Technology of breadmaking

Bread is a valuable food. Excellent bread can be made with flour, yeast, salt and water. Other ingredients may be added, such as sugar, fat, eggs, milk, nuts and fruit.

The first basic step in the production of bread is the mixing of the ingredients to form a dough. This process takes place in mixers.

The mixed dough undergoes the second main stage of bread production called fermentation. At this time the yeast changes sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol and the volume of the dough increases.

The fermented dough is cut into pieces by a dividing machine. The dough pieces are taken to the next machine called a rounder. The function of this machine is to round the dough pieces into the form of a ball. The rounded dough balls are then subjected to a short fermentation period called intermediate proofing. After that a special moulding machine shapes the dough pieces into a loaf form. The moulded dough pieces undergo the final proofing in large chambers called proof boxes.

The last and most important step in the production of bread is the baking process, which is performed in the ovens.

Bread may be leavened or unleavened. Salt, fat and a leavening agent such as yeast are common ingredients, though breads may contain a range of other ingredients: milk, egg, sugar, spice, fruit, vegetables, nuts or seeds. But the basic ingredients still are: flour, liquid, leavening agent.

Flour is a product made from grain that has been ground into a powdery consistency. It is flour that provides the primary structure to the final baked bread. Commonly available flours are made from rye, barley, maize, and other grains, but it is wheat flour that is most commonly used for breads. Each of these grains provides the starch and protein necessary for the production of bread.

Water, or some other liquid, is used to form the flour into a paste or dough. The volume of liquid required varies between recipes, but a ratio of 1 part liquid to 3 parts flour is common for yeast breads.

Leavening is the process of adding gas to a dough before or during baking to produce a lighter, more easily chewed bread. A simple technique for leavening bread is the use of gas-producing chemicals. There are two common methods. The first is to use baking powder or a self-rising flour that includes baking powder. The second is to have an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk and add baking soda. The reaction of the acid with the soda produces gas. Many breads are leavened by yeast. This yeast ferments carbohydrates in the flour, including any sugar, producing carbon dioxide.

Practice 1. Re-read the text and answer the questions:

1. What are the main stages in the production of bread?

2. What function does the rounder perform?

3. What is the difference between leavened and unleavened bread?

4. What kind of flour is commonly used?

Practice 2. Give the Russian equivalents to the word-combinations from the text:

-valuable food

-basic step

-mixing of the ingredient

-undergoes the second main stage

-dividing machine

-rounded dough balls

-intermediate proofing

-proof boxes

-leavening agent

-ground into a powdery consistency

-common methods

-gas-producing chemicals

-varies between recipes

Practice 3. Match up the words on the left with the definitions on the right:

1. fermentation 2. leavened bread 3. yeast 4. buttermilk 5. flour 6. wheat 7. baking powder 8. self-rising flour

a. a cereal grain, originally from the Near East and Ethiopian Highlands, but now cultivated worldwide. b. a dry chemical leavening agent used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods. c. a product made from grain that has been ground into a powdery consistency d. lighter, more easily chewed kind of bread e. The main ingredient of bread which is premixed with chemical leavening agents f. the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream or it also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates g. The process of changing sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol h. microorganisms classified in the kingdom Fungi

Practice 4. Complete the sentences using the words from the table:

rounded leavening ovens flour salt water mixing yeast subjected flour lighter

1. ________are the main ingredients of bread.

2. The first step in the production of bread is _______ of the ingredients.

3. The _______ dough pieces are ______ to intermediate proofing.

4. _______is the process of adding gas to a dough to make more easily chewed and ______ bread.

5. Bread is baked in the _______.

Practice 5. Complete the table: