Cereal, Pulse and Oilseed Processing; Bakery and Confectionery
Cereal, Pulse and Oilseed Processing; Bakery and Confectionery
This domain tests milling, flour quality, dough, extrusion, dal milling, oil extraction and sugar confectionery.
Core rules
- Wheat: milling separates bran, germ and endosperm. Gluten forms from glutenin and gliadin with water and work; it gives bread structure.
- Bread: yeast ferments sugars to CO2 and ethanol; steam and gas expand dough; baking sets starch and protein. Baker's percent is based on flour = 100%.
- Biscuits: short dough uses fat to limit gluten; bread needs stronger gluten.
- Rice/pulses: milling removes husk and bran; over-milling loses vitamins. Dal milling splits pulses with minimal breakage.
- Oilseeds: mechanical pressing or solvent extraction removes oil; refining removes gums, free fatty acids, colour and odour; hydrogenation hardens fat.
- Confectionery: sugar cookery stages depend on concentration; crystallization is controlled by glucose syrup, temperature and agitation.
Worked example
A bread formula uses flour 100%, water 60%, yeast 2%, salt 2%. For 50 kg flour: water = 0.60 × 50 = 30 kg; yeast = 1 kg; salt = 1 kg; total dough is about 82 kg. If the baker treats percentages as percentages of total dough, water will be too low and the dough will be stiff.
Traps
Baker's percent is not total-dough percent; more kneading does not always improve bread; gluten-free products need structure-building ingredients; overheated sugar syrup can crystallize or burn.