Methods Used in Monitoring and Controlling the Quality of Bread with Particular Reference to the Mechanical Dough Development Process

Abstract

The assessment of bread quality by bread consumers is highly subjective and is influenced by ethnic, cultural and personal preferences. The quality factors assessed and the standards applied may also vary with the type of bread being consumed. However in spite of these variables the ultimate measure of the quality of commercial breads must be the level of consumer satisfaction achieved by individual manufacturers. Where customers have a choice of brands and varieties, sales figures and changes in sales figures are indicators of consumer preferences and can be correlated with specific features of the finished product. The twofold challenge to bread bakers and cereal technologists is to translate consumer preferences as measured this way into objective measurable aspects of bread quality and to relate these measurements to processing factors which may be controlled so that bread with the most desirable consumer characteristics is produced. This chapter is concerned with monitoring and controlling the quality of bread made from wheaten flour by mechanical dough development (MDD) processes such as the Chorleywood bread process and variants of it. The authors personal experience has been in the development and use of the MDD process in New Zealand.