Acrylamide is a pressing health concern globally. It is formed when foods are cooked at temperatures in excess of 120˚C, typically during baking, frying or deep frying. Acrylamide formation occurs as a result of the Maillard browning reactions – a chemical reaction between sugar and asparagine (a naturally occurring amino acid). Figure one: formation of Read more >
Category Archives: Tortilla Tips
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Tortilla Tips: What is Acrylamide?
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Industrial Oven Cleaning
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Ovens are commonly the workhorses of an industrial setting. Whether it is used for baking food products, drying wet surfaces, or hardening coatings, the industrial oven faithfully puts in long hours and delivers finished products day and night. But the constant progression of products through an oven takes its toll. Crumbs fall from baked products. Read more >
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Mold Inhibitors Matter
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Mold inhibitors are vital to tortilla manufacturers for maintaining the quality and safety of tortillas and providing a high quality product that meets consumer demands. Extending tortilla shelf life can be accomplished simply by implementing good manufacturing practices which could include a mold inhibitor in your process. Which type of mold inhibitor is best for Read more >
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Increasing water absorption in tortillas
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One method of increasing yields for tortilla manufacturers, is to maximize the absorption (hydration) rate of mixed tortilla doughs. If the recipe water can be “bound up” by the flour, a higher amount of water can be added to the dough. The most common method of binding water is through the use of additives. Typically, Read more >
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Tortilla Tips: Combat the trans fat dilemma.
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Once seen only as a staple of the traditional Hispanic diet, Tortillas have fast become a fixture in the American food industry . Fresh and packaged tortillas can be found virtually anywhere, from burritos at sporting venues to the menu at your favorite fast food chain , as well as dozens of brands of packaged Read more >
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Tortilla Tips: Formulating for Low Sodium Tortillas
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With so much talk about sodium intake being linked to health risks, it makes sense to decrease sodium intake. A person who consumes less sodium has a lower risk for elevated blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease. Salt or sodium chloride is the main source of sodium in the Read more >
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Tortilla Tips: 6-S to Save You Money
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In these tough economic times all Industries need to look for ways to reduce cost. We all know that energy, raw material, plastics and other staples of our business are increasing in cost. There are many factors that affect this such as weather, supply and demand etc. With that in mind we need to find Read more >
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Tortilla Tips: Water Hardness and pH
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Some Tortilla Factories treat their water with a water softener to get more consistent and superior quality tortillas in areas where water hardness and high pH are problems. Monitoring water quality, especially if you are treating the water, should be part of the QC program. Water hardness can be easily measured with conductivity or total Read more >
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Tortilla Tips: Dough Temperature is Critical
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Water amount and temperature are critical for both corn and flour tortilla processing. Dough (masa) water content and temperature affect the rate of hydration, mixing time, functionality of gums, starch, leavening acids, proteins, and the rheology (texture) of the mixture. Dough temperatures for flour tortillas vary widely (70 – 110ºF) but are commonly held to Read more >
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Tortilla Tips: Ingredients and pH – Part 4 Tortilla Batch Pack pH Method
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Tortilla manufacturers can purchase a mixture of the micro-ingredients, commonly called a base, batch pack or pre-mix, to make flour tortillas. These dry mixtures often contain baking powder, preservatives, salt and some dough conditioners. Each lot should be tested to confirm quality and uniformity. Specifically, the opacity of the tortillas and the ending pH resulting Read more >