PROBLEM: Improving dough handling characteristics at high-speed bakeries.

SOLUTION: Wheat protein isolate improves dough handling by improving dough consistency and minimizing the occurrence of misshapen dough pieces, increasing yield.

High speed automated dough systems help bakers minimize costs and increase throughput, but sometimes deformed or uncharacteristic dough pieces form on the line. Frequent deformed dough pieces decrease yield and cost bakers money in an already tight economic landscape.

“In large, high-speed, automated operations, it is common to see doughs weighing over 2,000 lb.,” says Topher Dohl, applications technologist, MGP Ingredients (MGPI), Atchison, Kan. The consistency of a dough this large changes from the beginning to the end of the production run. Dough becomes more elastic and difficult to shape toward the end of the batch.

Once formed into loaves, the dough pieces sometimes fail to remain in the desired loaf shape. This is because the wheat flour used in bread doughs contains gluten, a visco-elastic protein, meaning it is both extensible, or stretchy, and elastic, so it stretches like bubble gum and then snaps back to shape like a rubber band. At times, in a high-speed, automated system, that snap back or elastic characteristic can be too great. “If making baguettes with a dough that is very elastic, the dough piece won't hold that nice long shape; it will spiral back and begin to curve,” Dohl notes.

Prevent misshapen dough pieces

Adding wheat protein isolate to the dough at the start of the mixing cycle can solve this problem by creating better dough tolerance and consistency, resulting in a dough that is easier to scale, as well as producing more uniform dough pieces that keep the desired shape and handle better through every step of the makeup and baking process.

For example, MGPI's Arise^® wheat protein isolate helps minimize dough's elasticity while optimizing the dough handling characteristic needed to effectively navigate each stage of the production process. Arise also reduces mix time by about 10 percent to 15 percent, and also reduces proof time. Minimizing the mix time decreases energy use, which saves money. While chemicals, such as L-Cysteine, and protease enzymes can be used to reduce the mix time and improve dough handling characteristics, wheat protein isolates have the added benefit of helping bakers maintain a clean label that would not be possible if using chemical products.

“Arise helps dough pieces sustain or maintain that nice, perfect configuration from beginning to end, so the dough pieces are consistently uniform,” Dohl says. In addition, doughs containing a wheat protein isolate have improved crust color and better volume after baking. Based on the flour weight of a given formulation, bakers can add 1 percent to 1.5 percent of Arise to the dough.

Cost-effective solution

In a tough economy, every unit matters. Losing valuable product because of deformed dough pieces decreases the yield and creates unnecessary expense for bakers. By choosing a wheat protein isolate, bakers can maintain a clean label while reducing misshapen dough pieces, thereby providing opportunities to improve yield and margins.

Quick Tip

Adding wheat protein isolate to a dough at the start of the mixing cycle creates better dough tolerance and consistency, which results in more uniform dough pieces that handle better through the makeup process.