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cutting food into smaller pieces so the food is evenly cooked

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to reach the temperature where the bubbles turn to vapor

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a rich white sauce made with milk, herbs, and other flavorings

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to beat or stir with a light, rapid movement

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a mixture of butter and flour used to make sauces. It is a thickening agent.

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As we went through the various thickening agents in a previous post, we felt that there just wasn't enough coverage about the all so important thickening agent that is overwhelmingly used in professional kitchens and home kitchens alike the whole world over. It is the backbone of many dishes, soups, and sauces and has been used as the battlefield medic in recovering dishes that may have gone over the wayside a bit. A roux is a simple flour/fat mixture that is added to dishes in order to thicken a dish.

What is a roux consist of?

It is a combination of equal parts by weight flour and fat (Butter, oils, etc).

Flour and fat is then cooked together to form a paste. Cooking the flour in fat will coat the starch/flour with the fat and prevent them from lumping together when introduced into a liquid. In some professional kitchens, roux is prepared prior and used as needed throughout the night. For the home cook or smaller restaurants, it is made separate for each recipe.

The Three Types of Roux

There are three varieties of roux that you may use depending on the desired outcome

White roux - This roux is cooked briefly and should be removed from heat as soon as it develops a bubbly, frothy appearance. White roux's are used in white sauces such as a bechamel or in dishes where color is undesirable.

Blond roux - Cooked a bit longer than white roux in order to produce a blond coloring, a blond roux is at the beginning stages of caramelization. A veloute is typical for the requirements of a blond roux

Brown roux - A brown roux is cooked until it is much more caramelized and will turn a distinct brown color. This roux will impart a nutty aroma and flavor and is used in brown sauces or dishes where a dark color is desired. Because the starches break down during prolonged cooking, more roux will be required to achieve a similar thickening power.

How To Make Roux

There is a basic procedure for making roux that is easy to follow and simple to learn. Whether you are creating a white, blond, or brown roux, the procedure is the same.

1. Use a heavy saucepan to prevent overheating and burning. Heat your fat/butter/oil.

2. Add all the flour to the oil and stir in to form a paste. The best flour to use will be a cake or pastry flour as they will have more starch content, however an all-purpose flour will work just fine too.

3. Cook the paste over medium heat until the desired type is achieved. The roux should be the consistency of wet cement. Be sure to stir the roux often to avoid burning. Burnt roux will not thicken a liquid and will instead impart bitter burnt flavoring and small burnt flakes instead. Throw it away if this occurs and start again.

The general rule is that the temperature and amount of roux being made determines the exact cooking time. A white roux, however needs to cook for only a few minutes just long enough to minimize the raw flour taste. Blond roux is cooked a bit longer. A brown roux will require a much longer cooking time to develop the color and aroma. Good roux is stiff, not runny or pourable.

Adding Roux To A Liquid

You must follow the proper steps of adding roux into your liquid and you must also have the foresight to prepare for the method in advance to avoid situations where you may cause a delay in your cooking. Such delays or lack of preparation is the bane of a good cook and can cause you to miss important windows of cooking opportunities. Therefore, there are two ways to incorporate it into a liquid

1. Cold or warm stock can be added to a hot roux while stirring vigorously with a whisk/spoon.

2. Room temp roux can be added to a hot stock/liquid while stirring vigorously with whisk/spoon.

If you add hot roux to a hot liquid, you WILL form lumps that will be almost impossible to remove save straining. If you have to add a portion of the liquid to the roux and get the mixture happening (Which is how I do it), that works just as fine. Then, once the roux has begun to incorporate you can add the remaining liquid and bring it back up to temperature.

Common Proportions of Roux to Liquid

Important Roux Guidelines

1. Do not use aluminum pots as the scraping of the metal whisk will turn light grey and impart a metallic flavor. This will also cause aluminum to be ingested which some have claimed cause health concerns.

2. Use proper heavy pots to prevent the scorching of sauces or burning during long cooking times

3. Do not use extreme temperatures. Roux should be no colder than room temp so the fat will not fully solidify. Extremely hot roux is dangerous and can cause burns via splattering when combined with liquid. Stock should not be ice cold with roux as the roux will become just as cold and will solidify and be difficult to whisk out.

4. Avoid over thickening your product. Roux does not fully reach its potential until the liquid reaches its simmering point. It will not immediately see results until it heats up. If you must cook a sauce for a long period of time, consider using the reduction method.

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Roux: What is Roux, The Types of Roux & How To Make It

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As we went through the various thickening agents in a previous post, we felt that there just wasn't enough coverage about the all so important thickening agent that is overwhelmingly used in professional kitchens and home kitchens alike the whole world over.

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the chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria or yeasts, involving giving off heat

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to fry quickly in a little fat that is hot

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a cooking technique where bread or dough is partially baked and then frozen for storage

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to moisten flour into dough using your hands

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Matthijs Spiering, commercial manager for Zeelandia International b.v, told FoodNavigator that there is high demand for pastry mixes, cake mixes, pastry fillings and toppings, with a recent focus on free-from varieties.

"There is also a high demand for ingredients for bread products, which include a mix of local, Indian and European bread products. There are of course differences depending on income levels and purchasing power," ​he said.

Zeelandia is a century-old Netherlands-based manufacturer of bakery ingredients, pastry ingredients and release agents that has been working with distributors in the Middle East for about two decades.

However, Spiering said bakers in the Middle East are reporting growing demand for low-carb, gluten-free, eggless and sugar-free bakery products, for which Zeelandia has started supplying mixes.

"We have also started supplying mixes for bakery products meant for diabetes," ​ said Spiering, adding that the Middle East consumer is now also a more aware customer-even if there is a health issue in the West, they hear about it, and want products according to that.

"Health issues will play an important role in bakery manufacturing going forward," ​said Spiering, who was speaking on the sidelines of Gulfood 2014, the Middle East's biggest food and beverage industry show.

Leslie Horne, international marketing manager for Genius, a UK-based gluten free and dairy-free bakery products makers, agreed.

Genius, which claims to be the market leader in the UK in gluten-free products, signed a retail contract with two major retailers in the Middle East in January this year to supply seven products including gluten-free loaves and pita bread.

Horne said that while there is a rising incidence of coeliac disease in the region, there is little, though growing, awareness about it. "We found that most people in the Middle East used to go online, get their information, and then order gluten-free products online," s ​he said, adding that the initial response has been tremendous.

The Middle Eastern population has had a history of lactose intolerance, which is also working in Genius' favour. "Our products are dairy-free as well. We have seen that people with coeliac disease typically also have lactose intolerance and so our products make sense for them," ​ she said.

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Middle East's bakers get ready for free-from demand

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Matthijs Spiering, commercial manager for Zeelandia International b.v, told FoodNavigator that there is high demand for pastry mixes, cake mixes, pastry fillings and toppings, with a recent focus on free-from varieties. "There is also a high demand for ingredients for bread products, which include a mix of local, Indian and European bread products.

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a kitchen tool used to mix a hard fat into flour in order to make pastries.

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Also known as a basting brush, is a cooking utensil used to spread butter, oil or glaze on food.

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A molded cookie are cookies that are made by shaping dough by hand into small balls, logs, and other shapes. It can also be called hand formed cookie.

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a crumbly topping or filling made from fat, flour, sugar, and often cinnamon.

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The biscuit method is a method for making quick breads such as scones and, biscuits.The biscuit method is one of the only mixing methods that does not require you to have all of your ingredients at room temperature. Your fats and liquids should be cold for the biscuit method.

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Function of a Sour Cream in a Baked Good 

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Function of a Sour Cream in a Baked Good 

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Sour cream is often thought of as a topping for potatoes, an addition to sauces and a way to mix guacamole, but it's not often remembered as a baking ingredient. Due to its creamy texture, sour cream can be added to a variety of baked goods and recipes in order to yield moister results.

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Mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. You then pour the wet over the try and combine, mixing as little as possible.

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The technique of beating and creaming butter and sugar. It can also be a term of describing when you combine ingredients gently together without stirring or beating.

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Folding is a term used to describe the process of combining ingredients together gently without stirring, beating or otherwise agitating the mixture. It is a technique most commonly used when you are combining one or more ingredients that have already been whipped (such as egg whites or whipped cream). The term can also apply to a recipe that requires less mixing (for example, a tender crumb). Folding is usually executed with a rubber spatula for liquid and dry ingredients, or with a wire whisk for whipped cream and egg whites so that the mixture gently incorporates as it falls through the wires.

The first step in many of our baking recipes calls for: beating butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. But what does that actually mean and why do we need to do it?

The technique of beating or creaming butter and sugar (this also applies to shortening and margarine) lays the groundwork for your baked product. During this step, you're incorporating air into your batter. This process will determine how the texture of your baked goods will turn out. The coarse sugar crystals cut into the butter creating air pockets, or bubbles. These bubbles are what will give your cake or cookie "lift" and rise (with the help of baking soda and/or baking powder). The air bubbles will also cause your butter/sugar mixture to lighten, or pale, in colour. The amount of bubbles created will depend on what tool you use to cream your batter (electric mixers will work better than a whisk) and how long you cream the batter (the longer, the more air bubbles).

Watch me demonstrate this baking technique:

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Folding is a term used to describe the process of combining ingredients together gently without stirring, beating or otherwise agitating the mixture. It is a technique most commonly used when you are combining one or more ingredients that have already been whipped (such as egg whites or whipped cream).

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To blend fat into flour with a pastry blender or with two knives

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The creaming method is one of the seen and most known baking methods in the United States.
While doing the method, the most important thing is that the speed at which you cream the ingredients and then length of time you cream them and temperature will effect the final product.
The creaming method contains of five steps. The steps are:
1. cream together fat and sugar
2. add eggs, one at a time
3. sift together dry ingredients
4. mix wet ingredients
5. alternate adding dry and wet ingredients, beginning and ending with dry.

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Also know as browning, the Maillard reaction is a term used to describe what happens when sugars react with amino acids and proteins. It changes the color of the food and adds flavor. It occurs when proteins in meat are heated to temperatures 310 F or higher, causing them to turn brown.  Water cannot be present, because it will lower the highest temperature. The Maillard reaction is similar to caramelization, but gives a more complex flavor to the food.

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a type of cookie made by baking batter in a sheet pan, then cutting it into bars or squares.

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Drop cookies are timeless classics that are easy to transfer from the mixing bowl to the baking sheet. Some examples of a drop cookie can be chocolate chip or oatmeal rains.

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An acid that speeds up the creation of foam and helps stabilize the structure of the air bubbles that you're whipping up.

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The disher is a spoon often used to measure and serve a portion of cookie dough, ice cream, etc.

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Caramelization is a term applied to the process of melting sugar. Carmelization causes changes in foods, such as the color and the flavor. To caramelize sugar for a topping, sprinkle it over the food, add a spray of water to the surface of the sugar and heat it under an over broiler. You can also heat the sugar in a pan until it becomes a caramel colored liquid.