Baking fats

Flack, E. Butter, Margarine, Spreads and Baking Fats in Lipid technologies and applications, Gunstone, F.D. and Padley, F.B. (Eds.), Dekker, New York, 1997, pp. 305-327. 

If that does occur, then the present system of classification of oils may be impossible to police, and a modified system may become necessary. Perhaps the sale and perceived value of oils will necessarily become dependent on the performance, not the source of the oil. With bulk oils such as palm, peanut, sunflower, safflower, sesame, soya, rapeseed, com, fish, and animal fats and oils, the fatty acid composition will obviously be important for health reasons. If the oil is to be used for frying then the frying properties will be important. In the case of palm products the physical properties and minor components such as carotenoids will be defined. Similarly animal fats will be judged mainly on physical behaviour and effect on the product in which they are used. In all cases the oxidative and stability of the oil will have to be defined. Sesame is a very stable oil, and thus its stability, together with its low level of linolenic acid, would be its major attribute, except for toasted sesame, which would probably be classed as a specialist oil. Already most baking fats sold to the public are blends developed to give the best performance, with no mention on the pack as to the source. If a bulk oil of this type had the desired chemical composition, stability and cooking behaviour, then perhaps the source would not be a matter of concern. 

Use For its various uses the oil is usually fractionated into low-melting palmolein (ca. 70% of R, rich in oleic acid used especially for deep-frying and baking fats shortenings and into palmstearin with mp. 41 - 50°C (ca. 30% of R, rich in palmitic acid, used especially in the manufacture of margarines). 

Uses Food emuisifier for margarine, baking fat, shortening, carameis, pasta Properties Powd. 100% cone. 

Uses Food emulsifier for margarine, baking fats, shortening, caramel, pasta Properties Wh. powd., faint char, odor insol, in water sp.gr. 0.900 flash pt. (Abel-Pensky) > 200 C 100% cone. 

Fats contribute to the rheological properties in flowable and pastry foods. By combining with starches to form a clathrate, a product different from the native starch is formed, eg, shortening in baked goods. The highly developed shortness of pies baked in eadier times resulted from the use of high levels of lard. The use of less fat in pie cmsts is evident, ie, the cmsts are harder and readily become soggy. 

Citric acid is used in carbonated beverages to provide tartness, modify and enhance flavors, and chelate trace metals. It is often added to jams and jellies to control pH and provide tartness. It is used in cured and freeze-dried meat products to protect the amino acids (qv) and improve water retention. Bakers use it to improve the flavor of fmit fillings in baked goods. Because citric acid is a good chelator for trace metals, it is used as an antioxidant synergist in fats and oils, and as a preservative in frozen fish and shellfish (7) (see Antioxidaisits). 

Fa.tMimetics. Existing fat mimetics are either carbohydrate-, ceUulosic (fiber)-, protein-, or gum-based. These are used in a wide variety of appHcations including baked goods, salad dressings, frozen desserts, meats, confections, and dairy products. Table 3 Hsts some of the commercially available fat mimetics. 

Compounded Flavors. Liquid or dry blends of natural or synthetic flavor compounds are called compounded flavors. Most commercial preparations are available as water- and oil-soluble Hquids, spray-dried and plated powders, emulsions, and carbohydrate-, protein-, and fat-based pastes. Compounded flavors are used throughout the food industry in confections, baked goods, snack foods, carbonated beverages, and processed foods (53). 

Hard baked goods such as cookies and crackers have a relatively low water and high fat content. Water can be absorbed, and the product loses its desirable texture and becomes subject to Hpid rancidity. Packagiag for cookies and crackers includes polyolefin-coextmsion film pouches within paperboard carton sheUs, and polystyrene trays overwrapped with polyethylene or oriented polypropylene film. Soft cookies are packaged in high water-vapor-barrier laminations containing aluminum foil. 

Buttermilk. Buttermilk is drained from butter (chum) after butter granules are formed as such, it is the fluid other than the fat which is removed by churning. Buttermilk may be used as a beverage or may be dried and used for baking. Buttermilk from churning is - 91% water and 9% total sohds. Total sohds include lactose [598-82-3] 4.5% nitrogenous matter, 3.4% ash, 0.7% and fat, 0.4%. Table 17 gives the U.S. specifications for dry buttermilk (DBM) and whey. 

A recent trend in the baking industry is to produce bakery foods with either no or reduced fat, to achieve perceived nutritional benefits (25). The functions of fat are achieved, to a degree, with materials such as maltodextrins and modified starches in combination with gums and emulsifiers (see Fat replacers). 

J. L. Vetter, Caloric and Fat-Modified Bakery Products, MZB Technical Bulletin XIII, Issue 5, American Institute of Baking, 1991. 

Butylated Hydroxyanisole. 2- and 3-/ i -Butyl-4-methoxyphenol (butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)) is prepared from 4-methoxyphenol and tert-huty alcohol over siUca or alumina at 150°C or from hydroquinone and tert-huty alcohol or isobutene, using an acid catalyst and then methylating. It is widely used in all types of foods such as butter, lard, and other fats, meats, cereals, baked goods, candies, and beer as an antioxidant (see Antioxidants Eood additives). Its antioxidant properties are not lost during cooking so that flour, fats, and other BHA-stabiLized ingredients may be used to produce stabilized products. 

Flaky piecrusts used to contain lard, or at least butter. Solid fats are important in baking, as they separate sheets of dough into thin, independent flakes. Traditional solid fats are animal-derived saturated fats, such as lard and butter. Some vegetable fats, such as coconut and palm kernel oils, are solid, but they are more expensive than some liquid vegetable oils like corn oil, cottonseed oil, or soybean oil. These oils come from plants that are used for more than just the oil they provide. Using several different parts of the plant makes growing them more economical. 

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