Generally speaking, bread is a fermented food with wheat flour as the main raw material, yeast and other auxiliary materials mixed with water to make dough, and then fermented, shaped, shaped and baked. This is very misleading. It seems that bread making is not difficult, but it is easier said than done, and so is bread making. It is not easy to really make high-quality bread.
To make bread, we must first choose the right raw materials, especially the types, quality and dosage of flour, yeast, water, sugar, oil and other raw materials.
Flour is the basic raw material for bread production. In the past, China's flour classification only divided flour into four categories, namely, special flour (rich flour, refined flour), special flour (white flour, 75 flour), standard flour (85 flour) and ordinary flour, based on flour yield and particle size, and almost ignored the needs of flour products processing. Wheat and wheat flour production only expanded blindly.
Yield and quantity, which not only ignores the improvement of wheat quality, but also limits the development of flour products processing industry.
Fortunately, people have realized that the evaluation of flour quality must be combined with the corresponding product processing, and gradually attach importance to the combination of raw materials and processing. At present, the development and production of all kinds of special flour has become a hot spot in the development of milling industry in China. The quality standards of special flour have been introduced one after another, and the types of flour sold in the market have greatly increased.
The variety of flour has increased, so what flour is suitable for bread? Flour is the main component of bread structure, and its main function is to wrap gas, which requires bread dough to have good ductility and elasticity, that is, flour must contain a certain amount of gluten and have good quality. Therefore, when making bread, it is best to use high-gluten flour in addition to considering flour granularity, moisture and other indicators. If there is no high-gluten flour, it is at least medium-gluten flour. And this is just the requirement for flour from the amount of gluten. In addition, it is necessary to detect the quality of flour gluten by farinograph, determine the activity of α-amylase, and detect the quality of flour by wheat baking test to confirm whether flour is really suitable for bread or what remedial measures can be taken. After reading these, people can't help thinking that before bread is made, just a choice of flour is enough to make people dizzy! But if you want to save trouble, you can choose bread flour, but the cost will increase accordingly.
Yeast is another basic raw material in bread production. It is precisely because of the role of yeast that the fermentable sugar in the dough is converted into carbon dioxide and alcohol, and the carbon dioxide gas generated makes the dough start, thus producing soft and fluffy bread. There are mainly two kinds of yeasts in the market: active dry yeast and pressed fresh yeast, but active dry yeast is recommended.
Of course, in order to ensure the quality of bread, no matter which kind of yeast is used, the fermentation ability of yeast should be considered, and the yeast with strong fermentation ability can reduce the dosage. At the same time, we should consider the influence of ingredients to increase or decrease the amount of yeast or choose yeast varieties, such as bread with strong flour and many accessories, and the amount of yeast should be increased. If we produce high-sugar bread, we should choose high-sugar tolerant yeast.
At present, due to the improvement of yeast production technology, some highly active dry yeasts are directly mixed with flour without prior activation, and the effect is also good.
Water is also the basic component of bread production. It is a plasticizer and solvent. Without water, dough cannot be formed, and many reactions in the fermentation process cannot occur because there is no solvent. The water for making bread must first meet the requirements of drinking water. In addition, the hardness, pH value and temperature of water have great influence on the quality of bread. Only water with moderate hardness is suitable for making bread. Excessive hardness of water will enhance the toughness of gluten, prolong fermentation time and make bread taste rough. At this time, the hardness of water can be appropriately reduced before use. Too soft water will make the dough too soft and sticky, shorten the fermentation time and make the bread collapse. For very soft water, a small amount of calcium phosphate or calcium sulfate can be added to increase its hardness, and the amount of salt can also be increased to achieve good results.
Considering that the optimum pH value of baker's yeast is 5. 0 ~ 5.8, slightly acidic water helps the dough to swell, but the acidity should not be too high, otherwise it will affect the bread volume, so it can be neutralized with sodium carbonate. The ideal pH of water should be slightly less than 7. When the pH value of water is high, it can be neutralized by lactic acid.
Water temperature is a convenient and effective means to control dough temperature. Fermented dough generally needs a temperature of 28 ~ 30℃, which is not only suitable for the growth and reproduction of yeast, but also beneficial to the formation of gluten in dough. In order to make the dough reach the appropriate temperature, the water temperature is generally used to adjust it. For example, the indoor temperature is about 20℃ in winter, and the water temperature should be 30 ~ 40℃ (no more than 50℃); When the indoor temperature is above 30℃ in summer, the water temperature should be controlled at 65438 05℃.