June 04, 2014 - Blogs
Dairy powders—dried and concentrated forms of milk and its constituents—are simple, minimally processed ingredients that can assist bakers with delivering better baked goods while maintaining the clean label consumers seek.
Dairy ingredients have a long history of use in baked goods—butter is the gold standard fat ingredient in almost all bakery applications, while cheese, natural or processed, can be blended with other ingredients to improve melt and help manage moisture migration. Nonfat dried milk is another long-time bakery favorite that can improve texture and flavor of baked goods, and bind water to improve shelf life.
The three components of nonfat dried milk—lactose, casein and whey—contribute a medley of functional benefits, promoting the Maillard browning reaction, binding fat and water and adding to crumb texture and post-bake volume. However, the ingredient’s high cost has made it unsuitable in low-cost baked goods, causing manufacturers to seek more cost-effective ingredients that will provide similar attributes.
Sweet whey powder is one such ingredient. Sweet whey powder possesses a sweet taste profile, and can create a tender crumb, despite containing only about one-third the protein of nonfat dry milk. Although sweet whey was once used as an economic replacement for nonfat dry milk, it no longer provides the same financial advantage.
Instead, many bakers are now turning to permeate, a co-product of the product of whey protein concentrate (WPC), whey protein isolate (WPI), unfiltered milk, milk protein concentrate (MPC) or milk protein isolate (MPI). Permeate contributes to the browning of baked goods, and can reduce sodium in food products due to its salty flavor. What’s more, permeate labels as “dairy product solids" on ingredient labels to reduce consumer confusion.
For a closer look at dairy powders, and how to use them in bakery applications, download Food Product Design’s free Digital Issue, “Dairy Powders Build Better Baked Goods."
Dairy powders—dried and concentrated forms of milk and its constituents—are simple, minimally processed ingredients that can assist bakers with delivering better baked goods while maintaining the clean label consumers seek.
Dairy ingredients have a long history of use in baked goods—butter is the gold standard fat ingredient in almost all bakery applications, while cheese, natural or processed, can be blended with other ingredients to improve melt and help manage moisture migration. Nonfat dried milk is another long-time bakery favorite that can improve texture and flavor of baked goods, and bind water to improve shelf life.
The three components of nonfat dried milk—lactose, casein and whey—contribute a medley of functional benefits, promoting the Maillard browning reaction, binding fat and water and adding to crumb texture and post-bake volume. However, the ingredient’s high cost has made it unsuitable in low-cost baked goods, causing manufacturers to seek more cost-effective ingredients that will provide similar attributes.
Sweet whey powder is one such ingredient. Sweet whey powder possesses a sweet taste profile, and can create a tender crumb, despite containing only about one-third the protein of nonfat dry milk. Although sweet whey was once used as an economic replacement for nonfat dry milk, it no longer provides the same financial advantage.
Instead, many bakers are now turning to permeate, a co-product of the product of whey protein concentrate (WPC), whey protein isolate (WPI), unfiltered milk, milk protein concentrate (MPC) or milk protein isolate (MPI). Permeate contributes to the browning of baked goods, and can reduce sodium in food products due to its salty flavor. What’s more, permeate labels as “dairy product solids" on ingredient labels to reduce consumer confusion.
For a closer look at dairy powders, and how to use them in bakery applications, download Food Product Design’s free Digital Issue, “Dairy Powders Build Better Baked Goods."
