Hello Steemers! Today I invite you to read this publication about the essential ingredient for the creation of a bread, "El Gluten". This protein is what gives life to our breads, without anything else to add I invite you to continue reading.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein that is made from the molecules of glutenin and gliadin these are proteins that are found in wheat flour; It gives structure and firmness to bakery products. This is an amazing feature, the word "gluten" is derived from the Latin word for "glue".

For the gluten to grow, the proteins must first absorb the water. Then, when kneading or mixing the dough or dough, the gluten forms long and elastic fibers. When fermenting the mass, these fibers trap the gases in small holes or cells, and the product is said to "grow" or "sponge".

When the proteins are heated, they coagulate. This means that they become firm or solidify. A clear example of this phenomenon is that of eggs, which are liquid when they are raw, but solid if cooked. This process is also important in baking. Gluten, like any protein, solidifies or coagulates when baking dough or pasta, which gives structure to the product.

Gluten is found in the endosperm of the wheat grain, because as I mentioned earlier the gluten is the protein.

In this image we can see where it is exactly.

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Control of gluten.

The flour, as is known, is almost all starch, but what matters most to the baker is the protein or gluten content and not the starch. Gluten proteins, as already said, are necessary to give structure to bakery products. The baker must control the gluten. For example, if you want the French bread to be firm and chewy, you will need a good amount of gluten. On the other hand, the cakes should be soft, which means making gluten grow very little.

The proportions of the ingredients and the procedures for kneading are determined in part by the way they influence the growth of the gluten. The baker has several ways to regulate the growth of gluten:

• Selection of flours:

Wheat flours are classified as strong or weak, depending on the protein content. Strong flours are obtained from hard wheats and have a high protein content. Weak flours are obtained from soft wheats and have a low protein content. Thus, strong flours are used for breads and weak flours for cakes). Wheat flour is the only one that contains enough gluten to make bread. If bread is made with rye or any other grain, the formula should be combined with high-gluten flour so that the bread is not heavy.

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• Butters:

All the fats that are used in bakery are called butter. All of them shorten the gluten fibers by surrounding the particles and lubricate them so they do not stick. Therefore, fats are softeners. A cake or cookie crumbles if the fat content is high and gluten grows sparingly. For this reason the French bread has very little fat, or none, while the cakes need a lot.

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• Liquid:

Since gluten proteins must absorb water before they expand, the amount of this liquid in a formula can affect the hardness or softness. The shells or crusts of the countries and the brittle crackers, for example, are made with very little liquid so that they remain soft.

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• Procedures for kneading.

In general, the more you mix a dough or pasta, the more gluten will grow. This is the reason why bread dough is mixed or kneaded enough, so that the crusts of the pie´s, muffms and other products are soft, knead little. There is a risk that the bread dough will mix too much, when this happens the gluten fibers break because they have a limit of elasticity.

Molecular structure of a mass with active gluten.

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• A dough with poor kneading looks like this.

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• This image is of a mass of panettone, for me it is the mass in which more dedication and work takes to be able to develop gluten.

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Elasticity test of a mass and what happens inside it.

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• This is how the gluten rests in a high hydration dough for sourdough breads.

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In the post I explained, what is gluten, how is it opted. For us bakers it is very important to know all this methodology, because for us gluten is everything! I hope you liked it.

Thank you for reading and make sure to join our Discord Server and follow @steemkitchen for more curated recipes and fun contests.

By the way, in one of the sources of the photos is a surprise hahahahahahaha.

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