When baking pies and stuff, what does it mean exactly: cut in shortening or?

Question

cutting the shortening into the flour?

Answer 1

Fat contributes to achieving a flaky texture in pastry dough. The amount of fat and the way it is mixed in contribute to the texture you end up with. Leaving the fat in pieces or chunks will give your crust a flaky texture. With a 'rubbed dough' (shortening cut in) the pieces of fat melt to create pockets in the interior of the dough. As it melts, steam is released from the moisture held in the fat. The steam creates the pockets which become set as your pastry bakes, giving you a wonderful flaky texture. You can cut in shortening, butter, etc. with your hands, rubbing, or the tines of a fork or two, a couple of butter knives, or a tool made specifically for this, cheap and easily available at target, walmart, etc.. You can make your dough flaky or mealy. The larger the flakes of fat, the flakier and crisper the baked crust will be. I recommend pea sized.

Answer 2

cut in
To mix a solid, cold fat (such as butter or shortening) with dry ingredients (such as a flour mixture) until the combination is in the form of small particles. This technique can be achieved by using a PASTRY BLENDER, two knives, a fork or fingers (which must be cool so as not to melt the fat). A FOOD PROCESSOR fitted with a metal blade does an excellent job of cutting fat into dry ingredients, providing the mixture is not overworked into a paste.

http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/how_to/food_dictionary

Answer 3

it means to mix it in. I think the work CUT came from if/when they would use a knife to cut the shortening from a slab and used the same knife with shortening on it, to 'cut' it into the recipe.
Cutting into flour is same thing... adding shorting to the flour by mixing it into it. No fancy thing. just mixing it in.

Answer 4

"Cutting in" means to simply incorporate the butter into the recipe, but yet still leave it chunky. I use a fork when I make crusts, and what you want to do, is to have your butter cold, and just mash it into the other ingredients. The key is to still have some small clumps of butter (the cold butter clumps will make your pie crust light and flaky--the butter works almost as a seperator and make the crust have light layers). I hope this helps! Also, as another little tip, make sure your water in your crust is ice cold before you pour it in (hot water= melted butter, and melted butter is bad for crusts). Good luck and have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Answer 5

the process of blending in really cold shortening into the flour is generally referred to as cutting in,it really means that, becuase no mixing is involved,the fat is evenly distributed yet leaving very small bits in tact,this can be done with a knife or fork,the motion is a cutting one right into the fat,flour may be sprinkled over as you proceed.,repeat till fat is evenly distributed .

Answer 6

Being 'baked like an apple' means you are majorly under the influence of marijuana. In other words, really high! I have never been baked like an apple pie, though I'm sure it's fun :)

Answer 7

You are taking bits of butter and adding to the flour so it turns crumbly. You can use a fork, a knife or there are these kitchen gagdet things that work too its usually silver blades and a black handle and you can find them at the grocery store.

Answer 8

All fruits are fruit and vegetables. A "vegetable" is a plant, any part of which can be used for food.

Answer 9

In the superstore, fruits are usually picked out much too soon. Some are rocks, many are bitter. Some of the fresh vegetables are right (zucchini, onions, garlic, lettuce, greens, and a few others) so I'd have to go with vegetables.

Answer 10

Um,I hope this doesn't sound rude but maybe try buying one or a cook book.