Dough Science (2024)

FAQs

What is the science behind making dough? ›

This is because wheat flour contains two proteins, glutenin and gliadin , which, when combined with water, form gluten. As you knead the dough, the gluten becomes more and more stretchy. This gum-like substance fills with thousands of gas bubbles as the yeast goes to work during rising.

Dough refers to a wet mass developed after mixing of wheat flour, water and other ingredients. Physico-chemical properties of dough play important role in the bakery, pasta and ready-to-eat cereals processing industry. Dough is developed due to complex interactions among wheat constituents during mixing operation.

The point of kneading dough is to help strengthen the gluten in it. Gluten is what gives your bread; it's structure and texture. Gluten that is not strong enough results from under kneaded dough, whereas gluten that is too tight results from over kneaded dough.

Kneading causes the gluten strands to get stronger and longer. However, if too much gluten is formed then the bread dough does not stretch so easily. This will cause the bread to become tough and chewy. Relaxing or resting the dough reduces the elasticity of the dough making it easier to roll out.

Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavening agents, as well as ingredients such as fats or flavorings.

Tip #1: Don't add too much extra flour. The amount of flour you need to bring the dough together into a smooth, elastic, and cohesive ball will depend on your kitchen environment. If the dough is tacky, or even a little sticky, don't worry. It will absorb moisture as it rests and rises.

A failure to knead dough (unless you're working with a no-knead recipe) can lead to: Poor gluten development: When you don't knead bread, the gluten won't form properly. This can result in a lack of elasticity and strength, meaning your final product is likely to come out of the oven dense and heavy.

Some doughs can be really heavy, and might be too much for your mixer to handle. Letting a stand mixer do the work can potentially lead to over-kneading the dough. It's a lot harder to over-knead dough with your hands, because you get a good feel for the dough, and will notice as the texture changes.

Kneading dough is as simple as pushing the dough away from you with the heel of your palm, folding it over itself with your fingers, and pulling it back. This repeated push-pull cross-knits the protein strands, developing a strong gluten net.

Yeast dough that's just begun to rise sinks like the proverbial stone when dropped into water. But the longer it rises, the more gas is trapped until eventually the dough becomes lighter than water and floats. So far so good. Yes, fully risen dough will float when placed in water.

What prevents dough from rising? ›

Yeast is too hot Yeast may have been dissolved in water that was too hot, or the liquid ingredients in the recipe may be too hot, causing the yeast to die. Yeast needs to be warm - not too hot, not too cold. Yeast is too cold If the other ingredients are too cold, it could cause some of the yeast to die.

Just like in breadmaking, time and rest are essential parts of the process. In bread dough, resting gives gluten added muscle. In pasta dough, a rest after all that kneading functions like a post-workout steam room, letting the newly strengthened dough relax enough to become malleable.

When you mix wheat flour and water together, the proteins in the flour combine to form a gluten network. This structure is what gives bread dough the strength and elasticity to capture all the bubbles and burbles produced by yeast in order to grow fluffy, chewy, and light when baked.

During fermentation, carbon dioxide is produced and trapped as tiny pockets of air within the dough. This causes it to rise. During baking the carbon dioxide expands and causes the bread to rise further. The alcohol produced during fermentation evaporates during the bread baking process.

It's those same air bubbles that we incorporated into our dough during mixing. These bubbles are in turn held inside our dough by the gluten structure we developed during mixing, and which we'll further develop during bulk fermentation. More carbon dioxide + gluten = bigger, more open bread.

This is called alcoholic fermentation. The carbon dioxide produced in these reactions causes the dough to rise (ferment or prove), and the alcohol produced mostly evaporates from the dough during the baking process. During fermentation, each yeast cell forms a centre around which carbon dioxide bubbles form.