2.5 - Wheat and Wheat Products: Yeast Breads

Flours

These are powdered products produced by milling or grinding cereal grains, root crops, legumes, and other starchy foods.

Wheat Flour

When the word “flour” is used without qualification, what type of flour does it generally mean?

1. Hard red spring

2. Hard red winter

3. Soft red winter

4. Soft white spring

These are the four common wheat categories based mainly on kernel hardness, color, and growing season.

Winter Wheat

This wheat is planted where winter is mild, begins growing in the fall, becomes dormant during winter, resumes growth in spring, and is harvested in summer.

Spring Wheat

This wheat is planted in places where winter is severe, is planted in the spring, and is harvested in the fall.

Soft Wheat

This type of wheat is superior for cakes and cookies because of its softer kernel and generally lower gluten-forming capacity.

Durum Wheat

This wheat is especially suitable for pasta production.

White Wheat

This wheat is becoming popular because it can produce white whole-wheat flour, which resembles ordinary white flour in appearance.

Spaniards

Who introduced wheat in the Philippines?

Calatagan, Batangas

Where in the Philippines does wheat typically grown that was known to be a relatively cold area?

Flour Milling

This is intended to remove the outside bran layer and the germ of wheat to obtain the maximum extraction of the endosperm without damaging the starch granules.

Wheat Flour

Used mostly for bakery products because of its high gluten (protein) content.

Color

This property of flour refers to its whiteness, which is associated with purity and is generally more acceptable for baked products, particularly when brilliancy is desired.

Strength

This property of flour refers to its capacity to hold gas and is directly related to its protein content. Strong flour, such as bread flour with about 12–14% protein, has greater gas-retaining ability than weak flour and is preferred for bread-making.

Tolerance

This property of flour refers to its ability to withstand mixing, kneading, fermenting, rough handling, and other preparation steps without breaking down. It is related to protein content, wheat hardness, and gluten quality, with hard wheat flour generally having greater ability than soft wheat flour.

Absorption Capacity

This property of flour refers to the maximum amount of liquid it can absorb while still producing a good-quality product. It is influenced by the amount of gluten present; most flours absorb about 50–65% liquid by weight.

Texture

This property of flour describes how it feels when handled: hard wheat flour is generally granular, while soft wheat flour feels velvety and smooth when pressed between the fingers.

Cohesiveness

This property of flour refers to its ability to retain its shape when molded or squeezed because the flour particles tend to clump together.

Weight

This property of flour differs according to flour type: 1 cup of soft wheat flour weighs about 98 g, whereas 1 cup of hard wheat flour weighs about 112 g. Heavier flour absorbs more moisture, which is why weighing is more accurate than volume measurement.

Leavening Agent

A substance added to a batter or dough that will generate gas during preparation and subsequent heating causing the product to rise and subsequently increase in volume.

air, steam (water vapor), and CO₂

What are the 3 principal leavening agents?

Soft Wheat

This type of wheat has a mealy endosperm that pulverizes, producing a soft, talcum-like powder that stays lumpy when pressed between fingers. This is suitable for cakes, cookies, and pastries.

Hard Wheat

This type of wheat has a hard kernel and granular texture that separates when rubbed between fingers and has higher protein content, thus suitable for breadmaking.

Whole Wheat Flour

This market form of wheat flour contains the original components of the wheat kernel and is also known as graham flour.

Bread Flour

This market form of wheat flour is an unbleached, high-gluten blend of hard wheat flour, usually containing about 12-14% protein. Its gluten is strong and elastic, making it most suitable for yeast-leavened breads. It is also known as strong flour or hard flour.

All-Purpose Flour

This market form of wheat flour is a blend of soft and hard wheat flours, contains about 10-11% protein, and has medium-strength gluten. It is intermediate between bread flour and cake flour and is also known as family flour or general-purpose flour.

Cake Flour

This market form of wheat flour is made from soft wheat, contains about 7-8% protein, is finely ground, and is the most refined and whitest flour, making it best for delicate, fine-textured cakes. It is also known as weak flour or soft flour.

Pastry Flour

This market form of wheat flour is made from soft wheat and is intermediate between cake flour and all-purpose flour. It is especially prepared for commercial bakers for pies and cakes.

Self-Rising Flour

This market form of wheat flour already contains leavening agents, such as sodium bicarbonate or baking soda plus an acid or calcium phosphate.

Enriched Flour

This market form of wheat flour has vitamins and minerals added to it.

Gluten Flour

This market form of wheat flour is made by mixing dried extracted gluten with flour, producing about 41% protein.

Instantized Flour

This market form of wheat flour is free-flowing and requires no sifting before use. It is also known as quick-mixing flour.

Bread Flour

Which type of flour is best used for yeast-leavened breads because of its strong, elastic gluten and high protein content?

All-Purpose Flour

Which type of flour is best used for quick breads and may also be used for pie crusts, fruit cake, pound cake, and cookies?

Cake Flour

Which type of flour is best used for delicate, fine-textured cakes?

Pastry Flour

Which type of flour is especially suited for pies and cakes, particularly in commercial baking?

albumin, globulin, gliadin, glutenin

What are the 4 general classes of wheat proteins?

Gluten

This is formed through the interaction of glutenin with gliadin, during dough mixing, using the right amount of water.

Windowpane Test

This test determines whether gluten has been sufficiently developed during kneading by stretching a small piece of dough into a thin, translucent membrane without tearing.

Kneading

The conducive formation of gluten strands due to continuous stretching and folding motions that eventually align the glutenin in the direction of the mixing.

Hydration

What is the first step to gluten development?

Carotenoid

This pigment in wheat accounts for the creamy color of freshly milled flour.

Batter

This refers to the flour mixtures that can be poured in a steady stream called pour batters or heavy drops, reffered to as drop batters.

Pour and Drop Batter

What are the types of batters?

Pour Batter

This type of flour mixture has a 1:1 liquid-to-flour proportion, is thin enough to pour in a steady stream, and is used for pancakes, waffles, some cakes, and cream puffs.

Drop Batter

This type of flour mixture has a 1:2 liquid-to-flour proportion, breaks into drops when poured, and is used for popovers, muffins, fritters, some cakes, drop biscuits, and cookies.

Dough

This refers to flour mixtures that are viscous that can be handled as the amount of flour per cup liquid is 50-100% more than what is used for batters.

Soft Dough

This type of flour mixture has a 1:3 liquid-to-flour proportion and is soft, sticky, but can still be handled, as in yeast rolls.

Stiff Dough

This type of flour mixture has a 1:4 liquid-to-flour proportion, is firm to the touch and can be rolled, and is used for pie crust, noodles, and cookies.

1:1

What is the liquid-to-flour ratio for a pour batter?

1:2

What is the liquid-to-flour ratio for a drop batter?

1:3

What is the liquid-to-flour ratio for a soft dough?

1:4

What is the liquid-to-flour ratio for a stiff dough?

Air

This physical leavening agent is incorporated into flour mixtures through sifting, beating, mixing, folding, or creaming, such as when beating egg whites or creaming sugar and fat.

Steam

This physical leavening agent is produced when water is heated and vaporized, expanding to about 1,600 times its original volume. Classic examples include cream puffs and popovers.

Steam

What is the chief leavener in angel cakes, contrary to the common belief that it is air from beaten egg whites?

Carbon Dioxide

This gaseous leavening agent may be produced by yeast fermentation or by the reaction of baking soda with an acid.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

This organism is the principal yeast used for baking and produces carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol through fermentation of sugars.

38-40°C

What temperature is identified in the text as favorable for yeast activity, while excessively high temperatures may kill the yeast?

Compressed Yeast

This market form of yeast is also known as fresh yeast or cake yeast, contains about 70% moisture, is highly perishable, and should be refrigerated at about 0-5°C.

Active Dry Yeast

This dry form of yeast is free-flowing and has an equivalent weight of about one-third the weight of compressed yeast.

Instant/Fast-Acting Yeast

This type of yeast reproduces more rapidly than traditional yeast, allows bread to rise about twice as fast, and may eliminate the need for a second rising, although less time is available for flavor development.

Baking Soda

This chemical leavener, also known as sodium bicarbonate, releases carbon dioxide when heated but may leave an undesirable alkaline residue unless an acid ingredient is present.

Vinegar, sour milk or buttermilk, sour cream, fruit juices, molasses, honey, brown sugar, and cream of tartar

Which acidic ingredients may react with baking soda to produce carbon dioxide?

Baking Powder

This chemical leavener is a mixture of baking soda, an acid source, and starch as a diluent.

Tartrate Baking Powder

This type of baking powder contains cream of tartar or tartaric acid and releases much of its gas during mixing, making it quick-acting.

Phosphate Baking Powder

This type of baking powder contains monocalcium phosphate and releases about half of its gas during baking, making it intermediate-acting.

Ammonium Bicarbonate (Baking Ammonia)

This chemical leavener is particularly suitable for thin baked products such as cookies and crackers because the ammonia produced can readily volatilize during baking.

Fat

This ingredient contributes tenderness, flakiness, moistness, and flavor by coating flour particles and interfering with hydration and gluten development.

It coats flour particles and limits gluten development, keeping the gluten strands short and producing a more tender product.

Why is fat used as a shortening in baked products?

Sugar

This ingredient provides sweetness, tenderness, improved volume and texture, crust browning, and moisture retention in flour mixtures.

Its hygroscopic nature attracts water, reducing the water available for gluten development and thereby delaying gluten formation.

How does sugar produce a tenderizing effect in baked products?

Eggs

This ingredient contributes protein, nutritive value, gel strength, emulsification, air incorporation, steam formation, texture, and volume to flour mixtures.

Lecithin

This phospholipid in egg yolk acts as an emulsifying agent, helping disperse ingredients and stabilize foam structure.

Salt

This ingredient enhances flavor and regulates yeast growth in flour mixtures; excessive amounts may inhibit or even kill yeast because of high osmotic pressure.

It controls the rate of yeast fermentation and helps inhibit undesirable microorganisms.

Why is salt important in yeast-leavened dough aside from flavor?

Flour Improvers

These are oxidizing agents added to flour to strengthen dough, improve gas retention, reduce stickiness, and make dough easier to handle.

Mixing

This process involves combining the ingredients of a flour mixture into a homogeneous mass to form a dough or batter.

Straight Dough Method

This mixing method is a single-step process in which all dough ingredients are mixed in one batch until the dough becomes smooth, then fermented for about 2-4 hours, divided, proofed, and baked.

Sponge and Dough Method

This mixing method involves fermentation in two phases. A pre-ferment called the sponge, made from yeast, water, and about ⅓ of the total flour, is first allowed to become foamy and bubbly before being combined with the remaining ingredients.

Muffin Method

This mixing method involves sifting the dry ingredients together, separately beating the eggs and combining them with oil or melted fat, then gradually adding the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients. It is used for products such as muffins and pancakes.

Pastry Method

This mixing method involves sifting the dry ingredients together, then lightly mixing or cutting fat into the dry ingredients, with the liquid added last. It is suitable for pastries and biscuits.

Conventional Cake Method

This mixing method begins by creaming fat and sugar together, followed by adding beaten eggs, then adding the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the liquid ingredients.

One-Bowl Method

This mixing method, also known as the single-stage method, combines the dry ingredients, melted fat or oil, and most of the liquid in one blend. The beaten eggs are added near the end with the remaining liquid.

Lean Yeast Bread

This class of yeast bread is made from the basic ingredients flour, water, yeast, and salt.

Rich Yeast Bread

This class of yeast bread contains the basic ingredients plus sugar, milk, shortening, eggs, dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and flavoring extracts.

Flour, yeast, water, and salt

What are the four basic ingredients necessary for yeast bread?

Yeast

This ingredient produces the gas responsible for the rise of yeast bread.

1. Preparation of ingredients

2. Mixing and kneading

3. Fermentation

4. Punching

5. Make-up or shaping

6. Pan-proofing

7. Baking

8. Cooling and storing

What is the correct general sequence of the principal steps in yeast bread making?

1. Distribute yeast, sugar, and salt evenly

2. Hydrate the flour and develop gluten

3. Smooth the dough and remove lumps

What are the three major purposes of mixing and kneading yeast dough?

Push-and-fold motion using the heels of the hands

What motion is recommended when kneading yeast dough by hand?

About 10 minutes

About how long is the average hand-kneading time for homemade bread?

Underkneading

This kneading fault produces a heavy loaf with small volume, compact cells, irregular crumb, and uneven breaks along the sides.

Overkneading

This kneading fault produces bread with thick cell walls, small volume, and a dry crumb.

To produce carbon dioxide, giving the bread lightness and a porous structure; it also helps ripen the dough.

What is the primary purpose of fermentation in yeast bread?

3

How many fermentation periods are recommended for hard wheat flour?

25 - 27.7°C

What is the optimum fermentation temperature for yeast bread?

Young Dough

This term describes dough that has been insufficiently fermented and ripened.

Old Dough

This term describes dough that has been overfermented.

Punching

This bread-making step is done by plunging the fist into the center of the dough, folding the edges toward the center, and turning the dough over.