What's in bread?
All bread making is based on principles that are thousands of
years old. The process relies on four steps - mixing,
proving/fermenting, baking and cooling - and uses flour, water,
yeast and salt as the basic ingredients.
It's what our consumers' prefer that matters most to us when we
bake bread. We know, for example, that the characteristics people
look for are a soft loaf with a good crumb structure, with a good
strength to the slice.
In order to create the bubbles that deliver the softness and
structure, UK bakeries use a small amount of vegetable fat and/or
emulsifiers - which are used to influence the structure and texture
of the bread as well as maintaining quality - plus vitamin C
(ascorbic acid) to help to stabilise the bubbles in the dough
through the oven.
All our packaged bread lists all ingredients clearly on pack to
tell consumers exactly what's in the bread.
How is it made?
We design our recipe and baking process to deliver what the
consumer wants so, for instance, our recipes make sure our
deliciously soft bread doesn't fall apart when it's
buttered.
We take all our knowledge about consumer preferences and develop
recipes designed to provide a great loaf - every pack, every
slice.
Our baking process is pretty much identical to how you'd bake a
loaf at home. The difference is that our mixers speed the process
and remove the need for kneading the dough in the same way a home
food mixer is quicker at making cake mix than mixing with a wooden
spoon. Regardless of where your bread is baked, the same basic
steps apply.
And what's the greatest thing about bread for all of us? The
fact that all bread is a key part of a balanced diet, whether it's
made at home, in a small craft bakery, or in a large bakery like
ours.
