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To a place where there were no dough conditioners, nor dough mixers and doughs took more than 18 hours to ferment. Many assume that this way of bread making is an art, but scientists have indicated that the science of bread starts here. Long fermentation times, with well aged flours resulted in well hydrated dough that develop almost instantly without mechanical mixing. No mixing required? Don't believe this? Try our no-knead Pecan Bread formula to prove it to yourself.
Dr. Hoseney, a well known cereal chemist, attributes hydration as part of the mixing process. He explained that the friction during mixing caused the underlying flour particle layers to be exposed and hydrate. This hydration is what causes the dough to develop effectively.
The industrial age brought the invention of mechanical dough mixers, cutting the hydration time down significantly. Bakers quickly adopted this method to develop their doughs without overnight fermentation. This method soon became the standard that we use today. However, with mechanical dough mixers and short fermentation, comes the need for dough conditioners due to high dough temperatures and machinability issues.
In recent years, a new technology has surfaced that may create a new method for mixing. What if we hydrate the flour, or gluten, to cut down significantly on mixing, or even eliminate it? Is this possible? If gluten hydration is the key component to obtaining full dough development, shouldn't we look more closely into the technologies that supports this? Read more and feel free to comment on our page on gluten hydration.
Hydration affects how gluten functions in wheat bread. Water changes the structure of gluten, and the speed of this change affects dough development.
What is new in dough development? This Rapidojet video just blew our minds. We've seen this equipment in action, and it supports the theory of gluten hydration.
Prove the theory for yourself. Develop a dough with overnight fermentation and folding. Or, use this recipe and develop it in a mixer. You'll get the same results.
If in doubt, BAKERpedia it!
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President - Bakery Concepts International, LLC
9 年Great post, Lin! Our industry seems to be very focused on "clean", "whole grain", "sprouted grains", "natural", etc. Your focus on hydration applies to all of this. If the baker can increase hydration "cleanly", then quality goes up while cost goes down. Thanks for the attention to this!!