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Frequently Asked Questions - DoughnutsI am using a mix for my yeast raised doughnuts, but 1 am not totally satisfied with their quality and have tried to make my doughnuts from a rich scratch dough. I like the general quality of these new doughnuts, but they tend to have large blisters and I have been unable to get rid of these. What am I doing wrong? The reason you get the blisters is that you entrap fermentation gases under the thin crust of the doughnuts. By delaying the formation of this crust, you can reduce this problem appreciably. Use one part of pastry flour with three parts of a regular bread flour (11.5% to 12% protein) and limit the egg content of the dough to 3% of the flour weight of egg yolk solids (or 6% frozen egg yolks). Also, keep the doughs slightly dry and mix them well. This should help to eliminate the blister problem in your yeast raised doughnuts. I have a problem with my doughnuts. They feel greasy and the sugared doughnuts turn grey and look old after only one day in the store. I filter my fat regularly and my fat turn-over is good. The symptoms you describe indicate that your frying fat is too soft at the higher temperatures. You need more solid fat at temperatures above 80°F. Although doughnuts fried in these softer fats often show less fat absorption than doughnuts fried in harder fats, they appear to be greasier. Softer frying fats tend to leave an oily film on the outside of the fried product and many consumers associate this with a "greasy" product. As you observed, this oily film will eventually be absorbed by the fat in the doughnut coating sugar, which then discolors and compacts under light pressure. A slight oiliness is, however, often desired, since it improves the adhesion of the doughnut sugar to the doughnuts. But too much oiliness has a detrimental effect on coatings. This is particularly the case with chocolate flavored compound coatings, where the "hard butter" can be broken down by the oily residue from the frying fat. Increasing the melting point of the coating fat is only partially effective. What is a recommended "rise" time for cake doughnuts? The "rise" time is the number of seconds the doughnut piece remains submerged in the frying fat after being deposited. Rise time will vary with the mix formulation. Some may rise in two seconds - some in 12 seconds. What are recommended free fatty acid and smoke point specifications for doughnut frying fat? Suggestions are 0.10% maximum free fatty acid (f.f.a.) and 425°F minimum smoke point. What happens if the depositor is too close to the frying fat? Too far from the frying fat? What is the proper distance? Too high. Donut will become elongated, flatten out, and stand a greater chance of absorbing excessive fat. Too close. Dough will cook on bottom of the cutter and will interfere with proper cutting action. This will produce poorly shaped donuts of differing weights. Proper distance is 1% to 2 inches. What happens if the fryer screens are placed too deep in the fat? Too shallow? What is the proper distance for the screens below the fat surface? Too deep. The shape and the fat absorption level will be affected. The donut may even flip over as it rises to the top.
How may I reduce fat absorption at the point of make up? I use a mix and cannot adjust formulation. Check batter temperature. Warm batter promotes vigorous leavening action which, in turn, results in excessive fat absorption. Very cold batter will also promote fat absorption as well as an under mixed batter. Extending mix time can reduce excessive fat absorption but may also toughen the donut. What is the purpose of filtering fat? It will remove carbonized particles which fall from the donuts during the frying process. When is a cake doughnut ready to be turned when frying? A suggested guideline is to turn the doughnut when the leavening bubbles reach the surface of the unfried side. Should high melting point hard fat flakes be used in chocolate doughnut icing? The use of hard fat flakes in colder months may result in a waxy mouth feel. However, the flakes may be necessary during summer months to prevent icing breakdown. How can I tell if my yeast raised doughnuts have the proper proof7 A practical guideline is, when the proofed doughnut is touched with the finger, a small indentation will remain. If there is no indentation, additional proofing is needed. If a large indentation is made, the dough is over proofed and will collapse in the fryer or immediately after frying. Another practical guide is that the proofed dough should have a softness similar to the inside of your ear lobe. What are the recommended conditions for proofing yeast raised doughnuts? In a retail shop, satisfactory proofing conditions are 105° to 110°F and 45 to 55% relative humidity for bench cut doughnuts. In commercial high speed shops, higher temperatures and humidity are used. What are the proper conditions for depositing cake doughnuts from a "sanitary" cutter? The cutter should be placed even with the top of the frying kettle. The bottom of the doughnut piece should be one inch above the fat when released from the cutter, which means the doughnut cutter should be about two inches above the fat. The doughnut screen should be two inches below the fat surface. When the doughnut piece is deposited, three to five seconds should elapse before the doughnut starts to rise to the surface of the fat. I am preparing my doughnut sugar using sucrose and cinnamon. The sugared doughnuts are then frozen and packaged. Upon thawing, the sugar coating disappears rapidly. Why? The cause of this problem is probably the type of sugar being used. The powdered dextrose is normally used in doughnut coating sugars because dextrose is less soluble than sucrose at room temperature and will not dissolve as rapidly in the free water migrating from the doughnut. Also, unmodified cornstarch and some oil, such as soy oil, will contribute to sugar coating stability. What is considered the optimum range for free fatty acids in doughnut frying shortening? A free fatty acid content of 0.4 to 0.5 percent in frying shortening is considered about optimum, with a satisfactory operating range of 0.2 to 0.75 percent. Fresh fat with no break-in period may contain less than the optimum amount, the result being a ragged break, low fat absorption, and a pale crust on the doughnut. Excessive free fatty acids will produce excessive fat absorption, dark crust, misshapen sugared doughnuts. Excessive free fatty acids can be determined by darkness of color in the frying fat, excessive foaming, and excessive smoking above the fat.
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