Baking & Snack - June 2017 - 66

CHEMICAL LEAVENING

Left: Achieving the characteristic lift of baked goods
involves different leaveners
depending on inclusions
like almonds.
Blue Diamond Almonds

Right: Ingredients like fruits
and fillings can impact leavening and PH levels and must be
considered in formulation.
Krusteaz

and carbon dioxide source is critical to obtaining desirable
baked characteristics," Mr. Bright said.

Interaction with other ingredients
There are a host of other factors to consider when formulating with chemical leaveners. One is the flour and grains
used in the recipe. High-fiber grains tend to be coarse and
more difficult to leaven, as compared to refined wheat flour.
"More chemical leavening is needed to lift these heavier
textures into a semblance of wheat flour counterparts," Ms.
Livvix said.
With whole grains usually comes an increase in fiber and
lipid content. "Whole grain bakery mixes that require longer shelf life can benefit from the use of larger particle size
leavening agents, slower leavening agents and encapsulated
sodium bicarbonate," Ms. Heidolph said.
Another variable to consider is fat type. "As bakers
move from partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) to loweraerating fats that are non-PHO, there is a loss of aeration
due to the fat," Ms. Heidolph said. "The leavening system,
especially the fast-acting type, may need to be increased
by as much as 10%."

Keeping it clean, convenient
There are labeling considerations, too, when considering
chemical leavening ingredients. For the growing organics
market, US organic standards allow for the use of DCPD,
MCP (and its anhydrous form) and SAPP in organic products with at least 95% organic ingredients.
"With natural and clean label becoming more mainstream, bakers are turning to organic acids or other
cleaner-label acidulants, such as those void of aluminum,
rather than the more traditional phosphate-based leaveners," Mr. Mason said.
Clabber Girl now offers baking powder that is made
with corn starch produced from non-genetically modi-

66 Baking & Snack June 2017 / www.bakingandsnack.com

fied corn, and is Non-GMO Project verified.
If low-sodium content is important, potassium bicarbonate should be considered in place of some or all of the
sodium bicarbonate.
"Most Americans consume more than the recommended amount of sodium, which may have some serious health
implications," said Trey Muller-Thym, president, Thymly
Products. "In a cake, baking powder can add almost 500
mg sodium that is not needed, so we made a baking powder that contains zero sodium."
Convenience is making a comeback in the baked
goods industry as microwave baked products are gaining traction. For microwaves, the leavening system is
formulation-dependent but generally uses a mixture of
fast-leavening agents such as SAPP, CAPP and SALP, according to Ms. Heidolph. The type of oven is also important.
"For convection ovens, the surface of a baked good can set
quickly, so the leavening system must rapidly expand the
product to achieve maximum volume," Ms. Heidolph said.
"For impingement and band ovens, the leavening and oven
settings must be set up to work in concert to deliver sufficient lift."
No matter the bake time, method or ingredients, Mr.
Mason recommended that bakers always keep the pH of
their product in mind during formulation. "This can be a
good indication if they are getting full reaction of the baking soda," he said. "I would also caution that there is a diminishing return in baking powder dosage in that much
past the 6% to 7% usage on flour levels, they are likely not
seeing much additional gassing and are adding unnecessary ingredients or sodium to the formula."

Find resources for inclusions by visiting
www.esourcebaking.com. Browse by category under
Ingredients, and click on Characterizing for listings.

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