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pH in Cookie Dough

Description 

Cookies are a favorite treat among young and old alike. A sweet crispy style cake that dates back to the early 17th century AD Persia is now a pantry staple. 
By the time of the Renaissance, various recipes were developed to enjoy the tasty commodity known as fine cakes or cookies. 
Small sweet biscuits similar to shortbread cookies were popular in Elizabethan England. Today,  everything  from  ladyfingers to biscotti to gingerbread serves as  cookies in a variety of flavors and colors.
Cookies consist of refined flours, different types of sugar that influence the taste and texture of the final  product, a binder containing moisture and  fats such as  eggs and  butter, a  leavening agent, and flavors such as  extracts, spices, chocolate and  nuts. When making cookies, it is important  to balance  the different ingredients to ensure proper texture,  spread, and   rise  of the cookie during baking.  In addition to physical characteristics, a proper balance of ingredients will also affect the shelf life.When  baking,  a  proper  amount  of   leavening agent is  required  to achieve  the desired  end product. The most common types of  leavening agents  used  in  baking  are  baking  soda  and baking powder. As  cookies bake, water in  the dough boils and  turns to steam at approximately 100 degrees Celsius. The steam produced then reacts with the baking soda or powder to create carbon dioxide  gas.  It  is this  gas  which  causes the cookie  to rise. The  effectiveness  of  this reaction can  influence the flakiness, chew, and crispiness of the cookie. If the pH of the baking soda/powder mix is off, then this can  cause the pH of the mixed dough to be too low or too high. In order to limit bacterial growth, the raw  cookie dough must be below pH 8. The leavening mixes can  vary  in pH from  batch to batch within a set lot. Therefore it is important to monitor both the pH of the leavening mix and  the mixed dough to ensure a sufficient shelf life and  a high  quality baked good.


Application  

A snack food company contacted Hanna Instruments for portable pH testing, indicating a need for a durable way to test pH on the factory floor. The company would need to test the pH of the baking soda and  baking powder slurry  that was added to the dough, as well as the raw dough itself at various stages of  mixing  and   baking. Hanna Instruments recommended the HI98161 Professional Foodcare Portable pH  Meter with the FC2023 Foodcare Conical Tip pH Electrode.


The   HI98161   is   a    waterproof  meter   that measures pH and temperature in one. It is a small portable meter that has easy to navigate screens and  buttons, including a  designated HELP key. The customer appreciated that the battery life was displayed  on  the screen since they would be carrying  around the expansive bakery floor. Through use of the Autohold feature, the meter can  take a measurement and, once the reading is  stable,  hold   the value  on the screen.  

The user can  then utilize the log on demand feature to record up to 200 readings  that can  later  be exported to a  computer. The meter stores the GLP (good lab  practices)  data along  with  the logged measurement, including information on the date, time, pH calibration buffers, offset, and the slope. The ability to store and  report data in conjunction  with  electrode  calibration,  slope, and  offset data was required for the customers HACCP plan. 

The customer appreciated that the FC2023 electrode was especially designed for  food manufacturers in mind. The FC2023 has  a conical glass  tip  that allows  for  an  easy insertion  into an  assortment of  food preparations  for  direct pH   measurement.   The  open  junction   design in conjunction with food grade viscolene gel electrolyte  that is  in  direct  contact  with  the sample prevents clogging of  the junction. The PVDF body of the probe is food grade plastic that resists chemicals, solvents, and fungal growth. 

All of these factors make the probe optimal for food use. The customer was very impressed with the fast response time, as well as the stable reading. The HI98161 and the FC2023 provided a complete solution to their portable pH testing needs.

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