UNIT 8 TECHNOLOGY OF BISCUITS

Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction

8.2 Classification of Biscuits

8.2.1 Short Dough Biscuits
8.2.2 Hard Dough Biscuits

8.3 Quality of Raw Materials For Biscuits

8.4 Functions of Ingredients
8.5 Manufacture of Biscuits
8.5.1 Raw Materials and Recipe.
8.5.2 Mixing of the Dough
8.5.3 Biscuit Forming
8.5.4 Baking
8.5.5 Cooling
8.5.6 Packing

8.6 Value Added Products

8.7 Biscuits Faults And Remedies
8.8 Let Us Sum Up
8.9 Key Words
8.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercise
8.11 Some Useful References

8.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to
• know the type of biscuits;
• know the ingredients used and their functions in biscuits;
• understand the methods of manufacture of different types of biscuits; and
• describe the various faults in biscuits and the methods to overcome them.

8.1 INTRODUCTION
Most ofus have eaten biscuits but many of us may not know how these are produced
or what ingredients go into it, the type of biscuits available etc. Biscuits are mainly
made from wheat flour (maida), sugar andfat. It is a dry, crisp product having a
long shelflife of over 6 months. There are several varieties or types of biscuits
having different taste, texture, and eating quality. Hence it is very popular among
children.
Fundamentals Biscuits and biscuit like products have been made and eaten by man for hundreds of
of Baking
years. The word "biscuit" is derived from the Latin "biscocuts" or the old French
word "bescoit" mean ing twice baked, a reference to the practice of first baking the
product in a hot oven and then transferring to a cooler oven to complete the drying
out process. The two stage baking process is now abandoned as in the continuous
oven, different temperatures can be set in. The word cookie is derived from the
Dutch "Koekze" meaning little cake. The cookies are different from biscuits in that
it contains high amount of sugar and fat. The cookies have normally cracks known
as islands on the surface which is the desired parameter. The crackers normally
made using yeast fermented dough are so called probably because of the cracking
sound they make when eaten. The type ofbiscu its and their classification will be
discussed later.

The product known as biscuits in UK are called cookies and crackers in USA.
These products differ from other baked products such as bread and cake by having
low moisture content. This low moisture imparts biscuits crisp texture and longer
keeping quality. The other major difference is the method ofleavening. Bread is a
biologically leavened product while biscuits are chemically leavened products.

The biscuits are very popular among all cross section of population irrespective of
age, economic states and the place where one lives whether in rural area or urban
area because of

i) longer keeping quality and hence enable transportation to remote and distant
places.

ii) availabilities with different taste and texture to suit the requirement of all age
groups.

iii) good nutritional quality and

iv) availabilities at low cost.

In view of that, the production of biscuits have almost tripled during the last 2 decades
and the present production stands at l.2m. tonnes.

Unlike bread, which is mainly manufactured in small scale and rural or family bakeries,
the biscu its on the other hand is manufactured mainly by small scale and large scale
sectors. This is mainly because for biscuits production in either semimechanised or
fully mechanized. Hence unlike bread units, starting of a biscuit unit requires high
investment.

8.2 CLASSIFICATION OF BISCUITS

Biscuits are main Iy classified from the type of doughs from which the biscuits are
made. There are two basic types of doughs

i) Soft doughs/short doughs

iO Hard doughs

Some times, biscuits are also classified based on the taste.

o Sweet

ii) Semi sweel

iiJ) Salted
40
8.2.1 Soft short doughs Technology of
Biscuits

Sweet biscuits are made from short doughs while semi sweet and salted biscuits are
made from hard doughs. Hard dough biscuits may be from fermented or unfermented
doughs.

Soft doughs do not exhibit any elastic and extensible properties. These doughs are
not cohessive but exhibit cohesive property only when pressure is applied. In these
doughs, gluten development is minimized by (i) mixing the dough for a short period
(ii) adding very low amount of water while making the dough so that gluten does not
get enough water required for development ofthe gluten in the flour (iii) adding
higher amount of sugar (30-40%) and fat (20-30%) as they are known to inhibit the
gluten development by their ability to limit the water availability for the development
of gluten ana (iv) using soft wheat flour containing low amount of gluten.

The type of biscuits, that are made from soft doughs are

(i) Sweet 'Gluco' type of biscuits

(ii) Cream biscuits

(iii) Cookies

Sweet 'Gluco' biscuits

Gluco' type biscuits are made using about 15-20% fat and 30-40% sugar. The
mixing time is very short (10-12 min) till the dough becomes crumbly and the surface
dry. The dough is moulded using the rotary moulder and baked in a oven maintained
at 200aC for about 10 min.

Cookies

As mentioned earlier, the cookie dough is a very soft dough and the softness is
achieved by adding more of sugar (50-60%) and fat (40-60%). In case of cookies,
wire cut machine is used to shape the dough.

Cream biscuits

In cream biscuits, the cream made using fat, sugar, colour and flavour is sandwiched
in between 2 shells. The shells are prepared using similar recipe and method followed
for sweet biscuits.

8.2.2 Hard Dough

The hard doughs are somewhat similar to bread dough consistency and is slightly
stiffer. These doughs exhibit cohessive and elastic properties and the gluten is
developed in these doughs. The development of gluten is achieved by (i) taking
strong flour having higher amount of gluten (9-1 0%) (ii) mixing for a long time (iii)
adding lower amount of sugar (15-25%) and fat (5-20%) and higher amount of
water in the dough to enable development of the dough.

The type of biscuits prepared from such doughs are

i) . Semi sweet biscuits

Eg: Marie type

ii) Salted biscuits

Eg: cream crackers, soda crackers, puff dough biscuits

41
Fundamentals Semi sweet biscuits
of Baking

In these types of biscuits, crispness is mainly achieved by laminating the dough in

case of semi-sweet biscuits and laminating and applying fat or fat / flour mixture in
between the lamination in case of salted biscuits. The shaping ofbiscuit is done
using sheeting and cutting machine which may be of batch type or continuous.

In case of semi sweet biscuits, the biscuits are made from highly extensible dough.
The extensible dough is made by mixing the dough for a long period of over 45
minutes so that the elasticity of the dough is lost. The flour is also weakened by the
addition of corn or arrowroot flour or using reducing agents like sodium bisulphate.

the fat content in these biscuit is low (15-16%) and the sugar content is normally
about 20% higher than the fat.

The spindle vertical miller is used for mixing the semi sweet dough. The temperature
of the dough after mixing will be as high as 38-40oC. In the case of semi sveet
biscuits desired texture is obtained by lamination of the dough.

Cream crackers
Cream crackers are produced using fermented hard doughs. The dough made
using flour, salt, sugar, fat, yeast and water is allowed to ferment to enable development
of flavour and mellow the gluten rendering the dough extensible and suitable for
machining. The desired texture is obtained by sprinkling mixture offat and flour on
the sheeted dough and folding followed by further sheetingto getthe desired thickness.

Soda cracker
SOda 'cracker is similar to cream cracker the following basic differences:

a) A greater proportion of the total flour is used in soda cracker sponge formulation
than in the cream cracker.
,
b) The amount of fat is lower than the cream cracker

c) The amount of sodium bi-carbonate added to soda cracker is substantially

greater than added to cream cracker. Hence the soda crackers are usually.
alkaline (pH>7.0) while cream crackers are slightly acidic.

The basic recipe for soda and cream crackers are given below
Ingredients Soda crackers Cream crackers

Sponge

Flour 70 30

Yeast 0.4 0.2

Water 33 30

Dough

Flour 30 70

Fat 11 20

Salt 1.5 1.0

Sodium bicarbonate 1.0 0.2

42
8.p QUALITYOFRAWMATERIALS
Technology
Biscuits
of

8.3.1 Wheat Flour

Depending on the type of wheat used for obtaining flour, it is termed as strong flour,
medium strong or weak flour. This terminology is based on the quantity and quality
of gluten forming proteins present in the flour. Strong flours will have high protein
content (11.0-14.5%) which gives more elastic and less extensible gluten. Such
flours are used in bread making and fermented biscuits such as Crackers. Weak
flours will have protein content less than 8.5% and gluten is more extensible and less
elastic and suitable for cakes, pastries and short dough biscuits. Flour with protein
content in the range of8.5-1 0% are termed as medium strong flour suitable for
products such as savoury crackers and wafers.

It is essential to obtain flours of uniform quality characteristic to suit different products.

Under emergency conditions where the quality of flour supplies changes, suitable
modifications have to be made by inclusion of starches or gluten as needed. The
flour has to be first sampled and tested for moisture (not more than 13% ISI).
Excess moisture may lead to storage problems leading to microbiological and
chemical changes such as hydrolytic rancidity of fats.
Extraction rate
The flour should have usual fineness of dressing as provided by miller to suit most
type of biscuits with an extraction rate of70 to 72%.

Damaged starch
Too fine flours may lead to high damaged starch as well as lowest spread. Preferably
it should be less than 7 for weak flour.

Ash
The ash content should be in the range of 0.5 and 0.6.
Colour grade value
The colour grade value measures the reflectance of light from slurry of water and
flour also gives an indication of flour dressing and bran contamination. The colour
grade value should be in the range of2 to 4.
Flour viscosity
Higher values indicate higher flour strength. The viscosity values of biscuit and
cookie flours vary from 35 to 45° Mac Michael.

Quality requirement offlour for different types of biscuits

Constituents Level (%) for
. Sweet biscuits ISemisweet biscuits Salted biscuits
Moisture Less than 13.0%
Ash 0.5 0.5 0.6

Protein 7-8.0 8-9.0 9-10.0

Sedimentation value, ml 15-20 20-25 25-30

Water absorption capacity 52-55 55-58 58-60

Failing number Not significant Not significant 350-400

Damaged starch Not significant Not significant 7-8.0

Colour grade value 2-3 2-3 3-4 43

Fundamentals Enzyme content
of Baking

Wheat flour has number of enzyme systems. The more important among them are
amylases that help in the fermentation process of cracker dough by providing easily
fermentable sugar to the yeast. Proteolytic enzymes are present in insignificant
amount unless flour is from rain damaged or sprouted wheat.

Flour strength

Flour strength varies with type of wheat and its gluten forming proteins as has been
discussed earlier. Various tests to determine gluten strength include determination
of wet gluten and its subjective evaluation, sedimentation test, rheological
characteristics to fmd out water absorption, resistance to extension and extensibility.
Further the flour strength could also be determined using cylinder test and pelshenke
test. The flour strength could be reduced by treatment with either proteolytic enzymes
or by giving sulphur di oxide treatment, especially so in case of semi -sweet hard
dough biscuits such as Arrow-root, Marie, Rich tea, etc.

Alkaline water retention capacity

It is a useful test to evaluate soft wheat flour for cookies. Less the alkaline water
retention better, the cookie diameter.

Fermented dough

Medium strong flours are used for cream crackers and soda crackers to give good
open texture during baking. Such flours are also used for puff doughs and savoury
crackers.

Semi sweet types

Medium to weak strength flours having more extensible gluten protein is preferred.
But, gluten quality could be modified using proteolytic enzymes or sodium metabi
sulphite (SMS).

Sweet type
Soft wheat flour with gluten content at 8-9% is desired.

Broad problems encountered relative to flour in biscuit

Fermented cracker biscuits

Changes in flour protein quantity and quality may lead to change in shape, thickness
and hardness. It is necessary in such cases to suitably adjust the fermentation time
or use a proper blend offlour.

Semi sweet biscuits

The changes in size such as shrinkage after cutting and after baking may be rectified
by adjusting dough relaxation before cutting or by including more of sodium meta
bisulphate in the formulation or by dilution of flour by starch. Also dough temperature
has to be kept constant.

Short dough biscuits

Flour quality affects the spread and thickness of dough on steel oven bands.

8.3.2 Sugar and Syrups

The commonly used sugar is sucrose, which is manufactured from sugar cane or
44
sugar beet. It is available in varying particle size such as granulated, castor and Technology of
Biscuits
icing. Castor or powdered sugar is used for biscuits. Glucose is used mostly in the
form of syrup. Controlled hydrolysis of starch gives glucose at various levels. These
could be concentrated to arrive at glucose syrups varying from 42DE to 90DE
(Dextrose equivalent). Higher the value of DE, more sweet it is. Invert syrup is the
concentrated hydrolysed sugar. Dark syrups like golden syrups may contain about
38% invert syrup and rest sucrose.
Sucrose syrups usually have 80% solids and 20% water so also non diastric malt
syrups. The liquid sugar or sucrose solution will have 67% solids. All the syrups
derived from starch have around 70% solids. The solids in high fructose corn syrups
range between 40-90% and much sweeter than normal glucose syrup due to its
fructose content. Honey is much similar to invert syrups. Golden syrup with pale or
amber colour contains about 38% invert sugar. The syrups are added at 10-15% of
sucrose for distinct colour and flavour in biscuits.

8.3.3 Fat/shortening
They are used in dough, as surface sprays, cream fillings and coatings and as release
agent on an oven band. Though butter has unique flavour,it has difficultiesin handling,
usage and storage. Butter substitutes such as margarines are made from oils other
than milk fat. The margarines will have about 16% water as in case of butter. They
are emulsified and plasticised to resemble butter. Storage of such fat is the key
factor. In order to obtain fats that could be excellently used in biscuits and other
bakery products and safe storage, the fats and oils are plasticised using the process
of cooling, crystallizing and breaking to uniform consistency (termed as plasticising).
These are semi solid at ambient temperature and have wide melting range (38°-
41 DC).

Sandwich cream fats

Principally these are mixture of sugar and fat, should remain hard at ambient
temperature, but melt in the mouth to release sugar and flavour. And hence coconut
and palm kernel fats, which are ideally suited, could be selectively plasticised.
Spray oils/fats
Crackers sprayed immediately after baking improves appearance and modifies eating
quality. The spray fats should be resistant to oxidative rancidity and hence coconut
oil and palm kernel oil are safe for use.
8.3.4 Milk products
Used for nutritional and their flavour aspects. Liquid milk is rarely used. It is usually
used in the dried form, either as full cream milk (FCMP) or skimmed milk powder
(SMP). FCMP due to its good pleasant flavour used mostly in milk chocolates and
coatings. SMP is used in biscuits as it also has strong flavour. The lactose, which is
present at 16% level it is nearly as sweet as sucrose combines with proteins giving
brown colouration and surface bloom to the biscuits in addition to textural
improvements. The SMP is reconstituted in twice the amount of cold water and with
vigorous agitation before inclusion. It is better to include in the creaming stage along
with fat and sugar. Inclusion ofSMP requires higher water. In the fermented dough
biscuits it acts as a buffering agent. Thus helps in yeast and enzymes activity. Some
times sweetened condensed milk 62,5% sugar is used for enhanced flavour and
colouration. Also why powder, rich in lactose, minerals and albumins, is now widely
used in place ofSMP. Using. special separation techniques lactose, demineralised
45
Fundamentals whey and whey protein concentrates are produced. Whey albumins have tenderizing
of Baking
effect on biscuits. Lactose is used for low sweetness and enhancement of savoury
flavour. Demineralization reduces the saltiness.

~.3.5 Eggs
It finds limited use in special types of cookies and sponge finger biscuits (Boudier)
where stable foam with sugar is necessary and the typical taste is preferred. It helps
in formation of stable foam with sugar and gives delicate taste. The albumin and
yolk lecithin are responsible
for the foam stability. It also contributes for flavour and
colour. Frozen egg oregg powder is usually preferred for consistency in quality.

8.3.6 Dried Fruits and Nuts

Generally expensive, mostly used for flavour contribution and surface and decoration
to increase consumer appeal. Due to problems of cleanliness, infestation, microbial
contamination and chemical changes, it is very difficult to maintain quality. So fruit
pastes (75% solids) and syrup (70$ solids) have been in use in soft cookies and
filings of biscuits like figbar. Dried fruits that are widely used are currants, raisins,
sultanas, dates, figs; candied ginger and nuts used are almonds, cashew nuts, coconut
walnuts and peanuts. Prior roasting of nuts is essential for preventing spoilage
problems during storage.

8.3.7 Yeast

The type used in fermented dough is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is capable of

producing carbon di-oxide and alcohol from lower sugar through its enzyme systems
invertase and zymase. It helps in aeration and maturation of dough. Fresh yeast is
mostly preferred for its activity and flavour in cracker dough.

8.3.8 Aerating chemicals

Chemical leavening agents

The commonly used chemical leaveners are baking soda, baking powder and
anunonium bi carbonate. In the presence of moisture, baking soda will react with
any acidic material to liberate carbon di oxide gas. As many biscuit ingredients such
as milk powder, invert syrups, corn syrups, etc including flour have acidic status, it is
better to use sodium bi carbonate or baking powder during the last stages of mixing
for good leavening effect. While using these powdered materials, it is better to
remove any lumps by sieving to avoid yellowish colouration accompanying unpleasant
taste. The granular size required is that 100% should pass using 80-mesh sieve and
75% or less should pass through 200 mesh sieve.

Ammonium-bi-carbonate is widely used in biscuits and cookies. It decomposes

completely on heating to carbon di oxide gas, anunonia gas and water thus leaving
no residue in the baked biscuits. It is commonly known as 'VOL' - volatile salt. It
retains most of its property even if it is dissolved in water and kept for 24 hr at
normal temperature.

Baking powder

It is a chemical leaving agent produced by blending sodiumbi carbonate, one or

more acidic substances with or without filler such as starch, flour and calcium
carbonate. The acidic components used are either one or combinations of two or
three of the following:

46
 Technology of
Tartaric acid (112), Cream of tartar (44), ACP/MCP (80), Sodium acid
Biscuits
pyrophosphate (74) (SAPP) Monosodium phosphate (70), Gluconodelta lactose
(GDL) (45), Sodium aluminium sulphate (104) (SAS) Dicalcium phosphate (33)
and sodium aluminium phosphate (100). (The figures in brackerts are neutralising
values =NV). The reaction between sodium bi carbonate and two acid components
is given below for arriving at neutralizing values:

1) Tartaric acid (Molecular weight is 150)

H2C4H406 + 2 NaHC03 -7 Na2C2H406 + 2H20 + 2C02

(150) (168)

2) Cream of tartar (Molecular weight is 188)

KHC4H406 + NaHC03 -7 KNaC4H406 + H20 + CO2

(188) (84)

The neutralizing value of tartaric acid is 112 and cream of tartar is 44, that is so
many parts of sodium bi carbonate is required to neutralize 100 parts of acid and it
is known as neutralizing value. The speed of reaction is slower for SAPP, SAS
(slowest), Di calcium phosphate and GDL. The fast acting bakingpowderreleases
most ofthe gas during the first few min., where as slow acting require the baking
process to complete the reaction.

By proper blending of slow and fast acting acid components along with sodium bi
carbonate, desirable double acting baking powder could be made to help through
various stages of processing.

8.3.9 Flavours
Flavours may be natural from spices and herbs, essential oils, oleoresins or synthetic
flavours. The flavours should be convenient to use and of standard strength and
quality. The flavours could be incorporated in the dough or batter before baking,
or as dusting or spraying after baking, or by flavouring a non-baked product portion
such as cram filling and icing.

The preferred flavours in baked products are vanilla, butter, cheese, almond essence,
chocolate, coffee and caramel. Many flavours are now available as encapsulated
flavours that are quite stable.

8.3.10 Colours
Colours are used only in creams for biscuits. The permitted coal tar dyes by PFA
are shades of red, yellow, blue and green. Now the trend is towards natural colours
that are yet to make a headway. The caramel colours are widely used in bakery
products including biscuits

8.3.11 Chololate and Cocoa

Chocolate manufactured process include fermenting the cocoa beans in alkaline.
water, roasting and grinding to form cocoa mass, pressing to release the fat, cocoa
butter and the remaining solids are milled to obtain cocoa powder. As it contains
about 9-12% or little higher cocoa butter on dry basis and 4 to 9% water, it needs
to be stored at cool and dry conditions. Cocoa powder should be fine, free flowing
with moisture content less than 5% and is used in dough and biscuit creams. It is
easily dispersible in water and has greater alkalinity. Dark cocoas are valuable for
colouring biscuit doughs and sandwich creams.

47
Fundamentals
of Baking
8.3.12 Emulsifiers
Emulsifiers are chemicals, which stabilize mixture of immiscible liquids like fat and
water. They also modify and stabilize fat crystallization, change dough consistency,
stickiness and starch gelling as well as lubricate low fat doughs. It acts by reducing
the surface tension. Also certain emulsifiers complex with amylose fraction of starch.
Emulsifiers like Soya lecithin, Glycerol Mono Stearate (GMS) Polyoxy ethylenes,
Sorbitan monostearates, polyglycerol esters, Diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono
glyceroids, Stearoyllactylates, Sucrose esters and many more.

/ The emulsifiers are used at 0.5 to 1.0% level by dissolving in fat and using at creaming
stage. It helps in the uniform distribution of fat throughout the mass. Apart from
lecithin, GMS, a white flaky substance is used in biscuits.

The use of emulsifiers / surfactants improves the texture of biscuits. It reduces the
fat requirements (15-20%) in Marie and Gluco biscuits by use of 0.75% DATA
esters. SSI at 0.5%) increases cookie spread and softens the texture. Also reduces
stickiness in low fat dough by complexing with starch and proteins.

8.3.13 Antioxidants
These are chemical components, which prevent spoilage offat in biscuit during storage.
Some of the permitted antioxidants are:

11 Ethyl/Propyl gallate or mixture

• Octyl / Dodecyl gallate

} at 0.01 %

• Ascorbyl palmitate

• Tertiary butyl hydroxy quinone (TB HQ)

} at 0.02%

• Citric / Tartaric acid (synergists)

Propyl gallate and TB HQ along with citric acid are commonly used.

8.3.14 Salt
Salt is used for flavour and flavour enhancement. Mostly used at 1-1.5%. It toughens
gluten and thus reduces stickiness. Salt should be free flowing with particle size
suitable especially for sprinkling on the surface.

8.4 FUNCTIONS OF INGREDIENTS

Each ingredient used in the recipe has different and multiple functions. Functions or
role of some of the important ingredients are given below.

8.4.1 Flour
Wheat flour is the major raw material of biscuits. It gives cohesiveness to the dough
as well as elasticity and extensibility required for the preparation of particular type of
biscuits. All these properties will impart machinability to the biscuit dough.

The flour also gives structure to the baked biscuits. This is achieved by the coagulation
and denaturation of proteins present in flour. The flour also provides desired texture/
crispness to the product.

Therefore it is not possible to make biscuits without wheat flour.

48
Flour also helps to retain gas during fermentation and baking.
8.4.2 Sugars Technology of
Biscuits

The chemical name for sugar is sucrose. The main functions of sucrose sugar in
biscuits are:

It imparts sweet taste to biscuits

2It has softening action on the gluten

3 It contributes to the colour of biscuit

4 It hardens the biscuit texture

Sugars according to different particle size used are:

(a) Granular sugar (6-30 mesh)

(b) Castor sugar (30-80 mesh)

(c) Pulverized sugar (80-120 mesh)

(d) Icing sugar (120 mesh and above)

Granular sugar is used to get surface crack in biscuit. Pulvarised sugars are used in
the dough making and icing sugar is used in the cream filling. The following are
different types of sugars used in biscuit. ?
8.4.3 Fat

Fat and oils are used in doughs as shortening agent, surface sprays, cream fillings
and coatings. To a minor extent they are used as release agent on oven band. The
important functions of shortening are:

1. It imparts shortening effect to the dough and hence the biscuit is soft textured.

2. It makes the dough more extensible and the machining property of the dough is
improved.

3. It improves the palatability of biscuit.

Bakery shortening should be plastic in consistency with melting range of38-41 QC

and should be free from granular fat. Butter, margarine, vegetable oils and bakery
shortening are some of the other forms of fat used in bakery products.

Solid fat is produced by the process known as hydrogenation process. In this

process different oils are blended and hydrogen gas is passed through this at high
temperature and pressure in presence of a catalyst metal when hydrogenated fat is
obtained. Hydrogenated fat is solid at normal temperature and has high melting
point. The solid fat is chilled and beaten up to break the crystal structure and
extruded through a texturising valve. If emulsifiers, nitrogen gas, etc. is necessary,
they could be added to the fat prior to chilling. Such fat is called plastic fat. It has
wide melting point and good working range.

Plastic fat has a number of fat crystals. The functionality of fat depends upon the
type of crystals present in it. Fat exists in different crystal forms. They are a, p, p
prime. p-intermediate and p form. a form is fine crystalline form and has low
melting point but unstable. p form is oflarge crystal form and has high melting point
but vary stable. The melting point increases from a form to P form. P prime and p
intermediate forms have good creaming capacity. The relative proportion of these
crystal structures controls the plasticity and its shortening behaviour during handling.
Emulsified shortening improves the aeration capacity. 49
Fundamentals .8.4.4 Water
of Baking

Water plays an important role in biscuit making. It is added in the dough stage and
driven out in the baking stage. Between the time of its addition and removal it has a
number of fimctions.

(1) It hydrates the flour particles and helps in the formation of dough suitable for
further processing.

(2) It helps to dissolve salt, chemicals, sugar, water soluble colour and flavour and
to distribute the dissolved materials throughout the dough.

(3) It helps in the aeration ofbiscuit to certain extent by the formation of steam.

There is no information about the hard water (due to dissolved salt) having any
significant effect on biscuit dough as well J.S biscuit property. However, among all
the ingredients used in biscuits, water has the highest specific heat (1.0) and hence
the effect of water temperature on the initial dough temperature can be very significant,
Therefore it is useful to control the water temperature particularly in short and soft
dough as chilled water can help to keep the dough temperature lower especially in
hot weather and make the dough processing easier. Usually soft water or softened
water is used.

8.4.5 Aerating chemicals

Their main function is to aerate the product to make it more porous and crisp.
Some of the advantages of using leavening agents are:

(1) Increase the volume of the products

(2) Make the goods more porous and crisp.

(3) Leavened bakery products are more palatable and crisp.

8.4.6 Biological leavening

In certain fermented varieties, yeast is used as one of the ingredients. Yeast is a
single cell living organism. It utilizes fermentable sugars in the dough and leverates
mainly carbon dioxide and alcohol.

Maltose ~ Glucose ~ CO2 + Ethyl

Sucrose (yeast enzymes) Fructose (yeast enzymes) alcohol

Apart from alcohol and carbon dioxide; small quantities of acids, esters, aldehydes
and other organic compounds are also produced which contribute to the flavour of
the product. Biological leavening mainly brings about gluten modification and flavour
development.

8.4.7 Milk products

Milk products when used provide taste and flavour to biscuits. Italso gives colour
and nutrition to biscuits. The lactose which is present in biscuits combines with
proteins giving brown colouration and surface bloom to the biscuits.

8.5 MANUFACTURE OF BISCUITS

The method of manufacture of biscuits depends on the type of biscuits. However the
major unit operations involved are similar and they are (i) Preparation of the dough
(mixing) (ii) Shaping, (iii) Baking, (iv) Cooling and packing. The (processing conditions
as well as the type of machineries vary) with the type of biscuits.

50 The different type of biscuits are as under:

Sweet biscuits Technology of
Biscuits

They are usually produced from soft or short dough and will have higher sugar and
fat content.

Semi-sweet biscuits

They are produced from hard dough and will have low sugar and fat content.

Salted varieties (crackers and puffed biscuits)

These biscuits are prepared from either fermented or unfermented hard dough and
will have nil or very low fat and sugar content but the apparent fat content will be
very high due to fat layering or oil spraying.

8.5.1 Raw materials and Recipe

Flour

It is the most important basic ingredient used in biscuit makin~ without which no
biscuit can be made. The main function offlour are: (i) to ~The dough during
mixing, holding the other ingredients uniformly distributed in it and making it possible
for easy mechan~bility, (ii) to retain the gases during fermentation as well as baking,
and (iii) to fornlthe structure of biscuit.

Usually flour ot 72% extraction rate and weak to medium strong flour is preferred.

Other cereal flours and starches

They are used upto 20% offlour only to dilute the strong flour and impart flavour.
They are maize flour, rye flour, malted barley, tapioca starch etc.

Sugar

(i) It imparts sweet taste to biscuits.

(ii) It has softening action on gluten.

(iii) It improves the colour ofthe product.

(iv) It hardens the biscuits.

Pulverized sugar (90-120 mesh) is normally used in the manufacture of biscuits.

Shortening

Imparts shortening effect to dough, makes the dough more extensible and improves
the palatability. The plastic fat used in biscuits should neither be too hard or soft. It
should be plastic in nature.

Salt

It has tightening action on gluten. And imparts taste to products. Food grade table
salt can be used. However high purity salt is used in baking industries. Vacuum salt,
which is prepared by a sophisticated method like vaccum crystallization, is being
used in baking industry.

Water
It helps to dissolve chemicals, salt, sugar soluble colour and flavour and to uniformly
distribute the dissolved materials through the dough. Also it helps gluten development
during mixing. Usually soft or softened water is used.
51
I
Fundamentals Aerating chemicals
of Baking
Main function is to aerate the products in order to make them porous and crisp.
Ammonium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate or baking powder are used.
Emulsifiers

They help in uniform dispersion offat in water and to distribute the fat - water
mixture through out the dough. Glyceryl Mono Stearate (GMS), lecithin are the
commonly used emulsifiers.

Antioxidants
They are added to check rancidity and keep the product fresh for longer time.
Butylated Hydroxy Anisol (BHA) or Butylated Hydroxy Toluene (BHT), are
commonly used antioxidants.
Flavour and colour

To impart and improve the colour and flavour of products. They may be either
natural or synthetic.
Typical formula for different types of biscuits are given below.

Parts by weight on 100 parts offlour

SweetGluco Cookies Semi sweet Salted

type

Flour 100 100 100 100

Sugar 35 45 20 2.5
Fat 25 30 15 1.0

Syrups 2 - - -
Salt 1 0.5 0.5 1.5

Sodium bicarbonate 0.5 0.2 0.5 1.0

Ammonium bicarbonate 0.5 0.5 0.5 -

Flavour Butter, Butter or
vanilla vanilla
as required as required - -

Sodium meta bisulphate - - 0.03 -

Yeast - - - 0.5
Water 12 3 18 30

Malt extract - - 1.0 2.0

8.5.2 Methods of mixing

The following are the widely used mixers:

(i) Vertical mixers: (a) Planetary, (b) Spindle type

(ii) Horizontal mixers: (a) Z blade and gridlap type (b) High speed

(m) Reciprocating arm mixer

52 (iv) Continuous mixer - Barrel type

 Technology of
Biscuits

Creaming method

This may be done in either two stages or three stages, but the principle is the same.

(i) Shortening, sugar, sugar syrup, reconstituted milk and other ingredients are
mixed together to form a smooth cream. Then water is added and mixed well.

(ii) Suspension of salt, alkaline ingredients colour and flavour in the remaining
water is made and added to the cream and mixed well.

(m) The acidic ingredients and flour are added to get a desired dough consistency.
This type of mixing procedure encourages the formation of dough emulsion of
shortening, sugar and water and hence strong gluten development is retarded.

All-in-one method
Salt, leavening chemicals, colour, flavour etc., are dispersed in part of water. All the
ingredients, including salt and leavening chemicals suspension are mixed together till
a satisfactory dough results.
Creaming method is generally followed for soft doughs and the dough prepared is
either processed in rotary moulder or wise-cut machine. All-in-one method is quite
satisfactory to produce hard doughs. The mixed dough should be sufficiently
developed to form sheet when forced between sheeting rollers and subsequent
reduction through gauge rollers. It should withstand cutting action without farming
cracks and hang together as a network when lifted as scrap from the cut -out biscuits.

In case offermented dough any of the two methods given below are followed
(i) All-in-one mixing and fermentation
All ingredients including yeast suspension are mixed together till the flour is wetted.
The dough is then allowed for 3 to 8 hrs fermentation and then taken for further
processmg.
(ii) Two stage mixing and fermentation

(a) Sponge
70% of the total flour, sugar, yeast, suspension, part of shortening and whole of
water are mixed for 2-3 min and fermented for 19 hrs.

53
fundamentals (b) Dough
of Baking
When the sponge is ready, rest of the ingredients are mixed together and allowed for
a shorter fermentation and taken for further processing.

8.5.3 Biscuit forming

Semisweet and fermented biscuits
Laminating
Lamination or layering of dough is carried out in the laminators. The dough is sheeted
by forcing through sheeting rolls and folded and sent back into the rolls. The thickness
of dough sheet is reduced in steps. Now, many large scale biscuit factories used
automatic laminators. Serrii-sweet biscuits prepared from laminated dough will have
excellent textural properties. Fermented dough or unfermented hard dough meant
for savoury products are usually laminated to 4-6 layers and the layers are sand-
witched/with fat flour dust.

Sheeting and cutting

Hard dough and fermented dough after lamination are sheeted by forcing the dough
through sets or polished gauge rolls. Sheeting is done at three stage and a thin film
of smooth dough sheet results after sheeting.
Cutting
The cutting machine has two actions. It swings to and fro and up and down
perpendicular to the dough sheet movement. The cutter has biscuits shaped sheets
bolted inside along with decoration and 'doctor' pins. As the dough passes
underneath, the cutter cuts the biscuit shape and the waste dough is lifted up
mechanically and sent back for sheeting. The biscuits shaped doughs are transferred
to oven band.

Roller cutting
This is very simple in operation, unlike stamp cutting. Due to i~implicity it is widely
used all over the world. This consists of a set of rollers operating at the same speed
of the dough sheet. One roll impresses the design and second cuts the dough around
the design. The waste dough is mechanically sent back.

Rotary moulders
Soft dough or sweet biscuit dough is processed in this machine. It consists of a set
of rollers consisting of grooved roller for forcing the dough and a moulding roller in
which biscuit shape are engraved. This is simple to operate and varieties of sweet
biscuits can be produced by moulding.

54
Wire cut or rout press Technology of
Biscuits
Softer dough, or cookie dough which is rich in fat and sugar is processed in these
machines. The dough is extruded through dies by rotating rollers and the extruded
dough is cut into desired size with the help of a cutting assembly.

8.5.4 Baking

There are three types of oven used for baking biscuits. They are Cabinet oven,
Reel oven and Continuous tunnel type oven. Continuous tunnel type oven are
normally used in all the industries.

All the three types of heat transfers, namely conduction, convection and radiation,
operate during baking. Baking temperature varies from 180-2S0oC depending
upon the type of biscuits baked.

Changes occur during baking of biscuits.

Initial stage

Initially as the dough enters the oven, the fat melts, sugar and chemicals start dissolving
in water. The whole biscuit piece becomes soft and fluid. Aerating chemicals start
generating carbondioxide. Heat causes the carbon dioxide as well as the air present
in the liquid to expand, resulting a volume increase in the biscuit. These changes
take place over an extended period.

Mid stage
As the temperature approaches boiling point, the proteins coagulate and initiate
structure formation. This is followed by partial gelatinisation of starch (as there is
not sufficient water present for complete gelatinisation). When boiling point is
reached, the water present is converted to steam and assists in increasing the volume
and a maximum volume is achieved at this stage.

Final stage
At this stage, dextrins are formed and sugar caramelizes. Basic structure of biscuits
is determined by the coagulated protein, the partially gelatinized starch and the
remaining water. The biscuit is still flexible and delicate owing to the fat that fat is
still in liquid and the sugar are in the syrup form.
55
Fundamentals
In case offermented doughs biscuits initially yeasts starts working at a faster rate
of Baking
producing carbondioxide, till it is destroyed by heat (52.8°C) and enzyme activity
proceeds until the temperature exceeds 65°C. The carbon dioxide produced
increases the volume of the product. Aeration is mainly achieved by the laminated
layers. As the dough water is cor..verted to steam, it expands and in doing so it lifts
up the layers. Structure formation is achieved by protein coagulation and starch
gelatinization.

8.5.5 Cooling

During cooling, the flexible structure becomes rigid as sugar and fat solidify, Cooling
should be extended as long period as possible and the humidity of the cooling
atmosphere should be controlled. There are two systems of cooling followed.

Atmospheric multi-tier conveyor

In the atmospheric multi-tier conveyor, the biscuits from the oven band travel on to
a canvas web having single, double or three tiers. The biscuits on these are cooled
by surrounding atmosphere.

The forced draft cooling conveyor

Where space does not permit gradual and atmospheric cooling, forced draft cooling
is used. Filtered air is blown against the direction of travel of biscuits coming out of
the oven on the cooling conveyor thereby cooling the biscuits earlier then the normal
time.

8.5.6 Packing of biscuits

The cooled biscuits are stacked and packed in air tight tin containers or sent for unit
packing. Flexible packaging materials are widely used for unit packing of biscuits
and the packaging material selected should have the following characteristics, viz.,
moisture-proof, grease-proof, low gas permeability and heat sealable. Some of the
packaging materials used for packing biscuits are glassin, wax paper, coated
cellophane, polyprophylene films, etc.

56
 Technology of
8.6 VALUEADDEDBISCUITS Biscuits

The major advantage of biscuits, apart from its good taste, contain more food value
with substantial energy, proteins, iron, calcium and several other' B' group vitamins.
Further, these can be fortified with additional proteins, minerals and vitamins that are
essential at a reasonably low cost. Biscuits have come to symbolize more than
processed food, possessing the benefits of convenience, hygiene, compatibility to
new taste and nutrition, longer shelflife and also due to its low cost.

The food habit surveys conducted by Protein Foods Association have indicated
clearly the nutrition gaps in the normal Indian diets. The nutrients particularly deficient
are proteins, vitamin-A, calcium and iron with consequent adverse effect on the life
and productivity of people. Biscuits as a source of supplementary nutrition are
currently in use in number of countries.

8.6.1 Biscuits based on Composite flour

The use of composite flours in biscuits offers good opportunities to (a) Improve
their nutritional quality, (b) Utilize indigenously grown cereals (c) Reduce the cost of
products and (d) Bring in varieties with different texture and flavour. Considerable
work has been done on the use of composite flours based on non-wheat cereals,
such as millets, oil seed meals and tubers in biscuits. The research in this field was
aimed at: (a) Development of suitable processing technologies for obtaining refmed
flour from food grains so that they can be incorporated in maximum amounts, (b)
Arriving at optimum levels that could be added in different bakery products (c)
Improvement in the quality of products as use of high starch or high protein non
wheat flour invariably results in poor baking performance. The non wheat flours
tried were cereals such as rice, barley, corn, sorghum, oats; tuber flours such as
potato, cassava, yam and sweet potato; oil seed meals like soya, peanut sunflower
and cotton seed, millets, like amaranthas, bajra, ragi and legumes like faba beans.
The levels of non-wheat flours used in biscuits varied from 5 to 30% and it depended
on the type of non-wheat flour used and the degree of its refinement, quality of
wheat flour etc.

8.6.2 High protein biscuits / cookies

Biscuits normally contain about 5 to 6% protein, which is of poor quality, being
contributed mainly by wheat flour. The nutro-biscuits can be made from a blend of
wheat - groundnut flour (7.5:25) fortified with vitamins and minerals. Such biscuits
will have the following composition: Protein 16.5%, fat 17.7%, ash 2.3%, calcium
220 mg. Further, improvement in the quality of biscuits can be made by replacing
groundnut flour partly or fully with cottonseed or soya flours. Biscuits can also be
made by increasing the protein content, improving the protein quality and reducing
fat level.

t High protein biscuits could also be made using mustard protein concentrate,
cottonseed flour or cotton seed protein isolate. The protein content in such biscuits
ranged from 11.3 to 18% as compared to 5 to 6 percent in plain biscuits.

High protein biscuits with 16% protein could be made by using 25% wheat germ,
the taste of which was found to be much better as compared to other high protein
biscuits containing oil seed meals.

Use of whey solids or whey powder improves the colour and texture of biscuits.
Biscuits can be prepared containing 10% 'whey solids without adversely affecting
the aualitv. 57
Fundamentals
of Baking
Biscuits with different flavours

Flavour though added in small amount, it influences generally the quality and
acceptability of biscuits. Biscuits are flavoured by including the flavour in the dough
or by dusting or spraying the flavour after baking or by adding in the cream. Normally
few synthetic flavours resembling the natural flavours are available commercially.
With a view to introduce diversity in the biscuit manufacture, formulations based on
various natural spices and flavours are available. Availability of different spices in
India like coffee, cocoa, cardamom, ginger, ajowan, cinnamon, onion, etc. can be
made use of to develop sweet or salted biscuits, thus producing varieties. Flavour
is used either in its natural form or as essential oils. Flavour like cardamon, ginger
etc are made heat stable by encapsulation.

8.6.4 Vitamin fortified biscuits

. Several vitamins are lost, particularly water-soluble vitamins like thiamin, riboflavin,
niacin, pantothenic acid etc during milling. These vitamins are more concentrated in
bran (aleurone layer) and germ, which are lost during mill ing of wheat. Therefore,
refined wheat flour has lower nutritional quality as compared to whole wheat flour.
Since biscuits are consumed by children, it is worthwhile to fortify biscuits with
these vitamins. These are being permitted by PF A. The normal levels added in
biscuits areas follows:

ThiarninmgllOO g 4.0

RiboflavinmgllOOg 0.5

NicotinicacidmgllOO g 5.0

Folic acid ug/I 00 g 34

The level added should take care of the loss of vitamins during baking which ranges
from 10-40%. Vitamin A also could be easily incorporated in biscuits.

8.6.5 Calcium rich biscuits

Calcium is essential for the growth of bones and it is all the more essential for
children. Biscuits can be made a vehicle for fortification of calcium. Among the
different calcium salts like calcium sulphate, calcium lactate, calcium chloride and
calcium citrate, calcium lactate are better as the biscuits did not have any after taste.
The level of calcium incorporation can be between 150-200 mg/l 00 g.

8.6.6 Iron fortified biscuits

Food fortification can be used to prevent micronutrient deficiency in populations,
where nutritional-problems are prevalent. In India, nearly 60% of the population
being rural, there is a widespread micronutrient deficiency particularly of iron. Iron
deficiency causes anaemia especially among children and pregnant women. Iron
could be conveniently added using a premix containing concentrated amounts of
iron. Iron can be added in the form of ferrous sulphate, ferrous fumarate, iron
EDTA and reduced iron. The ferrous sulphate is normally.used as a source of iron.
The level of iron that can be added if biscuits varies from 25-30 mg/l 00 g. The
daily recommended dietary intake ~iron depends on age as well as sex ranging
from 18-50 mg.

58
 Technology of
8.6.7 Therapeutic biscuits Biscuits

In recent years, therapeutic biscuits have become quite popular in the Western and
other European countries. There are different types of therapeutic biscuits such as
high fibre, low calorie, diabetic, low sodium, gluten free etc. The production of
some of these products will be of use in the much-needed diversification of biscuit .
industry. High fibre products are found to reduce the passage time of food in the
alimentary tract, thereby interfering in the absorption of some of the food constituents
harmful to the body. Some of the sources of fibre that are used in biscuits are
cellulose, wheat bran, triticale bran, corn bran, rice bran etc.

a) Sugar free biscuits

Some of the polyhydric alcohols like sorbitol, manitol, xylitol, maltitol etc. are sweet
and can substitute sugars. These natural sugars do not need insulin for their metabolism.

The artificial sweeteners that can be used in biscuit formulation for diabetics are
saccharin, aspartame and acesulfame - K. Another new set of sweeteners are
cyclamate, alitame and sucralose. The sweeteners of natural origin are thaumatin,
glucyrrhizin and sterioside.

Dough without sugar is hard and difficult to mould but improves an addition of
sorbitol. The texture, taste and colour are improved when sweetner and sorbitol
added together.

b. Reduced fat biscuits

Low calorie biscuits are made using cereal brans or germs and fat substitutes. Sucrose
esters have been found to be a good substituted for fat. In USA, few companies
have come out with fat substitute under the brand names ofOlestra, Simplesse etc.

The demand for low fat / low calorie / light foods is increasing considerably in other
parts of the world. Low or no fat biscuits are made by using proper surfactants
malto dextrin or sucrose esters. When sucrose is esterified in more than 4 hydroxyl
groups, they function more like fat than emulsifiers. The other ingredients that could
replace fat are modified starches, dextrins, fibers, enzymes and emulsifiers.

c. Low sodium biscuits

Salt is an important ingredient in biscuits. It improves taste and flavour of biscuits.

The balance of various minerals in the body is essential for proper physiological
"
functions. Potassium and magnesium have been reported to counteract the harmful
effect of sodium in hypertensive cases. In India, salt substitute is commercially
available and that can be used in biscuits. Even rock salt known as sendham, salt
containing low sodium is used as a salt substitute.

Sweet and salt biscuits also can be made using salt substitutes. It is also advisable to
replace chemical leavening agent i.e. sodium bicarbonate with potassium bicarbonate
to reduce the sodium content.
d. Whole wheat flour biscuits

Whole wheat flour biscuits, as the name indicates, is made from whole wheat flour.
These biscuits are nutritionallv better as they have higher protein, vitamins and mineral
• J

content. In addition, they have considerably higher amount of fibre content. Use of
emulsifiers and surfactants improves the quality of whole wheat flour biscuits.
However, keeping quality of biscuits will be lower as compared to normal biscuits.
59
Fundamentals
of Baking 8.7 BISCUITSFAULTSANDREMEDIES
Quality control is a service to process control and production management, but it
has an overall responsibility for product safety. From the consumers point of view,
safety means that the product should not contain any substances which are harmful
to health such as chemicals, metals, microorganisms and other impurities.

The various quality parameters for the raw materials like flour (free from insects,
foreign material) salt, sugar, aerating chemicals, and also water should be taken into
account.

The different parameters that determines the quality of biscuits are given below:

Surface colour
Good surface colour of final biscuit is a direct measure of quality. Uniform brown
colour isdesired, Too dark or too light colour will affect the consumer appeal. The
surface colour should be well within the range of standards acceptable to consumers.
Dark coloured patches on the surface is not desirable and the colour should be as
far as possible uniform.

Spread or flow
Moulded biscuit doughs on baking spreads in all directions. Optimum spread is
necessary, since faulty spreading has adverse effects on the shape and appearance
of finished biscuits, which leads to change in dimenstions and problems in wrapping
machines.

Raise/Thickness

Good raise is necessary during baking to attain proper crispness and texture in
biscuits. Any defect in raise will lead to non-uniform biscuits. The raise depends
upon the baking temperature and the amount and type of aerating chemicals added.

Crumb structure
Crumb structure depends on type of biscuits, e.g. hard and semi-sweet biscuits
have a tenuous structure with definite network of protein containing ungelatinised
starch granules. While cream and soda crackers have a structure of protein containing
air spaces between the layers, flaky structure in this type of biscuit is much desired.
Sweet soft dough biscuits has no protein network but conglomeration of protein and
starch is linked together by pockets of fat.

Hollow bottoms
Hollowness is caused either through gas or air between the biscuit and the steel
oven band or by biscuit structure being distorted, as a result of uneven physical
stresses. Such biscuits will be light in weight with poor crumb structure.

Checking
Biscuit should be free from checking. Checking is the term used to describe the
appearance of the hair line cracks on the surface of biscuits. Cracks appear after
baking / packing and this spoils the attractive surface appearance. This may be due
to over mixing, sudden cooling after baking etc.

Fat bloom
Development of tiny white spots over the biscuit surface during storage is termed as
'Fat Bloom'. The biscuit should be free from this, otherwise it will effect the quality.
60
This may be due to uneven crystallization of fat after cooling. This problem could be Technology of
Biscuits
reduced by taking suitable fats.
Foreign materials

Foreign materials like metal pieces, toxic chemicals, stones, etc. should be detected
before the product leaves the factory.

Thus, the good quality biscuits can be defined as having 'good and uniform crust
colour with required spread and raise, having desired crispness and free from defects
like hollow bottoms, fat blooms, checking etc.'

The quality requirements of biscuits varies with type of biscuits. The quality of any
type of biscuits is judged as its appearance, colour, texture or crispness, crumb
characteristics, taste, etc. Quality of biscuits like any other food products is influenced
by several factors.

(i)
..
Quality of ingredients

(ii) Formulation

(iii) Processing conditions

(iv) Machineries used and their settings

Some of the problems encountered in different types of biscuits and their causes and
remedies are given below.

8.7.1 Short dough biscuits

Short dough biscuits should have a smooth surface, with light golden brown colour.
It should have a minimum controlled spread unlike cookies wherein, spread is
desirable. The biscuits should be crisp. The crumb (inside portion) of biscuits
should be white in colour and fine crumb pores.

Spread

The main defect in this type of biscuits is the excessive spread. The increase in size
or excessive spread is due to the following reasons:
(i) Coarser flour particles
(ii) Fine sugar particles
(iii) Soft doughs due to higher temperature
(iv) Minimum mixing prior to dough standing.
(v) Greasy wire band
(vi) Low temperature in front of the oven
(vii) High dough pH.

Coarse sugar, cold doughs, higher oven temperature in the first zone, over mixing of
the dough are the causes of reduced spread. If the dough is very weak due to most
of the sugars going mto solution, more spread will takes place. Also too soft a flour,
excessive use offat, high amount of sodium bicarbonate results in greater spread. If
the spread is too high, the impression on the surface of biscuits will be distorted.

Colour

Colour of biscuits in case of sweet type, should be golden brown, and light brown in
crackers. However, in case of semi-sweet biscuits due to longer mixing resulting in 61
Fundamentals
of Baking
incorporation of more air makes the surface more whitish. The colour ~fbiscuits
due to maillard reaction and caramelisation. The above coloring reaction depend
•
on the amount of sugar, particularly reducing sugar, temperature of the over
particularly at the last zone, baking time and humidity in the oven. In case of semi-
sweet biscuits, the extent of mixing and baking determines the color. The colour 01
salted biscuits is influenced by the sugar added, fermentation time, baking time and
temperature. Oil sprays however improves the surface sheen.

Tail-end

Tail-end in biscuits occurs (i) if there is high extrusion around the scraper blade
associated with high pressure in the nip (ii) high blade position (iii) too much pressure
at the extraction point due to rubber roller being set too high. If the rubber surface
of the extraction roll is too soft allows too much dough to escape at the back of the
mould and thus producing biscuits with tail ends.
Crispness

Hard biscuits are obtained if strong flour with high protein is used. Addition of too
less sugar or fat in the formula and aerating chemicals also reduces crispness. Over
mixing of the dough also results in hard biscuits. Baking time and temperature and
steam in the oven also affects the hardness.

Dough weight

Position of the knife in the moulder influences the dough weight. Higher the knife
position, greater the amount of dough in the mould and hence greater weight of
biscuits. Higher the pressure of forcing rolls or rubber rolls higher will be weight.
Softer the extraction roll, lower will be the dough weight. Dough consistency and
the resting period affects the dough weight. The amount of dough in the hopper also
influence the weight.

Sticking to the oven band

Unsuitable band surface and low oven temperature are some of the reasons for
sticking of the dough. Oiling or dusting helps to prevent the sticking of dough.
Hollow bottom
. Entrapment of air, early in baking process between the band surface and biscuits is
one of the main reasons. The other important factor is the toughness of the dough
which distorts during machining or when it enters the oven. Toughness could be due
to use of strong flour or over development of the dough. Too high top heat may
draw the biscuits and bottom heat out the edges before center expands.

Checking
Certain groups of biscuits are prone to breakage upto 24 hr after cooling and packing
which is known as checking. Checking is nothing but development of a crack in
biscuits without the use of any external forces. These crackes are due to stress
developed as the biscuit cools. The central part and the thicker parts of biscuits
have slightly more moisture than other parts and hence shrinkage and expansion of
various parts take place because of moisture difference. There by inducing stress in
biscuits.

Semi-sweet biscuit and crackers are more prone to checking because of the presence
oflow sugar and fat. The other factors influencing checking are flour quality. Use of
strong flour leads to checking. Over mixing of the dough, fast baking are some of
the other causes of checking of biscuits.
62
Checking can be reduced by slow baking and gradual cooling, slow and 'longer Technology of
Biscuits
period of baking.

Use of higher levels of fat and sugar in the recipe reduces checking as the structures
becomes more flexible. Biscuits having high dense and less aerated texture are also
prone to checking as the structure is more rigid and its hence difficult to remove
moisture in the central part of biscuits.

8.7.2 Semi-sweet biscuits

Mixing time or the total work in put and the temperature at the end of mixing are
important to get the desired quality semi-sweet biscuits. The dough containing sodium
meta bisulphate (SMS) reduces mixing time and hence the work input and temperature
of the dough. The water requirement decreases by 17.0% which reduces the baking
time. Most important advantage is the elastic property which is considerably reduced
on addition ofSMS. Hence, resting of the dough is not needed after mixing, which
unsulphited dough requires 30-60 min. The other advantages are easy sheeting and
better surface finish. Use of excessive scrap dough and sudden reduction in the
thickness while sheeting effects the quality. In other words good quality semi sweet
biscuits can be obtained by proper mixing and lamination.

8.7.3 Cream crackers

Cream crackers are more prone to rancidity because oflow amount of sugar and
open texture, hence protect need to from sun light. The factors influencing the
quality of salted biscuits are (i) consistency of the dough (ii) method of reducing the
thickness and relaxation time given after lamination and before cutting. It not relaxed,
excessive shrinkage will occur. High humidity in the oven causes defect in crackers.
Some ofthe other faults that occur to salted biscuits are given below.

Blisters

The main problem is the separation oflaminate and formation of blisters. This is
because of poor lamination, insufficient dusting, poor dough quality that is unable to
form thin laminates, crushing or pulling at the final gauge roll and too hot an oven.

Checking

As discussed earlier, these types of biscuits are prone to checking because of high
amount of water to be removed (24%) and due to recipe which contains no sugar.

Flatness ofthe baked biscuits

Doomed / dish shaped cracker causes packaging problem. This defect is due to the
temperature setting in the 1st zone. Too much top heat causes mis-shapen biscuits.
Too much bottom heat causes dishing. Skinning of the dough after it is sheeted is
desirable and aid gauging and lamination. The extent of scrap incorporation is also
important.

Fat bloom
Fat bloom is the term given to the appearance oftiny white spots over the biscuits
surface during storage. It is caused through uneven crystallization of fat after cooling.
To overcome, the fat should be processed correctly in the factory. Cooling, storage
and retailing conditions may influence the biscuit quality. It is clear that proper
recipe, processing conditions particularly mixing; moulding Ilarnination, and baking
are to be followed for getting good quality biscuits. Even the quality of raw materials ,

used are also equally important.

--
63
Fundamentals
Check Your Progress Exercise
of Baking

Note: a) Use the spaces given below for your answers.

b) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
1. What are the different classification of biscuits?
..................................................................................................................

2. List the different ingredients used in biscuits and give briefly their quality
requirements.

3. Describe briefly the method of manufacture of sweet biscuits.

4. What are the different faults that can occur in biscuits? Describe the reasons <

and the remedies for any ofthe two faults.

................................................................................................................. I

8.8 LET US SUM UP

Biscuits is a chemically leavened low moisture product, crisp in texture having long
shelflife. It is a popular product among all cross section of population particularly
among children. Its long shelflife coupled with availability with different taste and
texture make it very popular.
Though there are number of varieties of biscuits, the biscuits are mainly classified as
short dough biscuits and hard dough biscuits. Short dough biscuits normally contain
higher amount of sugar (30-50%) and fat (20-30%) as compared to hard dough
biscuits which contain low amount of sugar (2-20%) and fat(10-15%). In view of
this, the characteristics of the resulting doughs are quire different. The short doughs
lacks elasticity or extensibility but crumbly while hard doughs are elastic and
cohessive.
The biscuits are also classified based on the sweetness as (i) Sweet biscuits (ii)
Semi sweet biscuits and (iii) Salted biscuits.
The major ingredients that goes into the biscuits are flour, fat (shortening), sugar,
64 aerating chemicals like sodium bicarbonate and ammonium bicarbonate, flavours
and water. The quality of ingredients required for biscuits are specific. Soft to medium Technology of
Biscuits
hard wheat flour with protein ranging from 8-10% are required for biscuits. The
short dough biscuits require the flour with 8-9% proteins while hard or fermented
dough biscuits require flour of9-1 0% protein. The fat used for biscuits should be
plastic in nature. Hence special fats are made for biscuits having desired consistency
and plasticity to enable to get crisp product.

The method of manufacture of different types of biscuits are different. The short
dough biscuits are made using a rotary moulder or wire cut machine. The dough for
such biscuits are mixed for short period of 5-1 0 min to avoid development of the
dough. The crispness of biscuits in these types are obtained because of high fat and
sugar and also due to use of aerating chemicals. However in the case of hard dough
biscuits like semi-sweet and salted types, desired crispness are obtained due to
lamination of the dough as well as applicationoffat or mixture offat and flour in
between the lamination. In case of semi-sweet biscuits, the typical texture is mainly
due to mixing and lamination while in case of salted fermented biscuits, the typical
texture and layers observed is mainly due to lamination and application of mixture of
fat and flour in between the lamination.

There are both batch type and continuous laminators available now. Most of the
industries now use continuous laminators where in the provision to apply fat or
mixture offat and flour is available. The laminated sheets are further sheeted to a
required thickness using series of rollers and cut into shape using rotary cutter.

All the types of biscuits are baked in a continuous tunnel oven with a length of 100-
150ft length and width of 1 to 3ft. The temperature setting also varies depending on
the type of biscuits. Also different temperatures are set at different lengths of the
oven. In case of salted biscuits, hot oil is sprayed soon after the biscuits come out of
the oven to obtain desired appearance and taste.

Cooling ofbiscuit is essential before packing. Cooling is normally done in a continuous

cooling belt. The biscuits are then packed using continuous packing machines A
good automatic packing machines are available in the country.

8.9 KEY WORDS

Biscuits A chemically leavened crisp product based on
wheat flour.

Short / soft dough biscuits : Biscuits made from a dough which is short in nature
which lacks in elasticity and extensibility.

Hard dough biscuits Biscuits made from a hard dough having both
extensibility, and elasticity.

Shortening Fat used to prevent development of gluten or

shorten the dough.

Pulverized sugar : Sugar that is ground.

Cookies : Biscuits made with high fat (25-35%) and sugar

(40-50%).

. Spread : Increase in diameter, length or breadth of biscuits

on baking.

Fermented dough biscuits : The biscuits made from a dough which is fermented
with yeast. 65
Fundamentals Chemical leavening agents : Chemicals used to leaven the product. In case 01
of Baking
biscuits, normally used chemicals are sodium
bicarbonate, baking powder, and ammonium bi-
carbonate.

8.10 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISE
1. Biscuits are classified based on the dough characteristics or based on the
sweetness. Based on the dough, biscuits are classified as (i) Short dough
biscuits and (ii) Hard dough biscuits. Short doughs are those doughs which
does not have either elasiticity or extensibility and the dough is crumbly. nfs"
e.
characteristics are achieved by taking (i) Soft wheat flour with protein conteiii"
of8-9% (ii) Adding more amounts of sugar and fat (iii) Adding less water (iv)
Mixing for shorter period. All these will inhibit development of the gluten. The
hard doughs are made by (i) taking less fat and sugar in the formulation (ii)
adding more water (iii) mixing for longer period and (iv) taking stronger flour.
The dough in this case is fully developed and exhibit elastic and extensible
characteristics. The example of short dough biscuits are sweet' gluco' biscuits,
and cookies and the example for hard dough biscuits is salted biscuits.
The classifications based on swe~eess are sweet biscuits ('gluco' type) semi
sweet biscuits (Marie type) and sjaied biscuits (cream crackers).
/

The recipe processing condition and the machineries required are different.
2. The ingredients required for biscuits are (i) flour (ii) fat (iii) sugar (iv) water (v)
aerating chemicals like baking soda, baking powder and ammonium carbonate
(vi) yeast (vii) flavours (viii) salt.
The quality requirements of some the ingredients are different for different type
of biscuits. The flour required for short doughs should be soft in nature having
protein at 8.0%. In case of hard dough biscuits, medium strong flour with 9-
f]f short dough should be plastic so that fat is
10% protein is required. The fat.,-;--
distributed uniformly throughout the flour which contributes to shortness of the
dough. However for hard doughs any type could be used. There is not much
differentlil the requirements of other ingredients. .
3. The method of preparation of short dough biscuits involves (i) weighing of
ingredients (ii) preparation of solution (iii) mixing (iv) moulding (v) baking (vi)
cooling and (viii) packing.
The ingredients are weighed as per the recipe. The salt and other aerating
chemicals are dispersed in part of the water and in the recipe. The sugar, fat
and flavour and water containing are transferred to the mixer and creamed for
10 minutes. The other ingredients like flour and remaining water are added to
the cream and mixing continued till crumbly dough is obtained (about 5-10
min). The surface of the dough at this stage is dry. The dough is rested for 15-
20 min. and transferred to the hopper of the moulder. The dough is then
shaped usin{ the rotary moulder. The moulded dough is automatically taken to
the steel b~nd of the c~eyor oven where temperature of 180-250oC is
maintained. The biscuit is baked till the desired colour is obtained (5 min).
cooled in a conveyor belt and packed.
4. Different faults that can occur in biscuits are (i) excessive or dull colour (ii)
excessive spread (iii) low raise (iv) fat bloom (v) checking (vi) off flavour and
66 taste (vii) tail ends (viii) blisters h~llow bottom etc.
 Technology of
Colour Biscuits

The colour of biscuits mainly depends on the amount of sugar in the formula, the
level ofliquid glucose added and the baking condition. High amount of sugar or
glucose in the formula, longer time of baking and higher temperature of baking
results in dark coloured biscuits.

The remedy is using the correct formula and baking.

Checking

Checking of biscuits is the normal phenomena where in biscuits tend to develop

crack on storage without any external force. This will affect the sales of biscuits.
This is mainly caused by the imbalance recipe and cooling.

Slow cooling and baking at low temperature for a long period minimize checking.
The re~ipe also should be balan~ed to shorten the dough.

8.11 SOME USEFUL REFERENCES

I. Wade, P. (1988). Biscuits, Cookies and Crackers, Vol I, Elsevier Applied
Science, New York.

2. Pyler, E.J. (1988). Baking Science and Technology (Vol I and Vol II), Sosland
Publishing Co. Kansas, USA.

3. Manley, O.J.R. (1983). Technology of Biscuits, Crackers and Cookies, Ellis

Horwood Limited, Chichester, UK.

67