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Eggs Essential Facts By erwin

August 31st, 2008

Cooking time for boiled eggs

Soft Boiled Eggs: 3-4 minutes

Medium Boiled Eggs: 5-7 minutes

Hard Boiled Eggs: 12-15 minutes

Guidelines for cooking eggs

1. Avoid using high heat
2. Avoid color
3. Do not OVERCOOK

Tempering By bearic

July 25th, 2008

The act of tempering is done by gradually increasing the temperature of one recipe component by the addition of another.

To achieve this gradual increase of temperature, you drizzle the hot component into the cooler component while constantly mixing the cooler ingredient. If your container is sufficiently large, you may continue adding the hot component to this container, else you should bring the temperatures as close as you can, then whisk/mix the cooler components into the hotter.

Tempering is often done where eggs are used as a thickening agent (i.e. in custards and sauces), since a sharp increase of temperature will cause the eggs to cook prematurely resulting in a lumpy texture.

The same principle might be used when the addition of one recipe component might rapidly change the other, such as adding a large quantity of something acidic to something containing milk products.

Creaming By bearic

July 25th, 2008

Creaming combines sugar with butter or margarine. The sugar’s sharp particles cut into the butter, introducing air bubbles. It is the most important step for cookies and cakes because it allows them to rise.

Cube the butter before following these steps.

By Hand

1. Fill a large bowl to half volume with hot water from the tap. Use a smaller bowl to hold butter, and sugar.
2. Put the smaller bowl into the large one and let butter soften for a minute, mixing constantly with a wooden spoon. Do not allow the butter to melt. After the mixture seems easier to mix, remove the smaller bowl and empty the larger bowl.
3. Fill the larger bowl with cold water until the outside of the bowl is cold.
4. Put the bowls back together, and beat with the wooden spoon until the mixture has changed colour and texture.

Tip: Wrap a wet towel around the base of the larger bowl when stirring to stop it from moving.

Mechanical

Use hand beaters to soften the butter first on low, then increase to medium. Add in sugar, eggs, and vanilla or cream of tartar in this order. Scrape the sides often. Beat until the mixture has changed colour and texture (don’t overbeat!)

Scalding By bearic

July 25th, 2008

Scalding is a technique used in many recipes containing milk.

To scald milk, you use a heavy bottomed pan or double boiler and bring the temperature of the milk to 85-100°C (185-212°F). At sea level, the milk should just start showing small bubbles and releasing steam at the lower end of this temperature range.

Care must be taken to not allow the pan to heat too quickly, or the solids in the milk will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn or scorch. Scorched milk has a very distinctive taste, and can ruin the whole pot of milk. Frequent stirring and scraping of the pan bottom will help keep the solids in suspension.

A lid will help keep the “skin” caused by surface evaporation off the surface from forming.

The purposes of scalding in any given recipe can be many, as several chemical and biological changes happen during the process.

Many pathogens are killed at these temperatures and natural enzymes are neutralized. Pasteurization often achieves the same effect, but can take place at lower temperatures (about 63°C (145°F)) so one must be sure that scalding is not required for other reasons before assuming that the step can be skipped.

Some milk proteins unfold at scalding temperatures. In yogurt making, this allows for a tighter matrix to form as the proteins refold in the acidic environment, resulting in less whey separation and a firmer end product. This unfolding of protein also seems to help in bread making, resulting in a finer crumb and better rise.

The higher temperature could also be utilized as an essential element of cooking, e.g. helping sugar dissolve or cooking eggs in custards,and to better incorporate flavors.