Bulk up your baking with insoluble fiber
Insoluble fiber falls under the dietary fiber heading, and offers a big health punch to products. It helps with digestion, reduces serum lipid levels and adds no calories!
With the FDA defining more of what can be labeled as "dietary fiber," bakers have more options to incorporate fiber into products.
What’s hard about baking with insoluble fiber?
- It soaks up a lot of water. A lot of water.
- The loaf volume decreases while the firmness increases, because fiber dilutes gluten.
However, you can add enzymes or gluten, or use smaller sized fiber to help counteract these results.
What’s good about baking with fiber?
If you’re adding more water to compensate for the fiber, that means you’re going to be increasing moisture, which will help with improving shelf life. But more importantly, you’ll be cutting your calories and putting a trending ingredient on the label.
It may take some extra work and time to formulate fiber into products, but in the climate of healthy and functional foods, it’s worth it.
What are some sources of insoluble fiber? Find out!
Science. It's in the fiber of our being!
