What is Graham Crackers?
Graham crackers are a sweet cracker and popular snack for children. They are made of wheat flour and oil, and are sweetened with sugar, and cinnamon. Some graham crackers are sweetened with honey and sugar. The cracker is a warm tan color with perforated lines, where you can easily break the cracker into smaller strips. Each cracker has small indented dots in the top and a texture that is dry, light and crunchy. The flavor is sweet, with hints of cinnamon and the nuttiness of wheat.
Ingredients
Wheat flour is a product made by finely milling wheat grains until they form a powder-like substance. Wheat flour is denser than powder and comes as whole wheat flour; a semi-dense flour with a beige color and full flavor. All- purpose flour is refined, white, lighter in texture and more bland in flavor. There are other varieties of wheat flour with these two being the most common. The flavor is mild and nutty. Wheat flour is used in the making of a huge number of foods across all cuisines. It is used as a binder as well as the basis for breads, baked goods and coating for breaded meats and vegetables. It is used in sauces and even some candies.
Graham flour is essentially whole wheat flour, however; each part of the wheat grain is milled separately and then added back together. The bran and germ of the wheat are coarsely ground. The endosperm of the wheat, used to make white flour is finely milled. This creates a flour that is coarse with fine particles and offers a unique texture. The graham cracker is a good example of the texture that graham flour yields.
Sugar comes from sugar cane and sugar beets. The sugar is extracted from the juice of both plants and refined into the granulated substance known as sugar. Sucrose, the sweet substance of sugar is a combination of glucose and fructose. White sugar is composed of tiny white, dry granules. The flavor is sweet and neutral. Brown sugar is brown and has more moisture, with a richer flavor that hints at molasses. Sugar is used in both sweet and savory foods.
Soybean oil is used in many countries around the world and has become extremely popular in the US for its inexpensive price and neutral flavor. Soy oil is considered a vegetable oil and is extracted from soybeans. The color of this thin oil is a translucent golden yellow. Soy oil is used frequently in restaurants for sauteing, grilling and deep frying. It is also used in salad dressings and baked goods.
Palm oil comes from the red colored pulp of the palm fruit. The oil is yellow golden. Red palm oil is a reddish color and of a slightly higher quality. Yellow palm oil has a mild buttery flavor and red palm oil has a harsher taste. The oil is of a similar consistency to olive oil.
Baking soda is a crucial component in non-yeasted baked goods and acts as an instant leavener with the acids in the batter. It is used for cakes, quick breads and many flour-based baked goods. Baking soda is a fine white powder with a salty and bitter taste.
Honey is made by the honey bee. The bees collect flower nectar and then deposit it into the honeycombs in the beehive. Once inside the honeycomb, the nectar breaks down into simple sugars. Evaporation via the fanning of the bees wings and the shape of the honeycomb helps excess liquid to evaporate, creating the sweet syrup that is used around the world. Honey is an amber color that can vary from pale yellow to dark brown. The texture is of an extra thick syrup. All honey is sweet, but the flavor can change considerably from floral to herbal and even nutty, depending on the flowers that the bees collected honey from. Honey is used in both sweet and savory dishes, as well as in tea as a sweetener.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
Mature soybeans are harvested once the pod has grown for roughly 100 days and the bean becomes dry. Soybeans are small and round with a creamy golden-tan color. They are a legume and extremely versatile. Soybeans are used to make tofu, flour, oil, sauces and much more. The dry soybean is hard until cooked. The flavor is bland and mild.
Additives are added to food items in small quantities to improve the flavor, change the texture, enhance appearance, or preserve the item. Additives are both natural and artificial. Natural additives have been used for a long time, while many artificial ones were discovered in the 19th century. There are numerous artificial additives including soy lecithin, guar gum, ascorbic acid and sodium nitrite.
