leavening agent

(sometimes called just leavening or leaven) is a substance used in doughs and batters that causes a
foaming action intended to lighten and soften the finished product. The leavening agent reacts with
moisture, heat, acidity, or other triggers to produce gas (usually carbon dioxide and sometimes ethanol)
that becomes trapped as bubbles within the dough. When a dough or batter is mixed, the starch in the
flour mixes with the water in the dough to form a matrix (often supported further by proteins like
gluten or other polysaccharides like pentosans or xanthan gum), then gelatinizes and "sets"; the holes
left by the gas bubbles remain.

TYPES OF LEAVENING AGENTS

• steam. When water is heated, steam is produced. The water molecules turn to gas and take up a
greater volume than when the water is liquid. Since water is in most foods, especially liquid
batters, steam will be produced when the foods are heated. Steam is the leavening agent in
popovers, eclairs, and cream puffs, which firm up quickly enough to take advantage of the
volume provided by the steam. Steam leavening is present but less obvious in pie crusts where it
provides the lift to separate layers and make the crust flaky. However, there is so little water and
the nature of the dough is such that you don't get the same volume with pie crust as you do with
popovers.
• air. Air is important for many foods since when the product is heated the gases of air expand to
take up greater volume. Beating of a batter or egg whites, creaming of butter and sugar,
incorporates air which will help the product rise when the heating begins and the air bubbles
expand. The amount of beating has to be sufficient to incorporate enough air yet overbeating
will often cause the air to be lost. Air may be the major, if not only, leavening agent in pound
cakes and angel food cakes.
• carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is an important leavening agent for most baked goods.
Like air, carbon dioxide is a gas that expands when heated. However, carbon dioxide is different
than air in that it is generated from within the product rather than being incorporated in by
beating. The creation of the gas bubbles itself is enough to provide quite a bit of leavening
action. This is apparent with yeast breads, for which it is the yeast that is added to the batter or
dough and the carbon dioxide is a waste product of yeast metabolism. As the yeast go to work,
the carbon dioxide produced causes the bread to rise. More rising occurs in the oven when the
bread, and hence the carbon dioxide gas bubbles, is heated
• YEAST.- Yeast is a microscopic, one-celled plant that, when conditions are favorable, will
multiply by budding or by the division of a cell into two cells. In this process of reproduction,
the yeast plant uses available food (sugars) to produce carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. This is
known as fermentation.
• BAKING SODA.- Baking soda acts as a leavening agent only when there is an acid present.
Some of these acids are sour milk or buttermilk, molasses, brown sugar, honey, corn syrup,
maple syrup, lemon juice, and vinegar. These are used for different types of quick bread. Only a
limited quantity of the acid ingredients can be used for leavening purposes due to the
pronounced flavor and heavy texture that baking soda and molasses or syrup give to the
products. It is also difficult to determine beforehand the amount of gas that these mixtures will
produce. Thus, it is difficult to obtain standard results. Baking soda is also known as sodium
bicarbonate or NaHCO3. The baking soda used for these tests was Arm and Hammer brand,
purchased at the local grocery store.
 • BAKING POWDER.- Baking powder is a leavening agent that contains baking soda, a large
amount of starch, and a material that forms an acid when it is mixed with water, thus producing
a gas. There are several types of baking powder. The Navy uses a combination-type baking
powder that contains the acids sodium aluminum sulphate (S.A.S.) and orthophosphate plus
sodium bicarbonate and a cornstarch filler. This type of baking powder is moderately double
acting; one constituent acts in the batter, while the other does not act until it is heated in the
oven. Baking powder is generally preferred over baking soda because it is more reliable. Baking
powder is a combination of baking soda and a powdered acid. For these tests, Davis double-
acting baking powder was used, as purchased from the local grocery store. This contains
cornstarch as a filler, sodium bicarbonate, calcium phosphate, and sodium aluminum sulfate.
Calcium phosphate is Ca(H2PO4)2, and sodium aluminum sulfate is NaAl(SO4)2.

KINDS OF LEAVENING AGENTS

Biological leaveners

Microorganisms that release carbon dioxide as part of their life cycle can be used to leaven products.
Varieties of yeast are most often used, particularly Saccharomyces species (i.e. baker's yeast
(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)), though some recipes also rely on certain bacteria. Yeast leaves behind
waste byproducts (particularly ethanol and some autolysis products) that contribute to the distinctive
flavor of yeast breads. In sourdough breads, the flavor is further enhanced by various lactic acid
bacteria (lactobacilli) or acetic acid bacteria (acetobacilli).
Leavening with yeast is a process based on fermentation, biologically changing the chemistry of the
dough or batter as the yeast works. Unlike chemical leavening, which usually activates as soon as the
water combines the acid and base chemicals, yeast leavening requires proofing, which allows the yeast
time to reproduce and consume carbohydrates in the flour.
Yeast can also be used to make alcoholic beverages like beer or wine. The resulting cast-off yeast,
known as barm, can be used as a leavener and was probably ancestral to the use of modern pure-
cultured yeast.
While not as widely known, bacterial fermentation is sometimes used, occasionally providing a
drastically changed flavor profile from a yeast fermentation; salt rising bread, which uses a culture of
the Clostridium perfringens bacterium, is a well-known example.
Some typical biological leaveners are:
• beer (unpasteurised - live yeast)
• buttermilk
• ginger beer
• kefir
• sourdough starter
• yeast
• yogurt
 Chemical leaveners

Chemical leaveners are chemical mixtures or compounds that typically release carbon dioxide or other
gases when they react with moisture and heat; they are almost always based on a combination of acid
(usually a low molecular weight organic acid) and an alkali. They usually leave behind a chemical salt.
Chemical leaveners are used in quick breads and cakes, as well as cookies and numerous other
applications where a long biological fermentation is impractical or undesirable.
Since chemical expertise is required to create a functional chemical leaven without leaving behind off-
flavors from the chemical precursors involved, such substances are often mixed into premeasured
combinations for maximum results. These are generally referred to as baking powders.
Chemical leavening agents include:
• baking powder
• baking soda (a.k.a., sodium bicarbonate)
• monocalcium phosphate
• sodium aluminum phosphate (SALP)
• sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP)
• other phosphates
• ammonium bicarbonate (a.k.a., hartshorn, horn salt, bakers ammonia)
• potassium bicarbonate (a.k.a., potash)
• potassium bitartrate (a.k.a., cream of tartar)
• potassium carbonate (a.k.a., pearlash)
• hydrogen peroxide

Mechanical leavening
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.
Using a whisk on certain liquids, notably cream or egg whites, can also create foams through
mechanical action. This is the method employed in the making of sponge cakes, where an egg protein
matrix produced by vigorous whipping provides almost all the structure of the finished product.
The Chorleywood Bread Process uses a mix of biological and mechanical leavening to produce bread;
while it is considered by food processors to be an effective way to deal with the soft wheat flours
characteristic of British Isles agriculture, it is controversial due to a perceived lack of quality in the
final product. The process has nevertheless been adapted by industrial bakers in other parts of the
world.
 IMPORTANT POINTS

Dough
is a paste made out of any cereals (grains) or leguminous crops by mixing the flour with a small
amount of water. This step is a precursor to making bread, pasta, noodles, crusts, dumplings,
pastry, cookies, and muffins.

Ethanol
also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable,
colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug, best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic
beverages and in modern thermometers. Ethanol is one of the oldest recreational drugs known to
man. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol or spirits.

Ethanol fermentation
a form of anaerobic respiration used primarily by yeasts when oxygen is not present in sufficient
quantity for normal cellular respiration