The modern process of breadmaking may involve mechanical dough development, a long fermentation, the addition of an improver to develop the dough in less time or the production of a fermenting ‘sponge’ to which other ingredients are later added.
Consumers now prefer light, open textured bread, cakes, pastries, batters, meringues and cold sweets which all the items are achieved by incorporating gas into the mixture.
The most critical and complex operation in breadmaking is mixing. Dough mixing aims to develop rheology and to create the aerated state or the bubble size distribution which yield the desired baking performance.
Raising agents work by releasing gas when the mixture is heated causing it to rise. There are three gases which make food mixture rise:
*Air
*Steam
*Carbon Dioxide
The first considers bubble growth mainly from a mass transport point of view, where bubble growth is controlled only by the transport of dissolved gas from the material into the bubble, the mechanical reaction of the bubble being controlled only by surface tension.
The raising agents used to produce carbon dioxide may be chemical raising agents or yeast. Yeast is used to raise dough.
Gas bubble in bread dough
