To Bake Pastry

A fairly hot oven is required for pastry, for if it is not hot enough the butter will melt and run out before the starch grains in the flour have had time to burst and absorb it. If the oven is too hot, however, the pastry will bum before it has risen properly. For puff pastry, the thermometer should register about 350°-M3 to begin with, and when the pastry is well risen the heat may be reduced to about 325°-M2. For meat pies, about 300°-M1 will be hot enough, and for the plainer kinds of pastry the temperature may be a little lower still.