Crackers
Crackers tend
to be perceived quite differently; however in essence it is like a puff pastry
or croissant product, but with a ‘poorer’ formulation: less fat and/ or sugar.
However that’s also where the commonality stops: it has become a categorie of
its own, where nowadays deposited, extruded and even rotary moulded variations
are an option.
If we look
at crackers we have 3 categories we could distinguish:
Fermented:
o
Laminated
without filling (e.g. soda cracker)
o
Laminated
with filling (e.g. cream cracker)
Non
fermented:
o
Lamination
without fat (e.g. water cracker/ Matzos)
o
Laminated
with fat (e.g. puff pastry)
Enzyme
modified
o
Laminated
(e.g. Ritz, Tuc)
o
Not
laminated (e.g. Haust cups
The
characteristics are here that we are working with a developed dough, that is we
are intentially developing a gluten network structure. The fermented crackers
traditionally work with long fermentation times and a so-called sponge-dough
methode. From a lamination strategy they are often made on a vertical laminator
in stead of a horizontal one and targeting about 6-8 layers (without the fat/
filling), on a horizontal laminator one could go for a full Turn (Dutch or
French or combining them) to replicate. Enzyme modified is used as in several
countries the SMS (Sodium Metabisulfate) is not allowed anymore; the target is
to relax the formed gluten network in order to get that crunchy, creamy but not
brittle textures. Layering is about the same as in the fermented crackers.
Laminated cracker without fat are often quite poor in formulation: only Flour,
water and salt. The level of water is only that much that a decent structure can be obtained but only
by lamination, the benefit is that in the end the baking time is short and
temperatures can be high.
Important
in all crackers are the docking holes: this facilitates a quicker release of
water during baking and aids therefore in getting the texture right. Of equal
importance is the barrier that is applied directly after baking: an oil spray
to prevent/ delay moisture migration in time causing checking and too quick
retrogradation.
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