What is the Leavening Agent in Biscuits?

January 7, 2025

A leavening agent is normally a substance that contributes to forming a dough or batter-rising system by generating gas. When baking, these gases, specifically carbonations, increase during the process to produce air spaces that give a light, porous, and fluffy texture. Regarding the leavening agent definition in biscuits, more stress is placed on its ability to impart the desired crispness and biscuit-like volume to the biscuit.

The function of leavening agents in biscuits is vital. Leavening concepts play a central role in biscuit formulation, concerning the texture, structure, and flavor of the end product. Instead of being light, crisp, and mouth-watering, biscuits would continue to be heavy, unleavened, and not as inviting.

Types of Leavening Agents

Leavening agents are classified into three main types:

Chemical Leavening Agents
Biological Leavening Agents
Physical Leavening Agents

Every type of leavening agent in biscuits has a specific function and the type depends on the texture of the biscuit, taste, and ease of production.

1. Chemical Leavening Agents

Chemical leavening agents are commonly applied to biscuits, particularly the tough and crisp biscuit type. These agents liberate carbon dioxide as a direct result of chemical action; this causes the dough to expand.

(1) Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)

This product has the following other names: bicarbonate of soda, raising agent sodium bicarbonate, and more. This is a white powder widely used in the baking industry.

How It Works: Baking soda is an alkali and that means that it will react with an acid and produce gas mainly carbon dioxide. In baking, heat increases this process and produces a porous structure.

Advantages: Result in tender and crispy texture to the foods concerned.

Challenges: They become excessively bitter or soapy; the inside turns yellow and this is due to overuse of this product. This is why some form of acid such as cream of tartar or citric acid is used so as to reduce the alkaline rate.

Sodium bicarbonate is one of the widely employed chemical leavening agents in foods with leavening agents such as biscuits, cakes, and cookies.

(2) Ammonium Bicarbonate

Another chemical leavening agent used in biscuit production is ammonium bicarbonate, also known as smelling powder.

How It Works: It is stable up to 350C and at heat above this point, it decomposes back to ammonia, CO2, and water.

Advantages: It forms a large increase in biscuit volume without imparting any chemical aftertaste to the biscuits.

Use: Traditionally used with sodium bicarbonate to regulate the leavening process and minimize the alkaline content.

Ammonium bicarbonate is normally applied in cases where baking needs to be light and crispy like the crackers and cookies.

Further reading: What is Ammonium Bicarbonate？

(3)Calcium Carbonate in Leavening

Although not as frequently used as baking soda, calcium carbonate leavening has a supportive function in baking. It also helps to compensate for (neutralize) the acidity of the dough when other acidic emitting agents are used. Calcium carbonate has the functionality of controlling the dough’s consistency and minimizing the excess production of gases in the dough.

2. Biological Leavening Agents

Biological raising agents make use of fermentation to liberate the gas of carbon. Yeast is the oldest and still the most widely used biological leavening agent – especially in soda biscuits and semi-fermented biscuits.

(1) Fresh Yeast

Fresh yeast consists of cultivated yeast and contains protein and vitamins. It used to be employed mostly in the traditional methods of mixing dough.

Advantages: Improves the nutritional value of the biscuits following the fact that yeast during fermentation synthesizes B vitamins.

Limitations: Have to be stored in a chiller and have to be handled with lots of caution.

(2) Dry Yeast

Dry yeast is produced from fresh yeast and is easier to transport because of its prolonged shelf life.

How It Works: Dry yeast, however, has to be reactivated using warm water to regain its ability to ferment the dough.

Use: Good for fermented dough, although, it has a slightly less fermentation ability than fresh yeast.

(3) Instant Active Dry Yeast

Instant yeast is a relatively recent development that retains high fermentation vitality while being incredibly simple to use.

How It Works: In the process of fermentation, yeast releases carbon dioxide ethanol, and acids. This is because the gas expands during the biscuit baking process making the biscuit loosely textured and soft inside.

Advantages: Does not need an activation process and enhances the rate of fermentation. It can be kept at room temperature for a period of about one year.

Flavor: Fermentation gives the bread a sour taste and aroma because, during baking, aroma esters are produced.

3. Physical Leavening Agents

Physical leavening agents employ physical means such as the practice of mechanical work or the production of steam for leavening biscuits. These are less encountered in biscuits, but they are present as other leavening agents do.

Air Incorporation: Whipping or beating the dough incorporates air which, when the dough is beaten, will expand making the dough bake well.

Steam: Water in the dough changes to steam under heat and this makes the biscuit expand.

Example: Puff pastry biscuits use both mechanical leavening and fats to achieve layers.

To summarize, the common leavening agents used in biscuits include:

Chemical: Sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate.
Biological: Compressed yeast, active dry yeast, instant dry yeast.
Physical: Air and steam.

These different leavening agents play roles in structure, flavor, and texture, to make the biscuit conform to what the buyer will expect.

How Do Leavening Agents Work?

The working principle of leavening agents involves three key steps:

1. Gas Production: Reactions emit gases such as carbon dioxide.
2. Expansion: Heat makes these gases bloom and form little air sacs in the dough.
3. Setting: When it is baked, the improvement structure is set and the gases that occur are confined within the dough.

For instance, raising agent sodium bicarbonate comes in contact with any of the acids, carbon dioxide gas is produced making the texture of the final product to be light and porous. In the preparation of yeast-based dough, fermentation is just as effective but brings with it an added taste.

The Importance of Leavening Agents in Biscuits

Leavening agents play an important role in biscuits and the function of leavening agents in biscuits cannot be overemphasized. The role of leavening agents is to help make biscuits fluffy, and tender rather than heavy, compact, and much less tasty.

●Ensure a light and crispy texture
●Incorporate special flavors through the process of fermentation and chemical changes.
●Increase the nutritional value which can be in yeast-based products especially.
●Quality and uniformity of financial productions must be guaranteed.

Conclusion

Leavening agents in biscuits have the important functions of creating texture, flavor, and structure. Each one of them has its distinct uses; chemical leavening agents such as sodium bicarbonate, biological leavening agents inclusive of yeast, and physical leavening agents inclusive of steam.

Thus, it becomes rather meaningful when choosing different leavening agents, since it will help the bakers to select the most appropriate rising agents for certain productions. This guards against irregular biscuits that are equally not so tasty, some being hard, while others are soft but not crisp. Leavening has been the core component of biscuits, regardless of the use of yeast or modern chemicals in the preparation process.