Does vegetable oil work as a substitute for butter in baking yeast breads? I use it (or applesauce) in baking other stuff. I don't have access to butter or shortening.
i think you can but there are some things i would look at
1 butter is part fat part water and part milk solids where oil is 100 percent fat
2- butter (and shortening) is solid at room temp where oil is a liqued
as the bread cools the fats in butter and shortening will return to a solid state where oil will stay liqued This is why things like doughnuts are fried in shortening so as the product cools and the fat returns to solid the doughnut is less gressy. if it was fried in oil it would absorb more of the fat and since the fat will stay liqued it would be gressy and oily when eaten.
you would have to adjust the formula by reducing the amount of fat somewhat and under stand that the baked produce will be diferent than if you used the fat called for.
sweet products or rich breads that have a high fat content such as danish or babka would not give you a good result but breads with a low fat content should give an exceptable end result.
applesauce would not be an acceptable substitute because the fat has a lubrcating affect on the gluten in the flour alowing it to expand easer. applesauce with no fat at all would offer no lubracation,
One time I tried to substitute apple sauce for butter in brownies in an attempt to reduce the saturated fat in my diet but unfortunately I got flat, chewy and otherwise unpalatable brownies as a result.
I'm sure lard is available where you live. It served us all well as 'shortening' until some 'nutritionists' decided lard wasn't healthy. Well, they've been proved wrong, and lard is gaining in popularity. It also gives great texture to breads, pie crusts, and cakes. You have to try it at least once. oz
i even have a formula for chinese style cookies that calls for lard and the forumula has in big words DO NOT SUBSTUTE..
the only thing wrong with lard is the name and the bad rep it got from thouse know-it-all health guys.
I would make a pie with lard and give it to my friends withour telling them the all loved it. the next time i made it with shortening and every one of them wanted to what i changed cause it was not as good as the other pie.
the only reason we stoped using lard in the bakery was we had to tell the people by law that we used lard and because on that bad rep no body would buy them.
But anyone who has chosen not to eat animal products would have to look for a vegetable substitution. I does come down to what flavour is desired and whether a solid or liquid form of fat is required. Sometimes the smoking temperature should be considered and if flavour changes with high temperature.
Recipes that call for melted butter, can just as well use oil.
There isn't a lot of butter in most breads. The oil should work just fine as long as it's counted in tablespoons per loaf. If the butter content is high, the differences will be apparent between a loaf made with butter and one with oil, but they should both be good. Of course, nothing tastes quite as good as butter!
There are a few things, like puff pastry, or piecrust, where the substitution wouldn't work.
There are a few oils, like coconut oil, that are nearly solid at room temperature.
The only place I could find unsalted butter was Nanjing METRO. I could find salted butter in cities of 100,000 or more. I could also find whipping cream easier, strange enough, and would put the cream in a closed plastic container and shake it till it turned into butter. Goes quicker than with a mixer. (save the buttermilk, now if you wish to innoculate it, it can become cultured buttermilk) Now the trick is to reduce the amount of milk liquids in the butter so it won't sour in two days, that comes with stirring it or kneading it with a spatula or spoon submerged in ice water. Change water and repeat till the water is clear. Remove from water and press out any water pockets. A pinch of salt also helps preservation but the best way to store is to freeze after pressing out any water.
WATER: (Gosh I hope you're drinking bottled water in rural China.) A trick with using ice water is to keep a 1 liter plastic bottle !/3 filled with drinking water on it's side in the freezer. When needed add room temp drinking water and in a minute, have enough to cool hard boiled eggs, etc. without using tap water or frosting up the freezer. The remaining ice chunk can be put back into the freezer, ready for the next time.
I think for now I'll stick with recipes that call for none or very little butter... I can get lard but it's sold in HUGE quantities (any ideas on how long lard stays good? even so it's bigger than any cabinets we have...). Thanks everyone for your advice... most of which will probably make more since once I actually start baking!
I use oil all the time in bread recipes calling for butter. I don't really see a difference. I use light olive oil (no taste difference) or extra virgin olive oil (very slight taste difference).
This is great to know - I'll try it out... I'm probably not a very sensitive taster because I acutally always used applesauce instead of at least half the fats when I baked in the states, and never noticed a difference in taste or texture!
This is an extract from an e book by Mike Geary - just thought it might be of interest. I recently purchased it from www.truthaboutabs.com and actually it was money very well spent ! I learnt a lot from it, and am now in the habit of occasionally using coconut oil and unrefined palm oil in my cooking, as well as animal fat ( which I collect in a jar from the meat after roasting or grilling). I also now try to use butter in place of margerine, but can't always, due to the fact it gives me a runny nose !
Trans Fats
Another of the most evil substances introduced into our food supply has been trans fats in the form of partially and/or fully hydrogenated oils. Some trans fats do exist naturally in some foods (such as beneficial CLA in grass fed beef and milk) and are good for you, but the trans fats created through artificial hydrogenation are the ones to avoid if you care about your health.
The process of hydrogenation essentially chemically alters unsaturated oil through high temperature, pressure, and metal catalysts, making it more similar to an industrial oil than an oil that should be consumed as food. Even non-hydrogenated vegetable oils (such as soybean, corn, and cottonseed oils) that are mass produced and heavily refined are not healthy choices. These oils are extracted under extremely high temperature and pressure using toxic solvents and bleaching aids in the extraction process. This process creates highly toxic oils full of free radicals that are then sold as cheap cooking oils or used in processed foods. Most vegetable oils you see on the supermarket shelves are processed in this highly toxic manner unless you see the words "unrefined", "virgin", or "extra virgin" on the label. These already toxic refined oils are made even worse when they are hydrogenated. In hydrogenation, the already toxic oils have a metal catalyst added to them and are again treated under high pressure and high temperature, and then steam cleaned and bleached. Now does that sound like something you should put in your body in even small quantities? Well, if you eat processed food, or fried restaurant food, you’re putting it in your body in huge quantities!
In recent years, studies have shown that trans fats are the most harmful fats to our bodies and may be the main reason for the explosion of heart disease over the last 40-50 years. That is why you’ve probably heard health professionals recommend switching back to butter instead of margarine, even though for years they were mistakenly taught that margarine was healthier.
The majority of processed foods contain hydrogenated fats. Hydrogenated oils will not only make you fat, but they also significantly increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, various forms of cancer, sexual dysfunction, and a host of other health conditions. The hydrogenated oils actually become part of your cell membranes, instead of the healthy fats that are supposed to comprise your cell membranes, essentially inhibiting and harming many of the cellular processes throughout your body. Make no mistake, consumption of trans fats contributes to body fat gain and will only inhibit your efforts to get lean. Avoid them at all costs; even on your overfeeding day.
Next time you’re faced with the choice of those deep fried French fries, chicken fingers, potato chips, etc., just think twice about the internal damage you are going to do to your body and hopefully that will be enough to make you want to pass up those deep fried or processed foods that are loaded with trans fats. If you buy packaged and processed foods, in order to avoid trans fats, you must inspect the ingredients to assure that they don’t contain partially or fully hydrogenated oils, shortening, or margarine of any kind. Just remember that (despite what the food manufacturers will try to claim in their ads) margarine made with hydrogenated oils is PURE EVIL, so stay away from anything made with margarine and choose butter instead!
Also, you can pretty much assume that any deep fried foods are fried in hydrogenated or refined oils. That includes almost all chips, unless they say "baked" (and yes, tortilla chips are deep fried). Keep in mind that even if chips or other foods are fried in non-hydrogenated oil, they are still dangerous because they are refined oils. In order to help health conscious consumers avoid trans fats, the FDA mandated in recent years that food manufacturers change nutrition labels to include the grams of trans fat per serving. One of the easiest ways to avoid HFCS and trans fats is to shop at a store like Whole Foods Market (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) or other organic markets, which assure that all of their products are generally free from these types of nasty food additives.
Yes But
i think you can but there are some things i would look at
1 butter is part fat part water and part milk solids where oil is 100 percent fat
2- butter (and shortening) is solid at room temp where oil is a liqued
as the bread cools the fats in butter and shortening will return to a solid state where oil will stay liqued This is why things like doughnuts are fried in shortening so as the product cools and the fat returns to solid the doughnut is less gressy. if it was fried in oil it would absorb more of the fat and since the fat will stay liqued it would be gressy and oily when eaten.
you would have to adjust the formula by reducing the amount of fat somewhat and under stand that the baked produce will be diferent than if you used the fat called for.
sweet products or rich breads that have a high fat content such as danish or babka would not give you a good result but breads with a low fat content should give an exceptable end result.
applesauce would not be an acceptable substitute because the fat has a lubrcating affect on the gluten in the flour alowing it to expand easer. applesauce with no fat at all would offer no lubracation,
score: 1
Good advice
One time I tried to substitute apple sauce for butter in brownies in an attempt to reduce the saturated fat in my diet but unfortunately I got flat, chewy and otherwise unpalatable brownies as a result.
score: 0
In your case, Lard is probably the only answer...
I'm sure lard is available where you live. It served us all well as 'shortening' until some 'nutritionists' decided lard wasn't healthy. Well, they've been proved wrong, and lard is gaining in popularity. It also gives great texture to breads, pie crusts, and cakes. You have to try it at least once. oz
score: 0
lard makes the best pie
lard makes the best pie nothing is even close
i even have a formula for chinese style cookies that calls for lard and the forumula has in big words DO NOT SUBSTUTE..
the only thing wrong with lard is the name and the bad rep it got from thouse know-it-all health guys.
I would make a pie with lard and give it to my friends withour telling them the all loved it. the next time i made it with shortening and every one of them wanted to what i changed cause it was not as good as the other pie.
the only reason we stoped using lard in the bakery was we had to tell the people by law that we used lard and because on that bad rep no body would buy them.
boy they sure missed out on a good thing
score: 1
Lard does make the best pie
I'm behind you 100% on that.
But anyone who has chosen not to eat animal products would have to look for a vegetable substitution. I does come down to what flavour is desired and whether a solid or liquid form of fat is required. Sometimes the smoking temperature should be considered and if flavour changes with high temperature.
Recipes that call for melted butter, can just as well use oil.
Mini O
score: 0
There isn't a lot of butter
There isn't a lot of butter in most breads. The oil should work just fine as long as it's counted in tablespoons per loaf. If the butter content is high, the differences will be apparent between a loaf made with butter and one with oil, but they should both be good. Of course, nothing tastes quite as good as butter!
There are a few things, like puff pastry, or piecrust, where the substitution wouldn't work.
There are a few oils, like coconut oil, that are nearly solid at room temperature.
score: 0
I use oil all the time.
I only use butter in very rich breads. I use safflower oil most of the time in baking daily breads.
score: 0
Time to make butter
The only place I could find unsalted butter was Nanjing METRO. I could find salted butter in cities of 100,000 or more. I could also find whipping cream easier, strange enough, and would put the cream in a closed plastic container and shake it till it turned into butter. Goes quicker than with a mixer. (save the buttermilk, now if you wish to innoculate it, it can become cultured buttermilk) Now the trick is to reduce the amount of milk liquids in the butter so it won't sour in two days, that comes with stirring it or kneading it with a spatula or spoon submerged in ice water. Change water and repeat till the water is clear. Remove from water and press out any water pockets. A pinch of salt also helps preservation but the best way to store is to freeze after pressing out any water.
WATER: (Gosh I hope you're drinking bottled water in rural China.) A trick with using ice water is to keep a 1 liter plastic bottle !/3 filled with drinking water on it's side in the freezer. When needed add room temp drinking water and in a minute, have enough to cool hard boiled eggs, etc. without using tap water or frosting up the freezer. The remaining ice chunk can be put back into the freezer, ready for the next time.
Mini O
score: 0
butter
I think for now I'll stick with recipes that call for none or very little butter... I can get lard but it's sold in HUGE quantities (any ideas on how long lard stays good? even so it's bigger than any cabinets we have...). Thanks everyone for your advice... most of which will probably make more since once I actually start baking!
score: 0
I use oil all the time in
I use oil all the time in bread recipes calling for butter. I don't really see a difference. I use light olive oil (no taste difference) or extra virgin olive oil (very slight taste difference).
Nancy
score: 0
*relieved*
This is great to know - I'll try it out... I'm probably not a very sensitive taster because I acutally always used applesauce instead of at least half the fats when I baked in the states, and never noticed a difference in taste or texture!
score: 0
This is an extract from an e
This is an extract from an e book by Mike Geary - just thought it might be of interest. I recently purchased it from www.truthaboutabs.com and actually it was money very well spent ! I learnt a lot from it, and am now in the habit of occasionally using coconut oil and unrefined palm oil in my cooking, as well as animal fat ( which I collect in a jar from the meat after roasting or grilling). I also now try to use butter in place of margerine, but can't always, due to the fact it gives me a runny nose !
Trans Fats
Another of the most evil substances introduced into our food supply has been trans fats in the form of partially and/or fully hydrogenated oils. Some trans fats do exist naturally in some foods (such as beneficial CLA in grass fed beef and milk) and are good for you, but the trans fats created through artificial hydrogenation are the ones to avoid if you care about your health.
The process of hydrogenation essentially chemically alters unsaturated oil through high temperature, pressure, and metal catalysts, making it more similar to an industrial oil than an oil that should be consumed as food. Even non-hydrogenated vegetable oils (such as soybean, corn, and cottonseed oils) that are mass produced and heavily refined are not healthy choices. These oils are extracted under extremely high temperature and pressure using toxic solvents and bleaching aids in the extraction process. This process creates highly toxic oils full of free radicals that are then sold as cheap cooking oils or used in processed foods. Most vegetable oils you see on the supermarket shelves are processed in this highly toxic manner unless you see the words "unrefined", "virgin", or "extra virgin" on the label. These already toxic refined oils are made even worse when they are hydrogenated. In hydrogenation, the already toxic oils have a metal catalyst added to them and are again treated under high pressure and high temperature, and then steam cleaned and bleached. Now does that sound like something you should put in your body in even small quantities? Well, if you eat processed food, or fried restaurant food, you’re putting it in your body in huge quantities!
30 www.TruthAboutAbs.com
In recent years, studies have shown that trans fats are the most harmful fats to our bodies and may be the main reason for the explosion of heart disease over the last 40-50 years. That is why you’ve probably heard health professionals recommend switching back to butter instead of margarine, even though for years they were mistakenly taught that margarine was healthier.
The majority of processed foods contain hydrogenated fats. Hydrogenated oils will not only make you fat, but they also significantly increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, various forms of cancer, sexual dysfunction, and a host of other health conditions. The hydrogenated oils actually become part of your cell membranes, instead of the healthy fats that are supposed to comprise your cell membranes, essentially inhibiting and harming many of the cellular processes throughout your body. Make no mistake, consumption of trans fats contributes to body fat gain and will only inhibit your efforts to get lean. Avoid them at all costs; even on your overfeeding day.
Next time you’re faced with the choice of those deep fried French fries, chicken fingers, potato chips, etc., just think twice about the internal damage you are going to do to your body and hopefully that will be enough to make you want to pass up those deep fried or processed foods that are loaded with trans fats. If you buy packaged and processed foods, in order to avoid trans fats, you must inspect the ingredients to assure that they don’t contain partially or fully hydrogenated oils, shortening, or margarine of any kind. Just remember that (despite what the food manufacturers will try to claim in their ads) margarine made with hydrogenated oils is PURE EVIL, so stay away from anything made with margarine and choose butter instead!
Also, you can pretty much assume that any deep fried foods are fried in hydrogenated or refined oils. That includes almost all chips, unless they say "baked" (and yes, tortilla chips are deep fried). Keep in mind that even if chips or other foods are fried in non-hydrogenated oil, they are still dangerous because they are refined oils. In order to help health conscious consumers avoid trans fats, the FDA mandated in recent years that food manufacturers change nutrition labels to include the grams of trans fat per serving. One of the easiest ways to avoid HFCS and trans fats is to shop at a store like Whole Foods Market (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) or other organic markets, which assure that all of their products are generally free from these types of nasty food additives.
score: 0