We often read food labels without understanding what those complicated food additive codes stand for. Are they good? Are they bad? What is their function? Does it have any ill-effects? One of the most common food additive used in bread making is Improver 1100. You must have read it innumerable times, but never given a thought about what does it exactly do? Let’s learn about bread improver 1100.
Improver 1100, is also known as bread-improver. It is another type of food additive that is used to activate the gluten in any food product. Improver 1100 is vegetarian and used for the bread-making process. It breaks down the starch and raises the bread mixture. A bread improver increases the strength and workability of the dough. Other names of Improver 1100 are dough improver, flour treatment agents, and enzymes 1100. Soft, spongy, and fluffy bread is a result of this excellent food additive.
Table of Contents
Essential Elements Of Improver 1100
Bread improver is a perfect combination of several other ingredients that help in bread making. Many raw and manufactured ingredients combine in equal proportions to make an ideal food additive. The five essential elements of Improver 1100 are –
- Reducing agents that help in restructuring the gluten.
- Enzymes like amylase utilized for generating fermentable sugars that feed the yeast.
- Volume adds to the mixture with the use of oxidants, thus ensuring gas retention.
- Emulsifiers are also used to merge gluten for maximising tolerance.
- Other elements comprise of bean flour and malt.
Also Read: 7 Common Food Additives And What They Bring To Your Table
Why Add Improver 1100?
Using bread improver as a food additive enhances dough tolerance. While it’s going through various manufacturing stages, this helps the bakers to get a dough with perfect consistency, which further helps to create the best quality breads. As a result, end-users get the best quality standardised product for final consumption.
Improver 1100 can effect various dough properties. It increases the handling and strength of dough. Another use is to stabilize the fermentation process and also enhance its gas retention ability.
There are two main reasons to introduce Improver 1100 by bakers –
There are two things bakers cannot control during the baking process without the use of bread improver. First is the quality of the flour, which is not at all in the hands of a baker. Adding improver brings stability to the production process and also boosts bread quality.
The shelf life of wheat starch is a second problem. Once the bread is out of oven, its shelf life might start decreasing, resulting in a hard and rough base. But after adding an improver, it retains the softness and can remain the same for a much longer period.
Also Read: Seven Additives You Don’t Need To Worry About
Role of Improver 1100 in the production process
This food additive can enhance dough stability and help in the fermentation process. It supports heating expansion and the increasing volume of the product. Internal texture can also improve with this agent.
Also Read: Preservative 202 and Its Importance
Advanced Benefits Of Adding Improver 1100 By Bakers
- Expands the volume – Bread improver is helpful in binding up of gluten protein. Thus making it further compact and create extra gas with yeast fermentation. As a result, the dough expands without any cracks forming a smooth structure for bread.
- Darken bread’s surface color- Improver 1100 is very helpful in hydrolyzing starch into small molecule starches. Reduced protein and sugar quantities can cause a reaction of color change on heating.
- Stabilizes dough structure- Along with softness, retaining a processable structure is also very important. While fermentation, it builds volume in the bread, thus ensuring quality throughout the baking process.
- Ensures that dough does not stick to machine – It is imperative that during the process, the dough should not get sticky and lumpy. If it does, you cannot get a specific shape for your breads.
- Make sure that the inner structure of bread is good – Accelerating gluten to reach all pores makes the bread very soft. Improver 1100 utilizes the emulsification and oxidation process. It gives an off-white color to the bread.
- Shelf life – This is a massive advantage of this food additive. They enhance the shelf life of bread and retains its edibility for a longer time.
- Soft bread tissues – Can anyone buy a bread that is not soft? Improver 1100 creates softness in bread and makes them tasty and edible.
Conclusion
If the bread is prepared using Improver 1100, here are certain qualities that you will find in bread. Soft and spongy bread with a better shelf life. Bread will be smooth, even, and darker in color at sides while soft and white on the inside. These characteristics are available only after using the best quality Improver 1100.
You have studied above the various aspects of Improver 1100. And how is it beneficial in baking bread? This can help you to understand one fact. The softness and soluble texture of your favorite bread or bun are due to this food additive. Thus, use it accordingly for perfect results.