How a Chemist Makes the Softest Bread You'll Ever Eat

Want to make the fluffiest bread possible? Then you need the technique called starch gelatinization. Based on the Chinese tangzhong and Japanese yudane methods, this involves breaking down starch’s symmetry, pushing water between amylose and amylopectin molecules, and using high temperature to gelatinize the starch before making it into dough. But don’t just take our word for it, we made 3 loaves of bread to put the science to the test.

The recipe Alex followed is from the New York Times:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016275-japanese-milk-bread

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The Ultimate Donut Battle: Cake vs. Yeast: https://youtu.be/u68ZnxzWj5k
Better Pancakes Through Chemistry: https://youtu.be/pMhrV9sRjqI


Credits:
Executive Producer:
Matthew Radcliff

Producers:
Elaine Seward
Andrew Sobey
Darren Weaver

Writer/Host:
Alex Dainis, Ph.D.

Scientific Consultants:
Leila Duman, Ph.D.
Diana Maricruz Pérez Santos, PhD
Brianne Raccor, Ph.D.
Yikai Ren, M.Sc.
David Seung, Ph.D.

Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

Reactions is a production of the American Chemical Society.
© 2023 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.


Sources:
The Guide to Tangzhong and Yudane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Bhe16kvCI

Bulk and Surface Chemical Composition of Wheat Flour Particles of Different Sizes:
https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/jchem/2019/5101684.pdf

Starch Definition:
https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/starch

Difference Between Amylose and Amylopectin:
https://byjus.com/biology/difference-between-amylose-and-amylopectin/

Starch and Starch Granules:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9780470015902.a0001294.pub2

The wonders of salivary amylase:
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/pdbe/news/wonders-salivary-amylase#:~:text=Salivary%20amylase%2C%20encoded%20by%20the,final%20steps%20of%20carbohydrate%20digestion

Effects of Cooking Temperatures and Starch Source on the Gelatinization and Thickening Power of Roux:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15428052.2011.627251?journalCode=wcsc20

Bread staling:
https://www.greekchemistinthekitchen.com/post/bread-staling

The Science Behind… scalded flour:
https://thebreadmaiden.com/2016/02/18/the-science-behind-scalded-flour/comment-page-1/

Pane Grano Arso - Burnt Wheat Bread:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/55188/pane-grano-arso

How to make tangzhong:
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/guides/how-to-make-tangzhong/

Characterization of starch–water interactions and their effects on two key functional properties: starch gelatinization and retrogradation:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214799321000011

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