Bread Making Process: Preferences, Baking Time, Experimental Design (Lab Report Sample)

Abstract
In this study, the influence of temperature and ingredients composition on the baking time and taste of bread was investigated. The factors that were taken into consideration included salt, yeast, oil, sugar, and baking time. The outcome was analyzed through consumer taste feedback and the average time it took to bake the bread. 10 students were randomly picked from the school population and given questionnaires to fill regarding their taste preferences. The Experimental design was used to evaluate the variables of the experiment. It helped reduce the pressure on time, labor, and money, which are all limited resources. The results indicated that increasing the amount of the ingredients reduced preferences, while
the baking time increased when the temperatures were reduced.
Keywords: Limited resources, preferences, baking time, experimental design.
Introduction
Bread is an essential part of meals consumed by families every day.For this reason, ways of making better quality bread have been devised. Since there is a big demand for bread, bakers have to deliver large quantities without compromising on quality. It is worth noting that various factors affect the production of bread. The standard ingredients include wheat flour, which determines the taste, softness, and freshness; yeast; the leavening agent that also converts sugars into carbon dioxide; salt, which helps in formation; flavor, and finally, water, which is a binding agent for all the other ingredients. There are also other inclusions that determine the different types of bread as regards to their flavor. They include fats, emulsifiers, dried fruit, ascorbic acid, and enzymes, among many others. The process of making bread starts with kneading. The process involves mixing all the ingredients to form dough, which should rise easily and give a high quality end product. Elasticity helps the dough hold in gases well during baking and also helps the bread keep its shape and cellular structure. In any economy, the bakery industry plays a significant role. Bakery does involve not only bread but also biscuits, muffins, cakes.and pastries. The demand for these products is high and brings in a lot of money. Many people are employed, and bakery-based multinationals are being established at a high rate. As much as this industry been growing, it also has had a fair share of challenges. For instance, quality raw materials are not always readily available, and people are, sometimes, ignorant of standards and end up supplying low quality and cheap products. The bakery industry is not an exception when it comes to trained personnel and observing the standard procedures of testing and sanitation. New technologies are invented day in day out and so technicians need to be up to date with skills on maintenance and repair of the machines.
In this experiment, various conditions were created and their outcomes evaluated. The experiment was structured such that the resources that were available covered most of the possible combinations of the ingredients. In this manner, it was possible to establish which factors had a major effect on the outputs.
Materials and Methods
The levels of the componentswere altered. The optimum of one ingredient was used while keeping the other at a slightly higher value. For example, for salt, the standard of one tablespoon was used while the other factor utilized two.
Table 1
Factors and levels that were used for the experiment.
190509715400
Factor Sugar Salt Yeast Oil Baking Temp.
4095751746240019050571400Level1 Tsp1 Tsp 1 Tsp 1 Tsp 150 ℃
2 Tsp2 Tsp 2 Tsp 2 Tsp230 ℃
190505587900
Since this was a factorial experiment,each of the possible combinations was used. 32 pieces of breadwere baked by maximizing the level of interactions of the factors in order to increase the degree of accuracy. The bread was graded as good, average, and bad.
Results and Discussion
The data collected from the experiment was analyzed by employing the Minitab statistical software. Qualitative data was graded into three categories and all the raw data entered into the worksheet. The data was analyzed by performing analysis of variance and correlation. During the analysis, the factors were analyzed using the two-level factorial, a technique known as multifactor analysis of variance (Winer, 1991). The effect of one factor was examined in relation to another.
Table 2
1905017271900Analysis of Variance for Time of baking (min)
1905022478900Source DF SS MS F P
Salt(tsp) 1 231.1250 231.1250 2.6490.245
oil(g) 2 174.5000 87.2500 5.268 0.076
sugar (tsp) 4 66.2500 16.5625 0.8390.538
Yeast(g) 8 158.0000 19.750 0.0671.000
Oven temp℃ 16 4722.0000 295.1250
190502286000
1905017017900Total 31 5351.8750
Oven temperature had the most significant influence on the time it took to bake as opposed to all the other factors. Yeast and sugar had the least importantimpact as shown in the table below
Table 3
Variation and standard deviation effects among the factors in relation to the time of baking.
19050571400 % of
1905015620900Source Var Comp. Total StDev
Salt(tsp) 8.992 2.87 2.999
oil(g) 8.836 2.82 2.973
sugar (tsp) -0.797* 0.00 0.000
Yeast(g) -137.688* 0.00 0.00
1905017589500Oven temp(℃) 295.125 94.30 17.179
Total 312.953 17.690
Figure 1: The effect of time of baking oven temp on the taste
Varying the amounts of salt and oil had an effect on the preferences of the students. The difference for the amount of oil was non-sig...