Stretching Shaping and Filling the Strudel dough!

Flour, Gluten and Strudel by Sarelle, in Chicago.

Last Monday (Sep 22) Walder Kitchen Science guru Sarelle Weiner did it again at the new Walder Science Center in Chicago.

Just as she did in Modiin, Israel, Sarelle presented another great session focusing on flour types, protein content, and the properties of gluten.

After familiarizing the 9 participants to flour combinations made from flours of different of varied season wheat, Sarelle emphasized that professionals weigh their ingredients to maintain a consistently excellent product. Measuring cup volumes often results in inconsistent product because the volume is often measured inconsistently. You can't go wrong when you weigh out ingredients.

After that, we learned about gluten's properties. Gluten is made from 2 proteins, glutenin and gliadin. Glutenin provides extensibility, making it possible for the dough to stretch out. Gliadin provides the elasticity making the dough bounce back when its rolled out and keep its shape. The dough's balance of glutenin and gliadin determine the products ultimate flakiness, chewiness, and crunchiness.

In the case of strudel dough, Sarelle taught the group how to coax, cajole or otherwise persuade the dough to such a level of thinness that you can read a newspaper through the dough. The news printed on the paper under the dough wasn't so great, but the strudel was extraordinary! And just in time for the Rosh Hashana table.

The session ended at the end of 2 hours with everybody enjoying the strudel of their labors. Both sweet and savory. Edges cut off from the stretch dough provided the culinary bonus Sarelle promised. They were deep boiled in honey and cinnamon as taiglach - honey knots especially to bring a sweet new year!

STAY TUNED as Walder Science Center is having Sarelle taking her experience to your neighborhood in Chicago and all over Israel.

Shanna Tova.

Kitchen Science Focus on Flour and Gluten a hit in Modiin!

On Wednesday night, Aug. 27th, 2014 The Walder Center presented another great Kitchen Science program focusing on the properties of flour. Sarelle Weiner, pastry artist, engaged a group of in Modiin, Israel, in various activities relating to flour.

How to measure consistently so that the product can be relied upon to have the right texture and body. What are the different types of flour that are on the market and what are the uses for each type?

Then we learned about Gluten. Gluten is a complex protein formed when water is mixed with flour. The proteins Glutenin and Gliadin in the flour combine to form Glutenin when water or other liquids are introduced to the flour when making dough. Glutenin provides extensibility into the dough - the ability to stretch without breaking. A property of glutenin is to make the product chewy. Gliadin provides the elasticity into the dough - the property that causes the ends of the dough to snap back when rolling it out. Elasticity makes the dough keep it form as it breaks, as opposed to running over the pan.

When you are baking a cake- do you want it to be easy to cut with the edge of the fork, or difficult? More Gluten or less?
When you are baking cookies - do you want them to be crisp or chewy? More Gluten or less?
When baking muffins, do you need a batter that you can pour into a baking cup or a dough that you can roll out? More Gluten or less?
When baking bread, do you want a dough that's paper thin and can cover a table top withuot breaking, like a strudel dough? Or do we want it to rise as a thick tall loaf? More Gluten or less?

The evening developed as Sarelle challenged us to make strudel doughs and filling some with sweet and savory fillings. YUM YUM!
And we also learned a great bonus product that can be made with the strudel dough ends!

Buy the end of the session, all the participants felt that, with their new knowledge of flours, measuring techniques and gluten, they can now prepare winning holiday treats with confidence.

Science in cooking and baking equals spectacular products.
Once the word is out, the Walder Kitchen Science Focus on Flour with Sarelle has been requested in Chicago, and other locations.

Stay tuned!

Kitchen Science Strikes Again with Sarelle and her Meringues, but this time in Modiin, Israel on Sunday, March 30, 2014!

WOW!
Another great session with Sarelle in our Israel Branch last Sunday night in Modiin! We Nine participants shared in our acclaimed "Eggs and Meringues, Artistically and Scientifically!

From all accounts, we all had a grand time learning from and working with Sarelle as she helped prepare us for the upcoming Pesach Holiday with an information and technique packed two and half hours all about tasty and beautiful kosher for Passover pastries.

In addition, we learned how to destroy the potential for salmonella without scrambling our yolks; temperature, structure, emulsifers, proteins, starches, ph and more. All the while, Sarelle shared her amazing professional techniques with us making the complex look easy! We learned piping, whipping egg whites, different types of meringues, how to make delicate French Macarons and fill cookies, use of a double boiler, how custards congeal, starch based and non-starch based custards!

Stay tuned for upcoming programs!

Salt and Cream of Tartar affecting foaming of egg whites during whipping

From: Nathan A Unterman
To: Heshy Weiner Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 07:33:39 -0500
Subject: Salt, egg whites, Cream of Tartar

Salt increases the whipping time of the egg whites and decreases the stability of the foam. This is because salt dissolves into positive and negative ions. These ions bond with proteins, which disrupts the foam from forming. To protect the foam, salt is normally added after the whites have been beaten to the foamy stage.

Acids (vinegar, lemon juice, cream of tartar,etc) are also added after the foamy stage has been reached because they delay foam formation. Acids are useful because they stabilize the foam. Acids decrease the pH, which reduces the ability of the proteins to coagulate.

Cream of tartar: Potassium bitartrate, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate, with formula KC₄H₅O₆, is a byproduct of winemaking.

-- 

Nathan A. Unterman

Pesach Egg and Meringue Pastries, Artistically and Scientifically

Pesach Egg and Meringue Pastries, Artistically and Scientifically

“Pesach Egg and Meringue Pastries, Artistically and Scientifically” with Israeli pastry artist Sarelle Weiner, formerly of Chicago.  Walder Kitchen Science for Adults, Tues/Wed. Mar. 11/12, 7-9pm. at Adas Yeshurun, 3050 W. Touhy. Attend either session or both. Don't miss out on this rare opportunity! Suggested Donation. RSVP toinfo@walderlab.org  

How to Temper Chocolate

You can find a very informative and interesting set of instructions from packaging of the chocolate tempering thermometer by:

Component Design Northwest, Inc. Model #TCH130 www.cdn-timeandtemp.com

Here's the link, but I also listed it on the side of the blog, too.

How to Temper Chocolate 

Using a meat thermometer

The last thing that you would want is for a guest of yours to contract Salmonella or E Coli. To make sure that doesn’t happen, you must know that the center of the meat or fish has been adequately cooked. Once you know that the center of fish has achieved 140°F (60°C) and the center of meat 160°F (72°C), then you also know that not only has the center cooked, but that also all the meat surrounding the center is safe (harmful bacteria has been killed).

Using a meat thermometer that probes the interior of meat will let you know when your meat is safe to eat and not under or over cooked. Additionally, by keeping the thermometer inside the meat at a buffet table, you can monitor the meats internal temperature to keep it safe.

In the meanwhile, don’t lose sight of 2 important side points: 1) meat continues to cook internally after being removed from the fire. 2) The rate at which the meat’s surface heats up is faster that the center. Cooking at a lower, but safe temperature for a longer period of time will avoid drying and burning of the meat’s surface.

Using a deep fry / candy thermometer

When deep frying and making candy, the temperature of the liquids reaches a very high level. For example, caramelizing sugar heightens the temperature of the liquefied sugar to a level in excess of 300°F (149°C)! An oven thermometer which is manufactured to measure the heated air inside an oven is not adequate to measure the heat of the center of a liquid.

A special thermometer for candy making and deep frying is inserted into the liquid during the heating process. Usually the thermometer is very long for safety purposes so that you don’t burn yourself. Also, a hook attaching the thermometer to the side of the pot makes sure that it measures the temperature of the liquid and not of the pot.