Leavening, maturation and fermentation

Most home bakers (and not only) know leavening as the only process when in reality it is one of the three stages that take place before baking. They are leavening, maturation and fermentation.
Three terms could be used incorrectly and exchanged between them because few know that they indicate three different processes.

Let’s start by saying that leavening and fermentation are very important chemical processes during the production of dough, through which gases are produced which, remaining trapped in the structure, cause an increase in volume, called leavening.

 

Fermentation

Fermentation is triggered in our doughs thanks to the yeast which is a fundamental element as it allows the breakdown of complex sugars (starches) into simple sugars (glucose); during this process carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol are created which allows our products to rise.

 

Leavening

There is therefore a big difference between leavening, maturation, and fermentation because leavening is a biological process through which we mean the increase in the volume of the dough caused precisely by the fermentation action of the yeast that produces carbon dioxide and remains trapped in the gluten structure.

 

Maturation

The maturation phase, unlike the previous two, cannot be taken for granted and not everyone chooses to implement it. This process allows proteins and starch to be broken down in a more “meticulous” way into simple and basic substances, allowing our body to digest them in less time and more easily.

The decision to implement this procedure, and for how many hours to continue it, depends on the type of flour chosen: a weak flour can avoid ripening and generally, if it is carried out, it does not last more than 24 hours; a strong flour is at ease during long ripening and has the potential. This lasting process allows the nutrients to break down at their best, giving life to a highly digestible product capable of giving unique flavors and an inimitable fragrance.

If we decide to create a dough with strong flour and let it rise directly for 4-8 hours at room temperature, we will have a product that is ready and leavened in our eyes, but not broken down correctly; failure to ripen, therefore, creates a dough that is more difficult for our body to metabolize, which is why we will have more digestive problems.

Maturation can be favored, to the detriment of fermentation and leavening, by relying on:

  • Indirect methods (sourdough, biga and poolish)
  • Using less yeast and prolonging the process
  • By letting the dough rest for a few hours in the fridge

A very long maturation determines numerous positive effects on baked goods:

  • Better digestibility
  • More pleasant taste
  • More golden surface (greater caramelization of the sugars present).

N.b. Generally speaking, weak flours ripen earlier than strong ones, in fact, for this reason, it is easy to have the synchronicity of the three processes when using the latter, while it is more unlikely with strong flour (with the same amount of yeast).