Food Preparation and Exhibition: Guidelines for Baked Products, Schemes and Mind Maps of Nutrition

Download Food Preparation and Exhibition: Guidelines for Baked Products and more Schemes and Mind Maps Nutrition in PDF only on Docsity! PREPARING BAKED FOODS EXHIBITS FOR THE FAIR ‚ Read the Fair Book. It has a lot of basic information about classes, requirements, rules, etc. For answers to other questions, contact your project leader or call the Extension Office. ‚ Select several recipes to try. Make the recipe several times so you know how the product turns out. Like all new skills, practice is necessary to learn and to improve and get consistent results. You will then know if you (or your family) like it and if it is something that you can use to build your skills in food preparation. ‚ Choose your foods exhibit entry based on what you want to learn as part of the 4-H project. Do not choose an item for the judge or for what you think the judge will like. Judges are chosen for the ability to be fair and objective and not to use personal likes and dislikes in judging. Food products are judged according to standards for texture, shape, crumb, crust, etc. ‚ Use time management skills in planning your foods exhibits. Bake items ahead of time and freeze them. After baking bread, rolls, cookies, etc., remove them from pans and cool to room temperature. Place in plastic bags or wrap with freezer wrap paper. Remove excessive air. To thaw, leave in original wrapper at room temperature. This will help preserve the moisture in the products. Allow time for food to completely thaw. Small items like cookies, biscuits, muffins, etc., take less than 1 hour. Large and heavier items like cakes and bread can take up to 3 hours. Do not freeze frosted items (the frosting will crack) or cupcakes baked in paper liners (these will turn loose in the freezer). ‚ It is always a good idea to bring a copy of the recipe along, even if the rules don’t ask for it. That way if any questions come up, you can refer to your recipe. ‚ In conference judging, the judge will visit with you about your project. This is not a test. You should answer the best you can by yourself! Here are some things to know: < Name, age, level or phase, number of years in food project < Know the types of ingredients you used: Flour - cake flour, all purpose, bread flour, whole wheat, self rising, etc. Type of fat - vegetable shortening, lard, butter, margarine, oil, etc. Flavoring - vanilla, almond, lemon, etc. Sugar type - brown, white/granular, powdered/confectioners, etc. Nuts - pecans, peanuts, walnuts, etc. < Be able to describe how you mixed and prepared the recipe. < Know basic terms like: cream, sift, powder, beat, rise, etc. < Basic nutrition of the product: calories, fat, sodium, food group < What new skills did you learn in making this product < Cost of ingredients for one recipe (batch) < How would you change it in the future? For example: bake it longer, use a different size pan, change the flavorings, reduce the fat or sugar, etc. < What did you like best about making this product? What was the most difficult part? ‚ You may want to choose to improve the nutritional content of your recipe by adjusting fat and sugar. Generally, you can reduce the fat and/or sugar by 25% in most recipes. Other recipe modifications include: using egg substitute or egg whites only, replacing ½ the oil with applesauce, use buttermilk instead of whole milk, or substituting ¼ to ½ the floor with whole wheat flour. ‚ Exhibitors are responsible for the presentation of the food items. This is the showmanship part of the foods project. ‚ Never use old Styrofoam meat or poultry trays for displaying food products. These trays could contain salmonella bacteria which could lead to food poisoning. HINTS AND HELPS FOR BAKED PRODUCTS COOKIES There are 5 basic types of cooked – rolled, dropped, refrigerator, pressed and bar cookies. ‚ Rolled cookies are made from a stiff dough that is rolled out to a desired thickness and cut into various shapes. ‚ Dropped cookies are made from a soft dough that is dropped from a spoon or dipper onto a cookie sheet. ‚ Refrigerator cookies are made from a rich dough which has been shaped into a roll, thoroughly chilled, and then is sliced and baked. ‚ Pressed cookies are made from a rich, stiff dough extruded through a decorative tube. ‚ Bar cookies are baked in a shallow pan and cut into bars when cool. 1. Make sure the cookies are all the same size. To test for this, put 2 cookies together, matching the flat, bottom sides. Look to see if one is larger than the other. Keep comparing until you come up with cookies that are as close as possible to the same size. 2. Check to make sure that they are the same “brownness”. You don’t want one that is almost burnt and one that is not done. Different cookie sheets bake differently. The darker the baking sheet, the darker the cookie will be. Bright, shiny pans reflect the heat more evenly. The cookies you choose to exhibit should be as alike as possible. Uniformity is important in food products. 3. Bar cookies or brownies are cut into serving size pieces. Use a rule to make sure you get them the same size. 2" x 2" or 2" x 3" is an average serving size. Make sure that the edges all look the same. Don’t take some from the middle and some from the edge because then some will have crust and some won’t. Take them all from the center or all from a side edge. 4. For even drop cookies, use a small ice cream dipper to dip cookie dough onto cookies sheets. This makes them the same size and it’s easy to do. Speciality food stores sell them for about $6-$7. 5. Cookies spread if they are too close together on the cookie sheet; dough is too soft; dough is placed on a hot baking sheet. Cookies made with butter or margarine tend to spread more. YEAST BREADS 1. For exhibit purposes, it is not recommended to butter to top of a loaf or bread or rolls. Butter can give a rancid off flavor, especially if it is not really fresh. Adding butter to the top of the crust also adds a greasy texture to the crust. So it’s OK to do this at home for your family, but not for competition. 2. Choose yeast rolls that are the same height, size and shape. Check the bottom for even brownness. When selecting pan rolls or cinnamon rolls, use those all from the edges or all from the center, so that they look alike. 3. A bulged and cracked crust could mean that: the dough is too stiff (too much flour); uneven heat during baking; or insufficiently proofed. 4. A crust that is too thick is generally caused by an oven that bakes too slowly. 5. A streaked crust or loaf means that too much flour was added during the shaping process. Hint: If the dough is a little bit sticky, lightly spray the counter and/or your hands with a non- stick cooking spray. For additional information on these and other food products, consult these resources: 4-H Foods and Nutrition Curriculum Notebook Judge’s Guide for Baked Foods, KSU, June 1984 (4-H 488) Prepared by: Jodi Besthorn, Smith County Extension Agent, Home Economics, June, 1995, revised Sedgwick County, 2008 Reviewed by: Libby Curry, NW Area Home Economist and Program Specialist Ann Domsch, SE Area 4-H Specialist Joyce Besthorn, Barton County 4-H Volunteer COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE, MANHATTAN, KANSAS All educational programs and materials are available without discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability FOODS CONFERENCE EVALUATION Name Product/Class Ribbons: P B R W Date Points to Consider Overall decision should reflect 50% product quality and 50% nutritive value and knowledge Comments Points to consider (not all apply to every food) UNDESIRABLE DESIRABLE Appearance Faded or off-color Characteristic color Cloudy Clear Low Volume Good Volume Uneven/uncharacteristic shape Characteristic shape Sizes not uniform Uniform size Dull, unappealing Creative, appealing Overall unappetizing Appetizing appearance appearance Flavor No flavor or off-flavor Characteristic flavor Incompatible flavors in Compatible flavors in mixed dishes mixed dishes Unappealing flavor Appealing flavor Aroma Unappealing or Appealing or uncharacteristic aroma characteristic aroma Texture or consistency Lumpy or has crystals Smooth Dry or soggy Moist Not flaky, gummy Flaky Runny Firm Pieces or chunks too large Characteristic pieces or or too fine chunks Tenderness Mushy Crisp Tough, rubbery Tender Temperature or doneness Undercooked or overcooked Cooked to characteristic doneness Too warm or too cool Characteristic temperature Nutritive value Food high in fat, sodium, Food low in fat, sodium, or sugar or sugar Nutrition knowledge Unable to answer: Able to answer: • What nutrients are high in this food? • To which pyramid food group(s) does this food belong? • How many servings do you need from this food group each day? • How could this food be modified to be more healthy? (Note: These questions are only examples. Use these or others as appropriate.)