Area Practice B - Food Preparation and Cooking Processes

Area Practice B - Food Preparation and Cooking Processes

Assignment 3- Electric Food Mixers

Chosen appliance: Electric food mixers.

Introduction:

An electrical food mixer is a small motorised piece of kitchen equipment. They work on the principle that a motor inside the body of the appliance powers one or two tools e.g beaters. It differs from other kitchen food preparation appliances as it is a much slower device and does not have sharp blades attached.

Electric food mixers can play a key role in food preparation as they make light work of so many repetitive preparation tasks.

Some electric food mixers are cordless thereby giving the added advantage of a power point not being a consideration when using the appliance.

Like all other electrical appliances, safety is of paramount importance and should be considered when food mixer is in use.

Investigation:

There are three types of electric food mixer available:

1. Hand mixer:

This is a hand held mixing appliance. It consists of a handle mounted over the body of the appliance.

1. Stand mixer:

A stand mixer is essentially the same as a hand mixer, however it is mounted on a base which bears the weight of the appliance. Usually stand mixers are larger in size than hand mixers and have more powerful motors. Bowls attach into the base. These vary in sixe but most used in the home have a 4litre capacity.

1. Heavier duty kitchen machine:

This food mixer is larger in size and heavier in weight than the stand mixer. It is therefore considered a stationary mixer and is not as portable as the hand or basic stand mixers mentioned above. This food mixer works on the same principle as the others but has the added advantage of a unique movement that enables the tools to rotate themselves whilst travelling around the inside of the bowl. Known as ‘planetary action’ it ensures that the tools reach all areas of the bowl ensuring complete and even mixing of the ingredients. As the bowl capacity is larger and the motor is a higher wattage (power), it allows for larger sized (Christmas cake) and heavier duty products (kneading dough) to be prepared more quickly and easy.

/ Brand / Price / Features / Advantages
Hand Mixer / Kenwood
150W-400W
AWT / €25-60

€36.99

/ 3-5 speeds
Turbo Speed
Design -
Simple design, less detail
Handle bent or parallel to body
Storage area for tools
Integral cord wrap / Varied speed allows for greater control of mixing. Slower speed allows beating of ingredients without scattering them out of bowl.
Turbo speed assist in creating volume e.g whisking egg whites/cream.
Easier to clean, doesn’t gather dirt over time.
More comfortable to hold hand mixer with bent handle design, reduces tension in hand while working.
Rubber grip holds tools and attaches to machine, keep tools with machine
Safety… Less likely for cord to get tangled or wet.
Stand Mixer / Kenwood
Brevill SHM2
(twin motor 380W) / €349.99
€69.99 / 3 way beating motion & rotating bowl
Detachable from base
10 speed
Push button ejection
Stainless steel bowl / Ensures complete and even mixing
Can be used as a hand mixer if necessary
Allows for ultimate and exact control
Lifts off food mixer to remove bowl
Durable and hygienic
Kitchen Machine
(Stationary Food Mixer) / Kenwood Chef 800w
Kenwood Premier 1000W
Kitchen Aid Food Mixer 5KPM5
(300W) / €199.99
€349.99

€350-€510

/ 8-10 speed self-selection speeds
Pulse/turbo speed
Splash Guard
Different size bowl
Different shaped bowls(Kenwood Chef)
Range of colours
Ergonomic handle on bowl / Allows for greater control and less splattering out of mixture. Fast & thorough mixing
Prevents wet mixture splattering out
Small/large (explained above)
‘D’ shaped bowl has a spout, facilitating the pouring of running mixtures out of bowl and makes adding additional ingredients easy e.g. eggs
Greater choice to consumer
Makes lifting bowl easier

Uses/Functions and Suitable foods or dishes prepared using food mixer.

Mixing Tools & Function / Suggested foods/dishes
(a) Beaters/K beater: The most frequently used tool, the beater is versatile and can be used for creaming cake mixes, all in one method and also for light whisking.
The K Beater has angled fins ensuring it reaches every area of the bowl, and is useful for the above functions as well as gently mixing ingredients for stuffings and fillings, making pastry or crumbing biscuits. / Shortcrust pastry, Spinach tartlets, Apple Tart.
Creaming: Lemon Drizzle Cake. Pear And Almond Tart.
Beefburgers. Mashed Potato. Cheesecake bases. No bake chocolate cake. Shortbread. Icings.
(b)Hand Whisk: Used to introduce air but hand held whisk can be used to cream mixtures also.
Balloon Whisks: Shaped specifically to trap air when mixing, the whisks create volume in the ingredients being whisked e.g. egg whites/cream/sponges / Hand Whisk: Fresh Cream. Madeira mixture - Bakewell Tartlets. Fresh Fruit Sponge Cake. Tiramisu Gateaux.
Orange Cheesecake.
Balloon Whisks: Meringue, Fresh fruit Pavlova, Cheese Souffles, Chocolate Mousse. Mayonnaise. Sponge Cake.
(c) Dough Hooks: Shaped with a circular hook at the end of it, the dough hook takes the hard work out of kneading and making breads making the dough elastic by developing gluten in flour e.g. yeast dough / Bread rolls, Pizza bases, Chelsea buns, Cookies
(d) Other accessories:1.2 L - 1.5L Acrylic Liquidiser. The acrylic jugs are light, easy to handle. The acrylic jug is transparent so excellent for seeing exactly what is happening. It is also scratch resistant useful when crushing ice or hard spices.
Extra attachments e.g. grain mill
citrus juicer
mincer / Mayonnaise. Crushing ice. Making Breadcrumbs for stuffing etc. Crumbing biscuits for Cheesecake Bases. Puree soup/ baby food.
Milling coffee beans/ spices
Juicing oranges (Orange juice)
Mincing meat (sausages/burgers)

Key Points essential to making a dish using electric food mixers.

1. Follow manufactures instructions carefully, using the appropriate tool or accessory for chosen recipe e.g. Beaters for creaming madeira mixture, Whisk for introducing air to Mousses.
2. Begin mixing on a low speed to prevent the mixture from spitting out of bowl.
3. For best results make sure the fat for creamed mixtures is at room temperature, explain why…..
4. Ensure enough quantity of ingredients is used, particularly with the stationery food mixers as bowls are often large and ingredients may not evenly or completely mix.
5. Avoid over use or intensive use of hand held food mixer e.g. kneading large amounts of bread dough. They may not be sufficiently powerful to withstand this use. Refer to wattage (w) of the machine.
6. Be careful not to over mix ingredients for too long e.g. sponge cake, as air will be beaten out of mixture.
7. Take care not to over whisk cream as it will curdle. Mechanical action coagulates the protein causing it to denature… irreversible.
8. Insert attachments into mixture before plugging in and turning on machine. This prevents splattering of mixture out of bowl.
9. Ensure attachments e.g. beaters are immersed in mixture throughout mixing process otherwise even and complete mixing will not take place. Give example here, flour not fully mixed will result in pockets of flour in cooked product…
10. Always ensure bowl and whisks are spotlessly clean before whisking egg whites. Any grease will prevent egg whites reaching full volume.
11. Do not exceed volume capacity of bowl or accessories e.g liquidiser as ingredients will not be sufficiently mixed… Max 2/3 full to allow for complete mixing.
12. Pause the machine through use and use the pulse button or high speed for increased power to ensure complete mixing of mixture. Example can be given here. This also prevents over heating of the motor.
13. Use spatula to scrape down sides of bowl at intervals…explain why.

Chosen Dish & Reasons Why

Pear & Almond Tart with Citrus Marscapone Cream. (Neven Maguire)

- dessert dish suitable after a main meal

- electric hand mixer can be used to make frangipan mixture and also for making the cream

- Within range of baking skills yet challenging…… Explain.

Sources of Information

Kenwood - Making Great Food Simple; Jennie Shapter.

Kitchen machines - Stationary

Hand MixerStand Mixer

Pear and Almond Tart with Citrus Marscapone Cream

Source: Neven Maguire

Serves 6

Ingredients Key Equipment

Pastry9” fluted or round

175g (6oz) plain flourloose bottomed tart tin

Pinch salt

125g (4oz) butter2 mixing bowls

1 Tablesp. caster sugarSieve

Cold Water (6-7 tablesp.)Electric hand mixer

Fine grater

Frangipan Cutlery

100g butter (room Temp)Rolling pin

100g icing sugarServing Plate& bowl

25g plain flourMeasuring Jug

100g ground AlmondsCling Film

2 eggs

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Few drops vanilla essence

Tin of Pears (6 halves)

Flaked almonds

Citrus Marscapone Cream

100g marscapone cheese

1 tablesp. Icing sugar

Few drops vanilla essence

120ml double cream

Rind of 2 orange/lime/lemon

*Cost all items

Work Sequence:

Prepare myself and work area for cookery

Preheat oven to 190°C/Gas 5

Grease tart tin lightly

Make Pastry, cover and chill in fridge

Tidy up

Drain liquid from pears

Make frangipan filling

Knead & roll pastry to fit tin

Assemble dish

Bake for 30-40 mins

Make marscapone cream

Serve & garnish

Finish clean up & write evaluation

Implementation

• All key stages must be listed
• Past tense and in correct order I ...

Tie hair back, put on apron, wash hands. Set up unit: gather equipment, weigh ingredients, preheat oven to 190°C.

Make pastry: sieve flour and salt into bowl. Rub in the butter until mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add sugar and mix. Add sufficient water, mixing with knife to make a soft dough. Turn onto floured board, knead lightly, cover and chill in fridge.

Drain liquid from pears, set aside.

Make frangipan: Beat eggs in jug using a fork. Place the butter and sugar in large mixing bowl. Using electric hand mixer whisk until light and fluffy. Gently, beat in the flour and ground almonds, then the eggs, vanilla and cinnamon until a thick smooth consistency is achieved.

Remove pastry from fridge, roll to fit tart tin. Line the tart tin with the pastry pressing gently to fit tin. Spoon the frangipan filling on top of the pastry, spreading evenly with the back of a spoon. Arrange the pear halves on top of this mixture, cut side down, pressing them slightly into mixture. Sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake for 30-40 minutes until firm to touch and golden in colour. (Skewer can be used to check)

Tidy up. Make citrus cream. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and beat gently using hand mixer until mixture is a smooth consistency. Serve slice of tart on a dessert plate, with cream. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Complete wash up and write evaluation.

Key Factors (two needed)

- Used loose bottomed tart tin and greased tart tin to prevent pastry sticking.

- When making and rolling pastry keep everything cold…handle pastry little…Pastry overhandled gets warm (fat melts) and will be greasy and heavy.

- The pastry was given time to rest in the fridge before rolling out…easier to roll out and less likely to shrink from sides of dish when baking.

- When rolling out pastry, roll in one direction… Do not use too much flour…alters ratio of ingredients, resulting in hard, dry pastry.

- When creaming sugar and fat together, incorporate fully to introduce air and lighten the mixture.

- When adding flour, almonds and egg to frangipan mixture, mix in on slow speed then finish using fast speed. This avoids overbeating and ensures mixture is light in texture.

- Avoid overbeating/ mixing the frangipan when using the electric mixer as air will be beaten out and mixture will be heavy. Can mention whipping cream here also.

Hygiene & Safety (one of each needed specific to dish) Explain Fully!

Hygiene

- Washed hands well and removed hand jewellery before making and handling pastry reducing risk of cross contamination.

- Covered pastry while resting in the fridge to prevent growth of bacteria.

- Ensured that attachments used (beaters/whisks) were spotlessly clean to remove dirt.

- Stored cream and marscapone cheese in fridge until ready to use… explain why.

Safety

- Used oven gloves when putting tart into and removing tart from oven to prevent burning my hands.

- When making the frangipan I ensured attachments were securely attached before plugging in and using the food mixer to avoid the mixer unknowingly starting while attaching tools.

- Ensured hands were completely dry before using the hand mixer to avoid electric shock. Link to washing up of mixer.

- Mixed ingredients with electric mixer beside an electric socket, /away from heat source /away from water to avoid trailing flex/ melting of flex/ electric shock.

- Evaluate the assignment in terms of

(a) Implementation

Colour: Describe the colours of each part of the dish(Pastry, frangipan filling, pears, almonds, cream, garnish ) in detail, stating what ingredients/chemical reactions contributed to the various colours.

Texture: Describe the various textures of the different parts of the dish and what ingredients contributed to each texture

Taste/flavour: Describe the various flavours of the different parts of the dish and what ingredients contributed to these tastes

Workplan/Resources/Time: State how effective you were at carrying out the workplan. How long did it take? Possibly mention why workplans are helpful.

Weaknesses & Strengths: State what skills you were good at or bad at and why. Did you learn any new skills? Describe them.

*Problems encountered & Solutions: State what problems you encountered during this practical or with the finished product and how you could solve it if you were to carry it out again. This must be answered in detail. Do not contradict yourself – if you want to change something about the dish you wont get marks if you already stated that the colour/texture/taste of the dish was perfect.

(b) Advantages and or disadvantages.

Any two detailed points. Refer to complete dessert made and served.

Advantages

1. The food mixer used had different speeds. This meant that when making the frangipan I started creaming the butter and sugar together slowly (explain why this was advantageous… increased volume, gave light fluffy mixture, sugar fully creamed in therefore no crystallisation if caster sugar used). I then increased the speed when adding in eggs, as the efficiency of the beaters minimises the likelihood of the mixture curdling. The flour and ground almonds were lightly mixed in. faster speed used at end of mixing to ensure complete mixing. Greater control over mixing of ingredients…

2. The food mixer was used in the making of the frangipan and in the whisking of the cream to accompany the dish. Versatile, time efficient and confident that ingredients were well mixed. (Possible to use K beater in Kenwood to make pastry, include this if applicable to your task).

Disadvantages

1. There is a danger of over beating the frangipan mixture and of over whipping the cream. However, I avoided this as I kept checking the consistency of the frangipan and scraped the sides of the bowl with a spatula to ensure all of mixture was included in mixing process. I also kept a close eye on the cream as it was being whipped by pausing the whipping every few seconds close to the end in order to form soft peaks.

2. Safety of use of the electric food mixer…. Point on secure attachments before use, some machine have safety device and won’t work without tools attached.

3. Cleaning of Appliance: Always switch off, remove attachments before washing, never let cord get wet.

4. Never use an unauthorised attachment… damage appliance internally.

5. Young children should be supervised to ensure they use appliance safely.