HK1102099B - Method of producing frozen dough, and related products - Google Patents

Description

Method for producing frozen dough and related product

Technical Field

The present invention relates to leavened yeast containing dough compositions, including unrisen "leavened" or "yeast leavened dough compositions," including unrisen dough compositions, that are or can be frozen, stored, thawed, then leavened and cooked, as well as related packaged dough products and related methods.

Background

Leavened baked dough products have been prepared for centuries with yeast leavening agents. Dough ingredients, such as flour, water, and optionally fat (e.g., oil), flavoring agents (e.g., salt or sweetener), are combined with yeast to form dough pieces. The dough is allowed to stand for a period of time (typically at room temperature) to allow the yeast to produce carbon dioxide. In this step, known as "proofing", the carbon dioxide bubbles expand and ferment the dough to produce lighter ("leavened") raw products and baked dough products. In addition to carbon dioxide and leavened dough, leavening yeast also produces a pleasant aroma, flavor and texture of the baked dough product, which is often accompanied by freshly baked bread leavened by yeast. Thus, yeast leavened dough compositions have been used for centuries to provide the desired taste and flavor of freshly baked dough products.

In the past, the preparation and baking of dough would not involve a freezing step. However, frozen dough is highly preferred by bakeries and individual consumers in modern times because frozen dough can be conveniently prepared, stored under refrigeration, and then thawed and cooked (e.g., baked) at a convenient time.

It would be desirable for frozen dough to produce a cooked dough product having properties comparable to cooked dough products that have been prepared and cooked without freezing. In practice, however, it is a great challenge to produce a dough that can be frozen for a long period of time (e.g., more than 1 to 2 weeks for dough that has been leavened prior to freezing, and 3 to 6 months for dough that has not been leavened prior to freezing) and then cooked to achieve the same properties as dough that has not been refrigerated. This is particularly true for dough that has been treated to allow yeast fermentation prior to freezing.

Yeast leavened dough that has been frozen for a period of time may exhibit reduced stability (shelf life) because the leavening properties and baking quality of the dough may deteriorate after several weeks of refrigeration. The deteriorated leavening properties and baking quality may mean extended proofing time, defective dough texture, or no proofing at all, any of which may be due to a combination of yeast related problems and physical damage to the gluten network structure of the dough.

Factors that may be related to the shelf life of the frozen, unrisen dough product may include yeast viability and maintenance of yeast activity by refrigeration. The unrisen dough product must contain yeast that is sufficiently active and intact to metabolize and produce carbon dioxide to leaven the dough during dough freezing and thawing. Yeast cells are living organisms that are susceptible to damage during freezing or cold storage. Damaged yeast cells may lose the ability to produce carbon dioxide and to ferment (leaven) the dough composition. In particular, it has been observed that yeast can be damaged if the yeast cells become activated in the process before freezing, which means that the yeast has metabolized the ingredients of the dough to produce carbon dioxide, i.e., the dough has been fermented. Moreover, fermentation prior to freezing is desirable to achieve desirable organoleptic properties of flavor, aroma, and texture. Thus, there is a need to achieve the desired organoleptic qualities in frozen unrisen dough using yeast leavening prior to freezing, and to some extent also to achieve extended shelf life of the frozen dough and good dough quality upon thawing of the dough.

Summary of The Invention

The present invention relates to yeast leavened doughs prepared to include dry yeast that can exhibit desirable organoleptic properties (one or more desirable flavor, aroma, and texture properties) and can exhibit desirable shelf life when stored under non-leavened conditions. The desired organoleptic properties are important to consumer acceptance of the frozen dough product. Extended shelf life is always desirable for consumer acceptance and commercial success.

The desired organoleptic properties can be achieved by allowing the yeast to become activated in the dough and leaven in the dough before freezing the dough. For example, many commercial bread doughs include a fermentation step in their production process for up to 24 hours, e.g., 3 hours for some white bread dough products. However, one disadvantage of allowing yeast to become activated prior to freezing is that activated yeast becomes more vulnerable during refrigeration, which can shorten the shelf life of the resulting dough product by reducing the level of metabolic activity that the yeast can achieve upon thawing, which reduces the ability of the yeast to become activated, leavened and fermented after refrigeration. The more active the yeast becomes before freezing, the more susceptible the yeast is to such adverse effects. Thus, it has previously been taught that limiting yeast activity prior to freezing can improve the performance of yeast in frozen, unripened dough by increasing the ability of the yeast to leaven the dough when thawed. However, there is still a counter motivation to activate yeast prior to freezing to produce desirable organoleptic properties.

According to the present invention, an amount of yeast (sometimes referred to herein as "early stage" yeast) is combined with other dough ingredients and allowed to ferment and cause the dough composition to develop a desired flavor, aroma, or texture. Some, e.g., a large amount of early yeast is "hydrated" at the time of addition, or hydrated during processing. The yeast becomes activated and fermented in the dough composition, producing a yeast-fermented dough composition having desirable organoleptic properties.

An additional portion of yeast (sometimes referred to herein as "later stage" or "late stage" yeast) is also added to the dough or dough ingredients in the form of a dry yeast ingredient. Late stage dry yeast is added to the dough composition at a time that prevents at least a portion of the dry yeast from becoming hydrated prior to freezing; that is, at least a portion of the late stage dry yeast is non-hydrated when the dough composition is frozen. As a result, the dough of the present invention includes a certain amount of non-hydrated yeast when frozen. The yeast is not yet hydrated and is therefore not susceptible to damage upon freezing as when the yeast cells are hydrated and active. The non-hydrated yeast, when thawed and prior to baking, can contribute to the desired leavening of the unrisen dough composition.

As used herein, the terms "hydrated" and "non-hydrated" when used in reference to yeast components or yeast cells are used in a manner consistent with the meaning of those terms as they relate to in the yeast and dough preparation arts. For example, non-hydrated yeast includes yeast in the form of dry yeast ingredients, as is known in the art of dough and bread making (e.g., yeast ingredients having a moisture content of less than 10% by weight). Non-hydrated yeast also includes dry yeast ingredients that have been added to the dough composition and are not hydrated.

Some dry yeast ingredients are dry powdered materials that contain identifiable "particles" of agglomerated dry yeast cells, each particle consisting of thousands of dry yeast cells. Examples of such particles have a diameter of 100 microns or more. To become hydrated, the individual yeast cells must absorb water, which can occur by the yeast cells separating from the particles and dispersing into the dough composition, for example, by mixing the dough ingredients by a method that distributes the individual yeast cells away from the particles and throughout the dough composition. Alternatively, the yeast particles can become hydrated even if they are not broken down into individual cells by mixing, if they absorb enough water over time to hydrate the individual cells of the particles. The non-hydrated yeast in the dough composition can be in the form of a dry yeast component comprising particles of yeast cells, wherein individual yeast cells of the particles have not become fully dispersed in the dough composition, but at least partially remain in identifiable particulate form, and wherein the particles have not absorbed water, such that a substantial amount (e.g., at least 50% or more) of the yeast cells of the particles become hydrated and active.

The yeast cells and yeast particles can be seen by microscopic analysis of the dough composition, which is used to observe whether the yeast components or yeast cells are in a dispersed or particulate form. Particles of yeast cells that can be seen in the dough composition (cells in which the particles have not absorbed water to hydrate the particles) include non-hydrated yeast cells. Yeast cells that can be seen in the dough composition as agglomerated yeast cell particles in which the particles have been exposed to water for a period of time to allow the yeast cells of the particles to absorb water to become hydrated (e.g., for at least one hour) include hydrated yeast cells. Yeast cells that are seen in the dough in a non-particulate form (e.g., by high speed mixing off particles to disperse individual yeast cells throughout the dough composition) become hydrated when exposed to the dough composition within a short time, e.g., a short time after separation from the yeast component particles.

According to the present invention, the addition of dry yeast to the dough composition in preparation, and the prevention of an amount of said dry yeast from becoming hydrated before the dough composition is frozen, can prevent damage to the yeast cells that may occur during freezing or refrigeration. Thus, in accordance with the description of the invention and the discussion of non-hydrated and hydrated yeast components and yeast cells, the methods of the invention can involve adding dry yeast to the dough composition during preparation of the dough-e.g., in the form of a yeast component comprising particles of dry yeast cells. Dry yeast can be added at a late stage of preparation and the dough composition can be frozen before the yeast has sufficient time to become hydrated and the yeast is not exposed to conditions, such as an amount of mixing, that will cause the particles of yeast cells to break down and cause the individual yeast cells to become dispersed and hydrated. A certain amount of individual cells of late stage dry yeast must become hydrated. Compared to similarly leavened, unrisen dough that does not include late addition of dry yeast, there are still enough individual cells to remain unhydrated to affect the leavening properties of the frozen dough composition.

The unrisen yeast raised dough of the present invention may be prepared by a process comprising standard steps or techniques, such as processes known as raised dough (sponge), direct dough, or continuous dough preparation processes, as well as any of these or other processes involving the reprocessing or recycling of dough. The presence of an amount of leavening yeast in the dough can be accomplished, for example, by any effective method, such as by a resting or leavening step associated with the leavened dough process; by using a pre-leavening, resting or delaying step in the non-leavened dough (i.e., "direct dough") composition; or any method that involves the use of a reprocessed or reclaimed dough (e.g., by combining a fermented "reprocessed" dough with other dough ingredients or another dough composition).

According to certain particular embodiments of the methods and compositions of the present invention, one possible effect that has been found to occur may include useful and advantageous freeze stability and shelf life of frozen, unrisen, yeast raised dough products, including useful leavening properties after extended periods of refrigeration. According to certain embodiments of the present invention, an unrisen frozen dough composition, when refrigerated (e.g., -18 ℃ (0F)), can be stored for more than 2 weeks, more than 4 weeks, more than 6 weeks, even up to or in excess of 10, 20, 30, or 36 weeks, and still exhibit useful leavening properties, e.g., leavening to twice its original volume (after thawing) within a reasonable time at a leavening temperature of about 30 ℃ (86F) after thawing.

The term "frozen" as used herein when applied to a dough product refers to a dough product that is maintained at a temperature below the freezing point of water, regardless of whether all of the ingredients in the dough product are actually in frozen form. By way of example, the frozen dough product can be maintained at a temperature of-18 ℃ (0F) to-23 ℃ (-10F), e.g., can have an internal temperature equal to or less than about-12 ℃ (10F).

In this specification, unless otherwise indicated, all percentages are by total weight of the finished dough composition, except in the specific case where dough leavening dough is involved. Thus, weight percentages are generally based on the weight of the total dough composition including the flour.

In one aspect, the present invention relates to a method of producing unrisen frozen dough. The method comprises the following steps: preparing a yeast-containing dough comprising an early part of yeast, allowing at least some of the early part of yeast to ferment to form a yeast-leavened dough composition, adding dry yeast to the yeast-leavened dough composition, and freezing the yeast-leavened dough composition without leavening, and some of the added dry yeast being non-hydrated.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method of producing a frozen, unrisen dough composition. The method comprises the following steps: preparing a yeast-containing dough comprising an early part of yeast, allowing at least some of the early part of yeast to ferment to form a yeast-leavened dough composition, adding dry yeast to the yeast-leavened dough composition, and freezing the yeast-leavened dough composition without leavening.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a frozen, unrisen yeast leavened dough composition. The dough comprises flour, water, 0.5 to 5 wt% hydrated yeast ingredients, and 0.5 to 5 wt% non-hydrated dry yeast ingredients (based on the total weight of the frozen dough).

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating some exemplary steps of a method according to the present invention, including a mixing step and a step of adding dry yeast.

FIG. 2 is a graph of time to leaven (minutes) versus number of refrigerated weeks of dough composition.

Detailed Description

According to the present invention, a yeast leavened dough composition is prepared. "yeast leavened dough composition" (or "yeast leavened dough") refers to a dough composition that contains yeast and one or more other dough ingredients (e.g., at least yeast, water, and flour, or fermentable sugars) and has been exposed to conditions that allow the yeast to leaven to produce an amount of carbon dioxide and other metabolites that will produce at least some leavening effect on the dough and that, when the dough is thawed, leavened, and cooked (typically, but not necessarily, baked), result in desirable organoleptic properties such as taste, flavor, and texture. Yeast leavened dough is not "leavened" as is the case with "leavened" frozen dough, but is processed to allow the yeast to produce carbon dioxide to the extent that leavened, non-leavened or unbanded dough is characteristic, which can be further processed, frozen, thawed, then leavened and baked to a baked specific volume, which can be characteristic of other cooked (e.g., baked) non-leavened, yeast leavened dough products.

The processes useful for preparing yeast leavened dough in the context of the present invention can comprise a variety of known or conventional steps or techniques that can be used to produce the yeast leavened dough composition. These include techniques related to processes known as the sponge dough process, the direct dough process, the continuous process, and processes involving re-processing or recycling of dough. For example, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the yeast leavened dough composition may be provided by one or more of the following steps or techniques: leavening the dough containing yeast leavened dough (i.e., by the leavening process); partially (e.g., almost completely) processing and optionally cutting or assembling the leavened or non-leavened dough composition into a dough product (without freezing), and then removing the unused portion of the dough (re-worked dough), which can be leavened (i.e., by a re-working process) either before or after such removal; or by preparing and allowing to leaven at room temperature or at a cooled temperature (e.g., in a retarder) to yield a dough composition containing a non-leavened dough (direct dough) (i.e., a direct dough process). Any of these steps (as well as others) may result in a yeast-containing dough that has been subjected to processing conditions sufficient to allow yeast fermentation, resulting in a yeast-fermented dough composition.

Generally, the dough compositions according to the present invention may be prepared from ingredients known in the art of dough and bread making, which typically include flour, yeast, liquid components, such as oil or water, and optionally additional ingredients, such as shortening, salt, sweeteners, dairy products, egg products, processing aids, emulsifiers, particulates, dough conditioners, flavors, and the like.

Yeast included in the yeast leavened dough composition can be in the form of a yeast component that can be leavened to achieve the desired organoleptic properties as well as the desired raw specific volume and baked specific volume. The yeast typically used to prepare the yeast leavened dough composition may include several types of yeast ingredients, sometimes referred to as freshly ground yeast (also referred to as briquetting yeast or compressed yeast); yeast extract; dry yeast, such as instant dry yeast, dry active yeast, protected active dry yeast; frozen yeast; and combinations thereof.

Yeast ingredients such as these may differ in the amount of moisture they contain, which in turn may affect how much of a particular yeast ingredient will be used in combination with other ingredients to provide a dough composition according to the present invention. For example, some yeast ingredients have a high moisture content (e.g., greater than 60% by weight). These high moisture yeast components include those yeast components sometimes referred to as freshly ground yeast, briquette yeast and yeast extract.

Other yeast components may include lower amounts of moisture (e.g., less than 10% by weight), and include yeast components sometimes referred to as "dry" yeast components. Dry yeast ingredients are known in the baking and bread making art and are typically yeast that has been treated to remove some (but not necessarily all) of the moisture, wherein the treatment is performed in a manner that allows the yeast to become rehydrated and activated when rehydrated. The dry yeast component may typically include a relatively low amount of moisture, e.g., less than 10% by weight, e.g., 2 to 8% by weight. Examples of dry yeast ingredients include yeast ingredients known as active dry yeast and instant dry yeast.

The moisture content of the yeast component can affect the total amount of yeast component included in the dough composition. Freshly ground yeast, briquette yeast and compressed yeast may typically have a moisture content of about 70% moisture by total weight of the yeast ingredients. Yeast cream typically has a higher moisture content, and dry yeast ingredients such as dry active yeast typically have a lower moisture content, for example, typically about 7 or 8% moisture, based on the total weight of the yeast ingredients. Thus, due to the difference in moisture content, a different amount of dry yeast component (including a lower amount of water) will be required than a higher moisture content yeast component such as freshly ground yeast, briquette yeast or compressed yeast. (the term "yeast component" when used to describe the amount of yeast in a dough composition, for example, is used herein to refer to the yeast in a form that includes the moisture content of the yeast component).

According to the present invention, yeast can be combined with other ingredients to make a dough composition that can be leavened into a yeast leavened dough. The yeast may be of a type and in an amount sufficient to allow the dough to be processed to form a yeast leavened dough. Yeast that is included sufficiently early in the dough ingredients or yeast dough composition or precursor (e.g., a sponge, a pre-leavened dough portion, or a mixture at an early (e.g., first) stage) during processing to produce a yeast leavened dough composition may be referred to herein as "early yeast" or "early yeast portion"); at least a portion of the yeast will remain unhydrated prior to freezing and preserve the ability of late-stage yeast to activate after freezing, as compared to yeast added at a later time during processing.

The early yeast part can be any useful type of yeast or yeast component, and can be combined with other dough components in an amount to allow at least some early part yeast cells to ferment, resulting in desirable organoleptic properties in the cooked (e.g., baked) dough product; to achieve a desired raw specific volume prior to freezing; and possibly, but not necessarily, to some extent, to promote leavening of the dough after refrigeration and thawing, prior to baking. The yeast can be added to the dough composition by any useful method, such as by adding the yeast component to one or more of the other dough components, such as flour, water, yeast food, and the like, in any useful order or combination, and combining (e.g., mixing) to produce a raw dough composition for fermentation. Yeast may be added at a time relative to other processing steps (e.g., relative to a subsequent freezing step) to produce an amount of yeast leavening activity within the dough or dough ingredient mixture to produce a desired raw specific volume of the dough prior to freezing and to provide desired organoleptic properties when the dough is baked.

The early yeast portion can be added in dry (non-hydrated) or hydrated (e.g., high moisture yeast components). If dry, the early yeast becomes hydrated when contacted with water (separate from other dough ingredients) or with dough ingredients that include water. Alternatively, when the early yeast portion includes a high moisture yeast component, the yeast cells can be substantially fully hydrated when other dough components are added to form a leavened dough, a pre-leavened dough composition, or when other dough components are added to prepare any other form of dough composition. Early stage yeast, when contacted with a suitable fermented food or substrate, can begin fermentation and continue fermentation until deactivated, for example, by freezing.

The amount of yeast component used in the early yeast part to produce the yeast raised dough composition may be selected based on a variety of factors, such as the type of yeast component used (e.g., high or low moisture); the amount of fermentation desired prior to freezing (e.g., in terms of organoleptic properties or raw specific volume); timing of the fermentation step, for example, from 30 minutes to 3 hours to 12 hours or more; the amount, type, and timing of the processing that the dough will undergo after the addition of the early yeast part, such as whether the early yeast part is added to produce a leavened dough, the dough is reprocessed, or another type of leavened dough composition, and the time between the addition of the early yeast part and the freezing of the resulting dough composition; and so on.

Representative amounts of compressed yeast are 0.5 to 5 wt%, e.g., 1 to 3 wt%, based on the total weight of the complete dough composition. Other yeast components with similar moisture content can be used in these same ranges. Yeast components having different (higher or lower) moisture percentages may be used as the early yeast portion in higher or lower amounts (respectively), but still in amounts that will provide the same or similar amounts of yeast components (yeast cells) of the yeast component.

The dough, bread dough and frozen dough compositions of the present invention can generally be prepared from standard dough ingredients, such as the early yeast parts discussed above-water, flour and other ingredients in amounts useful for preparing dough compositions for freezing, thawing, leavening and cooking (e.g., baking). One example of a useful combination of different amounts of ingredients of the raw dough composition may include flour in an amount of about 30% to about 70% by weight of the total dough composition (e.g., 40-60% by weight flour), water in an amount of about 30% to about 40% by weight of the total dough composition, sugar or another sweetener in an amount of 2% to about 15% by weight of the total dough composition, and fat (shortening or oil) in an amount of 0 to 10% by weight of the total dough composition. As will be appreciated, other ingredients may be present, such as dough conditioners, flavouring agents and salts, as well as other well known ingredients, additives, preservatives.

The flour may be any suitable flour or combination of flours, including gluten-rich flours or a combination of gluten-rich and non-gluten flours, and combinations thereof. The one or more flours may be whole grain flour, flour with bran and/or germ removed, or a combination thereof.

The dough composition may also comprise one or more liquid components, such as water, milk, eggs, and oil, or any combination of these. Water may also be added during the treatment in the form of ice to control the dough temperature during the treatment; any such amount of water used is included in the amount of liquid component. The amount of liquid component included in any particular dough composition can depend on a variety of factors, including the desired moisture content of the dough composition. Typically, the liquid may be present in the dough composition in an amount of about 15% by weight to about 35% by weight, for example about 20% by weight to about 30% by weight.

The dough may optionally include an egg product, for example, for seasoning. Examples of egg products include fresh eggs, egg substitutes, egg powder products, frozen egg products, and the like. If used, the amount of egg product may be from about 0.1% by weight to about 35% by weight. Egg products may be dry in nature or in liquid form. If a liquid form of the egg product is used, the amount of the liquid component is adjusted to take into account the moisture content produced by the liquid egg product.

The dough may optionally include milk products, such as milk, buttermilk, or other milk products, in dry or liquid form. Alternatively, milk substitutes, such as soymilk, may be used. The milk product, if used, can comprise up to about 25% by weight of the dough composition, e.g., from about 1% to about 10% of the dough. If a dry dough product is used, it is not considered part of the liquid components described above; if a liquid form of the milk product is used, the amount of the other liquid components, if present, can be adjusted accordingly.

The dough may optionally include fat ingredients such as oils and shortenings. Examples of suitable oils include soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, and other vegetable oils. Examples of suitable shortenings include animal fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils. The amount of fat used may depend in large part on the particular type of dough composition being prepared, for example, bread, doughnuts, or doughnuts, rolls, or other pastry. Fat may generally be used in an amount of less than about 20%, typically less than about 10%, by total weight of the dough composition. If liquid oils are used as the fat, the amount of the other liquid components can be adjusted accordingly.

The dough may optionally include one or more natural or artificial, liquid or dry sweeteners. If a liquid sweetener is used, the amount of the other liquid components can be adjusted accordingly. Examples of suitable dry sweeteners include lactose, sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, the corresponding sugar alcohols, and mixtures thereof. Examples of suitable liquid sweeteners include high fructose corn syrup, malt, and hydrolyzed corn syrup. Typically, the dough composition comprises from about 2% by weight to about 15% by weight, for example, from about 5% by weight to about 10% by weight, of a sweetener.

The dough may further comprise additional flavouring agents, for example, salts, such as sodium chloride and/or potassium chloride; whey, malt, yeast extract, inactivated yeast, spices, vanilla, natural and artificial flavors; etc., as is known in the dough product art. The additional flavoring may typically comprise about 0.1% to about 10% by weight of the dough composition, for example, about 0.2 to about 5% by weight of the dough composition.

The dough may optionally include a suitable amount of particulates such as raisins, blackcurrants, fruit pieces, nuts, seeds, vegetable pieces, and the like.

The dough may also optionally include other additives, colorants, and processing aids, such as emulsifiers, including lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, polyglyceryl esters, and the like, e.g., diacetylated tartaric acid esters of monoglycerides (DATEM) and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (SSL), as is known.

In accordance with the present invention, the yeast-leavened dough composition is further processed to include dry yeast and then the dough composition is frozen while at least some of the dry yeast remains unhydrated. Since at least a portion of the dry yeast does not become hydrated and therefore not activated (before freezing), that portion of the dry yeast does not become weak when frozen or in cases where the yeast would be more susceptible to damage during refrigeration. Thus, this portion of dry yeast becomes more active after thawing and may exhibit better activity, including better leavening properties when the dough is thawed for leavening prior to baking.

The portion of the total amount of dry yeast added to the dough composition that does not become hydrated may be that amount which will result in the desired leavening properties upon freezing, preservation and thawing. Some of the yeast included in the dry yeast component may become hydrated prior to freezing. The percentage of the dough that will become hydrated will depend on a number of factors, such as the amount of time and mixing between the addition of the dry yeast ingredients and the placing of the dough composition at freezing temperatures, the form of the dry yeast, and the like. In some embodiments of the invention, the amount of total late stage dry yeast that does not become hydrated during the pre-freeze treatment may be more than half of the total amount of late stage dry yeast added to the dough composition, e.g., greater than 50% of the total amount of late stage dry yeast, e.g., greater than 70 or 80% of the weight of the late stage dry yeast.

The dough composition of the present invention may be added as a dry yeast component of late dry yeast, e.g., the amount of active dry yeast or instant dry yeast may be an amount that, in combination with the other ingredients and timing of the processing steps, allows at least a portion of the dry yeast to remain unhydrated when the dough composition is frozen (e.g., the dough is placed at a freezing or sub-freezing temperature) so as to provide the desired dough properties when thawed. Typical representative amounts of dry yeast ingredients (including about 7% moisture by weight) can be included in the dough composition in the range of 0.5 to 5% by weight based on the total formulation (total weight of the dough composition), for example, 1 to 3% by weight of dry yeast based on the total formulation.

Dry yeast can be added to the yeast-leavened dough composition by placing the dry yeast in the yeast-leavened dough composition for any one or more of the processing steps for additional processing as desired and freezing while at least a portion of the dry yeast becomes hydrated. For example, dry yeast or dry yeast ingredients can be combined with the dough composition or dough ingredients by any of a variety of steps or techniques, including mixing, overlapping, folding, layering, or combinations of these. Generally, short mixing times at low speed and low shear can be used to distribute at least the dry yeast throughout the dough, if not necessarily, to produce a uniform distribution.

One factor in incorporating dry yeast into a yeast leavened dough without at least a portion of the dry yeast being hydrated can be the specific composition and form of the dry yeast. In some embodiments, the late stage dry yeast may be added in the form of a dry yeast component comprising dry yeast particles. This dry yeast component can be mixed into the dough composition with a mixer at low speed to cause the yeast to distribute throughout the dough. The timing and mixing speed will be such that at least a portion of the individual yeast cells are maintained in particulate form and not distributed throughout the dough composition as the cells become hydrated as individual yeast cells. In some even more particular embodiments, the dry yeast can be added late in the process, such as after most or all of the other ingredients are added to the dough composition, and can be incorporated into the dough by mixing at low speed for a relatively short period of time, e.g., up to 5 minutes, up to 3 minutes, or up to 1 minute.

Still, it relates to the use of dry yeast ingredients containing particles that, even without mixing to detach the yeast cells from the particles, can typically become hydrated by the particles absorbing water after the particles are exposed to other aqueous ingredients of the dough composition at standard processing temperatures. Thus, even if little or no mixing is used to incorporate the dry yeast ingredient particles into the dough composition, dough compositions according to the present invention that include the dry yeast ingredient particles can be frozen for a time that allows at least a portion of the yeast cells in those particles to remain non-hydrated, for example, by initiating refrigeration within 1 hour, or within 30 minutes or 15 minutes, from the addition of the dry yeast ingredient.

The following is a description of some specific embodiments of the present invention that include combining dry yeast with a yeast leavened dough composition prepared by a variety of methods, including a leavened dough method, a direct dough method, and a rework method.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a yeast leavened dough composition can be prepared using a leavened dough process. Generally, a bread dough composition may be prepared, allowed to bread, and additional dough ingredients may be added. The dry yeast component may be added to the sponge or dough composition prepared from the sponge. For example, a sponge dough may be prepared by combining a composition comprising yeast, water, a portion of the flour weight, and a leavened food product such as sucrose. These ingredients may be combined (e.g., mixed) and then placed so that the yeast is sometimes fermented and produces carbon dioxide. The resting period for the sponge may be the amount of time that the sponge is allowed to rise to the desired raw specific volume. An exemplary amount of time that may be used, for example, to allow the leavened dough to leaven at room temperature may be from 30 minutes to 12 hours (the leavened dough composition may be referred to as a yeast leavened dough composition). After the sponge is leavened, the remaining flour, some additional water, and a small amount of dry ingredients may then be mixed into the leavened sponge to form a dough composition that may be further processed. According to the present invention, dry yeast may be added to the yeast leavened dough leaven or a dough composition prepared from the yeast leavened dough leaven and the resulting dough composition may be frozen while at least a portion of the yeast of the dry yeast ingredients remains dry and non-hydrated.

Another example of dough compositions for producing yeast leavening can be those processes known as direct dough processes. The direct dough process may include steps that may include mixing most or all of the flour, secondary dry ingredients, water, leavened food, and early yeast portion, which may be a high moisture yeast ingredient. The ingredients may be mixed and the dough may be allowed to stand or delayed (e.g., at room temperature or refrigerated conditions) if desired to allow yeast fermentation. The amount of time for the resting or retarding step may be such as to allow for the desired leavening and raw specific volume properties and may depend on the temperature at which the dough is resting or retarded. When at rest or delayed and subsequently leavened, such dough compositions are referred to as yeast leavened dough compositions as used herein. Also according to the invention, dry yeast may be added to the yeast leavened dough composition and the dough composition is frozen, while at least a portion of the yeast of the dry yeast component is non-hydrated.

Other methods may be similarly used to prepare yeast leavened dough compositions and frozen dough compositions as described herein. Other examples include processes involving post-processing recycling of dough compositions for producing dough pieces for packaging or other uses. In particular, the dough composition may be processed by cutting to produce dough pieces (before, during, or after becoming leavened), with portions of the dough being cut off as small pieces. These cut portions or pieces may be referred to as "reprocessed" dough and may be combined with other dough compositions or dough ingredients, for example, for recycling to reduce waste. Such reprocessed dough can be leavened due to the time it takes to treat the dough from its ingredients until cutting, or allowed to stand and leaven for a certain amount of time after being cut and removed from the larger dough portion during processing, thereby becoming a yeast leavened dough composition. Dough composition compositions in the form of yeast leavened dough compositions can have a desired raw specific volume as described herein and can be combined with other dough or dough ingredients, including dry yeast. According to some embodiments of the invention, late stage dry yeast may be added to the yeast leavened dough composition and the dough may be frozen while at least a portion of the yeast of the dry yeast ingredients is non-hydrated, e.g., within 1 hour or 30 minutes of addition to the dry yeast.

Another process that can be used according to the present invention to prepare a yeast leavened dough composition is a continuous process. By way of example, a yeast leavened dough composition can be prepared by continuously combining and mixing ingredients, including yeast slurry, water, leavened food, sugar, flour, and optionally other remaining dough ingredients, and allowing yeast leavening of the slurry. The yeast fermented slurry may be combined with any remaining dough ingredients as well as the dry yeast according to the invention. Such yeast leavened dough compositions can be frozen after addition of the dry yeast, while at least a portion of the yeast of the dry yeast component is non-hydrated, such as within 1 hour or 30 minutes of addition to the dry yeast.

Once the dough composition is prepared by combining the late stage dry yeast ingredients with the yeast leavened dough composition, the resulting dough composition can be further processed to the desired size and shape according to known methods of forming dough compositions, followed by one or more additional steps such as packaging, freezing, thawing, leavening (after thawing), and cooking. As is known, a variety of techniques may be used for processing. For example, processing the dough composition may include one or more of sheeting, extruding, splitting, and rounding, among others; cutting into desired size and shape; folding; filling (optionally), and the like.

The dough composition prepared as described can be assembled into any of a variety of shapes and products, if desired. Methods for shaping, shaping or cutting sheeted dough compositions are well known. The shape and size of the product may depend on the type of dough product being prepared, as well as other factors, such as the dough composition, e.g., whether it is light and/or sweet, like doughnuts, or heavy, like pretzels or doughnuts, whether it is to be heated (e.g., in an oven), and the like.

Dough compositions, e.g., dough pieces, may be frozen (before or after other steps such as packaging) by exposure to refrigeration temperatures. Freezing the dough composition can be accomplished by known methods, such as by subjecting the dough composition to a freezing or sub-freezing temperature. The freezing step may be at a typical freezing temperature, such as-12, -18, or-23 ℃ (10, 0, or-10F), and may optionally include the use of a blast refrigerator, if desired. For refrigeration or distribution, i.e., temperatures less than 0 ℃ (32F), exemplary storage temperatures can range from about-29 ℃ (-20F) to about-7 ℃ (20F), e.g., from about-23 ℃ (-10F) to about-12 ℃ (10F). The storage temperature may vary throughout the storage time. During refrigeration, a certain amount of non-hydrated yeast may become hydrated, but this hydration may occur slowly enough during refrigeration until the desired leavening properties upon freeze stability, shelf life, and thawing are achieved.

In accordance with the present invention, the dough composition is not treated to include a proofing step prior to freezing, but rather can be frozen at a desired raw specific volume, for example, a raw specific volume in the range of 0.9 to 1.3 cubic centimeters per gram (cc/g), or 1 to 1.2 cc/g.

The dough composition prepared as described may be packaged by any desired method and using any desired packaging material. The package need not be closed, but may be closed to prevent moisture loss. It is not necessary to package the composition to maintain the dough composition under an altered atmosphere, such as an atmosphere comprising artificially high concentrations of one or more of nitrogen or carbon dioxide as compared to ambient atmosphere, although such altered atmosphere packaging can be used if desired.

The frozen dough composition may be preserved, then thawed, leavened, and cooked as desired. For example, the frozen dough composition may be removed from refrigeration and thawed at refrigeration temperature or room temperature for any desired period of time. During thawing, yeast cells that are non-hydrated when frozen will become hydrated by the thawed liquid water or the thawed dough composition. These yeast cells become hydrated and actively produce carbon dioxide, which helps to expand the thawed dough composition.

Some embodiments of the present invention may exhibit excellent refrigeration stability and excellent hair properties after refrigeration and thawing. For example, certain dough compositions of the present invention can be refrigerated, e.g., at a temperature of about-12 ℃ (10F), for up to or more than 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, or greater than 10, 20, 30, or 36 weeks. Such dough compositions can expand to an unprocessed specific volume within a realistic amount of time that is at least 2 times the unprocessed specific volume of the unexpanded (e.g., frozen) dough composition (e.g., unprocessed specific volume is 1.8 to 2.6 cc/g). Once thawed, exemplary open times for freezing of the present invention may be, for example, less than 120 minutes, e.g., in the range of 15 minutes to 90 minutes after thawing. Exemplary raw specific volumes of the dough composition for leavening can range from about 1.5 to about 3cc/g, typically from about 1.8 to about 2.6 cc/g.

Also according to some embodiments of the invention, the thawed and swollen dough can be cooked (e.g., baked) to exhibit a good baked specific volume. Exemplary Baked Specific Volumes (BSV) of the baked dough compositions of the present invention can range from about 2.8cc/g to 4cc/g or more, typically from about 3cc/g to 4 cc/g.

The dough composition may be cooked by conventional methods, such as by oven baking. Exemplary cooking temperatures are about 163 ℃ (325F) to about 204 ℃ (400F) for baking and about 177 ℃ (350F) to about 204 ℃ (400F) for frying. The dough may be baked in any type of oven, such as a conventional oven, a convection oven, or an impingement oven.

The present invention can be applied to a variety of dough products, from sweet bread rolls to any other yeast leavened finished dough product, such as bread (pan bread, french baguette, lunch bun, pizza, and sweet rolls, and other dough products.

The above embodiments of the present methods and compositions are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present invention.

Examples

Fig. 2 compares the leavening properties of a representative unrisen, frozen, yeast leavened dough composition of the present invention with leavening properties of an unrisen similar dough and leavening properties of a leavened dough composition not prepared according to the present invention.

The leavening properties of an unrisen frozen dough ("No Ferm") are leavening properties of a dough that is not allowed to leaven prior to freezing (the dough composition does not contain a significant amount of leavened yeast and is not a "yeast leavened" dough composition). Non-leavened frozen doughs generally have a greater shelf life (see "Ferm" below) than yeast leavened dough compositions because unfermented (and non-hydrated) yeast are less damaged during freezing and refrigeration than hydrated and leavened yeast. The graph in fig. 2 shows that the shelf life of the frozen dough can be preserved at-18 ℃ (0F) for at least 36 weeks.

The leavened frozen dough ("Ferm") leavening property is the leavening property of a dough containing yeast that is allowed to leaven prior to freezing (the dough composition contains a significant amount of leavened yeast and is a "yeast leavened" dough composition). As reflected in fig. 2, the yeast leavened frozen dough showed a significantly shorter shelf life than the non-leavened dough composition.

The leaven-ADY sample illustrates the leavening properties of the dough compositions of the present invention. This sample includes an amount of yeast added in an early stage process, which ferments (by treating in the same manner as the Ferm sample), and additionally includes active dry yeast ("ADY") added at some time during the treatment, which prevents at least some of the dry yeast from becoming hydrated prior to refrigeration. The graph shows that the Ferm-ADY sample shows almost the same shelf life as the non-Ferm sample even though it was fermented in the same way as the Ferm sample. The data in FIG. 2 are the average of three independent experiments, all performed at-18 deg.C (0F) for over 37 weeks.

Briefly, the dough comprises the following ingredients:

ingredient% (Total formula)

Dough

Flour 56.6

Shortening 2.0

Sucrose 2.0

Salt 1.0

Dough conditioner 0.4

Pre-fermentation

34.0 parts of water

Compressed yeast 2.0

Sucrose 1.0

Dry Yeast (late stage) 1.0

General description of the invention 100.0

A fermented dough was prepared and frozen (for non-fermented samples) and fermented (for fermented products for 100 minutes). For the Ferm-ADY sample, ADY was added to the leavened dough with low speed stirring at the third stage of ingredients (see fig. 1):

stage 1 ═ mixed liquor fermentation, water and dry ingredients were retained (1 min, low speed). .

Shortening was added at 2 nd and mixed for 1 minute at low speed.

ADY was added and mixed at low speed for 1 minute for 3 days.

The dough composition was cut into 100g samples, packaged in plastic bags and frozen overnight at-23 ℃ (-10F). Samples were stored at-18 deg.C (0F) for the remainder of the experiment.

Figure 2 depicts the time for dough leavening (which initially doubles in volume) as a function of the time for which the frozen dough was stored at-18 c (0F). The three samples represent the following:

1) the "Ferm-free" samples represent how dough is usually frozen. "No Ferm" means that the dough is not allowed to rise before freezing. This is typically the practice in frozen dough production because it maximizes shelf life, which is generally limited by the gradual increase in time required for dough expansion prior to baking.

2) The second sample, "Ferm", indicates that the leavened dough may exhibit a shortened shelf life prior to freezing, limited by an unacceptably long leavening time. The fermentation here is in the form of a fermented dough, which is fermented at room temperature for 100 minutes.

3) The "Ferm + ADY" sample is dough leavened with Active Dry Yeast (ADY) added at the final mixing stage as explained. The fermentation was exactly the same as in the "Ferm" sample.

The samples were analyzed for their ability to generate gas and to swell the dough as follows. The samples were thawed in a plastic container in a refrigerator at 1 deg.C (34F) overnight. The samples were then analyzed using a Risograph (30-32 deg.C. (86-90F)). Gas collection was terminated when 150cc of gas was produced. The headspace in the risogrph jar was then measured by the rapeseed method. The data were used to calculate the time for dough expansion and volume doubling.

Claims (13)

1. A method of producing an unrisen frozen dough, the method comprising

Preparing a yeast-containing dough composition comprising an early part of yeast,

allowing at least some of the early part yeast to ferment to form a yeast-leavened dough composition,

adding dry yeast to the yeast-leavened dough composition,

the yeast leavened dough composition is frozen without leavening and some of the added dry yeast remains unhydrated to form the frozen dough composition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of adding dry yeast to the yeast-leavened dough composition comprises mixing dry yeast cell particles into the yeast-leavened dough composition, wherein a mixing time and a mixing speed are used that allow the dry yeast cell particles to remain after mixing, and

wherein the step of freezing the yeast leavened dough composition comprises freezing the dough within 1 hour from the mixing of the dry yeast cell particles.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of adding dry yeast to the yeast-leavened dough composition comprises adding dry yeast to the yeast-leavened dough composition in an amount of from 0.5 to 5 weight percent dry yeast based on the total weight of the frozen dough composition,

wherein the step of adding dry yeast to the yeast-leavened dough composition comprises mixing dry yeast cell particles into the yeast-leavened dough composition using a mixing time and a mixing speed that allow the dry yeast cell particles to remain after mixing, and

wherein the step of freezing the yeast-leavened dough composition comprises freezing the dough composition within 1 hour from the start of the dry yeast addition.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the dry yeast added to the yeast leavened dough composition is in the form of a dry yeast component containing less than 10% moisture by weight.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising

Thawing the frozen dough composition, and

the thawed dough is leavened to at least 2 times its frozen volume in 15 to 120 minutes.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising

Will comprise:

the amount of water is controlled by the amount of water,

the flour is prepared from (by weight parts),

preparing a yeast-containing dough by combining 0.5 to 5 wt% of an early yeast ingredient, based on the total amount of dough, allowing early yeast fermentation to produce a yeast-fermented dough composition,

adding to the yeast leavened dough composition 0.5 to 5 wt% of a late stage dry yeast ingredient based on the total weight of the yeast leavened dough composition.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing a yeast-containing dough comprises combining dough ingredients by mixing, the dough ingredients comprising,

the flour is prepared from (by weight parts),

the amount of water is controlled by the amount of water,

up to 10 wt% fat, based on the total weight of the dough containing yeast, and

0.5 to 5 wt% of high moisture yeast, wherein the step of adding dry yeast to the yeast leavened dough composition comprises adding 0.5 to 5 wt% dry yeast to the yeast leavened dough composition, the dry yeast comprising yeast cell particles,

wherein the step of adding dry yeast to the yeast-leavened dough composition comprises mixing the dry yeast into the yeast-leavened dough composition using a mixing time and a mixing speed that allow retention of the particles after mixing, and

wherein the step of freezing the yeast-leavened dough composition comprises freezing the dough within 1 hour after adding the dry yeast.

8. A frozen, non-leavened, yeast raised dough composition prepared by the process of claim 1 comprising

The flour is prepared from (by weight parts),

the amount of water is controlled by the amount of water,

0.5 to 5 wt% of a hydrated yeast component based on the total weight of the frozen dough, and

5 to 5 wt% of a non-hydrated dry yeast component.

9. The dough composition of claim 8, wherein the frozen dough composition has an unprocessed specific volume of 0.9 to 1.3 cc/g.

10. The dough of claim 9, wherein the frozen dough can be thawed and the thawed dough composition can be made by leavening at a temperature of 30 ℃ (86F) to a dough volume of 2 times the thawed volume in 15 to 120 minutes.

11. The dough of claim 10, wherein the thawed dough can be baked to a baked specific volume of 2.5 to 4 cc/g.

12. The dough of claim 8, comprising 1 to 3 wt% of the non-hydrated dry yeast ingredient based on the total weight of the frozen dough.