Tag: Commercial baking

According to baking industry estimates, bread can lose anywhere from 10% to 25% of its original dough weight during the production process. This significant weight reduction is known as the baking loss of bread and is a critical factor for both home bakers and large-scale bakeries to understand.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ascorbic acid is a substance generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use as a preservative in food. However, its presence in commercial bread products sometimes raises questions among health-conscious consumers wondering if this additive is detrimental to their well-being.

Most supermarket breads contain upwards of 20 ingredients, a list far longer than the traditional flour, water, yeast, and salt recipe. The reason why there are so many chemicals in bread is that commercial bakeries add a variety of additives, enzymes, and dough conditioners to control the baking process, ensure product consistency, and significantly extend the shelf life beyond what is possible for homemade bread.

According to food safety authorities like the FDA and EFSA, bakery enzymes are considered safe for consumption, but many consumers still have questions about their purpose and impact. So, are enzymes in bread healthy, and how do they truly affect the bread you eat?

According to baking experts, the use of concentrated vital wheat gluten is a strategic choice for many commercial and artisan bakers. This practice is not about simply adding gluten, but about enhancing specific qualities depending on the flours and desired outcome.

While traditional homemade bread relies on just four ingredients—flour, water, yeast, and salt—most store-bought white bread contains a longer list. These additional ingredients, including conditioners, preservatives, and fortifiers, are added to create a consistent, soft texture and significantly extend the product's shelf life. Understanding what are the ingredients in store-bought white bread can shed light on why it differs so much from its homemade counterpart.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, soy is one of the eight most common food allergens, making it critical for many to avoid. Navigating this can be tricky, as the answer to 'Does bakery bread contain soy?' is often yes, but in many different forms and for various reasons.

According to food science research, the ingredient list for commercial breads, including modern bakery Arabic bread, can be significantly longer than traditional recipes. This longer list goes beyond the basic flour, water, salt, and yeast, incorporating a range of additives and enrichments for optimized texture, shelf life, and processing.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, over 700 million tons of wheat are produced annually, with much of it being processed into flour with various chemical additives. The answer to what chemicals are added to flour is multi-faceted, covering agents for bleaching, conditioning, preserving, and enriching the product to meet industrial and consumer demands.

Adding soy flour to bread is not a new practice; records show its use dating back to the 1930s to improve nutrition. This versatile ingredient is now a common additive in commercial bread-making for several key functional reasons, including enhancing texture, extending shelf life, and boosting the nutritional profile.