Frontline Food Consultants and Engineers provide you with end to end consulting solutions for the preparation of the fermented biscuits. Starting from selecting and sourcing the finest flours, leavening agents, and natural aromas, to developing recipes that allow attaining the right structure and taste of a final product. The aim of our Fermentation Consulting Services is to provide you with a differentiated and commercial product. To improve the texture, flavor, and digestibility of the biscuits, we control the fermentation process to achieve homogeneity of batches.

Our services include Regulatory Compliance Guidance where we will guide you on whether your fermented biscuits are safe for consumption or not and Sustainability Consulting whereby we will assist you in incorporating environmentally friendly aspects in your acquisitions and production. Moreover, we also possess Packing Solutions so that biscuits maintain their freshness and have longer shelf life utility Our R & D takes extra effort to come up with new flavors in biscuits and new textures in sourdough biscuit production. Through careful sensory assessment as well as quality control standards you can be sure that your fermented biscuits will meet consumer expectations as far as taste, texture and quality is concerned.

What are Fermented Biscuits?

These biscuits have a hard texture which makes them dough biscuits, flaky, and crunchy, have fermented dough. Fermented biscuit processing involves the use of flour mixed with water and a leavening agent, usually natural yeast or a sourdough starter. It is then allowed to rise for a fixed time so that the yeast or bacteria for use in the preparation of dough metabolize the sugars in the flour, giving a unique taste as well as texture.

Subsequent to the fermentation process the dough is flattened and then cut into the necessary forms. Biscuits are then roasted at a consistent temperature so that they are done to a crisp outside while being soft from within. The level of fermenting can be changed so that the content can be made as strong or as mild as the manufacturer wants it to be, thus the batches can be different from each other.

Types of Fermentation in Biscuits

  • Sourdough in biscuits can be done by various procedures based on the use of natural leaven or commercial yeast. The primary types of fermentation include:
  • Lactic Acid Fermentation: It incorporates lactic acid bacteria commonly referred to as LAB, which include the Lactobacillus spp.
  • Ethanol Fermentation: The yeast list includes Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
  • Mixed Fermentation: Both bacteria and yeast are used for getting complicated taste sensations.

Production Process

The fermented biscuits production process can be broken into several important stages where a specific scientific process is used to determine the final quality of the end product. Here is a detailed look at these processes:

Selection of Raw Materials

  • Flour:
  • Type: This is followed by High-gluten flour (Wheat flour) since it involves its protein to enhance fermentation besides retaining the dough network.
  • Storage: Flour can be contaminated easily or get spoilt through getting moist so it should be stored in a cool dry place.
  • Other Ingredients:
  • Water: Distilled and chlorogenic to reduce the chance of bacteria and other things that may slow the fermentation process.
  • Salt: It has the function of deepening the taste of the beer food and at the same time regulating the activity of yeast.
  • Starter Cultures: Wild yeast (lactobacillus or levain) or baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lactic acid bacteria (LAB).

Starter culture preparation

Natural Sourdough Starter:

  • Ingredients: A batter of equal part some raw material such as flour and water.
  • Procedure: Stir and stand, at room temp (20-25°C) for 5-7 days; daily with new flour and water.
  • Commercial Yeast and LAB:
  • Yeast Activation: Hold the warm water at 35-38°C and wet your spoon with it, then dissolve the yeast and add a pinch of sugar and allow it to ferment for 5-10 minutes then become frothy.
  • LAB Preparation: New formulations of Commercial LAB cultures can be incorporated into the dough matrix.

Dough Preparation

Mixing:

  • Ingredients: Stir the flour with water to which add salt and the starter culture.
  • Procedure: Knead or stir well until you get a better consistency of the dough. The hydration level normally falls between 60-70% this represent the ratio of the water content to the flour content of the dough.

Fermentation:

  • Temperature and Time: It is advisable to allow the dough rise at room temperature, that is between 20-25 degrees for 4-6 hours. Starter cultures can also be performed at cold temperature (4-8°C) For a longer fermentation time of 12-24 hours for longer maturation for the better flavor.
  • Kneading and Folding: In fermentation process, fold the dough at intervals of 30 – 60 minutes in order to build more gluten and even concentration of yeast and bacteria.
  • Dough Shaping and Proofing

Shaping:

  • Procedure: In the process of fermentation form the biscuit into preferred shapes. The next step should see the dough rolled to a thickness of between 4 and 6 millimeter.
  • Proofing:
  • Temperature and Humidity: Preserve the shaped dough at a standard temperature (25-28°C) and at least a standard humidity (75-85%) for 1-2 hours.
  • Final Proofing: Make sure the dough has risen just right and that if you press your finger gently, it would rebound slightly.

Baking Process

  • Baking:
  • Oven Temperature: Bake at 180-200°C.[Found in the instructions on page 15 of the English source].
  • Baking Time: If using a conventional oven bake the biscuits for approximately 10-15 minutes switching the trays at the mid half cooking period.
  • Browning and Crispiness: To make sure the food takes on the desired color of golder brown color on the outside, and a crisp texture.

Cooling:

  • Procedure: Take the biscuits out of the oven and place them onto a cooling rack to cool right through. Failure to cool effectively makes the texture gain characteristics that are undesirable and equilibrates moisture content.
  • Health benefits and Nutritional Values