HISTORY OF FROZEN & SELF-RISING DOUGH

   Modern baking began many years ago with the corner bakery. A baker, who was generally trained by a family member, went to the bakery at midnight to begin preparation of the next day’s products. This was very hard work as the baker had to lift one hundred pound bags of flour, measure the correct weight, and add all the rest of the ingredients to many batches of dough. Once mixing was completed, the product was shaped to resemble its final form. The product was placed in the appropriate type of pan and left to rise, or proof. Three to four hours later the product was baked, cooled, and sold. This process was successful as long as all procedures were completed correctly. However, a baker had to constantly consider the effects of over or under mixing, proofing, or baking. Bakery products are very fragile if the correct procedures are not followed. Customers began demanding larger product lines and bakers could not produce enough varying types of products to meet their customers’ needs. Thus, frozen dough was invented to solve this dilemma.

   Frozen dough was the answer to bakers’ prayers! The days of lifting heavy bags of flour, mixing dough, and worrying about mistakes were over. The baker removed frozen dough from a box, let it thaw for four to six hours, proof for three to four hours, and bake for thirty minutes. With the invention of the proof box, proofing time reduced to one or two hours. The baking industry boomed causing bakers to hire helpers. The mistakes started all over again as good bakers take one year to train and five years to understand the process. During this time American businessmen discovered that fresh breads were marketable in local grocery stores, and Wonder Bread hit shelves around the country. Large corporations arose to meet the increasing market demand for fresh bakery products. Frozen dough plants produced millions of pounds of product, so the corner bakeries could compete. The same problems bakers experienced in the past were still present: a shortage of qualified workforce resulted in too many mistakes. This issue led to the invention of partially baked, or par-baked products. Frozen dough manufacturers installed large ovens in their plants and began baking the product to eighty-five percent of the finished bake, leaving the consumer to finish baking the final fifteen percent. Though this eliminated the majority of problems facing consumers, it created other issues. Examples included crust texture that was too soft or dry and a stale or dry taste that affected the way the product felt in the customer’s mouth. In addition, no bread was baking to entice customers to make impulse purchases. Par-baked products had many advantages over frozen dough, but the disadvantages had to be eliminated. A preproof product became the answer.

   All of the work required to prepare preproof products is completed at the factory. The consumer takes the frozen product out of the box, places it in the oven, and in twenty minutes has a sellable product. The problems of par-baked crust are eliminated. It tastes freshly baked, because it is freshly baked. Preproof technology is gaining momentum in Europe, where the demand for quality bakery products is high. European and American bakery manufacturing plants continue to face a shortage of qualified employees. This leads to more mistakes. Preproof products will streamline the process for consumers in preparing their products.