Dough Differences

[tyradenson]

Hello All You Professional Bakers! I have a question: We make an all natural scone dough, in mass quantities. Sometimes the dough is perfect, easy to roll, smooth, etc. Other times the dough is dry and difficult to roll. The recipe is exactly the same each time, the ingredients are also the same each time. Like I said, the product is all natural, so there are no stabilizers, etc. What would explain the difference in the dough from batch to batch? I can only tell them to "suck it up and roll" for so long. Oh, the resulting scone from either batch is the same (moist and fluffy).

[calblacksmith]

Just a guess here but how about the moisture in the air? It will change the amount of liquid in a recipe.

[RodinBangkok]

Tyra, as a home baker a couple things come to mind, but first and most important, how are you measuring your ingredients? Do you have a good digital scale, as you should be using weight, not measures. Are you using the same brand of flour all the time? Finally if you are using a pre mix, different brands of flour, or other ingredients, I would suggest you control your batches by either date code or container size for the mix. Then if you run into a new date code you may want to do a small test batch to find the correct moisture level for that particular lot of mix. If your doing mass quantities you will need to do some testing on each lot you receive if you know you are having uniformity problems. Control the input variables to your process carefully, and your output will go much smoother. Now let the bakers who do this daily give you their input....mine is more industrial than culinary....but IMHO still worth doing.

[CrazyHermit]

are you measuring your flour by volume or by wieght? Due to the the compressibility of flour, measuring by volume can lead to subtantial variations in the actual amount of flour you're getting into the mixer. That would be my best guess.. if you're already measuring by weight, I'm stumped..

[tyradenson]

We have our dry ingredients mixed in 10,000 lb lots. The lot numbers are all the same. Yes, we do weigh the dry ingredients and the wet. Oh no, if you're all stumped, what must I do?

[cobleliberty]

Humidity, moisture in the air makes a difference in the flour. High humidity less water, very low humidity more water. In turn it will make a hugh difference in the dough.

[ChezLeRecherche]

Temperature of everything the same every time?

[RodinBangkok]

Tyra, are you mixing in the same full quantities of each container your mix is delivered in? In other words if you get 50lb bags are you mixing that total quantity each time or splitting the container quantities to smaller batches? If you are splitting, perhaps there is a seperation of ingredients in your mix and by not using the entire bag or container, your formula is changing.

Try and find any variables that may be happening when the dough changes consistency, for example, time of day, crew, room temperature/humidity, person mixing the dough.

Also then perhaps ask your supplier about any substitutions he may be making such as flour supplier, etc.

As I mentioned earlier given your volumes you may need to test your batches, here is a link that describes a test that may give you some idea on how to test your formula for a given batch of mix:

http://www.heartlandmill.com/hearthbake.html

[tyradenson]

No, we do empty the 50# bags into a bin and then take our dry mix from there. But we do turn the bag upside down and dump it, this may mix it somewhat. There are no problems with it, except for the dryness, maybe in some batches.


Same person mixes all day, same people roll and cut all day.The temperature of the room does change somewhat though.


We do test each batch, like I said, and there are no problems with the dough baking up. It's so weird. Oh well, I'll keep you posted.

Thank you so much for your input. -tyra

[MStorandelli]

As others said before, the relative humidity makes a lot of difference. I bake the same breads every day. I use the same brand of flour and its moisture content varies from bag to bag. The time in the season the wheat is harvested, the conditions and the weather where it is stored will make a difference in the moisture content of the flour. I live in the mountains of a high desert area that also has a monsoon season. Everyday, I have to judge my dough and add a bit of flour or a bit of liquid to keep it consistent.
Although it has been said that "accuracy in measurement is the cornerstone of good baking" (Amendola, I think), I don't believe exact formulas work when you're dealing with organic matter. I was taught in the apprentice method, and the bakers I learned from all measured very carefully and then adjusted as the day required.
Additives and stabilizers are what make industrial consistency possible, and if you are doing an all natural product, then you are going to have "natural" variations, me thinks.
Good Luck,
ralphie

[ChezLeRecherche]

Additives and stabilizers are what make industrial consistency possible,

that along with high tech lab that can mesure the differences before the product is formulated!

[ChezLeRecherche]

The temperature of the room does change somewhat though.

But what about the temperature of liquid ingredients and resulting dough?