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Levain
In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An alternative or supplement to leavening agents is mechanical action by which air is incorporated (i.e. kneading). Leavening agents can be biological or synthetic chemical compounds. The gas produced is often carbon dioxide, or occasionally hydrogen. When a dough or batter is mixed, the starch in the flour and the water in the dough form a matrix (often supported further by proteins like gluten or polysaccharides, such as pentosans or xanthan gum). The starch then gelatinizes and sets, leaving gas bubbles that remain. Biological leavening agents * ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' producing carbon dioxide found in: ** baker's yeast ** Beer barm (unpasteurised—live yeast) ** ginger beer ** kefir ** sourdough starter * ''Clostridium perfringens' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sourdough
Sourdough is a type of bread that uses the fermentation by naturally occurring yeast and lactobacillus bacteria to raise the dough. In addition to leavening the bread, the fermentation process produces lactic acid, which gives the bread its distinctive sour taste and improves its keeping-qualities. History Sourdough is one of the most ancient forms of bread. It was the standard method of breadmaking for most of human history until the Middle Ages, when it was replaced by barm. Barm, in turn, was replaced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by industrially produced baker's yeast. The ''Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology'' states: "One of the oldest sourdough breads dates from 3700 BCE and was excavated in Switzerland, but the origin of sourdough fermentation likely relates to the origin of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent and Egypt several thousand years earlier", and "Bread production relied on the use of sourdough as a leavening agent for most of human history; the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gluten
Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain Cereal, cereal grains. The term ''gluten'' usually refers to the elastic network of a wheat grain's proteins, gliadin and glutenin primarily, that forms readily with the addition of water and often kneading in the case of bread dough. The types of grains that contain gluten include all species of wheat (common wheat, durum, spelt, Khorasan wheat, khorasan, emmer, and Einkorn wheat, einkorn), and barley, rye, and some cultivars of oat; moreover, cross hybrids of any of these cereal grains also contain gluten, e.g. triticale. Gluten makes up 75–85% of the total protein in Common wheat, bread wheat. Glutens, especially Triticeae glutens, have unique viscoelasticity, viscoelastic and Adhesion, adhesive properties, which give dough its elasticity, helping it Proofing (baking technique), rise and keep its shape and often leaving the final product with a chewy texture. These properties, and its relatively low cost, make gluten v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beer Barm
Barm, also called ale yeast, is the foam or scum formed on the top of a fermenting liquid, such as beer, wine, or feedstock for spirits or industrial ethanol distillation. It is used to leaven bread, or set up fermentation in a new batch of liquor. Barm, as a leaven, has also been made from ground millet combined with must out of wine-tubs and is sometimes used in English baking as a synonym for a natural leaven (sourdough). Reinhart derived the term from his training undeMonica Spiller Various cultures derived from barm, usually ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'', became ancestral to most forms of brewer's yeast and baker's yeast currently on the market. A barm cake is a soft, round, flattish bread roll from North West England, traditionally leavened with barm. In Ireland, barm is used in the traditional production of barmbrack, a fruited bread. Emptins, a homemade product similar to barm and usually made from hops or potatoes and the dregs of cider or ale casks, was a common leav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cooking
Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in various types of ovens, reflecting local conditions. Types of cooking also depend on the skill levels and training of the Cook (profession), cooks. Cooking is done both by people in their own dwellings and by professional cooks and chefs in restaurants and other food establishments. Preparing food with heat or fire is an activity unique to humans. Archeological evidence of cooking fires from at least 300,000 years ago exists, but some estimate that humans started cooking up to 2 million years ago. The expansion of agriculture, commerce, trade, and transportation between civilizations in different regions offered cooks many new ingredients. New inventions and technolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baker's Yeast
Baker's yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used in baking bread and other bakery products, serving as a leavening agent which causes the bread to rise (expand and become lighter and softer) by converting the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Baker's yeast is of the species ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'', and is the same species (but a different strain) as the kind commonly used in alcoholic fermentation, which is called brewer's yeast or the deactivated form nutritional yeast. Baker's yeast is also a single-cell microorganism found on and around the human body. The use of steamed or boiled potatoes, water from potato boiling, or sugar in a bread dough provides food for the growth of yeasts; however, too much sugar will dehydrate them. Yeast growth is inhibited by both salt and sugar, but more so by salt than sugar. Some sources say fats, such as butter and eggs, slow down yeast growth; others say the effect of fat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pearl Ash
Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.Potash , USGS 2008 Minerals Yearbook The name derives from ''pot ash'', plant ashes or soaked in water in a pot, the primary means of manufacturing potash before the Industrial Era. The word '''' is derived from ''potash''. Potash is produced worldwide in amounts exceeding 71.9 million |
Food Fermentation
In food processing, fermentation is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohol or organic acids using microorganisms—yeasts or bacteria—without an oxidizing agent being used in the reaction. Fermentation usually implies that the action of microorganisms is desired. The science of fermentation is known as zymology or zymurgy. The term "fermentation" sometimes refers specifically to the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol, producing alcoholic drinks such as wine, beer, and cider. However, similar processes take place in the leavening of bread (CO2 produced by yeast activity), and in the preservation of sour foods with the production of lactic acid, such as in sauerkraut and yogurt. Humans have an enzyme that gives us an enhanced ability to break down ethanol. Other widely consumed fermented foods include vinegar, olives, and cheese. More localized foods prepared by fermentation may also be based on beans, grain, vegetables, fruit, honey, dairy products, and fish. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cookie
A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil or fat. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts. Cookie texture varies from crisp and crunchy to soft and chewy, depending on the exact combination of ingredients and methods used to create them. People in the United States and Canada typically refer to all sweet biscuits as "cookies". People in most other English-speaking countries call crunchy cookies "biscuits" but may use the term "cookies" for chewier biscuits and for certain types, such as chocolate-chip cookies. Cookies are often served with beverages such as milk, coffee, or tea and sometimes dunked, which releases more flavour by dissolving the sugars, while also softening their texture. Factory-made cookies are sold in grocery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cake
Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies. The most common ingredients include flour, sugar, eggs, fat (such as butter, oil, or margarine), a liquid, and a leavening agent, such as baking soda or baking powder. Common additional ingredients include dried, candied, or fresh fruit, nuts, cocoa, and extracts such as vanilla, with numerous substitutions for the primary ingredients. Cakes can also be filled with fruit preserves, nuts, or dessert sauces (like custard, jelly, cooked fruit, whipped cream, or syrups), iced with buttercream or other icings, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders, or candied fruit. Cake is often served as a celebratory dish on ceremonial occasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quick Bread
Quick bread is any bread leavened with a chemical leavening agent rather than a biological one like Baker's yeast, yeast or Sourdough#Starter, sourdough starter. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared quickly and reliably, without requiring the time-consuming skilled labor and the climate control needed for traditional yeast breads. Quick breads include many cakes, Chocolate brownie, brownies and cookies—as well as banana bread, pumpkin bread, beer bread, biscuit (bread), biscuits, cornbread, muffins, pancakes, scones, and soda bread. History The term "quick bread" most likely originated in the United States at the end of the eighteenth century. However, the similar Bannock (British food), bannock was well known in Ireland, Scotland and northern England centuries earlier. Before the creation of quick bread, baked goods were leavened either with yeast or by mixing dough with Egg (food), eggs. "Fast bread" is an alternate name. The discovery or rediscovery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bicarbonate
In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate (IUPAC-recommended nomenclature: hydrogencarbonate) is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid. It is a polyatomic anion with the chemical formula . Bicarbonate serves a crucial biochemical role in the physiological pH buffering system. The term "bicarbonate" was coined in 1814 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. The name lives on as a trivial name. Chemical properties The bicarbonate ion (hydrogencarbonate ion) is an anion with the empirical formula and a molecular mass of 61.01 daltons; it consists of one central carbon atom surrounded by three oxygen atoms in a trigonal planar arrangement, with a hydrogen atom attached to one of the oxygens. It is isoelectronic with nitric acid (). The bicarbonate ion carries a negative one formal charge and is an amphiprotic species which has both acidic and basic properties. It is both the conjugate base of carbonic acid (); and the conjugate acid of , t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salt (chemistry)
In chemistry, a salt or ionic compound is a chemical compound consisting of an assembly of positively charged ions ( cations) and negatively charged ions ( anions), which results in a compound with no net electric charge (electrically neutral). The constituent ions are held together by electrostatic forces termed ionic bonds. The component ions in a salt can be either inorganic, such as chloride (Cl−), or organic, such as acetate (). Each ion can be either monatomic, such as sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl−) in sodium chloride, or polyatomic, such as ammonium () and carbonate () ions in ammonium carbonate. Salts containing basic ions hydroxide (OH−) or oxide (O2−) are classified as bases, such as sodium hydroxide and potassium oxide. Individual ions within a salt usually have multiple near neighbours, so they are not considered to be part of molecules, but instead part of a continuous three-dimensional network. Salts usually form crystalline structures ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
