As always, I feel compelled to play science geek (don't hate me):
Freezing the biscuits doesn't actually change the melting point of the fat; it just takes frozen fat longer to melt than room-temperature fat. When the fat is cold, the flour doesn't absorb it. The cold fat then separates layers of flour from each other, and that promotes flakiness and layers when you bake it up.
I could describe this better if I weren't half asleep. :-) But yeah, start with cold butter and shortening, freeze it for a while, and you'll get flakier bakies. Warmer or melted fat produces richness but not flakiness or layers.
(It's obvious this is what PJ meant. I'm just a science geek.)
Thanks, SG! You're absolutely right, and gave a great explanation. Same deal with pie crust - although pie crust doesn't really rise, keeping those layers of fat solid longer promotes flakiness - right? Hey, I'm always happen to learn, and it's one of the reasons I value this online community so much - we can all teach one another. So thanks again, Matt - for your early morning lesson. PJH
April 28, 2009 at 5:37am