Chorleywood bread process

The Chorleywood bread process is an industrial process used to lower the cost of bread production. The CBP, or no time method, was developed in 1961 by the British Baking Industries Research Association based at Chorleywood, and is now used to make 80% of the UK's bread. ^[1] Compared to the older bulk fermentation process, the CBP is able to use lower protein wheat, and produces bread at a much faster rate, with the disadvantage that the bread requires extra processing to enhance the flavour.^[2] The process had an important impact in the United Kingdom, as at the time, few domestic wheat varieties were of sufficient quality to make high quality bread products, and it therefore permitted a much greater proportion of low-protein domestic wheat to be used in the grist.^[3] Whereas this innovation benefitted UK agriculture in finding new, higher value markets for its products, some authors claim CBP products have reduced nutritional value.^[4][5]

The process

The aim of the Chorleywood bread process is to use cheaper, lower-protein wheats and to reduce processing time, the system being able to produce a loaf of bread from flour to sliced-and-packaged form in about three and a half hours. This is achieved through the use of chemical improvers, solid vegetable fat, higher quantities of yeast, and intense mechanical working by high-speed mixers to incorporate air into the dough. The last requirement means that the CBP cannot be reproduced in a domestic kitchen. Solid fat is necessary to prevent the risen loaf from collapsing — in traditional methods, this structure is provided by the gluten produced by higher-protein flour.

Flour, water, yeast, salt, fat, a chemical oxidiser such as ascorbic acid, and minor ingredients such as emulsifiers and enzymes are mechanically mixed for about three minutes. The high shear mixing generates high temperatures in the dough, which is cooled using a cooling jacket on the mixer, air pressure in the mixer headspace can be controlled so that gas bubbles of the desired size and number can be produced. Typical operating regimes are pressure followed by vacuum and atmospheric followed by vacuum.

The dough is cut into individual pieces and allowed to "recover" for 5-8 minutes. Each piece of dough is then shaped further, placed four to a tin and moved to the humidity- and temperature-controlled proofing chamber, where it sits for about 45-50 minutes. It is now ready to be baked. Baking takes 20-25 minutes at 400°F (about 200°C) and then the loaves go to the cooler, where, about two hours later, they are sliced, packaged and ready for despatch.^[6]

Worldwide

It is used in over 80 percent of factory-produced bread in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and India. Even many "speciality" and organic breads are produced this way. The CBP has been used in 28 countries worldwide, and has made inroads in France, Germany and Spain, with plans to introduce the system to China.^[6]

The CBP is only minimally used in the United States, largely due to the "strong" wheats grown in North America that do not require such intensive mixing. Bread made with these high quality flours can be made with other mixing types such as bar and spiral mixers.

Change in wheat

Since the introduction of the Chorleywood bread process, many UK domestic wheat varieties have been improved. Flour suitable for traditional high quality pan bread can now be sourced in the United Kingdom, although such flour attracts a significant milling premium. The CBP's use of cheaper wheat, to produce bread acceptable to the bulk of UK customers, means that the process is still used for 80% of UK bread production.

Bread additives

CBP processes may include the following additives, but these additives are not limited to CBP:

• Fat in the form of palm fat or oils, to soften the dough and bread and create a finer cell structure.
• Salt allows yeast to grow while reducing competitive bacterial growth, and affects the flavour.
• Esters of monoglycerides and diglycerides act as emulsifiers and anti-staling agents.
• Calcium propionate inhibits mould.
• Enzymatically active soy flour contains lipoxygenase enzyme that creates whiter crumb.
• Azodicarbonamide is a flour oxidizer, banned in EU, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, but permitted in the US.
• Ascorbic acid is the most common dough oxidising agent used in the EU, mainly for wholemeal and whole grain breads.
• Gluten provides texture. Added gluten augments the low gluten levels of cheap low-protein wheat.
• Starch enzymes and protein enzymes are used to rapidly break down wheat starches to sugars to feed the yeast and to "mellow" the gluten to allow for reduced mechanical mixing times. Enzymes are also engineered to survive baking temperatures and great variations in pH to impart antistaling and softening qualities to the finished products.

In many countries, enzymes and several other "improvers" are not required to be listed on ingredient labels, as they are considered to be consumed in the baking process. ^[6]).

Criticism

In the book Not on the Label: What Really Goes Into the Food on Your Plate, Felicity Lawrence claims that the industrial scale of the Chorleywood Bread Process comes at a nutritional cost, requiring larger amounts of salt and yeast than traditional bread recipes. However, salt levels in all types of bread have been reduced in recent years. ^[4] Andrew Whitley in his book Bread Matters: The State of Modern Bread and a Definitive Guide to Baking Your Own criticises the CBP for the inferior flavour and texture of the bread made in this way.^[5]

There is a small group of campaigners, under the name Doh Boy, who criticize the Chorleywood bread process. They wish to "raise awareness" of the disadvantages of this method.^[7]

Other processes

• Batch Mixing Bread Process, method currently used in US.
• Continuous Mixing Bread Process, popularized with Wonder Bread in the 1970s
• Aerated Bread Company An English bread company which operated from in 1862 to the 1980s, using carbon dioxide instead yeast

References

1. ^ “Chorleywood Bread Process,” Campden BRI. (Online training course application.) (Retrieved 2009-05-09.)
2. ^ Brennan, James (2006). Food Processing Handbook. Wiley-VCH. p. 239. ISBN 3527307192. 
3. ^ "The Federation of Bakers: the baking industry > history of bread > 20th century". http://www.bakersfederation.org.uk/20th_century.aspx. Retrieved 2007-07-20. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Lawrence, Felicity (2004). Not on the Label: What Really Goes Into the Food on Your Plate. Penguin. ISBN 978-0141015668. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Whitley, Andrew (2006). Bread Matters:The State of Modern Bread and a Definitive Guide to Baking Your Own. Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-0007203741. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Czapp, Katherine. “Against the Grain: The Case for Rejecting or Respecting the Staff of Life,” The Weston A. Price Foundation for Wise Traditions in Food, Farming, and the Healing Arts. 16 July 2006. (Retrieved 2009-05-09.)
7. ^ “Can A Toy Change The Way We Eat?” Howies Doh Boy, a Simple Lad. (Retrieved 2009-05-09.)

External links

• The Federation of Bakers