Effect of part-baking time, freezing rate and storage time on part-baked bread quality
Jesús Enrique Gerardo‐Rodríguez, Benjamin Ramírez‐Wong, Patricia Isabel Torres‐Chávez, Ana Irene Ledesma‐Osuna, Elizabeth Carvajal‐Millán, Jaime López‐Cervántes, María Irene Silvas‐García
Abstract
In the baking industry, different processes and methods of freezing have been used for breadmaking to preserve a quality comparable to that of fresh bread. In this study, the effect of part-baking time, freezing rate, and frozen storage time on part-baked French bread quality was determined. The bread was part-baked for 0, 3 and 6 min, frozen at slow (0.15 °C/min) and fast (1.75 °C/min) freezing rates, stored under freezing conditions for up to 56 days and thawed every 14 days. Part-baked bread was rebaked, and the SV and firmness at 2, 24 and 48 h were obtained. An experiment with a factorial design of 3×2×5 (3 part-baking time, 2 freezing rates and 5 frozen storage times) with analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a confidence level of 95% was carried out. The highest SV was obtained at 6 min of part-baking at a slow freezing rate and decreased as the frozen storage time increased. In contrast, TPA showed that bread firmness increases when the specific volume decreases, and the highest firmness is at 0 min of part-baked time. Relatively long part-baking times allow for firm crumb formation with limited damage to the structure and therefore bread with optimal quality.