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Phosphates as leavening agents in baked goods
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Thursday, 15 July, 2021, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Chef Gauri Verma
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Leavening agents are vital ingredients in formulations of bakery products as the timing and degree of leavening heavily affects final product structure and texture.
Although the primary function of chemical leavening systems is to leaven or raise, a product, leavening agents can also affect characteristics of dough, batter, and the finished baked product. These effects are due to reactions between the leavening agents and component (particularly starch and protein) of the dough or batter.
Biscuits & Cookies
Leavening agents aerate the dough or batter to make it light and porous. The leavening action is responsible for good volume, improved eating quality, and a uniform cell structure. Leavening can be achieved by various methods, including yeast fermentation, the mechanical incorporation of air by mixing and creaming, formation of water vapour during baking, and the creation of carbon dioxide and/or ammonia by chemical leaveners.
However, creation of the initial air bubbles during the mixing phase is critical before any of the other leavening agents can take effect. Small products like biscuits that bake quickly need a fast-acting leavener that will release the gas before the structure sets.
A leavening agent is a substance that triggers a chemical reaction that causes a baked product to rise. The most well-known examples include yeast, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), and baking powder (acid + base + filler such as corn starch). Yeast is a biological leavening agent that leavens the dough by fermenting sugars in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. On the other hand, baking soda and baking powder are chemical leavening agents that create CO2 gas and steam (water). Baking powder, a dry leavening agent, is a mixture of a weak alkali (e.g. baking soda) and a weak acid (e.g. calcium phosphate, potassium bitartrate, sodium acid pyrophosphate) and a bulking agent (e.g. corn starch).
Baking powder works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. The type of acid required in a baking powder depends on the type of product being made and the critical timing of the leavening action.
An acid in baking powder can be either fast-acting or slow-acting. A fast-acting acid, such as calcium phosphate, reacts immediately in a wet mixture with baking soda at room temperature, while a slow-acting acid, such as sodium acid pyrophosphate, produces a very controlled release of the carbon dioxide with the majority of the leavening action occurring in reaction to heat (baking). The slow-acting leavening acids are critical for the commercial production of baked goods such as organic frozen waffles and refrigerated doughs, whereas fast-acting leavening agents work well for quick breads and mixes that are prepared at home.
(The author is founder and CEO of G's Patisserie)
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