MIXING
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Dough mixing supervision: an overview The key parameters governing the mixing phase, their importance and their effects on the final products are described, as well as examples of strategies for monitoring the mixing process.
Figure 1: The manipulation of the dough by a baker is a traditional way to assess the degree of dough mixing. Stretching the dough until reaching a thin and film is the usual criteria to decide on the end of mixing in addition to dough compression and dough stickiness assessed through manual contact
DOUGH MIXING SUPERVISION: AN OVERVIEW
General aspects of dough mixing Dough mixing is a process in which wheat flour, water, and other ingredients like salt, yeast, sugar, oil, enzymes and emulsifiers are blended together, leading to a series of bio-physical-chemical reactions. As the first step in the breadmaking process, it has a strong impact on the quality of the final product. The mixing operation has three main functions: + the hydration of the flour in order to prepare the formation of a viscoelastic network that will ensure the gas-holding capacity during fermentation and baking (Bloksma, 1990) + the creation of a homogeneous network forming the matrix of the bread dough (Figure 1) the + incorporation of air into the cereal matrix to form the gas cells that will later become the cells of the baked product
However, hydration alone does not allow the development of the dough and a certain mechanical energy is necessary to form and to organize the gluten network (Campos et al., 1996). Thus, proper dough development depends on the quality and quantity of ingredients, the mixer geometry, the mixing duration and mixing speed. Any variation in mixing can affect the end-product quality; although it is a decisive step, it is also one which can be most controlled.
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Cereal-based foodstuffs are at the base of the food pyramid. Among them, wheat flour is one of the most important food sources in the world, particularly because of its unique property of forming a dough and developing gluten when mixed with water. The mixing process is the first step towards the final bakery product and it plays a major role in the whole breadmaking process. The quality of the dough obtained, in particular its rheological properties, will have a great impact on the behavior of the dough during shaping, fermentation and baking.
