Baked goods of Earth, rise up!
Play Banger's introduction to the science of baking.
A time lapse loop of yeast making bread dough rise.
Try the activities below for more regarding the the science of baking
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Freshly made dough is a physically and chemically different product than the finished baked product. Dough starts as a paste of flour, water and yeast, but by the time it has been baked it looks nothing like what you started with. Knowing what's happening during these processes will help you to make the perfect bread!! the important part to baking bread is the leavening process, during this time, gasses are being released into the dough, making it rise. this process can be made to happen using a few methods. Yeast is probably the most used method for leavening bread. yeast is a fungus which when given the right environments for it to grow, releases carbon dioxide gases into the dough. when you add all of the ingredients, the yeast begins feeding on the sugars in the flour and begins multiplying. the more ideal the environment for the yeast, the more your dough will stretch. the yeast will continue to grow until you put it in the oven, then it will keep growing rapidly until the temperature gets to hot and the yeast dies. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) reacts with an acid in the dough and as a result of the chemical reaction, releases carbon dioxide. this then works in a similar way to the leavening done with yeast, but unlike yeast the chemical reaction occurring here is a quick one, and therefore foods made with baking soda should be cooked quickly to keep the air in place. Baking Powder is Sodium bicarbonate with the addition of starch and a powdered acid. when a liquid is added, the acid begins to react with the sodium bicarbonate and produces the gas. most baking powders are double acting, this means that they produce gases twice, once when the liquid has been added and again when the dough is heated. Breads baked using baking powder are usually lighter and fluffier. Important stages during bread baking: Bulk Fermentation – this first fermentation is a process where the yeast is rapidly growing. during this time the Yeast begins to eat the sugar and as a by-product creates alcohol, carbon dioxide gas and different acids. Its this carbon dioxide that gets trapped in pockets by the gluten allowing it to rise and stretch.the creations of acids add flavor to the dough and therefore the longer that you allow the dough to ferment, the flavour will get stronger. There are three main changes that happen during while the bread is baking: At first the rapid heating of the air trapped in the dough will begin to move quickly and quicky expand the dough, during this process the yeast is still alive and continues ferment until it the temperature reaches 63 degrees and the yeast dies. Then the proteins coagulate and starches start gelatinizing, which gives the bread its final structure,it continues to harden until it is removed from the oven. Finally the crust is formed! Once the surface temperature has reached above 100 degrees a crust will begin to form until it reaches about 175 degrees, making it hotter then this will change the appearance of the crust and caramelising it giving it a different flavour. |