Hydration capacity. By hydration capacity is meant the swelling of
the gluten in water, whatever the mechanism by which it is brought about,
whether by absorption or other means. Gortner and Doherty have reported
that a strong gluten has a faster rate of hydration, or imbibition as they
express it, and also a higher maximum hydration capacity than a weak
gluten.
Distribution of water in dough. Alsberg in "Starch and Flour Quality"
states that in bread dough about 50 per cent of the water is bound moisture
or water of hydration incapable of serving as a solvent for other substances.
The starch holds approximately half of this bound water, the gluten the
remainder. Starch at room temperature can absorb about 30 per cent of its
weight of water, whereas gluten may absorb 200 per cent of its weight. But
starch constitutes so great a percentage of the flour that as a result the
quantity of water it binds is nearly as great as that bound by gluten. The
remaining 50 per cent of the water in bread dough, which may serve as a
solvent for other substances and form steam, cannot be separated readily
from the dough by mechanical means. It is held in the interstices of the
dough by surface and mechanical forces.
The proportion of water added. The proportion of water added also
affects the character of the dough and baked product. If too little water is
added the maximum cohesiveness and elasticity of the gluten is not at-
tained.
Water-binding capacity of flour, dough, and bread. Kuhlmann and
Golossowa found that the water-binding capacity of the flours they tested
was in the following order : Soya, rye, corn maize, durum wheat, soft wheat,
and potato. No complete parallelism existed between the protein content of
the flours and their water-binding capacity. Rye starch had a water-binding
capacity of 78 to 80 per cent, whereas that of wheat starch was 40 to 42
per cent. A direct relationship was found between the water-absorbing
capacity of the flour and its water-binding capacity.
The water-binding capacity of bread doughs was about the same as flour,
but a sharp increase occurred in bound water during baking so that a dough
with a water-binding capacity of 60 per cent changed to about 85 per cent
in hot bread.
Kuhlmann and Golossowa found that the factors which increased the
water-binding capacity of the dough decreased moisture loss in baking and
in drying out or aging of the bread after baking. Both the method of making
the dough and materials used influenced the water-binding capacity. Doughs
made by a straight-dough method bound more water than those made by
the sponge method. When the flour for the sponge method was scalded, the
420 FLOUR AND BREAD
water-binding capacity was markedly increased over dough or bread made
by the sponge method without scalding and slightly higher than dough made
by the straight-dough method. The addition of maltose and buttermilk
increased the water-binding capacity of the doughs and bread.
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Hydration capacity. By hydration capacity is meant the swelling of
the gluten in water, whatever the mechanism by which it is brought about,
whether by absorption or other means. Gortner and Doherty have reported
that a strong gluten has a faster rate of hydration, or imbibition as they
express it, and also a higher maximum hydration capacity than a weak
gluten.
Distribution of water in dough. Alsberg in "Starch and Flour Quality"
states that in bread dough about 50 per cent of the water is bound moisture
or water of hydration incapable of serving as a solvent for other substances.
The starch holds approximately half of this bound water, the gluten the
remainder. Starch at room temperature can absorb about 30 per cent of its
weight of water, whereas gluten may absorb 200 per cent of its weight. But
starch constitutes so great a percentage of the flour that as a result the
quantity of water it binds is nearly as great as that bound by gluten. The
remaining 50 per cent of the water in bread dough, which may serve as a
solvent for other substances and form steam, cannot be separated readily
from the dough by mechanical means. It is held in the interstices of the
dough by surface and mechanical forces.
The proportion of water added. The proportion of water added also
affects the character of the dough and baked product. If too little water is
added the maximum cohesiveness and elasticity of the gluten is not at-
tained.
Water-binding capacity of flour, dough, and bread. Kuhlmann and
Golossowa found that the water-binding capacity of the flours they tested
was in the following order : Soya, rye, corn maize, durum wheat, soft wheat,
and potato. No complete parallelism existed between the protein content of
the flours and their water-binding capacity. Rye starch had a water-binding
capacity of 78 to 80 per cent, whereas that of wheat starch was 40 to 42
per cent. A direct relationship was found between the water-absorbing
capacity of the flour and its water-binding capacity.
The water-binding capacity of bread doughs was about the same as flour,
but a sharp increase occurred in bound water during baking so that a dough
with a water-binding capacity of 60 per cent changed to about 85 per cent
in hot bread.
Kuhlmann and Golossowa found that the factors which increased the
water-binding capacity of the dough decreased moisture loss in baking and
in drying out or aging of the bread after baking. Both the method of making
the dough and materials used influenced the water-binding capacity. Doughs
made by a straight-dough method bound more water than those made by
the sponge method. When the flour for the sponge method was scalded, the
420 FLOUR AND BREAD
water-binding capacity was markedly increased over dough or bread made
by the sponge method without scalding and slightly higher than dough made
by the straight-dough method. The addition of maltose and buttermilk
increased the water-binding capacity of the doughs and bread.