Turn into a Meals Processing Professional
1. Within the work bowl of a meals processor, place flour and salt; pulse till mixed. Add butter, and pulse till combination is crumbly and butter is pea-size, 12 to fifteen pulses. What does it imply to be “pea-size”? Search for the most important bits of butter—these must be near the dimensions of a standard pea. The remainder of the butter-flour combination will seem mealy, like coarse-ground cornmeal or grated Parmesan cheese. Be vigilant, as you’ll be able to over course of the combination and start to cream it if you’re not watching. As soon as the combination is overprocessed, you gained’t be capable of get these superb lumps of butter again. It’s the chunks of butter that in the end create the flaky, buttery crust everyone knows and love.
2. In a small bowl, mix ½ cup (120 grams) chilly water and vinegar. With processor working, add vinegar combination to flour combination in a sluggish, regular stream simply till dough comes collectively.
3. Combination will look crumbly, but it surely ought to stick collectively when squeezed between your fingers. This crumbly dough could seem a bit messy, however this hydration degree is good to restrict gluten formation. Flour, relying on the way it was processed and the place it’s saved, will take up liquids at totally different charges. We management the hydration issue by including the vinegar combination simply till the dough begins to drag away from the perimeters of the meals processor bowl. As soon as this occurs, you’ll be able to discard any extra liquid that you simply didn’t use—you gained’t want it.
4. End up dough. Divide in half, and form every half right into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at the least 2 hours. Dough could also be refrigerated for as much as 3 days or frozen for as much as 2 months. Over time, dough can develop a slight grey tinge resulting from oxidation. The addition of vinegar within the dough helps to sluggish this course of, retaining your dough nearer to its unique shade throughout storage.
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
After we discuss protein in flour, the dialog usually results in gluten, however by a magnified lens, there are literally two proteins that add to the story. Briefly, these are referred to as glutenin and gliadin. As these two proteins encounter liquid, they bond collectively, forming the protein complicated that offers stretch to dough and creates flaky pastries. This complicated is known as gluten. Now, the extra dough is dealt with, the stronger the gluten community turns into, and molecules align to create elasticity. With bread, working the dough extensively develops this gluten community, which captures gases, creates rise, and lends the ethereal crumb and plain chewy texture. For pastry, nonetheless, we want simply sufficient gluten to carry the fragile pastry collectively, however not a lot that we get a chewy, robust dough. Thus, selecting flour with an intermediate protein content material and limiting how a lot the dough is labored is one easy technique that results in tender, flaky pastries.
