13 Technology of breadmaking-1: straight dough and sponge and dough methods
Ms. Deepika Goswami
1.0 Bread
Bread is a basic dietary item dating back to the Neolithic era which is prepared by baking that is carried out in oven. It is one of the most consumed food products known to humans, and for some is the principal source of nutrition. Control of the production and distribution of bread has been used as a means of exercising political influence over the populace for at least the last two millennia.
Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2009:
Bread whether sold as white bread or wheat meal bread or fancy or fruity bread or bun or masala bread or milk bread or of any other name, shall mean the product prepared from a mixture of wheat atta, maida, water, salt, yeast or other fermentive medium containing one or more of the following ingredients, namely:- Condensed milk, milk powder (whole or skimmed), whey, curd, gluten, sugar, gur or jaggery, khandsari, honey, liquid glucose, malt products, edible starches and flour, edible groundnut flour, edible soya flour, protein concentrates and isolates, vanaspati, margarine or refined edible oil of suitable type or butter or ghee or their mixture, albumin, lime water, lysine, vitamins, spices and condiments or their extracts, fruit and fruit product (Candied and crystallized or glazed), nuts, nut products and vinegar.
2.0 Bread making
There are numerous variations of bread making process depending on the tradition, cost, kind of flour, type of bread desired, kind of energy available and the time between baking and consumption of bread. These processes change the rheological and organoleptic properties of bread and hence the quality of bread also.
The bread making process can be divided into three principal stages:
1) Dough formation: The way the dough is kneaded creates the difference between all the bread making processes. Depending on the method of dough formation the process is categorized into straight dough method, sponge and dough method, short dough method etc. This stage involves the thorough mixing of ingredients. With the help of mixer the gluten development, air bubble incorporation and production of dough with required rheological properties is achieved in this stage.
2) Fermentation and proofing: In this stage, the yeast acts on fermentable sugars and produce CO2 and ethanol. During baking the alcohol evaporates completely leaving no adverse effect in bread while the CO2 gas is entrapped by gluten film that expands during baking and increases the volume of the baked product along with giving it a porous texture.
3) Baking: In this final stage of bread making, due to the action of heat the dough is firmed, structure is stabilized and converted into the baked product.
2.1 Steps in bread making
The various steps involved in bread making are as follows-
2.1.1 Preparation of ingredients
The different ingredients used in bread making can be categorized into the following:
Calculation of ingredients: The ingredients are calculated in the formulation on the ‘Baker’s percentage’ basis. Baker’s percentage is a baker’s notation method indicating the flour-relative proportion of ingredients used in the formulation of bread. To calculate the baker’s percentage, all ingredient weights are divided by the flour weight to obtain a ratio which is then multiplied by 100%.
Baker’s percentage = (ingredient wt. / flour wt.) * 100%
Preparation of dry ingredients: The flour and any other dry ingredient is generally sieved before using to aerate, to remove coarse particles and other impurities and to make these more homogenous.
Weighing of ingredients: The different ingredients are weighed according to the formulations for further utilization.
Preparation of different solution: Part of water is used for dispersing yeast and the remaining part is used to dissolve sugar and other ingredients like oxidants, yeast foods etc.
2.1.2 Dough formation
Dough is formed by mixing of the prepared ingredients. Mixing is the one of the most important step in bread making serving the following functions:
- To distribute all the ingredients as equitably as possible.
- To make and develop the gluten by interacting the wheat proteins- gliadin and glutenin together in the presence of water.
- To incorporate air into the dough mass, thus nucleating the bubbles essential to every style of leavening.
Mechanical mixers are used for the dough formation. Dough mixing can be carried out using horizontal, vertical, reciprocating or continuous mixers as per requirement.
| S. No. | Mixer | Description |
| 1 | Horizontal | · Consists of a horizontal U shaped bowl mounted on a |
| rigid frame | ||
| · Used mainly when gluten development is desired | ||
| · Can be used for mixtures ranging from thin batters to | ||
| tough doughs | ||
| · The dough is discharged from the mixer by tilting the | ||
| bowl | ||
| 2 | Vertical | · Consists of a movable bowl or trough with one or two |
| vertical shafts (stationary/planetary movement) | ||
| · Different types of agitators to perform different functions | ||
| viz. planetary agitator for batter mixing, hook type for | ||
| kneading, wire mesh type for beating action, paddle type | ||
| for mixing and scraping of the bowl sides etc. | ||
| 3 | Continuous | · Consists of a shallow, slowly revolving bowl, a pair of |
| agitator arms travelling in a intersecting elliptical path in | ||
| the bowl | ||
| · Useful for mixing temperature sensitive doughs | ||
| · Nuts and raisins can be maintained unbroken in this type | ||
| of mixer | ||
| · Suitable for pie dough and puff pastry |
The different stages in dough formation or mixing are pick-up stage, clean-up stage, development stage, final stage, let-down stage and break-down stage. The duration of mixing is greatly affected by the type of flour, type and speed of mixer, design of the arms of mixer, presence of additives particle size as well as damaged starch content of flour. Strong flour requires longer mixing time than weak flours. Duration of mixing also affects the optimum gluten development and water absorption. Over mixing and under mixing of dough both affect the dough adversely as follows:
Over mixing: The developed gluten structure is broken down resulting into wet, sticky dough termed as ‘broken down dough’. The fermentation is slowed down due to heat produced during prolonged mixing resulting into bread of inferior volume.
Under mixing: The dough is underdeveloped and hence is less elastic. The volume of bread will be low and at times the bread will collapse in proofing or in the oven as gluten will not have the proper extensibility to hold the gas in the dough.
2.1.3. First fermentation/ first proof/ bulk fermentation
After the mixing and before dividing the dough is given resting time (floor time) in bulk. Duration of this resting time may vary depending on the kind of process and equipment. This step is done at temperature ranging from 24-30oC and humidity of 70-75 %, which is the most favourable condition for action of yeast in bread dough. The humidity is also needed to avoid dried surfaces on bread dough. The purpose of this step is:
- To let the fermenting agent, yeast adapt to the medium
- Carbon dioxide production
- Physical transformation of the dough
- To improve dough stability
2.1.4. Dividing and scaling
In this step the dough is divided into individual pieces of predetermined uniform weight. To compensate the baking loss, generally 12 per cent extra dough is weighed. The dough can also be divided volumetrically.
2.1.5. Rounding
The dough pieces obtained after dividing step have following problems:
- Dough piece is degassed
- Irregular form
- Higher viscosity of dough surface
- Damaged gluten structure
- Less plegability of the dough
To overcome these problems the dough pieces are rounded into ball shaped pieces with smooth skin. Rounding is done either by hand or mechanically. The continuous surface skin thus obtained helps in gas retention and reduce the stickiness.
2.1.6. Inter mediate proofing
Dividing and rounding steps of bread making squeezes out most of the CO2 gas formed in the first fermentation. Hence the dough is again given extra floor time or fermentation period of 5 to 30 minutes at 27 – 29oC temperature and 75 % humidity. Maintaining the temperature and humidity conditions is crucial for optimum results.
2.1.7. Moulding and panning
In this step the dough pieces are moulded into desired shape by sheeting, curling and sealing of the dough pieces. The moulded dough pieces are then placed in pans for baking. Caution should be taken to place the seal of the dough so as facing toward the bottom of the pan. This step of moulding also removes the extra gas formed during intermediate proofing.
2.1.8. Final proofing
The final proofing is done at temperature of 30-35oC and RH of 85 % for 55-65 minutes. The objectives of final proofing are as follows:
- To relax the dough from the stress
- To facilitate yeast activity for maximum gas production in order to achieve maximum leavening in the bread
- To convert the tough gluten to a good mellow extensible character
During the fermentation the starch is converted into sugar which is used by yeast to produce CO2 gas and ethanol. The carbon dioxide gas formed is entrapped by the gluten film resulting into expansion of bread loaf volume. The proofing temperature greatly affect the proofing time. A lower proof temperature will result into prolonged proofing time (2-4 hr) due to decreased yeast activity. The amount and type of yeast, dough temperature, dough hydration, salt, sweeteners are the factors that affect the proofing time.
2.1.9. Baking
After the final proofing, the leavened dough is baked at temperature of 245-250oC for 30 minutes in baking oven. Baking brings out physical, chemical and biological transformations in dough that allow a stable bread to be obtained with excellent organoleptic and nutritive characteristics. For optimum baking, the temperature, relative humidity and duration of baking need to be controlled. The type of baking oven also affects baking. During baking as the temperature of the dough increased, it passes three phases:
a) Oven spring: Oven spring of occurs when the dough temperature reaches about 50oC (range is 30 – 60 or 70oC).
- Intensive fermentation by yeast until dough temperature reaches 50oC temperature, increased production of CO2
- Very high enzyme activity (maximum at 60oC, minimum at 80oC) leading to conversion of starch to sugar, liquefaction of dough and decrease in viscosity
b) Gelatinization of starch: The increase in dough temperature from 50-60oC to 90oC leads to the following:
- Gelatinization of starch – during baking the water is transferred from the gluten, hydrated during kneading to starch and at such a high temperature starch is gelatinized.
- Denaturation of protein – occurs at 70oC and provides a stable bread structure
c)Browning and aroma formation: As the temperature outside the dough reaches more than 100oC, sugar present on the outer surface of bread gives brown colour due to:
- Maillard reaction between reducing sugars (glucose, fructose) and the amino group of proteins to form dark brown melanoidins and other intermediate compounds such as maltol, iso maltol and α-dicarboniles.
- Caramelization because of dehydration of sugar at high temperatures resulting into formation of very reactive furfural aldehyde and other dark compounds. The aroma in baking develops due to the compounds formed as a result of browning reactions.
2.1.10. Cooling and slicing
The baked bread is cooled down to room temperature while taking caution of the relative humidity of the atmosphere. The reason being high humidity may lead to moisture gain by bread crust resulting into less crunchy crust and low humidity will cause loss of moisture from bread crust. Cooling of bread is done for the following purposes-
- To facilitate slicing
- To avoid moisture condensation in the packaging
2.1.11. Packaging
After cooling, packaging of bread is done to maintain the product quality by reducing crumb drying, minimizing contamination risk and facilitating bread transportation. However packaging material should also confirm to following:
- Sealability
- Low water vapour transmission rate
- Economy
3.0 Straight dough and Sponge & dough process
The basic steps in bread making as explained are same for all variations of bread making processes. However it is the dough formation method that creates all the differences in final baked breads. Depending on the method of the dough formation, the two processes of bread making – Straight-dough process and Sponge-and-dough process are named. The difference in dough formation method between both the method are shown below in the process flow chart:
3.1 Differences in straight dough and sponge & dough method
| Straight Dough process | Sponge and dough process |
| · Less processing time | · More processing time |
| · Lower labour and power consumption | · More labour and power consumption |
| · Lesser equipment needed | · Additional equipment needed |
| · Requires limited fermentation time | · Longer fermentation time that improves |
| · Relatively small variations in processing | the aroma |
| may lead to noticeable in bread quality | · Permits variation in the operation of the |
| · Small fermentation losses | process |
| · Lesser flexibility | · Enhanced texture volume and shelf life of the bread |
| · Correction of over fermentation is difficult |
Suggested reading
- Khetarpaul N et al. (2005). Bakery Science and Cereal Technology. Published by Daya Publishing House, Delhi. ISBN 81-7035-350-5. Pp: 311.