Aeration

Prepared By: Rajendra Timilsina

Instructor
Food production and patisserie

Introduction and background

Aeration: is the process of in-corporating air into

mixture or dough which helps to increase the

volume of mixture but not weight
Aerate: To incorporate air or CO2 during
production to make the product more digestible
and increase the volume.

Methods Of Aeration
The following are the different types of aeration
methods:
Biological Aeration Method ( yeast ).
Chemical Aeration Method (baking powder).
Mechanical Aeration Method ( whisking and beating)
Physical Aeration Method ( lamination, steam )
Combinations of the above.

Biological Aeration

This refers to products that use Yeast as is main aerating

method such as Bread, rolls, buns, Dough cakes, Lardy

cakes, etc.
The aeration comes from the Carbon Dioxide produced
when the living yeast breaks down the sugars in the
product.
The gas is entrapped by the gluten structure, which then
expands the product, giving it the lightness and crumb
structure that is required.

Examples of Biological
Leaveners
Buttermilk
Sourdough starter

yeast
yogurt

Chemical Aeration
Carbon Dioxide is produced chemically when an Acid

and an Alkali interact, when in a solution and heated. This

(1 part Alkali to 2 parts Acid ) is known as Baking
Powder.
The main reaction should take place when the product is
placed in the oven, until then, the product should be kept
cold, so as to delay the reaction, a small amount of which
will already have started due to the contact with liquid in
the product.

Examples of Chemical leaveners

Baking powder
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Ammonium bicarbonate (hartshorn, horn
salt, bakers ammonia)
Potassium bicarbonate (potash)
Potassium bitartrate (cream of tartar)
Potassium carbonate
Monocalcium phosphate

Mechanical Aeration
It is the process of incorporating air by whisking,

beating and sieving.

Creaming is the process of beating sugar crystals
and solid fat (typically butter) together in a mixer.
This integrates tiny air bubbles into the mixture,
since the sugar crystals physically cut through the
structure of the fat.
Creamed mixtures are usually further leavened by a
chemical leavener. This is often used in cookies

Physical (lamination,steam)
When water reaches boiling point it

produces water vapour, (steam) the

gaseous phase of water.
This is by its nature, increases in volume
and if contained correctly will cause the
product to expand.

Examples of water vapor

An example of this is Choux pastry. Water,

fat, flour and egg are the only ingredients

used but the end product is full of air, eg
Eclairs and choux buns. The only aeration
is steam.

Physical Aeration(Lamination)
Puff pastry is also aerated by steam but it

is assisted by the process of lamination.

Puff pastry is created by laminating layers
of fat and dough. When the pastry is placed
in the oven, the fat layers will melt before
the water in the paste turns to steam.
pastry.

The hole created by the melting fat is then

expanded by the steam until the protein

finally coagulates and sets giving
the classic light flaky

Combinations of above.
Danish pastries are aerated by a

combination of Yeast and Lamination. A

rich yeast fermented dough is laminated
with fat, in the same way as puff pastry, the
pastry is given a lift due to the process of
lamination and at the same time the dough
layers are softened and aerated by the
action of the yeast.

Yeast based product are expensive than

chemical based bakery items

Generally the cheaper the cake the more
Baking Powder is used