Faults in breads

BREAD FAULTS

A good bread should be judged by its volume, bloom, shape, color, texture, sheen, moistness and flavor. In general, one should examine the external area and the internal (crumb) area of the bread.

Bread faults can arise from many causes. Flour varies in grade, in gluten content and quality. Color also varies and so does the maltose content. When examining the faults in the loaf of bread, the temperature and timings, methods of manipulation, addition of materials, errors in setting and timing of machinery, all must be taken into account.

EXTERNAL FAULTS

1.        Lack of volume: The major causes of this fault are

-        a dough that is too tight and with too little yeast

-        Too much salt will cause under ripening, conducive to small volume.

-        Flour with low maltose will produce bread of less than normal volume. Over bleached flour or the excess use of chemical improvers, will also produce this fault.

2. Excessive volume:

Dough with

-        low salt content

-        excess final proof

-        loose moulding

will produce a bread of excessive volume

Excess salt decreases the stability of gluten. An excessively slack dough also produces a bread with excess volume. This can be adjusted by altering the proving time. A cool oven causes fermentation to continue in the oven. Therefore there will be too much oven spring.

3.Lack of Crust Color: Baking the bread in a cool oven renders the loaf colorless. The other causes for lack of crust color may be:

-        over ripe dough, due to extended fermentation period (all the sugar is used up)

-        excess water content

-        lack of maltose

-        lack of salt

1.        Excess Crust Color: The likely causes are

-        insufficient fermentation

-        excessive use of sugar

-        flour might have been milled from sprouted wheat (partially)

-        baking too quickly and at too high a temperature

2.        Shell Tops: This is due to the formation of a crust on top of the loaf before maximum expansion has taken place. The pressure from within the loaf exerts itself in such a way that the top of the loaf lifts in the form of a lid.

3.        Rough Surfaces: The crust of over fermented dough is always rough. Use less yeast. Bad molding can also cause unsightly crust surfaces.

4.        Collapsing Bread: Collapsing bread is caused by insufficient tensile strength of the dough. Such dough is mainly due to too much water, malt or gluten improvers. Other causes could be

-        over proving

-        baking in cold oven

-        Disturbance of the dough before entering the oven.

Extraneous matter that may have been an accident, can lodge itself in the mass of the dough. However there can be no excuse for dark smears caused by dirty tin grease, finger marks or the dirt from unclean racks and boxes.

EXTERNAL FAULTS

1.        Holes in the crumb: A dough made from flour weak in gluten, especially when the yeast content is high, will cause holes, because the gluten has little power of gas retention and the weaker cells will break down during baking. Faulty manipulation after bulk fermentation destroys the elasticity of the gluten and therefore the expansion does not proceed evenly, breakage occurs and large holes are formed in the mass.

2.        Cores Seams Streaks and Condensation Marks: The most common cause for cores is the incorporation of pellets or hard flour or dough particles. Another common cause is the turning in of a dry skin when moulding. Slight over proving or over malting often cause a core near the bottom of the loaf. 

        Seams are dense layers of inedible bread. He careless causes them handling when loading. Movement of    the dough in the oven during baking makes the delicate dough structure tremble and collapse sufficiently to form a seam or a heavy uncooked layer.

       Streaks are evidence of uneven manipulation of the dough in the final stages. Loose moulding and insufficient final proof are also causes of streaks. Dark streaks are also caused by high maltose flour.

   Condensation marks are due to improper packing.

3.        Damp Clammy or Close Crunch:

The common causes are:

-        Use of high maltose flour, milled from sprouted wheat.

-        Overloading the dough with enriching agents

-        Use of very weak flour

-        Over machining the dough

-        Wrapping the bread prematurely

-        Development of a ropy condition 

4.        Crumbliness: A slack dough will produce crumbly bread. Crumbliness is related to the degree of fermentation. If the fermentation is insufficient, then the gluten is not conditioned and the crumb has neither the resilience nor tensile strength necessary to whit stand the action of cutting the loaf. Excessive mineral improvers also cause crumbliness.