Bakery

By adding 0.1 to 0.2% of alginate to flour, the amount of water added to the dough can be increased by 3 to 5%. If the amount of water added is increased without using alginate, the dough becomes sticky making it difficult to produce bread. However, by adding alginate, the dough does not become sticky and produces a dough with good stretch.

In addition, bread with a large amount of added water tends to collapse after baking but adding alginate increases elasticity, resulting in a well-shaped bread which is hard to collapse.

When the dough containing alginate and increased water is baked, the bread swells larger than usual. The bread is elastic and rises from the bottom to increase the overall bread volume.

Bread which is chilled and distributed as sandwiches, is processed to maintain softness even at refrigerated temperatures. However, soft bread tends to collapse and deform easily, and when eating, can give a sticky texture.
Alginate can assist even with soft doughs to improve bread elasticity, so any sandwich does not collapse and keeps a good shape. Also, it is not sticky, giving good texture and mouthfeel. It is indispensable for sandwiches stored as chilled products in convenience stores and supermarkets.

After baking, bread may become wrinkled or may lose shape over time. With Alginate, the shape of the baked bread is maintained over time helping to increase the product value. Bread displayed on open shelves will maintain its good shape.

Bread that is prone to shrink and collapse after baking results in deep side dents (this phenomenon is called "caving"). The elasticity of the entire bread is increased by adding alginate and it becomes difficult to be shrunk and collapse after baking, so caving can be prevented.

Hot dog/finger rolls can be difficult to break or split, adding alginate gives bread an enhanced elasticity, which improves workability when processing breads and improves yield. In addition, crumbs are greatly reduced when cutting with a slicer.

Moisture which seeps from items wrapped in bread (fillings), such as jam, fruit, curry, etc., can make the bread overly moist or cause holes. Alginate gels the moisture which seeps from the filling ingredients and prevents the moisture escaping into the dough.

For details, refer to [Fillings]

When alginate is blended into an icing (a white cream-like sugar coating), the time to solidify is shortened and stickiness due to moisture absorption is prevented.

Heating bread or a donut which have been refrigerated or frozen may cause wrinkles or the surface to become soggy. Alginate containing bread maintains a soft and resilient texture even after heating in a microwave oven. This allows bread products such as hot dogs and hamburgers which do not soften after heated in a microwave oven to be commercialized.

When alginate is blended into a donut dough, the amount of oil remaining in the donut after frying is reduced. As a result, it prevents the deterioration of texture and stickiness caused by oil, reduces the amount of oil consumed and also reduces the amount of oil used for cooking.