Canadian short process bread: Potassium bromate response of flour streams and divide flours milled from Canadian red spring wheat

Abstract

Mill streams and divide flours from a pilot-scale milling of commercially grown No. 1 Canada Western Red Spring wheat were baked by a short (no bulk fermentation) baking procedure at various levels of potassium bromate. The quality of bread produced, measured in terms of loaf volume, loaf volume per unit protein and overall bread score showed a wide range of response to potassium bromate level. Household patent flour and the highly refined reduction flours exhibited relatively little baking response to increasing bromate levels, achieving optimum baking performance between 0 and 50 ppm. The least refined reduction flours required higher bromate levels (80–120 ppm) to achieve maximum response, and also demonstrated a greater relative response than the more refined reduction flours. Baker's patent flour and the most refined break flours responded very strongly to bromate, and required higher levels (100–150 ppm) to attain full response. Poorly refined break flours exhibited the highest bromate requirement (225 ppm). Straight-grade flours of 62, 75 and 79% extraction exhibited very little difference in bromate requirements. It appears that stream selection has limited potential as a means of reducing the bromate requirement of bakery flour prepared from Canada Western Red Spring wheat. Key words: Red spring wheat, milling, baking quality, bread, mill streams, bromate response