Nonfat dry milk substitute for yeast-leavened baked products

Abstract

A low-cost substitute for nonfat dry milk (NFDM) solids is provided which serves as a functional equivalent of NFDM in yeast-leavened doughs used in bread making or the like, in terms of desirable organoleptic properties such as loaf volume, crumb quality and crust color. The substitute comprises a component such as an ammonium salt which serves as a source of ammonium ion in the dough, and a quantity of deproteinized whey; these components have been shown to synergistically maintain or enhance loaf volumes while giving good crust color and crumb quality, notwithstanding the fact that deproteinized whey alone has deleterious effect when used alone in doughs. In preferred forms, the substitute serves as both a functional and at least a partial nutritional replacement for NFDM in yeast-leavened doughs, but is much lower in cost and can be used without difficulty in both batch and continuous bread making processes. The substitute is advantageously incorporated into NFDM-free yeast-leavened doughs at levels for increasing loaf volume and other organoleptic properties of baked goods derived from the doughs; however, the substitute can also be used to good effect in doughs containing reduced levels of NFDM solids.