FR2691046A1 - Pre-cooking of bakery products at 100 per cent humidity - producing products with no crust which can be handled and frozen until final cooking - Google Patents

Abstract

Loaves of bread or biscuits are pre-cooked, before their final cooking, in an atmos. of 100% humidity around the loaves. The surface temperature of the loaves during the pre-cooking is 75-100 deg.C. Cooking time is within 20% of the time defined by the relation T = m/3.85, where T is cooking time in minutes, and m is the mass of each load in grams. USE/ADVANTAGE - Products pre-cooked by this method have no surface crust or skin, while their internal structure is almost definitive. The process can be used with loaves of bread of all sizes, shapes and weights and other bakers products risen with yeast, such as croissants, brioches etc. and products risen with baking powder, such as cakes, and other products such as turnovers with no raising agents. The pre-cooked products are soft and can be handled without damage. The surface is not likely to crack as in existing methods. Pre-cooked products can be frozen for several days or months without impairing the appearance, flavour or smell of the final product.

Description

PROCESS FOR PRE-BAKING BAKERY PRODUCTS
OR COOKIES SUCH AS BREAD AND PRECUITS
THUS OBTAINED
The invention relates to a process for precooking bakery or biscuit products such as bread, as well as the precooked products obtained according to this process.

 Traditionally, the production of a bread (250 g) is carried out by baking in ovens at temperatures of the order of 150 to 2400 for periods of the order of 20 to 30 minutes. A brief injection of steam is generally carried out at the start of baking in order to moisten the surface of the bread and delay the formation of the crust; baking then continues in a dry atmosphere to allow satisfactory formation of the crust on the surface of the bread.

 In the 1980s new manufacturing processes appeared with the objective of simplifying and rationalizing the work of the baker. To this end, these processes pre-bake the bread on an industrial site to lead to a pre-baked bread which can be preserved, in particular by deep-freezing. This is then used by the baker who performs the final baking: this way of operating frees the baker from all the dough preparation operations (kneading, shaping, rounding).

 The present invention relates to a new pre-baking process intended to provide the baker with a pre-baked bread which then leads to a bread of excellent quality.

 The pre-cooking processes currently used consist in fact of generally resuming traditional cooking systems, but by limiting the duration or the temperature of cooking so as not to reach the final product. These methods include an injection of steam at the start of precooking, as is the case in traditional cooking, reference may be made, for example, to patent FR 2,589,044 which describes such precooking.

 However, in these known precooking methods, a more or less fine crust forms on the surface of the precooked bread and the latter, very fragile, tends to come off during the following operations (storage, handling, preservation, freezing or baking final). These locally detached portions give the bread an irregular surface with fragments which fall into the oven: the final bread is thus of poor quality and this defect represents a factor limiting the development of this type of process this is even more accentuated for the bread says "French" which does not contain fat.

 It should be noted that patent FR 2,405,652 attempts to avoid the formation of a crust on the surface of pre-baked bread by limiting the cooking time to a very short duration (15 seconds to 5 minutes) and admitting it into the oven. water vapor, this with temperatures from 600 to 275 C. However, on the one hand, a thin, very fragile outer film is nevertheless formed with the risks of detachment mentioned above; on the other hand, this baking is insufficient to "structure" the bread internally (that is to make it capable of deformation without breaking): this bread can not be handled, and stored and preserved for long periods, and the durations final baking are much more important than in the case of conventional pre-baked breads.

 The present invention proposes to provide a new process for precooking bakery or cookie products, in particular French bread, which eliminates the defects of the above-mentioned precooked breads.

 The invention aims to produce a pre-baked bread completely devoid of surface crust and internally structured almost definitively, so as to have great flexibility making it capable of elastic deformation in order to withstand without damage all subsequent operations and in particular a very long frozen storage. The invention thus aims to create a precooked bread having no structural discontinuity between the interior and the crust.

 To this end, the present invention relates to a process for precooking bakery or biscuit products with a view to manufacturing precooked products intended to undergo a final baking, characterized in that it consists in heating the dough pieces to a surface temperature between 75 C and 1050 C for a duration T defined to within 20% by the relation T = m / 3.85, where T is expressed in minutes and m represents the mass of each dough piece in grams, the atmosphere being, throughout duration of precooking, saturated with humidity at the periphery of the dough pieces.

 Thus, for a loaf of 250 g (the most common on the French market), the corresponding dough is baked in an oven whose temperature is preferably around 1000 C and in an atmosphere saturated with humidity, for one time T equal to 250 i 3.85 ctest to say 64 min to the nearest 20%, therefore between 51 min and 77 min. In the example, the cooking time could be of the order of 60 min. This produces a precooked bread with no rind or skin, but whose internal structure is almost final. Such precooked bread has a much higher humidity level than known pre-cooked breads. It has no color and keeps all of its aromas.

 Such precooked bread can withstand without damage freezing or deep freezing or any other treatment for storage for example.

 It will then undergo a very short final cooking which will give it its final appearance, its coloring, its taste, its aroma and its crispness.

 Such a precooking process applies to all bakery or cookie products and makes it possible to obtain various precooked products of excellent quality.

 The present invention also relates to a precooked bakery or biscuit product intended to undergo a final baking, characterized in that it has an external surface free of any crust or skin and an almost final internal structure.

 Other objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description which follows by way of nonlimiting example.

 The method according to the invention described in example relates to a precooking of bakery products for freezing or deep freezing, then for storage. A final cooking is then carried out to obtain the final product. The example in question describes more particularly the precooking of a bread, known as French bread, of 250 g.

 Initially, the elements constituting the dough, that is to say essentially the flour, water and yeasts are mixed and kneaded.

 The dough is then divided and weighed to form dough pieces of around 250 g. Each dough piece is then balled, relaxed (put to rest) and shaped.

 Then, each of the dough pieces is placed on fillets, then fermented in ovens so that the dough rises.

 Up to this point, the doughs thus raised do not differ from those made by the traditional method for immediate complete cooking.

 When the dough pieces have risen, the precooking method according to the invention is implemented. To do this, the dough pieces are placed in an oven in the presence of a continuous saturation of humidity, especially at their periphery.

The oven is heated so that the temperature on the surface of the dough pieces is between 75 and 1050 C and preferably substantially equal to 1000 C. This precooking is carried out so that its duration is of the order of 60 min for the dough pieces 250 g.

 The various experiments carried out have shown that the duration of the precooking is optimum when the following relationship is satisfied T = m / 3.85, where T is the cooking duration in minutes to plus or minus 20% and m the mass of each dough in grams.

 At the end of the precooking under the above-defined conditions, the dough pieces are taken out of the oven. These dough pieces then have no color and have no rind or skin. Their internal structure, on the other hand, is almost final. Their water content is much higher than known pre-baked breads.

 Indeed, the known methods of precooking cause a loss of water in the precooked product of the order of 10 to 15% of their weight. In the process of the invention, the water loss of the precooked product is much lower and is of the order of 0 to 8%.

 It will be noted that the precooking method according to the invention makes it possible to create a precooked bread having no heterogeneity of structure between the interior and its surface area. No dry crust or drier than the inside is formed.

 The precooked bread according to the invention thus has a very great flexibility, which makes it capable of elastic deformations in order to withstand without damage all the subsequent operations and in particular a very long preservation in freezing. The absence of skin or superficial crust prevents surface tearing which leads to poor quality of the final bread in conventional processes.

 The pre-baked breads are then packaged, frozen and stored. The duration of storage can range from a few days to several months.

 When the precooked bread is finally used, it undergoes a very rapid final baking, of the order of 5 to 25 minutes, in a traditional oven at a temperature of the order of 1900.

 A steam injection is carried out at the start of this final cooking. At the end of this baking, the bread comes out with a crisp crust, a beautiful color, the taste, the aroma and the appearance of traditional breads baked without pre-baking.

 It should be noted that it is notably thanks to the high water content of precooked bread and its almost final internal structure that the taste and aroma of the bread are preserved. Indeed, the retention of water inside the precooked bread also allows the retention of the arms of this bread until its final baking. The breads thus produced are of excellent quality.

 The method according to the invention applies to breads of all sizes, shapes and weights. This process can be applied to all bakery products, namely bread products leavened with yeast (croissants, brioches, regional leavened dough products, special breads, country breads, sandwich breads, pizza, etc.). .) as well as all sweet or savory doughs leavened using leavening powders or not (cakes, madeleines ...) and puff pastry type (turnovers ...) without the addition of leavening powder.

 As a variant, each dough piece is wrapped in an individual package before it is pre-cooked. The precooking is then carried out in this sealed packaging, in a traditional oven. The saturation in humidity at the periphery of the dough is then obtained by the water vapor released by the dough itself and retained inside the sealed packaging during precooking. In this particular mode of implementation, the duration of precooking is determined by the same formula as above. Preferably, the temperature inside the packaging is of the order of 80 to 990 C.

 When the precuissbn is finished, precooked products are obtained having the same characteristics as those indicated in the previous embodiment. The handling of products thus packaged is easy and hygienic. The same is true for transport, freezing or deep-freezing and storage. The precooked product is thus protected from contamination by its packaging. The sealed nature of this packaging also makes it possible to carry out real pasteurization during precooking.

 The packaging used can be of any type, and be able to withstand the temperatures used and to have a good seal against water vapor. The materials which can be used for such packaging are in particular polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, complex materials laminated or not, metallized prolypropylene, etc.

 Several pieces of dough can be placed in the same sealed package. The precooking process is then identical to that previously described. Here again, the saturation in humidity at the periphery of the dough pieces is obtained by sealing the packaging and by releasing moisture from the dough pieces themselves during the precooking.

 Of course, the present invention is not limited to the various embodiments described, and encompasses any variant within the reach of ordinary skill in the art.

In particular, the precooking ovens used can be traditional ovens with the introduction of steam, or ovens ...

Claims (5)

 1 / - Process for the precooking of bakery or biscuit products with a view to manufacturing precooked products intended to undergo a final baking, characterized in that it consists in heating dough pieces to a surface temperature between 750 C and 1050 C for a duration T defined at + 20% by the relation T = m / 3.85, where T is expressed in minutes and m represents the mass of each dough piece in grams, the atmosphere being, throughout the duration of the precooking, saturated humidity at the periphery of the dough pieces.  2 / - Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it consists in heating the dough pieces to a surface temperature of 90 to 1000 C for the predefined duration T.  3 / - Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it consists in saturating the periphery of the dough with humidity by placing them in an overheated steam oven.  - - Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it consists in saturating the periphery of the dough with humidity by placing them in a sealed package inside an oven, and in heating this oven so that the temperature prevailing inside the package is between 80 and 990, C.  5 / - Precooked bakery or biscuit product intended to undergo a final baking, characterized in that it has an external surface free of any crust or skin and an almost final internal structure.  6 / - Precooked bakery or cookie product according to claim 5, characterized in that during its precooking it has lost less than 8% of its water content.  7 / - Precooked product according to one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that it does not have any structural discontinuity between the interior and its surface area.