Baking & Snack - August 2021 - 96

featured technical expert Q&A
ALIESS BEDFORD
BUNGE LODERS CROKLAAN
When Aliess Bedford graduated with a bachelor's degree in
biology from the University of Iowa, she didn't know that she
would end up using it to work in the food industry.
" Upon graduation, I stumbled upon a number of food
companies hiring, " Ms. Bedford said. " I did not know anyone
working in the food industry but thought the opportunity
sounded exciting. I learned on the job; worked with great
mentors; engaged with different
types of customers across
bakery, confectionary and foodservice, and took numerous
courses to supplement the food and ingredients exposure I
did not have. "
After a short period of time, Ms. Bedford said she knew
that the food industry was the right fit and pursued her master's
degree in food science at Kansas State University.
" Before I knew it, I was in fats and oils for 13 years and
was living my passion in the food industry, " she said. " I have
had many opportunities to work with production facilities
internally and with customers,
develop new products,
formulate new applications,
support troubleshooting and
everything in between. "
Ms. Bedford said she enjoys
experimenting with new recipes
at home and likes to bake with
her daughters.
In her current role as R&D applications manager and food
processor at Bunge Loders Croklaan, Ms. Bedford leads the
development & applications team, which works with customers
to modify and create specialty blends based on customers'
needs. The team also explores how fats and oils interact
with other ingredients in applications.
" I love working with our team and customers and helping
them find solutions, " she said.
What is a good indication that a formulation
requires a specialty shortening rather than an
all-purpose shortening?
If your finished product is not meeting your functional needs via
texture, flavor, volumes, etc., then you may want to reconsider
your shortening selection. If you are producing an indulgent
or premium product, these typically require specialty shortenings
to enhance the eating quality and respective attributes of
the application.
How can a specialty shortening improve a
finished product?
Specialty shortenings make improvements that are very dependent
on the finished product. For cake or icing products, having
a specialty shortening means a balanced oil blend and a truly optimized
emulsifier system. This provides the best emulsification
so that aeration helps produce volume and fine cell structure in
cakes and lighter, lower specific gravity icings. In donuts, specialty
formulated shortenings can have tailored solid fat profiles that can
decrease wicking or oil staining in packages, improve the way your
glaze or icing adheres to your finished donut, and enhance fried
flavor notes.
When would an all-purpose shortening be the
right choice?
All-purpose shortenings are the workhorses of the shortening
category. These can be used when you are making several dif96
Baking & Snack August 2021 / www.bakingbusiness.com
ferent applications onsite: cakes, icings, cookies, donuts, etc.
These products provide good performance across a wide range
of applications and reduce the number of products a facility
must order and inventory. You can also take all-purpose shortenings
and combine them with emulsifiers to add further improvements
to mouthfeel, texture and shelf life in products. We
offer several monoglycerides and diglycerides, as well as specialty
blends, that are easy to add and cream at the bowl. This
way you can adjust the levels to best fit your wide product mix.
How might a formulation need to be tweaked to
accommodate a specialty shortening?
This really depends on your starting point. Application formulations
vary more and more depending on the target market. In
general, there is not one adjustment that fits all. If a formulation
changes from liquid oil or all-purpose to specialty shortening,
it can provide some challenges. One example, to adjust
from using a liquid oil to a specialty shortening, you may need
to adjust other liquids in formulation to still create a moist
product. A traditional tortilla formulation using a liquid soybean
or canola oil would use less water and more emulsifier. For
tortillas, if you are adding in a specialty shortening, it will help
with shelf life and qualities such as rollability, stretchability and
machinability. You also should keep in mind that changing to
specialty shortening will enhance your finished product texture,
flavor, structure and other properties. You will have to re-set
your quality measurements to realign.
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