Dough Conditioners and How They Work

By KimberlyB

Ingredients

• to we hear that dough conditioners are “magical”. “My loaves are so much bigger and lighter now.” “My dough is so much easier to work with.” Can dough conditioners really be that good?
• .
• to And dough conditioners are easy to use: just add the dough conditioners with your flour.

Details

Adapted from preparedpantry.com

Preparation

Step 1

What should a good dough conditioner do?

A good dough conditioner creates an enhanced environment for the growth of yeast helping to make your breads and pastries more uniform and lighter. yeast prefers a slightly acidic environment for growth and a good dough conditioner will alter the pH of the dough.
A good dough conditioner will strengthen the gluten structure in the dough so that it stretches further with more elasticity. The enhanced gluten will allow the bread to rise further for a lighter loaf and make the bread “chewier”.
A good dough conditioner will encourage the development of gluten. Gluten is a combination of two proteins found in wheat flour, gliadin and glutenin. With a good dough conditioner, more of the protein will combine into gluten.
Some dough conditioners also retard staling and help your bread stay fresher longer.
Dough conditioners may also provide nutrients to feed the yeast.