Fats and oils in bakery

Fats and oils in bakery. They are tremendously important for many of our products. Most of you will now that fats and oils come with some kind of melting curve, which shows how much of the fat or oil is solid at a certain temperature. But first of all, what is called a fat and what an oil? As a general rule: a fatty source that is liquid at room temperature we call an oil, one that is (semi-)solid we call a fat. That’s the simple part…

All fatty sources have a glycerol molecule that binds three (in theory) different fatty acids. Saturated, mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fatty acids. The longer a fatty acids chain is, the more heat stable it is. A saturated fatty acid is also more heat stable compared to his unsaturated version, where poly-unsatured fatty acids are the most liquid. By designing the position of the fatty acid the melting behaviour and thus taste and texture can be influenced. * Fatty acids * Glycerin.

Melting behaviour can be changed by blending with a fat that melts at different temperatures. The change in solid fat content depends on the fats that you use in the blend.

Different types of doughs need fat blends or margarines with specific characteristics. Interactions in the dough (gluten complex). Each fat (blend) contains a whole range of functions.

Need to know more about fats and oils in bakery. Take a course, or ask on of the bakery experts.

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