Baking & Snack - October 2015 - 56

CHEMICAL LEAVENING

deliver target product quality. The first is mixing. While
the dough or batter is being mixed, it is important to generate sufficient incorporation of air. When this is insufficient, the dough or batter will not have enough air-cell
nucleation sites for the development of a uniform grain
structure. The resulting product can have a non-uniform
grain, and this will risk blistering and tunneling problems
in cakes and a tougher texture in cookies. Early leavening
also contributes to early expansion during the baking process, helping to deliver sufficient volume.
Floor time is the second part of the production process
important to leavening selection. The time between final
mixing and dividing or depositing is critical in all baked
goods to ensure that sufficient leavening power is retained
to deliver expansion during baking. Expansion during
Tortillas made with leavening agents can be more flexible and have fewer
quality concerns than those without.
Corbion Caravan

Tortillas tech
Tortillas don't always need leavening agents but can benefit
from them. Within the flour tortilla category, those made by
the die-cut process do not need leavening. However, these
products tend to be less flexible or tender. Those made via
a dough ball and press procedure benefit from use of a
leavening system.
Flour tortillas made without leavening have a tendency to
be translucent. Without leavening, the dough won't form any
gas pockets to give expansion at the press and keep the top
and bottom of the tortilla from pressing together and becoming translucent. On the other hand, translucent tortillas will
be less likely to stick together, but they will also have smaller
diameter and reduced flexibility, and the ultimate eating
quality will be much different. Fumaric acid is often used in
tortilla for shelf life and leavening. So it may be that traditional leavening acids - MCP, SAPP, SAS, SALP - can be
eliminated, and only fumaric acid used for leavening.

56 Baking & Snack October 2015 / www.bakingandsnack.com

holding can also lead to viscosity development and coalescence of air cells to form larger cells that are buoyant
and easily lost during baking.
Baking is the third step that has an impact on the leavening agent decision. The baker needs sufficient gas produced during the baking stage to gain proper product volume. Proper volume also is generally related to attaining
desired eating quality.
Depending upon the product, the type of baking powder or leavening system can change to achieve certain
goals. Many baking powders and leavening systems include
monocalcium phosphate, monohydrate (MCP or MCPM)
as a leavening acid. MCP reacts primarily during mixing
and helps build batter viscosity and contributes to air-cell
nucleation. MCP is known as a fast-acting leavening acid
because about 60% of the reaction occurs within the first
two to three minutes of mixing at room temperature.
All leavening acids have a characteristic dough rate of
reaction (DRR) or rate of reaction (ROR), which is the
percentage of potential CO2 produced at a given time
and temperature. For example, if the DRR is reported
at two minutes, then acids with a lower DRR would enable retention of a higher percentage of gas for later in the
process, possibly as late as the final stage or baking, and
little activity during mixing. The acids with a higher DRR
would have a lower percentage of gas produced in the final stage, baking, and, instead, have more CO2 production
during mixing and/or floor time. DRR at two minutes
for common leavening acids are as follows: MCP, 60%;
SAPP, 21 to 43%; CAPP, 25%; SALP, 20%; DCPD, 20%;
and GDL, 30%.
Some leavening agents are also considered to be timedelayed; when you wait long enough, the majority of the
reaction will occur without exposure to the heating process. SAPP and CAPP are generally time-delayed components. GDL is unique because it starts to react slowly and
has a slow continuous reaction profile.
To understand the application of these concepts, consider cake-style muffins. To create a product with a flat top and
relatively dense and uniform grain, a single-acting baking
powder would do the trick. MCP and soda in the leavening
system or baking powder - a preblended combination of
leavening acid and bicarbonate - would achieve the necessary incorporation of air during mixing. A flat-top muffin
does not need as much leavening during baking.
On the other hand, for a bell-top muffin with larger
volume, a double-acting baking powder with MCP and
SAPP achieves the desired leavening effect. In the oven,
the MCP would provide only 40% of its reaction, and the
SAPP would contribute more than 50% of its reaction,
giving the product more volume.
Lastly, to make a muffin with a peaked or cracked top, a
baker could use a double-acting leavening system or bak-

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