Chemistry of Cooking

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 17.04.02

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Rationale
  3. The Evolution of Bread
  4. The Structure of Flour
  5. What is Yeast?
  6. Chemical Leaveners
  7. Maillard Reactions
  8. Breads
  9. Teaching Strategies
  10. Classroom Activities
  11. Endnotes
  12. Readings
  13. Appendix – Implementing District Standards

The Chemistry of Baking Bread

Carol P. Boynton

Published September 2017

Tools for this Unit:

Breads

Yeast

There are four steps to making yeast bread.  First mix together the flour, water, yeast and salt; then knead the mixture to develop the gluten network; give the yeast time to produce carbon dioxide and fill the dough with gas cells; and finally, bake the dough to set its structure and generate flavor. Italian bread yeast bread will be this unit’s example of a type of yeast bread, with the students discovering that the bread needs to be kneaded!

Quick Breads

Quick breads are appropriately named in two ways: they are quick to prepare, being leavened with rapid acting chemicals and mixed briefly to minimize gluten development; and they should be quickly eaten because they stale rapidly. A cornbread recipe from South Carolina will provide one example of how quick breads really are quick. What happens if the quick bread is not mixed briefly but instead, overmixed?

Unleavened

Breads that are made without yeast or any other chemical rising agent are considered unleavened.  This unit will use Indian chapatis to demonstrate this category of breads, the example used in the mentor text, Everybody Bakes Bread.

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