We have explored the two main ingredients of biscuits (flour and sugar) in previous articles, this time we will talk about fats and oils. Fats and oils have similar general chemical compositions. However, at ambient temperature fat is semisolid and oil is liquid.

Vegetable fats

Fats for biscuits contribute to the texture, mouth feel, and bite of the biscuit. The fats are produced from good-quality crude oils by a series of processes. They are extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits.

Typically, blended vegetable dough fats are solid at ambient temperature and melt over a wide temperature range. Most fats used in biscuit making are melted below blood temperature(36.9°C), and this avoids a waxy mouth feel.

To produce soft, short doughs with high-fat contents require little water. During the mixing process, the fat coats the flour particles which inhibits hydration and interrupts the formation of the gluten. Fats also tend to inhibit the leavening action of the carbon dioxide diffusion in the dough during baking. Products with the combination of high sugar and fat in the recipe are given a soft, syrupy, chewy texture.

In common, raw hard biscuits and crackers after being sheeted and cut have fat contents of 10%-22% of the flour by weight. The soft, short doughs molded by rotary machine have about 17%-30% of fat while the cookie doughs cut or deposited by cookie machine have 25%-60%.

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. When baked with sugar and vanilla, their flavors meld well, imparting a unique flavor and aroma.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is made by saponifying, acidifying, washing, and dehydrating coconut meat, wick, and milk. In biscuit production, coconut oil is used for oil spraying. The melting point of coconut oil is 32-34°C.

We will update the introduction of other biscuit ingredients in the next few articles. If you find this article interesting, please follow our Facebook▶https://www.facebook.com/biscuitequipment    We will share more fun things about biscuits both on our website and on Facebook.