Blowing bubbles in dough to bake perfect yeast-free pizza
Dissolving gas into dough at high pressures can create ideal rise without yeast

Date:
March 22, 2022
Source:
American Institute of Physics
Summary:
Researchers have developed a method to leaven pizza dough without
yeast.

The team, which included its very own professional
pizza-maker/graduate student, prepared the dough by mixing water,
flour, and salt and placing it in a hot autoclave, an industrial
device designed to raise temperature and pressure. From there, the
process is like the one used to produce carbonation in soda. Gas
is dissolved into the dough at high pressure, and bubbles form in
the dough as pressure is released during baking.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In typical breads, yeast produces bubbles via a biochemical process,
causing dough to rise and develop into light, airy, and tasty
treats. Without that yeast, it is difficult to make morsels with the same characteristic taste and texture. The perfect, yeast-free pizza, as such
a food, presents an important challenge for bakers and yeast-intolerant
crust enthusiasts across the globe.


==========================================================================
In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the University
of Naples Federico II developed a method to leaven pizza dough without
yeast.

The team, which included its very own professional pizza-maker/graduate student, prepared the dough by mixing water, flour, and salt and placing
it in a hot autoclave, an industrial device designed to raise temperature
and pressure.

From there, the process is like the one used to produce carbonation
in soda.

Gas is dissolved into the dough at high pressure, and bubbles form in
the dough as pressure is released during baking. In comparison to other scientific experiments, the pressures involved were mild. They can be
obtained by a typical at-home coffee maker.

However, the scientists-turned-bakers had to be cautious with the pressure release. Compared to soda, pizza dough does not respond as nicely to an
abrupt change in pressure.

"The key to the process is to design the pressure release rate not to
stress the dough, which likes to expand gently," said author Ernesto
Di Maio.

The authors evaluated their dough with rheology, which measures the flow
and deformation of a material. Fine-tuning the pressure release through rheological analysis made it possible to gently inflate bubbles to the
desired extent.

"We mainly studied how dough behaves with and without yeast. How
the softness changes with leavening, and how the dough responds to a temperature program during baking," said author Rossana Pasquino. "This
was fundamental to designing the pressure protocol for the dough
without yeast." After many unofficial taste tests, the researchers
are purchasing a larger, food-grade autoclave that will make full-sized
pizzas in future experiments.

They hope to see their idea used in pizza shops.

"We had a lot of fun applying things we know well to delicious polymers, instead of our typical and sometimes boring smelly plastics," said
Pasquino.

"The idea of approaching food samples with the same technologies and
knowledge used for thermoplastic polymers was surprisingly successful!"
As a person with a yeast allergy, Di Maio is also excited about
applications for other leavened products like bread, cakes, and snacks.

"This new technology can drive the development of new products, new
dough formulations, and specific recipes for food intolerance, hopefully helping people enjoy healthy and tasty food," he said.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Institute_of_Physics. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Pietro Renato Avallone, Paolo Iaccarino, Nino Grizzuti, Rossana
Pasquino,
Ernesto Di Maio. Rheology-driven design of pizza gas
foaming. Physics of Fluids, 2022; 34 (3): 033109 DOI:
10.1063/5.0081038 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220322111338.htm

--- up 3 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 51 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)