Baking&Snack - July 2014 - 42

CHEMICAL LEAVENING

Bakery mixes formulated the low-sodium way help
consumers make heart-healthy breakfasts.
Innophos

supply the gas, while food acids liberate it. Some formulas with acidic liquids (buttermilk, vinegar, fruit juice)
can employ merely the bicarbonate
(baking soda). Others require baking
powders, a combination of bicarbonate and leavening acid activated by water and/or heat.
Double-acting baking powders start
working in the batter when water is
added and then release additional activity during baking. Encapsulation is
another way to set up timed delivery
of leavening. The choice of components depends on the
end product desired.
"Chemical leavening is an acid-base reaction," explained Sharon Book, PhD, senior food technologists,
bakery, ICL Food Specialties, St. Louis. "Multiple fac-

Timed capsules
Protecting sodium bicarbonate through encapsulation
solves the problem of long intervals between dough mixing and final baking. By preventing premature release by
the gas source, the formulator can actually use less of
it. Now, encapsulated bicarbonates come in no-sodium
styles, too.
"Typically, encapsulation has been thought of as a solution to extend the shelf life of to-be-baked-later items -
mixes, raw refrigerated and frozen items - by controlling
the reactivity of the carbon dioxide source, said Kristine V.
"
Lukasik, PhD, director, applications, scientific and regulatory affairs, Food & Nutritional Ingredients, Balchem Corp.
"The technology provides additional levels of sophistication, though, giving acidulants the right solubility characteristics to be effective targeted leavening agents. The
"
company offers zero and reduced sodium choices in its
BakeSure Complete line of encapsulated baking powders.
She also observed that encapsulation addresses the
problem of over-leavening to compensate for the gassing
power lost if a dough or batter sits too long. "This scenario can contribute to unnecessary sodium, she said.
"
Steve Schorn, product development formulator, The
Wright Group, noted that the company developed a nosodium encapsulated leavening that works well in frozen
doughs and frozen pizza crust applications. "Wrise can
be added at the dough makeup stage, and the fat-based
encapsulation coating will release during the baking process, he said.
"

42 Baking & Snack July 2014 / www.bakingandsnack.com

tors can be considered when choosing among options
for each component; sodium level is just one." The same
goes for the ingredients' natural or organic status and
the means of preparation from mixing through baking.
The characteristics of the finished item - volume, texture, color, flavor - must be determined, too.
Two factors are significant to designing lower-sodium
systems, according to Kristine V. Lukasik, PhD, director,
applications, scientific and regulatory affairs, Food &
Nutritional Ingredients, Balchem Corp., New Hampton,
NY. First, the absolute solubility of phosphates in doughs
and batters must be recognized in formulation. Second,
the physical parameters affecting the leavening window
- the period of time in which CO2 generation occurs -
relate to other aspects of the dough matrix and its processing, such as the product's shape and size, the length
of the bake time and the strength of the gluten matrix.
Selection of the leavening agent, noted Mr. Brodie, requires knowledge of its neutralizing value (NV), its rate
of reaction and its nutritional composition. NV, sometimes called strength, determines the amount of leavening acid required to react with the bicarbonate. The rate
of reaction guides the formulator in choosing the best
acid(s) for the job, and knowledge of the composition
enables addition of positive nutrients and subtraction of
negative ones.
By adjusting the choice of acid and the amount of bicarbonate, the formulator can achieve significantly release rates and times, Mr. McKeown observed. "Bench
tolerance can be adjusted to fit a specific bakery process
so that end product attributes are achieved," he said.

Formulas in flux
Interest in sodium-free leavening bases has increased,
according to Judy Underwood, product manager,
Performance Products Group, Church & Dwight,
Princeton, NJ. Switching out of sodium bicarbonate en-

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Baking&Snack - July 2014

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