Organic food yeasts and baking powders

The shelves of supermarkets and hypermarkets are teeming with airy products such as ice creams, mousses, doughs and pastries.

To make pasta rise and give it a honeycomb structure, manufacturers have two categories of leavening additives at their disposal: biological yeasts (Saccharomyces, Candida, Torulopsis) and "chemical yeasts" (sodium bicarbonate, sodium acid pyrophosphate). The former perform post-cooking fermentation, while the latter release gas during cooking. The resulting products will have a certain lightness, making them pleasant to taste and easy to digest, but above all they will be more porous, making them easier to cook and partially dehydrate (lose water).

In many cases, baking will considerably increase the initial volume of the dough by accelerating the formation of carbon dioxide (rusk), by causing the dough to expand through the use of "baking powders" (madeleines), by dilating the air trapped in the egg white (boudoirs, macaroons, meringues...) or by vaporizing the water in the medium.

As dough expansion is orchestrated by leavening agents, it is necessary to make the right choice between the two categories of yeast: in biscuit-making (madeleines, gingerbread...) to obtain rapid, even baking and uniformity of shape and color, it is better to use chemical products. On the other hand, for bakery products (bread, rusks, brioches, etc.), natural ferments are more appropriate, in order to achieve marked porosity, significant expansion and enhanced palatability.

For a more complete review of the subject, please refer to the general works referenced [1] at [8] . and the more specialized articles published in Techniques de l'Ingénieur [4] at [14] .