The earliest chemical dough conditioners - bleaching agents - were introduced around 1900. Bakers noticed that the best products could not be made with freshly milled flour. In the 1950s, the first dough conditioners came on the market in the form of pastes and liquid preparations. Then, powdered versions followed shortly after. These allowed for easier dosing and accurate scaling.
Dough conditioner ingredients vary depending on the brand and blend. The components are determined by the results the brand is looking to provide.
Dough conditioners usually contain multiple individual ingredients for specific functions:
*Vital wheat gluten - improves the elasticity of the dough, improves volume, and enhances crumb texture of the bread
*Yeast nutrients- are inorganic salts that provide the much-needed phosphorus and nitrogen for yeast growth
*pH regulators are most commonly inorganic calcium salts - used to balance the acidity or alkalinity of the soft water used
*Oxidizing agents - include natural ascorbic acid and chemicals like potassium bromate. It strengthens the dough. This can lead to economies with shortened makeup times or by compensating for low protein in the flour.
*Emulsifiers(surfactants)include natural lecithin and a variety of “amphiphilic” chemicals. Emulsifiers, which strengthen the dough, give improved mixing and handling tolerance, increase loaf volume, improve mechanical slicing characteristics, and can retard staling.
*Fillers are used to standardize the strength of dough conditioners
*Reducing agents include L-cysteine and nonleavening yeast, which is a natural source of glutathione. It serve to encourage the development of gluten, thus shortening the mixing time and decreasing the amount of mixing energy that is needed.
*Enzymes - to speed up the reactions in the dough or to induce the reactions that do not take place naturally
Dough conditioners, also known as dough enhancers, dough strengtheners, and dough improvers, are additives in bread that work to help expedite the dough process and produce consistent results.
They prevent over-mixing of the dough, which results in irregular rising and unappealing shapes of the loaves.
Dough conditioners
