Re: Shortening versus Butter in Homemade Biscuits

Damaeus wrote:

For shits and giggles, I put a candy thermometer on the side of my pot
when I was boiling water for potatoes. I was actually amazed to find that
I could not get the temperature of the water beyond about 214 degrees
farenheit, even with the burner on high. Contrast that with canola oil,
which I've had as high as 400. I never knew until then that water can
apparently not be heated to a temperature higher than 214, at least not on
a stovetop. Maybe it can be done in a lab under special conditions.

The special conditions are pressure. That's why a
pressure cooker can reach a temperature above 212F.

When water is heated, it boils, and this boiling
holds the temperature at the boiling point.
If you pour more energy in, it just boils faster.

The canola oil will not boil. If you get it hot
enough, it cracks (molecules become shorter),
fumes, and shortly thereafter self-ignites.
At this point, you grab that open box of baking
soda and dump it in to snuff out the flames.
.

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