{"id":570,"date":"2019-06-13T22:49:02","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T22:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/chapter\/functions-of-fat-in-baking\/"},"modified":"2019-06-17T15:36:02","modified_gmt":"2019-06-17T15:36:02","slug":"functions-of-fat-in-baking","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/chapter\/functions-of-fat-in-baking\/","title":{"raw":"Functions of Fat in Baking","rendered":"Functions of Fat in Baking"},"content":{"raw":"The following summarize the various functions of fat in baking.\r\n<h1>Tenderizing Agents<\/h1>\r\nUsed in sufficient quantity, fats tend to \u201cshorten\u201d the gluten strands in flour; hence their name: shortenings. Traditionally, the best example of such fat was lard.\r\n<h1>Creaming Ability<\/h1>\r\nThis refers to the extent to which fat, when beaten with a paddle, will build up a structure of air pockets. This aeration, or creaming ability, is especially important for cake baking; the better the creaming ability, the lighter the cake.\r\n<h1>Plastic Range<\/h1>\r\nPlastic range relates to the temperature at which the fatty acid component melts and over which shortening will stay workable and will \u201cstretch\u201d without either cracking (too cold) or softening (too warm). A fat that stays \u201cplastic\u201d over\u00a0a temperature range of 4\u00b0C to 32\u00b0C (39\u00b0F to 90\u00b0F) would be rated as excellent. A dough made with such a fat could be taken from the walk-in cooler to the bench in a hot bakeshop and handled interchangeably. Butter, on the other hand, does not have a good plastic range; it is almost too hard to work at 10\u00b0C (50\u00b0F) and too soft at 27\u00b0C (80\u00b0F).\r\n<h1>Lubrication<\/h1>\r\nIn dough making, the fat portion makes it easier for the gluten network to expand. The dough is also easier to mix and to handle. This characteristic is known as <em>lubrication<\/em>.\r\n<h1>Moistening Ability<\/h1>\r\nWhether in dough or in a cake batter, fat retards drying out. For this purpose, a 100% fat shortening will be superior to either butter or margarine.\r\n<h1>Nutrition<\/h1>\r\nAs one of the three major food categories, fats provide a very concentrated source of energy. They contain many of the fatty acids essential for health.","rendered":"<p>The following summarize the various functions of fat in baking.<\/p>\n<h1>Tenderizing Agents<\/h1>\n<p>Used in sufficient quantity, fats tend to \u201cshorten\u201d the gluten strands in flour; hence their name: shortenings. Traditionally, the best example of such fat was lard.<\/p>\n<h1>Creaming Ability<\/h1>\n<p>This refers to the extent to which fat, when beaten with a paddle, will build up a structure of air pockets. This aeration, or creaming ability, is especially important for cake baking; the better the creaming ability, the lighter the cake.<\/p>\n<h1>Plastic Range<\/h1>\n<p>Plastic range relates to the temperature at which the fatty acid component melts and over which shortening will stay workable and will \u201cstretch\u201d without either cracking (too cold) or softening (too warm). A fat that stays \u201cplastic\u201d over\u00a0a temperature range of 4\u00b0C to 32\u00b0C (39\u00b0F to 90\u00b0F) would be rated as excellent. A dough made with such a fat could be taken from the walk-in cooler to the bench in a hot bakeshop and handled interchangeably. Butter, on the other hand, does not have a good plastic range; it is almost too hard to work at 10\u00b0C (50\u00b0F) and too soft at 27\u00b0C (80\u00b0F).<\/p>\n<h1>Lubrication<\/h1>\n<p>In dough making, the fat portion makes it easier for the gluten network to expand. The dough is also easier to mix and to handle. This characteristic is known as <em>lubrication<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h1>Moistening Ability<\/h1>\n<p>Whether in dough or in a cake batter, fat retards drying out. For this purpose, a 100% fat shortening will be superior to either butter or margarine.<\/p>\n<h1>Nutrition<\/h1>\n<p>As one of the three major food categories, fats provide a very concentrated source of energy. They contain many of the fatty acids essential for health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-570","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":561,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":787,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/570\/revisions\/787"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/561"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/570\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=570"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=570"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/ingredients\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}