Biscuits

Bis coquere & coctus

Various meanings
Region

Biscuit term generally used

for:

Physical Properties

America

Cracker

Soft, leavened and bread like

Common wealth nations

Cookie

chocolate chip cookie

United Kingdom & Ireland Chocolatebiscuits,

digestives,hobnobs,ginger
nuts,rich tea,bourbons etc.

Hard, Savory or sweet

Dutch

Hard baked product

Koekje

Beaten
Biscuits of
New England

INTRODUCTION
Biscuit is a term used for a diverse variety of baked, commonly
flour-based food products.
The word biscuit is derived from the Latin words bis (twice) and
coquere, coctus (to cook, cooked), and, hence, means "twicecooked".
It is generally recognized that these products are cereal based
and baked to a moisture content of less than 5%.
Biscuits are delicate, crisp crust and peels apart in tender layers.

TYPES OF BISCUIT DOUGH

CLASSIFICATION OF BISCUITS
The method of forming dough and dough piece.
Fermented
Laminated
Cut
Moulded
Extruded deposited
Wire cut co-extruded
According to texture and hardness.
Biscuits
Crackers
Cookies
According to the recipe enrichments with ingredients
Fat
sugar.

SECONDARY CLASSIFICATION
Secondary processing are

Cream Sandwiched
Chocolate Coated
Molded In Chocolate
Iced (Half Coated With An Icing That Has Been
Dried)and
Added Jam Or Mallow (Or Both)

INGREDIENTS USED IN BISCUIT

INGREDIENTS USED IN
BISCUIT(contd.)
Maida (wheat flour)

Finely milled wheat flour .

Becomes cohesive, elastic and gas retenting when hydrated and
kneaded.
In presence of water forms gluten which is responsible for above
properties.
Acts as a structure builder.

INGREDIENTS USED IN
BISCUIT(contd.)
Sugar

Sugar is most important ingredient after flour in soft wheat products

such as biscuits, cookies, cakes, etc.
providing sweetness to the product
FAT

Fat provides shortness character to the products, like soft, pleasant

and crumbly texture

INGREDIENTS USED IN BISCUIT(contd.)

Salt

Modifies other flavours

Affects the rheology of dough and improves the dough
crumb colour.
Water

Acts as solvent to form dough

Acts as a leavening agent and helps in dissolving sugar or
salt.

INGREDIENTS USED IN
BISCUIT(contd.)
Skimmed milk powder (SMP)

Provides nutrients to product

Used as a minor dough ingredient to give subtle flavour and
textural improvements to aid surface cooling.
Ammonium bicarbonate(ABC)

Leavening agent
Maintains the stack height of biscuits.

INGREDIENTS USED IN
BISCUIT(contd.)
Sodium bicarbonate

leavening agent
Adjusts the acidity of dough and taste of biscuit
Puffing activity
Sodium meta bisulphate (SMBS)

Used in very small quantities as a preservative and to modify

gluten quality chemically

INGREDIENTS USED IN
BISCUIT(contd.)
Lecithin

Acts as an natural emulsifier

Finamul

Is an artificial emulsifier
Vanilla flavour

Artificial flavour induces the characteristics flavour into the

biscuits

Top brands of Biscuits in India

Rank

Company

Brand

Parle

Parle G, Nimkin, Krack jack, 20-20 cookies, Monaco, festo

Britania

Milk bikies, tiger, Good Day, Nutrichoice, 50 -50

Priya Gold

Glucose V, butter bite, Cheez bite, CNC, coconut crunch

Anmol

Deamlite, Golmol, Marie, Jadoo

Horlicks

Horlicks, Elaichi biscuits

Cremica

Oat Meal, Bourbon, Coconut, Marie

Sunfeast

Milky Magic, Dream Cream, Marie Lite, Glucose, Dark Fantasy

BIskfarm

Rusk, Cream, Sweet, Countliness

Rose

Marie, Glucose, Salt and Sweet, Coconut

10

Sobisco

Glucose, Sweet n Salty, Cream, Glucose biscuits

STEPS IN BISCUIT MANUFACTURING

Step
4
Step 5
Step 6

Baking & cooling

Packaging
Storage & distribution

PREPARATION OF INGREDIENTS
Maida sifting - it passes through 30 Mesh screens to remove foreign
particle.
Sugar grinding - after grinding the sugar, it is passed through sieve size
of about 0.7 mm.

Flavour mix preparation

SMP Sifting - The SMP is shifted through 20 meshes to separate any
foreign matters from the particle.

MIXING SECTION
Weighed amount of sifted flour, sugar, shortening and flavouring agents
are mixed in mechanical mixer.
Water and baking powder are added during mixing to obtain a dough of
desired consistency.
Kneading for 10-20 min produces biscuits with fine structure, smooth
crust and better appearance

ROTARY MOLDING
Has rotary blades which rotates and mix the dough to its final stage.
Dough temperature is about 33.5C.
Roller rolls the dough and cutting knife helps in cutting the dough so that
dough should pass from roller die equivalently and each cup of die receives
appropriate amount of dough to form biscuits
Die gives the shape and size to biscuitand imprints the name of product
After these biscuits are passed on to rotary belt they are conveyed up to oven

BAKING SECTION
Oven used for baking is divided into various zones according to temp employed.
There are 3 major sections:
Puffing section(180-200c)
Baking section(230-280 c)
Colouring section
Source of heat used in oven is propane.
After baking :
- M/C of biscuits 1.8%
- Temp of biscuits 90-100 C.

CHANGES DURING BAKING

Evolution and expansion of gases
Coagulation of gluten and gelatinization of starch
Partial dehydration from evaporation of water
Development of flavours
Change of colour due to Mallard browning between gluten protein with milk and
reducing sugars as well as other chemical change
Crust formation from surface hydration
Crust darkening from Mallard browning and caramelized sugar

COOLING OF BISCUITS
The hot baked biscuits from oven are conveyed through cooling
conveying belt for cooling of biscuits.
The total travel of the cooling conveyor is 1.5 times of the oven length.
It is done for 5-7 minutes so that biscuits become cool and all the
moisture gets evaporated.
A metal detector is placed after cooling to avoid any metallic
contamination.

PACKAGING
Packaging material
Two types of materials are generally used.
1. BOPP (Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene) films as primary packing
material.
2. Corrugated fibre boards as secondary packing material.

GENERAL DATAS FOR BISCUITS

Example-PARLE -G

Weight of baked biscuit = 5.5-5.10gm

Number of biscuits in 1 packet (45gm) = 9
Weight of baked biscuit + weight of packet = 46.45gm
Length of biscuit = 55 mm
Width of biscuit = 36mm
Stack height = 105-107mm
Baking time = 3.30 min

DEFECTS IN BISCUIT
Floury bottom
Improper ingredient balance and
mixing
Sticky dough
Off flavor
Old and musty flour
Poor molasses or honey quality
Bitterness
Boxboard flavor due to insufficient Cooling

DEFECTS IN BISCUIT(contd.)
Coarse texture
Under mixing
Baking too slowly
Too soft
Excess invert sugar, molasses
honey or non -fat dried milk
Under baked
Stored under warm, damp condition

REFERENCES
Wikipedia.
Biscuit And Cracker Manufacturers Association (1981) Biscuit And Cracker
Handbook, Washington, DC
H. Faridi, The Science of Cookie and Cracker Production, Chapman
& Hall, New York, 1994.
D. J. R. Manley, Technology of Biscuits, Crackers and Cookies, Ellies
Heorrwood Ltd., Chichester, UK, 1983.
S. A. Matz, Formulas and Process for Bakers, Pan-Tech International,
Inc., McAllen, Tex., 1988.