My Donut Business.com

My business partners and I experimented with a donut making sample kit today, and as promised in a previous blog entry I want to tell you about it.  Actually, you're going to get an individual perspective from each of us as we probably all had different reactions, concerns, and thoughts on the process.  From Lil Orbits we received a package of dry mix, a container of partially hydrogenated soybean oil (meaning that it was firm and not a liquid), a dispenser, written instructions and an instructional DVD.

We broke up the tasks in making the donuts to make the process go faster.  I measured out the mix and added the appropriate amount of water.  No milk or eggs were required thank goodness.  The first thing I noted was that the batter mixed up very quickly and smoothly.  I've made several box cakes in my day from Betty C. and Duncan H., and I always seem to be stuck with lumps.  I hate using mixers so I always use a whisk--old fashioned and time consuming I know but it's my way.  Lumps are a pain to  get out, but with this mix there were none!  In less than a minute of whisking the batter was ready and  smooth as pudding.  And it smelled great, like cake batter!  Yum!

That was the good part.  The bad part that I learned later was that the longer the batter sat the thicker it got.  This made it more difficult to squeeze through the dispenser and caused the batter to come out in very odd shapes.  Sometimes we got a round donut, sometimes an octopus, sometimes a hush puppy, and sometimes an amoeba.  Who knew making donuts for the first time would be so creative!  Keep in mind that with Lil Orbits equipment the process is automated so that the donuts come out perfect every time.  The dispenser was just for people like us interested in doing it by hand.  The taste was the more important variable than looks at this point.

Once the batter was dropped into the fry daddy of Lil Orbit soybean oil it cooked rapidly.  Per instructions 20 seconds was recommended for each side and that was about right.  The oil was heated to between 350 and 400 degrees, so it didn't take long for the donuts to turn golden brown.  They were moist without being greasy.  We sprinkled a mix of cinnamon and sugar on them and set them aside to cool.

So let's talk about the taste.  OMG!  Incredible!  Maybe it was the thrill of making them ourselves, or the fact that they were fresh and hot, or maybe it was because we hadn't eaten breakfast yet, but those things were good!  They were technically bite sized, but so that I didn't look like too much of a pig I finished each one in two.  That also let me note the texture on the inside which was different from a traditional fried or cake donut.  The consistency was a combination between the two.

Next, just for funsies, we sampled some store bought products.  The first were traditional fried donut holes and the second were powdered Dolly Madison versions out of a wrapper.  There was no comparison between those and what we'd made.  Ours were way, way, way, way better.  Imagine the difference between a hot dog and a filet mignon--yeah it was like that.  What I kept thinking was 'These things will sell like hotcakes!'  Once a customer tastes these gems they won't willingly go back to Dolly.  No, they will search us out for more.

Again, we decided to experiment.  I cooked the next batch of donuts in Crisco All Natural Pure Vegetable Oil.  I'm a food label reader, so I did some comparing.  They had exactly the same number of calories per serving and surprisingly the Lil Orbits oil had slightly less saturated fat (the bad kind).  Neither oil is artery friendly, but the Crisco was a bit worse.  There was a flavor difference between the two batches.  The Crisco donuts were greasier and not as tasty.  When I read the Lil Orbits container I noted that the product was specially formulated for a "less greasy donut."  Ahhhh...so that's why there was a difference.  Hard to argue with the taste results though.

We're not done with our experimenting and will keep you savvy readers on the edge of your seats with our exploits.  Or maybe we'll just keep dropping batter in the fry daddy looking for cool shapes.  I'm going to try making a star fish next week.  Stay tuned.