Chorleywood Bread Process - Details

Details

The Chorleywood bread process allows the use of cheaper, lower-protein wheats and reduces 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 addition of ascorbic acid, solid vegetable fat, higher quantities of yeast, and intense mechanical working by high-speed mixers similar in operation to an industrial-strength food processor. 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. As with many food types, until a few years ago, lard or hydrogenated vegetable oils were widely used as the solid fat needed for Chorleywood bread, in spite of the health risks.

People often confuse the Chorleywood bread process with the process of industrialised bread production. The CBP is only a method of producing quick-ripened bread dough. Industrial-scale bread-making (automated shaping, proving, baking, cooling and wrapping of bread) pre-dates the CBP by several decades.

Flour, water, yeast, salt, fat, a chemical antioxidant such as ascorbic acid, and minor ingredients such as emulsifiers and enzymes are mechanically mixed for about three minutes. Emulsifiers and enzymes are neither essential nor exclusive to the CBP but are widely used in the recipe to increase softness and shelf life, particularly in soft bread varieties.

The high-shear mixing generates high temperatures in the dough, which is cooled in some advanced mixers using a cooling jacket. Chilled water or ice may also be used to counteract the temperature rise during high-speed mixing. Air pressure in the mixer headspace can be controlled to keep gas bubbles at the desired size and number. Typical operating regimes are pressure followed by vacuum, and atmospheric followed by vacuum. The pressure control during mixing affects the fineness of crumb texture in the finished bread.

In typical industrial bread-production, the dough is cut (divided) into individual pieces and allowed to "recover" for 5–8 minutes (intermediate proofing). Each piece of dough is then shaped (moulded), placed in a baking 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 17–25 minutes at 450°F (about 230°C). After baking, the loaves are removed from the baking tin (de-panning) and then go to the cooler, where, about two hours later, they are sliced and packaged and ready for despatch. In UK-standard bread, the dough piece is "cross-panned" at the moulding stage; this involves cutting the dough piece into four and turning each piece by 90° before placing it in the baking tin. Cross-panned bread appears to have a finer and whiter crumb texture than the elliptical shape of the crumb bubble structure is seen from a different orientation. Cross-panned bread is easier to slice.