THE TECHNOLOGY OF BAKING
Bread has been baked for hundreds of years, and the same basic process is
still used today. The main ingredients are flour, yeast, salt and water. The
flowchart shows the processes used in an industrial bakery. If you baked bread
at home, you would use similar principles but on a smaller scale!
Delivery and storage
The flour is delivered daily to the bakeries. The bakery also needs stores
of salt (to add taste and aid proving), vinegar (a preservative), yeast (to
make the bread rise) and vegetable fat (to make the loaf lighter and airier
and extend its shelf life).
Next
Mixing, dividing and first proving
All the ingredients are mixed at high speed. The process takes under 5
minutes. The dough mixture is removed and divided into individual pieces by
machine. It passes along a conveyor belt and is left to 'prove' (when the
yeast fills the dough with gas, causing it to rise and aerate).
Next
Kneading and preparation
The dough is continuously kneaded for about two minutes, as it circles
through a spiral-shaped machine. The kneaded dough passes along a conveyor
belt until it is above the baking tins. The dough is dropped into the
pre-greased tins.
Next
Second proving
The tins pass along the conveyor belt into a warm area. Here the second
proving stage takes place, lasting around 50 minutes.
Next
Baking
The loaves pass into a huge oven on a conveyor belt. The trays move slowly
through the oven for about 20 minutes. Basic bread doughs are usually baked
at 230°C (450°F, gas mark 8).
Next
Depanning and cooling
The baked loaves come out of the oven into the cooling area. The bread is
sucked out of the tins. The bread is left to cool for up to 1½ hours. Once
cooled, it passes down the conveyor belt to be sliced (if needed) and
bagged.
ICT is an important part of the process. Large bakeries use PLC (Programme
Logic Controllers) to control a number of the steps during baking. For example,
the press of a button can regulate the amount and type of flour to be used, the
temperature of ovens and the cooling times.
Bread labelling
By law, wrapped bread must be labelled with certain information such as:
- the name of the product and a description of the type of bread, e.g.
white, brown, wholemeal
- a list of ingredients
- information on for how long it will stay fresh
- information on how to store the bread
- the weight of the loaf
- the name and address of the producer.
Nutritional content is not essential but, if it is included, it has to
follow a strict format. Some supermarkets and manufacturers also
use voluntary 'traffic light' labelling on the front of their packets. The
traffic light colours show whether the food has high, medium or low amounts of
fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt per 100g. Red indicates high levels, amber
medium and green low levels.
Bread types
There are three basic types of flour – white, brown and wholemeal – and bread
made from it is usually described using the same terms. Bread is available in a
whole range of shapes and sizes, crusty or soft crusted, wrapped or unwrapped,
sliced or unsliced. Here are just a few examples:
- White bread is made from flour that contains only the
endosperm of the wheat grain (about 75% of the whole grain).
- Wholemeal bread is made from the whole of the wheat
grain with nothing taken away. Wholewheat is another name for wholemeal.
- Brown bread is made from flour from which some bran and
wheatgerm is removed (it uses about 85% of the whole grain).
- Soft grain bread is made from white flour with extra
grains of softened rye and wheat to increase the fibre content by 30%
compared with standard white bread.
- Sandwich loaves can be white or brown bread. They are
baked in tins and have a flat top, giving even and rectangular slices.
- A cottage loaf has two round sections, one on top of
the other. It is believed to date back to Roman times when it was invented
to make the most of the height of the oven.
- There are a huge range of speciality breads available,
originating from different cultures, e.g. pitta, naan, chapatti, ciabatta,
bagels, soda bread and baguettes.
