Puff pastry

[HelenAw]

I will like an advice regarding how to laminate the puff pastry.

I was told that by using shortening could do the job.If so wat are the proper
FAT to laminate the pastry.

Any of u have any idea of this.

[dano1]

butter.....

[cakerookie]

or egg wash....

[Blueicus]

Lamination is the process where fat is incorporated into a dough by folding it between layers of pastry, such as in puff pasty or croissants, etc. I personally feel that Butter has superior flavour and texture (I mean, do you really want your puff pastry to taste of shortening?), but you can also use any other kind of fat (like shortening).

[chrose]

I always used a flour and butter mixture with a ratio of 1 oz. of flour to 1 lb. of butter to laminate my dough. Works well.

[cape chef]

My recipe has 13 oz pastry flour,1 TB salt, 3 oz cold butter and 7 oz ice water for the detrempe. Then 10 oz butter for the lamination. BTW, how is egg wash a laminate?

[cakerookie]

Don't know CC but it sounded good. I did not read the post through to entirety sorry about that did not see the key word "laminate".

Rgds Rook

[felixe the dog]

Blueicus and Chrose are correct, butter gives a superior flavour and by incorporating a small % of flour into the butter you can "plasticize" the butter, giving a more reliable product for lamination.
You can use a vegetable or animal shortening but you want a product that is not offensive to taste, relatively easy to handle, and that holds it's properties well throughout the process of lamination. If you chose another shortening, go to a manufacturers web site and select product that they have created for puff pastry. A firmer fat will give better lift than butter but will give a fatty and waxy aftertaste on the palate.
Here is some "advice" on lamination:
Determine your fat to dough ratio, as the process of incorporation (blocking, spotting, cutting) of fat into the dough and the number and type of folds are determined by this ratio.
Ensure the dough is cool and the fat has the same temperature and consistency of the dough you are incorporating the fat into.
Do not dust to heavily.
Do not roll out below 10mm during lamination, below this you risk working the fat into the dough and losing lamination.
Ensure adequate rest between turns.
Ensure you record the number of turns/folds.
Roll out and rest before baking.
Lightly sprinkle the sheet pan with water to help minimize shrinkage.
The oven must be hot enough to give good lift, then adjust the oven to ensure a thorough bake.
For sheets of pastry, flip over and finish baking to ensure a good bake.
For pies, make sure you have a hot enough oven to bake the pastry and not boil the filling.

Hope this help, if this is a lot to take in, or you have other questions, I strongly suggest you go to a library, get some good text books and read up on the basics.

Good luck.