it on a hot potato or tried to cook with it.
I don't like potato chips fried in olestra because they leave a greasy film in my mouth that I can't get rid of. I think Smart Balance tastes like unusually good margarine or butter.
