Dough conditioners and bread improvers

01

Match ingredients and dosage to the process

Mario Fortin of FORMA-LAB, writing in Bakers Journal, describes a complete improver as containing oxidizers, reducing agents, emulsifiers and enzymes, to which dextrose, salt, propionates and oil can be added, with flour as a possible carrier. Oxidants help gluten development during mixing and bring yeast to maximum activity; emulsifiers lubricate the dough and make it more elastic; alpha amylase cuts starch into sugars; a reducing agent relaxes the dough in rapid processes; emulsifiers delay water evaporation and enzymes extend shelf life. For the flour-carried improvers discussed in that column, dosage would vary from 0.5 to 3.0 per cent, always on flour weight, and depends on improver concentration, method, product type, fermentation time and whether the flour is already treated with oxidant. [5]

For an improver recommended at 3.0 per cent, the column gives: no-time dough for frozen products maximum 3.0 per cent; sponge and dough 2.0 per cent; straight dough with 90 minutes of rest 1.0 per cent; retarded dough 0.5 to 1.0 per cent; dough made with pre-ferment or starter 0 to 0.5 per cent; artisan bakers not recommended, with tolerance at 0.25 per cent. It warns that too much, or two to three different improvers, can over-treat the dough, and advises comparing cost per use rather than per kilogram. [5]

Editorial calculation: assuming a 1,000 kg flour batch, dosage defined as mass of this blend divided by flour mass, and complete addition without losses, 1.0% requires 10 kg of blend; 2.0% requires 20 kg and 0.5% requires 5 kg. These are hypothetical batch quantities, not manufacturer-published dosage recommendations or measured operating data; the column supplies example dosage percentages, not this batch size. [5]

Give the supplier the bread type and process (straight, sponge and dough, no-time, frozen, retarded), flour type and whether it is already treated with oxidant, target dosage on flour weight, the active ingredients wanted or excluded (ascorbic acid, L-cysteine, DATEM, SSL, enzymes), carrier, the market where the bread will be sold, label and allergen requirements, specification limits (moisture, particle size, microbiology), packaging, shelf life and quantity.

02

Check legal limits for each ingredient

In the US standard of identity for bread, rolls and buns, 21 CFR 136.110 permits enzyme active preparations, mono- and diglycerides and DATEM with shortening, and yeast nutrients and calcium salts, excluding monocalcium phosphate and preservative calcium propionate from that combined limit, up to 0.25 part per 100 parts by weight of flour; monocalcium phosphate, including that in the flour, is separately limited to 0.75 part per 100 parts flour. Potassium bromate, calcium bromate, potassium iodate, calcium iodate and calcium peroxide together, including potassium bromate already in bromated flour, are limited to 0.0075 part per 100 parts flour, azodicarbonamide, including that already in flour, to 0.0045 part, and dough strengtheners and other dough conditioners not listed or referred to in that paragraph to 0.5 part per 100 parts flour in total. [1] Subject to standards of identity not precluding the use, 21 CFR 172.846 allows sodium stearoyl lactylate as a dough strengthener, emulsifier or processing aid in baked products, pancakes and waffles at not more than 0.5 part per 100 parts by weight of flour, including in prepared mixes. [2] 21 CFR 184.1101 affirms DATEM as GRAS for baked goods and baking mixes at levels not to exceed current good manufacturing practice, and allows the label name "DATEM". [3]

The FSA additive-list URL now redirects to the UK government’s approved-additives guidance. It lists E300 ascorbic acid, E322 lecithins, E471 mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, E472e DATEM, E481 sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate, E482 calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate and E920 L-cysteine. Listing an E number does not establish permission in every bread or market: the guidance requires the applicable food categories and quantitative restrictions, and distinguishes assimilated rules in England and Wales from EU rules applicable in Northern Ireland. Potassium bromate and azodicarbonamide are not listed there. [4]

Editorial calculation: assuming this improver is the only source of SSL, its dose is measured on flour mass, the stated baked-product use is permitted, and there are no other constraints, a 1.0% blend dose would reach the 0.5-part-per-100-flour ceiling at 50% SSL in the blend. At a 3.0% dose, the corresponding exact fraction is 1/6, or 16⅔%, rather than an upward-rounded maximum of 16.7%. SSL from other ingredients reduces the available allowance. This is a conditional formulation calculation, not a manufacturer formula, measured concentration or approval of the finished food. [2] [5]

03

Order a complete improver or a concentrated carrier base

The cited process percentages concern the improver discussed by Fortin. Obtain the active-ingredient declaration and the supplier’s dose for the offered concentration; a product’s name alone does not specify its strength. [5]

When requesting quotations, ask each supplier for the full ingredient declaration with the level of each active ingredient, the recommended dosage per process, the regulatory status for your target market, a specification sheet with moisture, particle size and microbiological limits, allergen and GMO statements, and samples for a bake test.

04

Declare oxidants, relaxants, emulsifiers and enzyme preparations

The ingredient roles described in the bakery column and the separate food-use provisions need to be checked against the actual blend composition. [5] [1]

05

Specify blend concentration and the flour-mass dosing basis

Record both the blend addition rate and each active’s contribution from all ingredients. The carrier and food destination determine what formulation and label information is needed. [5] [2]

06

Send the bread, process and target market together

Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.

Product: [bread type; fresh or frozen]
Process: [straight; sponge and dough; no-time; retarded]
Flour: [type; already treated or not]
Ingredients: [wanted; excluded]
Dosage: [% on flour]
Market: [country; label rules]
Specification: [moisture; particle size; microbiology]
Packaging: [kg per bag]
Quantity: [tonnes]

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