Quality Of Biscuits In Baking

The quality aspects of bakery products such as biscuits are given high priority. There are various factors that affect the quality of biscuits such as flour quality, appropriate baking technique and the variety and ratio of ingredients.

Texture is an important element of biscuit quality. Texture of biscuits is described as a combined function of the size and shape of the crumb structure, the moisture content and gradients, and the internal stresses produced during baking and cooling (Gaines et al., 1992). Baking promotes dough structuring and dehydration and development of browning reaction that results in a finished product with porous crumb structure (Piazza and Masi, 1997). Recent development has enabled the use of instrumental techniques for measuring biscuit texture that are reproducible statistically. The two attributes that are measured for biscuits are hardness and crispness.

A desirable textural attribute of low moisture snack foods such as biscuits is crispiness. Crispiness is perceived through a combination of the noise created and the force needed to break down a product when biting. Upon application of relatively low force, the biscuit should produce a high pitched sound and break into pieces. The crispiness of low moisture foods is closely related to their water activity (aw). When the aw exceeds the critical water activity (awc), softening of the material is observed. The softening of the material is observed when the aw exceeds critical water activity.