Kemarinnya di milis KBB ada beberapa pertanyaan tentang ragi. Akupun jadi tergelitik untuk mencari tahu lebih lanjut tentang ragi. Informasi berikut adalah terjemahan bebas dari bagian dua buku baking yang ada di perpustakaan rumahku dan informasi ini ada di milis KBB juga.

Kalau ada yang salah atau kurang, mohon dibetulkan dan ditambahkan.

Ada 2 jenis ragi kering:

1. Active dry yeast (ragi aktif kering) - harus dihidrasi dengan air hangat (43^oC) berjumlah 4 kali dari berat ragi tersebut. Gunakan air bagian dari jumlah air yg akan digunakan utk adonan roti. Jangan menambah jumlah air utk hidrasi.

Jika tidak memiliki termometer, cara yang digunakan oleh Sofie Minawati (salah satu anggota KBB) dapat diterapkan. Gunakan 1/3 bagian air mendidih dan 2/3 bagian air suhu biasa. Nanti aku coba dan aku ukur suhunya.

Since there were a lot of discussions in the KBB mailing list about cream, I think it must be a quite interesting subject to find out. There are heaps of brands offering cream in the supermarket here and we can get confused easily. When I went to the Safeway supermarket on Saturday, I took a note of the cream types on the cold shelves and I also written down the ingredients of those cream types. Luckily, it was a warm day so it was not that bad to stand in the cold aisle for 20 minutes.

There are many varieties in the supermarket to choose from the basic cream to the ready to serve. The types of cream may be called differently in different countries so don't get too confused.    

In Australian Food Standards 2.5.2, it is said that cream must contain no less than 350g/kg milk fat but it does not regulate the naming for each type of cream or how they are supposed to be called. I suppose it would be just a market definition of what people are used to calling them. I also include the link to Australian Food Standards Code *click here* to find out the description of numeric code of the stabilizer, thickeners or vegetable gums.

If you want to know further what is in the cream and so on, here are some links that might help:

http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticleAsOnePage.aspx?id=105898

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Sauces_Condiments/CreamDefinitions.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/ck_culinary_qa/article/0,1971,FOOD_9796_1702227,00.html

http://www.pauls.com.au/products/brands_details.cfm?/section/2/cid/3/pid/34/

Here is a caption from Choice website about the description of cream:

"Based on the products in our test, here’s what the labels seem to mean.

• Extra light (or ‘lite’): 12–12.5% fat.
  
  
• Light (or ‘lite’): 18–20% fat.
  
  
• Pure cream: 35–56% fat, without artificial thickeners.
  
  
• Thickened cream: 35–36.5% fat, with added gelatine and/or other thickeners to give the cream a richer, creamier texture (see Cream boosters).
  
  
• Single cream: Recipes calling for ‘single cream’ are referring to pure or thickened cream with about 35% fat.
  
  
• Double cream: 48–60% fat.
  
  
• Sour cream: 35–39% fat. This is cream cultured with bacteria. Lactic acid produced by these bacteria thickens the cream and gives it its characteristic tang. The same bacteria produce diacetyl, a compound that gives sour cream its rich, buttery flavour.
  
  
• ‘Light’ or ‘lite’ sour cream: 18–19% fat.
  
  
• ‘Extra light’ (or 'ultra light') sour cream: 9.5–12.5% fat.
  
  
• Crème fraîche: 42% fat. This is a French version of sour cream, with a higher fat content and a delicate, nutty flavour."

The list of the pasteuried cream products at the cold section that I managed to write down. Just an introduction to the cream type and the content of the cream.

Note: All cream in the ingredient has been pasteurised. It is illegal to sell unpasteurised cream or milk to the public in Australia.

Whipped = has been whipped/beaten

Whipping = has not been whipped

Thickened = added with thickener to thicken the texture of the cream

Dollop = a large lump of solid matter

The light cooking cream eventough has been added some stabilizer, it is not suitable for whipping as the cream will not hold the whipped cream structure. I have not tried to whip the light cream with a dose of gelatine whether the gelatine can help to hold the structure. It will be great if it can, thus lesser fat

I normally use 35% thickened cream for decorating the cake but I experience some weeping on the cream. The problem can be corrected such as by adding extra gelatine and/or icing sugar (with starch). Some people are afraid to consume the additives in the product and in this case, the pure cream type can be the option.

As for cooking such as making pasta sauce, I usually use light cream when I do not want to indulge myself

The best thing is to know what cream that we need for a certain use. Then, read the ingredient list or the label of the product so we can get what we need as sometimes the brand or the name can mislead us.

Hope this helps to add some information in our kitchen dictionary

Disclaimer: The list does not cover other cream such as cultured cream, sour cream and other tetra pack whipping cream as I do not want to spend the whole day there and obstruct other people's way. The list only covers the products which are manufactured in Australia but does not include all products. The list do not intend to promote a certain type of brand or indicate for certain religious group. Please refer to the manufacturer for the details. The list is only intended to share some information about different types of cream for baking and cooking.

Sometimes, we may encounter excessive stock of foods, particularly with dairy products. When we keep them in the fridge, they may go mouldy in a short time, spoilt or may not be suitable for consumption after 2-3 days. This happens to me many times and by throwing away the products, it mean throwing away the money... . And... still doing it with leftover foods *ckckckck*

I've compiled some information that may be useful to keep the products for a longer time by freezing them. It would be better to freeze them when we got the product fresh.

I got the information mainly from the internet.

Note: The product may not have the same texture or flavour as the original state. However, the product can still be used/mixed for cooking or baking that does not require its texture/flavour for the main effect in the final product.