Making bread is a complex technological process. It is not surprising that the finished bakery products may have various defects. They can be caused by poor quality raw materials, mistakes of the baker, who kneads the dough and bakes it. It is worth noting that the flaws associated with the quality of the ingredients are extremely difficult to fix, while technological flaws can be corrected. The article talks about the defects of bread and how to eliminate them.
Causes of defects
Experienced bakers know that all flaws are usually caused by four reasons. Let's consider them in more detail:
- Poor quality flour or other ingredients.
- Errors made in the formulation.
- Errors made during the process (for example, improper kneading, baking, or other steps).
- Microbiological reasons.
Irregular shape
Among the most common bread defects is the irregular shape. Bread may be crumpled, asymmetrical, and blurry. This happens for various reasons. Asymmetrical and skewed products are obtained by careless molding, when the baker gives the dough an irregular shape. The bread from the fermented dough is usually fuzzy, pancake-like, the top crust is concave. This can be explained by the fact that as a result of prolonged fermentation or prolonged proofing, the dough loses a lot of gas, and therefore simply can not rise in the oven.
Another reason for this defect in bread is laying in bulk and careless handling during loading and unloading. Hot bread is crushed very quickly. The cause of the irregular shape may also be flour. For example, flour made from sprouted grain, also called malted, produces almost flat bread. What can cause flattened and pale bread sides? Dense planting of hearth loaves on under the oven. As a result, individual loaves stick together. Often there are pineal ledges on the lower crust. They are called "floats", they appear due to insufficient proofing.
Insufficient volume
If the bread is characterized by insufficient volume, and its crust is covered with a large number of cracks, you should pay attention to the fermentation time. In the event that the dough roams longer than usual, most likely the reason is the low quality of the yeast. There are several solutions to this problem:
- you can increase the dosage of this component;
- pressed yeast should be activated;
- this ingredient should be replaced if necessary.
Surface defects
By the way, insufficient proofing can cause the appearance of large cracks on the surface of products. This defect of the crust of bread can also occur when there is no steam, and in the first period of baking, the oven temperature is set too high. If the surface of the bread is covered with a net of small cracks, then it was used flour made from grain damaged by a bug-bug, or yeast of poor quality. Such a bread defect can result from insufficient moisture in the proofers and lack of steam. The reason for the appearance of small cracks on the finished product is bakers called a draft during proofing. The solution to the problem is simple: it is enough to carry out this stage in special chambers.
Speaking about the defects of bakery products, one cannot but mention the upper crust, which has fallen and curved. The reason for this flaw is the excessive duration of the proofing of the dough. Among the external defects of wheat bread and the detachment of the upper crust of the product from its crumb. Experienced bakers know that such a problem is the result of an unfermented dough and insufficient moisture. Another reason is the impact of the workpieces on the mold or oven during planting or at the initial stage of baking. Too thick crust appears when the oven is heated unevenly or the bread baking process is too long.
Dark spots and swellings on the bread crust appear due to the fact that drops of water fell on the workpieces before the baking process. The matte and grayish crust is the result of a lack of steam in the baking chamber. Be sure to moisten it.
Burnt or pale crusts
One of the main defects of bread during baking is the formation of excessively stained (burnt) crusts. Most often this is due to the fact that flour was used for the product, ground from frost or sprouted grain. In addition, the cause of this defect may be a long duration of baking the product or a high temperature in the oven.
In the event that the crust is burnt, and the middle remains moist, you should pay attention to the temperature in the furnace. Most likely, she is too high. Try lowering the temperature or replacing the oven.
Too pale crusts on the finished bread are obtained due to flour, characterized by low gas and sugar-forming ability. Another reason is dough with low humidity or excessive duration of fermentation. Often, pale crusts are obtained due to the low temperature when baking bread in the oven.
Bread crumb defects - foreign matter and impurities
A defect such as foreign matter is the result of damage to the sieves in which flour, malt or other ingredients are usually sifted. Lumps of poorly mixed flour are called bakers by impurity. A disagreement is formed due to violation of the kneading regime. The flaws of the crumb can also be attributed to the temper at the lower crusts. Most often, such a defect appears in rye bread. This is due to the fact that the stove is not warm enough. Tempering can also occur during careless handling of a finished hot product. Another reason is the cooling of rye bread on a cold metal surface, its excessive humidity and lack of baking. The hardening in the middle of the bakery products is formed due to the kneading of dough on hot water.
The bread was porous, but the pores are unevenly distributed? The thing is that flour made from defective grain was used, the dough recipe was broken. Another reason is the lack of blasting.
Large voids formed in the crumb? Most likely, the reason is the insufficient mechanical effect on the dough. You can solve this problem only by evaluating the work at the stage of rolling and rounding the test.
Sticky, dark or crumbly - major crumb defects
Speaking about the shortcomings of bread, it is worth noting such problems as a raw-baked crumb, a coarse crumbly or dark one. In the first case, the cause is flour, which was made from frost or sprouted grain. In addition, a sticky crumb is formed due to the following factors:
- excessive dough moisture;
- insufficient baking time;
- too strong and prolonged mechanical impact on the dough during its kneading.
Freshly baked bread, the crumb of which is coarse and crumbly, was prepared from dough with insufficient moisture. The dark crumb of the finished product is obtained due to the use of flour, which was made from sprouted grain.
Rings and spots in the crumb, which have a dark shade, usually appear due to the fact that the preparation of the dough used water of too high a temperature. It is because of this that the activity of yeast decreases, and at the same time, the intensity of fermentation. As a result, starch is gelatinized.
Tooth Crunch
If a crunch appears on the teeth when chewing bread, you should pay attention to the quality of the flour. Most likely, this ingredient was of poor quality, it contains sand, earthy parts or mineral impurities. Allowing such flour in production is strictly prohibited.
Foreign taste and smells
What is the reason for bakery products to have extraneous flavors and aromas unusual for them? Experienced bakers know the answer:
- The presence of impurities in the flour. For example, mustard, wormwood, weed grasses that have a bright smell and taste.
- Using low quality yeast.
- Use in the manufacture of bread spoiled eggs or dairy products.
- Use of rancid flour.
- Violation of the storage conditions of flour, which is used in the preparation of products.
Sometimes a malt flavor appears on the bread. Usually this problem occurs with non-brewed varieties, the cause of the bread defect is the use of frost or sprouted grain in the manufacture of flour. Violation of the dosage of salt leads to the fact that the finished product appears either under-salted or over-salted taste. Too acid is bread made from dough that has either fermented or not fermented. Another reason is a violation of the ratio of acetic and lactic acids.
The bitter taste is the result of using rancid fat. Of course, it must be replaced. It is important to adjust the storage conditions of this ingredient.
Yeast and Salt Defects
The main reason leading to defects in bread, bakers call the wrong dosage of yeast. Due to the fact that this ingredient is not enough, the crumb becomes dry and dense, the bread quickly hardens.
The bread has a sticky crumb, it has blurred, and its crust is dark? The cause of a bread defect is a lack of salt. An excess of it, in turn, leads to the fact that the bread is thick-walled, with large pores. In addition, the maturation of the dough is significantly slowed down.
Test humidity
Considering the defects of bread and the causes of their occurrence, it is worth talking separately about such a characteristic of the test as humidity. High humidity causes the bread to melt and the crumb to jam. In addition, the energy value of the product is reduced. In turn, reduced humidity causes the density and dryness of the crumb. Such bread stale very quickly.
Bread crumble
Such a defect of bread (in the photo below) is often encountered by both housewives, baking products in bread machines, and experienced bakers. Among the factors leading to such a flaw, experts distinguish the following:
- low humidity test;
- too sharp decrease in temperature during baking;
- excessively intense kneading;
- draft;
- insufficient dough fermentation time.
The reason may be reduced baking properties of flour used in the manufacture of dough. For example, low quality of the product, lack of gluten, too low ability to retain water. Either replace the flour or use products to improve the taste. The crumbiness of bakery products may increase due to the fact that the dough contains excess water.