WHEAT THE FOUNDATION OF BAKERY PRODUCTS

INTRODUCTIONFlour plays an important role in the bakery industry. This flour is obtained from wheat so it is necessary to learn about wheat.Wheat is the most important cereal among all the grains. From quality wheat we can get quality flour. The quality of wheat depends up on the following conditions soilquality of seeds climatemanure farming techniques

Wheat is classified in various methods such as Type Color Hardness

According to the type they are classified as ..Triticum aestivum also known as hard wheat.Triticum compectum also called as soft wheat.Triticum durum also called as durum wheat.

Hard wheat flour contains more proteins. This flour is mainly used in bread making.Soft wheat flour contains low proteins. So this flour is mainly used in the production of biscuits, cakes and pastries.Durum wheat is mainly used to prepare semolina and macaroni.

According to the color they are classified as..Red wheat White wheat This color variation is due to the environmental factors.

According to the hardness it is classified as .Hard wheat Examples of this wheat are Hard red winter Hard red spring Durum Soft wheat Examples are Soft red winter Soft red spring

This photo shows hard red wheat on the left and hard white wheat on the right

HARD WHEAT The characteristics of this wheat is as follows More protein More water absorption power (WAP).Good mixing capacity I.e. easy to mix.Fermentation tolerance.Good gas retention power.Hence it is mainly used for yeast products.

SOFT WHEAT Its characteristics are as followsLess protein Less water absorption power ( WAP )Poor mixing capacity Poor fermentation toleranceHence it is mainly used to make biscuits, cakes and pastries.

STRUCTURE OF WHEAT The kernel of wheat is a store house of nutrients. The wheat is classified into 3 principal parts they are .Bran Germ Endosperm

BRAN Wheat contains 15% of bran. It is the outer portion of wheat. It has several layers. They are Epidermis Epi carp Endo carp Testa Aleurone layersSkin or aleurone cells The color of the wheat is due to the testa. This layer protects the endo sperm.

BRAN

The aleurone layer has small cells, these cells have enzymes, which converts starch into sugar and it gives starch to the flour.Bran contains more nutritional value, even though it is removed during the milling process, as the sharp edges may cut down the gluten. Hence, the gas retention power is reduced and this in turn will reduce the volume of the bread.During milling bran is removed and is used as animal feed.

GERMWheat contains 2.5% of germ. It is the sprouting section of the seed. During milling, germ is removed because it has fat content that will spoil the flour quickly.

GERM

ENDOSPERMWheat contains 82.5% of endosperm. Although primarily starch it contains the following nutrientsProtein Pantothenic acid RiboflavinNiacin Thiamine During milling endosperm is separated from bran and germ.

MILLING Milling means conversion of wheat into flour. There are two methods of milling they are Stone milling / home millingRoller flour milling

STONE MILLING This is an ordinary method of milling. In this method, two circular thick stones are used, one lying on top of the other.The surface of the stones are rough. This rough surface helps to crush the wheat. Thus the wheat is converted into flour. This is known as whole meal flour. It contains bran, germ and endosperm.

STONE MILLING

QUALITIES OF WHOLE MEAL FLOURIt has more nutritive value.The color of the flour is dark.It has less shelf life.Small stone particles may be present in the flour.The bread made from this flour, gives delicious flavor. But such bread has a small volume and irregular shape.

ROLLER MILLING It is commercial milling of wheat. Before milling the wheat,the following steps to be followedCleaning

Tempering

CLEANING The objective of cleaning the wheat is To obtain pure flour.To avoid damaging the milling machineries.Unless foreign particles like stones, barley, oats and iron particles are removed, the quality of flour will be affected and iron rods may damage the machines causing heavy loss.

CLEANING STAGES..Sieving The wheat grains, large and smaller particles like damaged wheat stone and husk are removed.Magnetic separatorHere iron and steel particles are removed.Aspirator By using air currants the lighter impurities are removed.Disc separatorThis is used to separate barley, oats and other foreign material.

Scrubbing Beard on the wheat is removed by brushes.EntoleterDamaged grains are separated and any insect eggs are killed.

TEMPERING After cleaning the wheat is sprayed with water. After adding water, the wheat is soaked for a short time or a longer time.The time varies according to the hardness of the wheat. It is called as tempering.

The merit of tempering are.The moisture of the wheat is increased.The bran becomes elastic and the endosperm becomes soft, so it makes the bran removal easier.The endosperm is made more friable which reduces the power required to grind it.Germ is also rendered tough and flaky for easy removal.

FIRST BREAK - corrugated rolls break wheat into coarse particles.

MILLING PROCESSThe milling has two stagesBreak milling

Reduction milling

BREAK MILLING .This is the first operation in milling process. After tempering, the wheat passes through break rollers.There are two horizontal steel rollers which rotates in opposite direction. The surface of the rollers are rough. One roller rotates 3/2 faster than the other. The break milling is done in 4 and 5 stages. The first set of roller just cracks the wheat grain. Then they are passed through the series of break rollers, from the last series break flour and soji, rava or semolina are obtained. The break flour in the first 3 stages is also known as patent flour.

REDUCTION MILLING After removing the above things the rest of the semolina is passed through the reduction rollers. The surface of the rollers are smooth. These rollers also rotate in opposite direction but the speed is lesser than the break rollers.First stage we get semolina, flattened germ and bran. The next reduction crushes the semolina into fine flour and the bran and flattened germs are removed. The flour obtained is called as straight run flour.

BLEACHING The flour thus obtained is called as green flour. It contains the high moisture and slightly yellowish color due to xanthophylls.The fresh flour is not suitable for making bakery products. It has to be bleached by oxidation.Some bleaching agents like chlorine, chlorine dioxide or benzyl per oxide are used to bleach the flour.The bleached flour is creamish white in color.

MATURING The fresh flour has poor water absorption power, poor baking quality.It is improved by oxidation process and is known as maturing.Some chemicals like potassium bromate, ascorbic acid are used for maturing and to improve the above qualities.

COMPOSITION OF FLOURSTARCH70%MOISTURE 14%PROTEIN 11.5%ASH 0.4%SUGAR 1%FAT OR LIPID 1%OTHERS 2.1%ENZYMES [ ALBHA & BETA]

STARCHStarch is not soluble in water until starch is heated to about 140 F with six times of its weight of water. Then the starch cells will swell and the cell wall will burst. Now the starch becomes soluble in water and this process is called as gelatinisation. Starch act as a filler, as it gives rigidity to bread dough. Starch combines with lipid and gluten to retain the gas during fermentation. During milling 6% amount of starch cells are crushed and damaged due to the rollers or type of the wheat or moisture etc. water absorption power of the flour mainly depends upon the damaged starch.

The damaged starch should not be more than 7 to 9% for bread making. The damaged starch is not essential for cake or biscuit making.Hot bread directly from the oven cannot be sliced immediately because the starch is not sufficiently stable and must be allowed to slightly harden. When the bread cools down starch cells shrink and becomes rigid so that the bread can be sliced easily.

MOISTUREAn ideal moisture content of flour is 14%. The source of moisture is from the tempering or from the package materials or from the humidity.If more moisture is in the flour it will reduce the storage life and will induce insect infestation and it may get fungus and bacteria and also it will reduce the WAP of the flour. This will result in less yields during the production.

PROTEIN Flour contains soluble and insoluble proteins. Flour protein consists of AlbuminGlobulin GliadinGlutenin Soluble proteins are useful in providing nourishment to yeast during fermentation process for its growth and reproduction. The insoluble protein form a rubbery material when water is added with flour, so when it is mixed and kneaded well, a rubbery material is developed. This is called as gluten. It gives structure to the baked products. Gliadin give extensibility and glutenin gives strength and it holds the gas during baking operation.

The quality of the flour is decided by the gluten content. If gluten content is more in flour then it is suitable for high structured products like bread.This bread making flour should have the gluten from 10 to 11.5%.If the flour contains less gluten, then the flour is suitable for lower structured product like cake and biscuits.This flour requires low gluten content that is 7 to 10%.

ASHThe source of ash content in flour is from the bran. If the flour contains more ash it means it has more bran. Too much ash gives dark color to the flour and also cuts the gluten. Flour with higher ash content will not retain as much gas during different stages of processing and this affects the volume and gives poor texture to the products.

SUGAR Naturally flour contains a small quantity of sugar. That is sucrose and maltose. It is used as yeast food to produce carbon di oxide gas.

FATS OR LIPIDS This should not be more than 1% in flour.It contains coloring pigment carotene which gives color to the flour. There is a higher quantity of oil or fat in the low grade flour then in the high grades.The fat or oil when separated from the flour is pale yellowish liquid without taste or smell.

ENZYMES Flour contains alpha amylase and beta amylase.These enzymes hydrolyze starch and convert it in to simple sugar.during fermentation the simple sugar is used by the yeast to produce alcohol and carbon di oxide.The gas production depends upon the amount of enzymes found in the flour.Indian flours have less alpha amylase. These enzymes are necessary for producing good quality bread.If these enzymes are less, the bread will have poor volume and dull crust color.

TYPES OF FLOUR Bakers use two primary types of white wheat flours. There are Hard flour / strong flour Weak flour / soft flour.From hard wheat we get hard flour. This type of flour contain 11.2 to 11.8% protein, 0.45 to 0.50% ash, 1.2% fat and 74 to 75% starch. The higher protein found in strong flour indicates a higher level of gluten. This type of flour is mainly used for yeast products.From soft wheat we get soft flour. This type of flour contains 8.4 to 8.8% of protein, 0.44 to 0.48 of ash and 76 to 77 % starch. Due to the less protein content the flour is mainly used in low structured product like biscuit, cookies, sponges, short and sweet pastes.

Apart from these there are other types of flour. They are classified High ratio flour This is also known as special cake flour. This type of flour absorbs high liquids, fats and sugar than the normal flour.it is normally manufactured for special order and it is used in special recipes. This flour is normally bleached with chlorine gas.Whole wheat flour It is milled from whole wheat grain and no bran or germ is removed during milling. When using this flour, it requires more liquid than mentioned in the recipe.

Whole meal flour / brown flourIn this mixture of refined flour, the content of bran and wheat germ are more. It can also be made by combining wheat and whole wheat flour.Self raising flour It contains certain quantity of baking powder. If we use this flour we should reduce the baking powder quantity from the given formula.

Characteristics of good quality flourColor color should be creamish white in color. A good quality flour will reflect the light when it is exposed under light. Bleaching the helps to get the color.StrengthThere are two types of flour they are strong weak flour It depends upon the gluten quantity and quality present in the flour. For making bread, strong flour is preferred and weak flour is preferred for making cakes and confectionery products.

Tolerance This is the ability of the flour to withstand the fermentation and / or the mixing process in excess of what is normally required to mature its gluten property.High absorption power This means the ability of the flour to hold maximum amount of water. If the flour has less WAP the bread will not be of good quality and will have less yield.UniformityIf the quality of flour used is not uniform then the quality of the product will differ. So constant monitoring and adjustment are required to get a satisfactory result.

PASTRIES Pastry means the way fat is introduced into the flour. Pastry is made out of flour, fat, sugar, egg and water. There are different types of pastries they are Short crust pastry Puff pastry Flaky pastry Philo / filo pastry Choux pastryDanish pastry

Short crust pastryIt is the basic pie dough. It is type of biscuit. It is made out of flour, fat / butter, salt, chemicals and little quantity of egg or cold water.The basic ratio of short crust pastry is 1 part of sugar, 2 parts of fat and 3 parts of flour.

MAKING OF SHORT CRUST PASTRY

Methods Rub in method Sift the flour. Fat and flour are rubbed together until the mixture turns like bread crumbs. Mix sugar and add enough egg or water to make the dough.Creaming in method Cream the fat and then add the rest of the ingredients.Boiling method Boil the fat and water. Mix the mixture into the flour.

PUFF PASTRY It is the mixture of flour, salt, sugar, chilled water and some food acid like lemon juice, vinegar and tartaric acid and this dough is sheeted and laminated with fat to get the flakiness.

Methods French method

Scotch method

English method

FRENCH METHOD Make a dough with flour, salt, food acid, chilled water and some % of fat.Give rest for hour. During this period the remaining margarine is made into square block and should be kept in the refrigerator for setting.Sheet the dough into square, slightly larger than the fat pieces.Keep the fat block in the center of the dough. The sides of the margarine should face the corner side of the sheeted dough.Fold the dough from all the corner sides so that it covers the fat.

Chill it for hour.Turn upside down and sheet it in square shape, and bring the ends center and again fold it over.Cover and chill it for hour. Then the same process is repeated twice.After final sheeting the dough is chilled for one hour.Sheet the dough and cut into desired shapes and give rest for hour before baking.

SCOTCH METHOD Chop the fat into small pieces.Mix this into flour and mix water. Knead it and form a dough.Cover it with damp cloth and cool it for half an hour.Sheet the dough into square shape and bring the edges to the center and again fold over.Cool it and repeat the same process twice.Cut and give rest before baking.

ENGLISH METHOD Prepare the dough with flour, salt, food acid, chilled water and some % of fat.Cover the dough with damp cloth and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.Sheet the dough in to rectangular and mark it as A , B and C.Spread the remaining 1/3 of the fat on A and B.Fold the C on B and A on C.Cover it and allow it to rest for half an hour.Repeat the same process twice and the sheet it into desired shape.

FLAKY PASTRYThe dough is made with flour, fat or lard and chilled water.Dough is rested and is rolled into a rectangular shape and mark it as 3 equal parts.Divide the fat into 3 equal parts and proceed in the same way as that of the English method.Give rest and then give a blind folding.Again rest it and then sheet it and then cut it in to desired shape.

PHILO / FILO PASTRYA plain paper thin pastry made with flour, water and melted butter. This dough is sheeted and sprinkled with fruit and nuts.Roll like Swiss roll and cut in to desired sizes.Place in a tray, give egg wash and then bake it.It can also be deep fried.

CHOUX PASTRY A hallow shell which is crisp while eating. It can be piped in different shapes and filled with cream, custard and coated with melted chocolate, glace or fondant icing and also decorated with nuts.The ingredients are flour, fat / butter and eggs.Can add sugar or salt if desired.

Method Take a thick bottom bowl and heat water and fat, dont allow it to boil.Sift the flour twice so that the air is incorporated which helps in raising the pastry when baked.Beat eggs and add just before mixing the mixture and add gradually with beating continuously.Maintain the correct consistency and pipe this in desired shape in a greased tray.Bake it at high temperature immediately and then reduces the temperature.Dont shake the tray during baking.It can be stored for one week.

DANISH PASTRYA sweet yeast dough laminated with fat and cut into different shapes and use chocolate, cheese or any sweet filling.Ingredients used in making are Strong flourSugar Yeast Fat water

Method Make a flying fermentation to check the yeast activity.Mix all the ingredients and make a smooth dough.Give rest for 15 minutes.Sheet the dough cut into small squares and fold like French method and sheet it and cut into desired shape.If filling is used the pastry should be rolled or sealed properly. Other wise the filling will comed outside.Place it on a greased tray, give egg wash and and allow it to proof till it double its size.

Bake it at 200 C for about 10 to 15 minutes.After baking give sugar syrup wash for shinning and softness.

BREAD MAKING METHODS Straight dough methodSalt delayed method No dough time method Sponge and dough method Ferment and dough method

STRAIGHT DOUGH METHOD Mix all the ingredients in one stage and knead it until the flour protein is well developed.Then the dough is allowed to ferment for a predetermined time.The fermentation period depends on the quantity and quality of yeast, water, salt, strength of flour, temperature etc.If the fermentation is up to 5 hours it is called as short process method, if it takes place more than 5 hours then it is called as long process method.

SALT DELAYED METHOD Mix all the ingredients except the salt and fat. Because salt has a controlling effect on enzymatic action of yeast.Due to the absent of salt the speed of fermentation is enhanced and gluten is matured in a reasonable short time.For this method three fourth of the mixing should be given initially and one fourth of the mixing is given at the time of adding salt.

Salt is added at the knock back stage. The method of adding salt is applied as per the convenience of individual bakery.Following are the ways of adding saltSifted on to the doughMixed with water It may be creamed with fat and mixed with the total dough.

NO DOUGH TIME METHOD In this method the dough is not fermented in the usual manner.it just allowed to rest for 30 minutes.Because of this less fermented time, yeast quantity should be increased to achieve the production of gas and conditioning of gluten and by making the dough little slacker and warmer.Now a days the bakers use this method for emergency. When bread is made by this method the bread has poor keeping quality and lacks aroma.

SPONGE AND DOUGH METHODIn this method the ingredients are mixed in two stages in the first stage a part of flour (60%), proportionate amount of water all the yeast and yeast foods are mixed together.This sponge is fermented for a predetermined time.When the sponge is ready it is then mixed with the remaining 40 % flour, sugar, salt, fat etc.Mixing operation should be carried out to the right degree. After mixing it is allowed to rest for 30 to 45 minutes.

FERMENT DOUGH METHODThis is the variation of sponge dough method. Very often a bread formula contains milk, milk powder, eggs substantial quantity of fat and sugar.The ferment is made separately and mixed with the dough along with the remaining ingredients and allowed to ferment for the second stage of fermentation.

PROCESSINGFlying fermentationMixing Bulk fermentationKnock back Dividing and rounding Molding and panningFinal proofing Baking Depanning Cooling Slicing Packing

CAKES & SPONGES CAKE is a product obtained by baking a leavened and shortened batter, containing flour, egg, sugar, shortening, milk and other liquids, flavoring and leavening agents.Cake making ingredients are classified as Essential ingredients- flour, sugar, shortening / fat, egg.Optional ingredients-baking powder, milk, fruits.

AS PER THE FUNCTIONS THEY ARE CLASSIFIED ASSTRUCTURE BUILDERS flour, eggs, milk.TENDERIZERS- fat, sugar, baking powder. MOISTONERS milk, egg.

Different methods of cake making Sugar batter method Flour batter method Blending method Sugar water method Boiled method All in process method

SUGAR BATTER METHOD In this method fat and sugar are creamed together. Fat should be plastic in nature and should be powdered.Fat should not be granular and to be used only in room temperature.Because granular fats will have poor whipping quality.Fat is creamed to incorporate air.Equal amount of powdered sugar is added gradually and continue creaming.

When the mixture becomes light, fluffy and bright stop creaming.Now well beaten eggs are added gradually. If added at the same time it will curdle. Curdled batter can be rectified by adding small amount of flour.Flavoring agents can be added now.Now flour can be sieved with dry ingredients and added to the mixture and mixed gently.To adjust the dropping consistency of the batter milk / water can be added.

FLOUR BATTER METHODIn this method fat and flour are creamed together in which quantity of the flour should not exceed the quantity of the fat. Fat should be plastic and flour should be added in it gradually.They are creamed until light and fluffy.Besides egg and equal quantity of sugar is whipped to stiff forth.This mixture is added to flour and fat mixture.The egg and sugar mixture should be added in small portion, although the chances of curdling is less.

At this stage the remaining sugar is dissolved in milk or water and added to the mixture.Color or flavor can also be added at this stage.Lastly the remaining flour can be mixed gently in the mixture.Gentle mixing will lead to a good textured cake in this method.

BLENDING METHODIn this method emulsified shortening, flour, baking powder and salt are whipped together to a light and fluffy consistency.Sugar, milk / any other liquid, color and flavor are mixed together and added to the previous mixture.Eggs are added at the last and the whole mass is mixed to a smooth batter.

SUGAR WATER METHOD In this method all the sugar and half the quantity of water is mixed in a bowl till all the sugar is dissolved.The remaining ingredients ( flour, shortenings, leavening and flavoring agents) will be added.Egg is added at last to clear the mixture.

BOILED METHOD This method is used for making good quality Madeira cake and genoise sponge.Butter / margarine is melted in a bowl till the melted fat boils, as it boils remove from the fire add 2/3rd of flour and mix thoroughly.Besides eggs and sugar are whisked to a stiff consistency. Color and flavor can also be added now.This egg mixture is added to the fat and flour mixture in 5 equal parts in each part it should be mixed properly.Remaining flour can be added at this stage.

ALL IN PROCESS METHOD In this process all the ingredients are put into the mixing bowl together and the machine is switched on. Wire whip is used for mixing the ingredients.By controlling the mixing time and the speed the mixture is aerated.Use of emulsified fats and special cake flour ( flour having soft gluten forming proteins ) will result in good cake batter.

minute slow speed so that all the dry ingredients are moistened without flying off from the bowl.2 minutes at fast speed for break up of ingredients and well aeration.2 minutes at medium speed for breaking larger air cells to small and for evenness also.1 minute at slow speed to eliminate large air cells and to convert it into fine air cells.