You have a product, and it’s pretty great. But just how great is it? Or better yet, what is its quality? Defining the quality of baked goods can be difficult unless you’re using tests and benchmarks to quantify it.
How can you do this?
- Baking tests such as gassing power, gas retention, mixing tolerance/stability, and water absorption
- Assessment of loaf volume, texture and crumb grain structure of finished products
- Small production runs to adjust formulation and processing
- Sensory evaluation of baked goods
Dig deeper into baking quality
Assessing and testing quality often starts before your final product. A big part of defining baking quality is looking at what your flour can do.
What’s the quality and quantity of gluten forming proteins, and how does that impact final quality? For example, artisan and white pan bread need a flour with a higher protein content, so they can have the proper extensibility and machinability.