The dough strength is a property of

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

that enables it to withstand the

mechanical stress In continuum mechanics, stress is a physical quantity that describes forces present during deformation. For example, an object being pulled apart, such as a stretched elastic band, is subject to ''tensile'' stress and may undergo elongatio ...

of the

breadmaking Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

process through a balanced combination of

viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...

and elasticity. While the exact definitions of dough strength (also known as flour strength, baking strength, flour protein strength,

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 ...

strength) vary to the point that some researchers avoid using the term altogether for its lack of precision, generally the dough strength is considered to have three components: *

extensibility Extensibility is a software engineering and systems design principle that provides for future growth. Extensibility is a measure of the ability to extend a system and the level of effort required to implement the extension. Extensions can be t ...

allows the dough to be stretched and keep the new shape, so that the

bread rolls A bread roll is a small, oblong individual loaf of bread served as a meal accompaniment (eaten plain or with butter). Rolls can be served and eaten whole or are also commonly cut and filled – the result of doing so is considered a ''sandwich ...

and

loaves A loaf (: loaves) is a (usually) rounded or oblong quantity of food, typically and originally of bread. It is common to bake bread in a rectangular bread pan or loaf pan because some kinds of bread dough tend to collapse and spread out during ...

can be formed; * elasticity allows the dough to spring back after deformation.

Hearth breads The hearth bread (also known as rustic bread, artisan bread, sometimes "French bread") is a "freestanding" (made without a bread pan) loaf baked at high temperature (up to 500 °F, frequently using steam) that is both crusty and chewy. The hi ...

made of dough with little elasticity will go flat instead of baking up; * tenacity is the overall resistance of dough to stretching. High tenacity makes dough hard to work with during the

makeup Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created sy ...

. Typically the dough strength is measured with an alveograph ( W factor).

References

Sources

* * * * Flour {{food-stub