The Baking Answer Book by Lauren Chattman Read Free Book Online Page A

probably will prefer the French-style pin, which is simply a hardwood cylinder with no handles and no shaft. Many professional bakers choose a French-style pin because it lets them feel the thickness of the dough as they roll. If you have small hands, you might consider a tapered rolling pin, a variation on the French-style pin but with slimmer ends that make it easy to grasp.

Food Processor Pizza Dough
    Good pizza dough is wet and sticky. It’s difficult to knead by hand, and can take a toll on your electric mixer’s motor. But it comes together beautifully in the food processor.
    MAKES TWO 14-INCH PIZZA CRUSTS
    1 envelope (2½ teaspoons) active dry yeast
    1¾ cups tepid water
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
    1½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1. Stir to dissolve the yeast in the water.
2. Combine the flour and salt in the food processor and pulse once or twice to combine.
3. With the motor running, pour the water, yeast mixture, and the olive oil into the feed tube and process until the dough forms a smooth ball, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Coat the inside of a large mixing bowl with olive oil. Shape the dough into a rough ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm, draft-free spot until it has doubled in size, 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes.
5. Transfer the dough onto a work surface, cut in half with a bench scraper, lightly dust with flour, drape each piece with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 20 minutes.
6. Use the dough as directed in any pizza recipe, or place each piece in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before using.
Food Processor Pie Dough
    Keep your ingredients (including your flour!) as cold as possible, to ensure that the butter and shortening don’t melt as they are processed.
    MAKES 1 DOUBLE OR LATTICE-TOP PIECRUST
    2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, chilled
    ½ teaspoon salt
    ½ cup vegetable shortening, chilled
    ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled
    6 tablespoons ice water, plus more if necessary
1. Combine the flour and salt in the food processor and pulse several times to blend.
2. Add the shortening and pulse 8 to 10 times until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the butter and pulse another 8 to 10 times until the mixture again resembles coarse meal.
3. Sprinkle the water over the flour mixture. Pulse 5 to 7 times, until the dough just begins to come together in large clumps. If it doesn’t come together, sprinkle another tablespoon of water over the mixture and pulse again. Remove the lid of the food processor and press some dough between your fingers. If it is still very crumbly, process once or twice more.
4. If it holds its shape, press it into two 5-inch discs. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days before using.
    Q Are there any other electronic items that are essential for baking?
    A A microwave oven is nice to have for melting chocolate and butter, but you can also do this on the stovetop. A blender is useful for puréeing fruit or grinding graham crackers, but a food processor will do almost everything a blender can. I would say that the only other electronic item that’s absolutely essential for serious baking is an electronic scale.
Professional bakers have always preferred weighing ingredients to measuring them by volume, to ensure uniform results batch after batch. Measuring by volume is necessarily imprecise. Ingredients like flour may settle. Small differences between sets of measuring cups may mean that your 1-cup measure holds slightly more flour than someone else’s measure. More and more frequently, cookbook authors and food writers are including weight along with volume measurements in ingredient lists, so that home cooks can get the same reliable results as professionals.
Mechanical scales, while less expensive, are less precise and more difficult to read than electronic scales. Look for an electronic scale that