The inventors applied extensive research in order to achieve the above objects and, as a result, found that the staling and spoilage can be considerably prevented by freeze-drying basic doughs. Then, they continued the researches based on said finding and have finally arrived at the present invention.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to:
(i) A process for producing bakery products, which comprises (1) a step of preparing a basic dough by mixing and kneading one or more grain flours and water; (2) a step of preparing a freeze-dried basic dough by freeze-drying said basic dough; and (3) a step of preparing a bakery dough by mixing and kneading said freeze-dried basic dough, water, and one or more other bakery ingredients;
(ii) The process according to (i), wherein the grain flour is wheat flour;
(iii) The process according to (i), wherein the grain flour is at least one grain flour selected from the group consisting of barley flour, rye flour, buckwheat flour, corn flour, rice flour, millet flour, barnyard millet flour, adlay flour, and soy flour, or is a mixture of at least one from these flours with wheat flour;
(iv) The process according to any one of (i) to (iii), wherein the other bakery ingredient is at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of starches, yeasts, yeast foods, fats and oils, sugars, dairy products, egg products, salts, leavening agents, emulsifiers, enzymes, seasonings, preservatives, proteins, amino acids, and flavors;
(v) The process according to any one of (i) to (iv), wherein the freeze-dried basic dough is powdery;
(vi) The process according to any one of (i) to (v), wherein step (1) for preparing a basic dough further comprises adding one or more other bakery ingredients, and mixing and kneading the ingredient(s) together;
(vii) The process according to (vi), wherein the other bakery ingredient is at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of yeasts, yeast foods, fats and oils, starches, sugars, dairy products, egg products, salts, leavening agents, emulsifiers, enzymes, seasonings, preservatives, proteins, amino acids, and flavors;
(viii) The process according to any one of (i) to (vii), wherein step (3) for preparing a dough further comprises adding one or more grain flours, and mixing and kneading the flour(s) together.
(ix) The process according to any one of (i) to (viii), wherein, in step (1) for preparing a basic dough, the basic dough temperature is 50 to 98 degrees Celsius when the mixing/kneading is finished;
(x) The process according to any one of (i) to (ix), which, following step (3) for preparing a dough, further comprises a dough fermentation step and a heat treatment step;
(xi) A process for preparing a freeze-dried basic dough, which comprises freeze-drying a basic dough obtained by mixing and kneading one or more grain flours and water;
(xii) The process for preparing a freeze-dried basic dough according to (xi), wherein the basic dough temperature is 50 to 98 degrees Celsius when the mixing/kneading is finished;
(xiii) A freeze-dried basic dough obtainable by the process according to (xi) or (xii);
(xiv) A bakery premix, comprising a freeze-dried basic dough according to (xiii);
(xv) The bakery premix according to (xiv), further comprising one or more grain flours;
(xvi) The bakery premix according to (xiv) or (xv), further comprising one or more other bakery ingredients;
(xvii) The bakery product premix according to (xvi), wherein the other bakery ingredient is at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of yeasts, yeast foods, fats and oils, starches, sugars, dairy products, egg products, salts, leavening agents, emulsifiers, enzymes, seasonings, preservatives, proteins, amino acids, and flavors;
(xviii) A process for producing bakery products, comprising a step of preparing a bakery dough by mixing and kneading a bakery premix according to any one of (xiv) to (xvii) and water; and
(xix) Bakery products, obtainable by the process according to (xviii).

According to the process of the present invention, the staling of basic doughs can be prevented even when the basic doughs are subjected to a long-term storage and, therefore, bakery products of good quality can be produced from such long-term stored basic doughs.

The process for producing bakery products according to the present invention comprises a step for preparing a basic dough by mixing and kneading a mixture which contains one or more grain flours and water; a step of preparing a freeze-dried basic dough by freeze-drying said basic dough; and a step of preparing a bakery dough by mixing and kneading said freeze-dried basic dough, water, and one or more other bakery ingredients.

Moreover, depending on the types of bakery products to be produced, the process according to the present invention may further comprise a step of fermenting the bakery dough obtained after the aforementioned steps by fermenting the bakery dough, followed by division into portions, rounding, benching, degassing or shaping, and then proofing; and a step of subjecting the fermented dough to a heat treatment by baking, steaming or frying the dough. Each of said steps is described hereinafter in more detail.

In step (1) for preparing a basic dough, one or more grain flours and water are mixed and kneaded together. The basic dough thus formed preferably has a temperature of approximately 50 degrees Celsius to 98 degrees Celsius when the mixing/kneading is finished. The water may be either hot water or room temperature water. When using room temperature water, it is preferable that one or more grain flours and room temperature water are so mixed and kneaded together under heating that the basic dough temperature is approximately 50 degrees Celsius to 98 degrees Celsius when the mixing/kneading is finished. Alternatively, one or more grain flours and room temperature water may be first heated in a microwave oven, and subsequently mixed and kneaded so that the kneaded basic dough finally reaches approximately 50 degrees Celsius to 98 degrees Celsius when the mixing/kneading is finished. If necessary, one or more other bakery ingredients can be added during this step. Furthermore, it is also possible to mature the kneaded basic dough in cold storage at a temperature of approximately -7 degrees Celsius to +10 degrees Celsius for approximately 1 to 100 hours and, thereafter, subject this basic dough to the freeze-drying step.

The weight ratio between the grain flour(s) and water used in step (1) is generally 1 : about 0.2 to about 3.0, and preferably 1 : about 0.3 to about 2.5.

When adding other bakery ingredients in step (1), the weight ratio between the grain flour(s) and the other bakery ingredient(s) is generally 1 : about 0.001 to 10, and preferably 1 : about 0.01 to about 2.0.

The grain flour used according to the present invention is not limited to a particular one, and may be any grain flour provided that it can be used as a material for bakery products. Examples of grain flours include wheat flour (for example, bread flour, cake flour, semi-hard flour, all-purpose flour), barley flour, rye flour, buckwheat flour, corn flour, rice flour, millet flour, barnyard millet flour, adlay flour, and soy flour. Wheat flour is preferred, and bread flour is more preferable. The grain flour can be used alone or as a mixture of two or more grain flours. Preferably, such a mixture is, for example, a mixture of at least two grain flours selected from the group consisting of barley flour, rye flour, buckwheat flour, corn flour, rice flour, millet flour, barnyard millet flour, adlay flour, and soy flour, or, particularly preferably, is a mixture of wheat flour and at least one grain flour from said group.

Examples of other bakery ingredients optionally used during step (1) include yeasts, yeast foods, fats and oils (shortening, lard, margarine, butter, liquid oils, powdered oils, or the like), starches (cornstarch, high-amylose cornstarch, wheat starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, green gram starch, sago starch, rice starch, pea starch, or modified starches thereof), sugars (monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides), dairy products (milks, dry milks, creams, cheeses, or the like), egg products, salts (common salt or the like), seasonings (amino acids, nucleic acids, or the like), leavening agents (baking soda, ammonium carbonate, baking powder, or the like), emulsifiers (lecithin, sugar esters, glycerin fatty acid esters, or the like), enzymes, preservatives, proteins, amino acids (glycine, glutamic acid), and flavors.

In the freeze-drying step (2), the basic dough prepared after the aforementioned step is then freeze-dried to obtain a freeze-dried basic dough. The freeze-drying method is not limited to a particular one, and any known method can be used. For example, it can be carried out by quick-freezing the basic dough, and then freeze-drying the frozen basic dough in vacuum. The freeze-dried basic dough thus obtained may be then ground to obtain a powdery product, if necessary. In this manner, the staling and spoilage of the starch contained in the freeze-dried basic dough can be prevented over a long time even at room temperature.

The freeze-dried basic dough obtained from said step can be stored over a long time. The freeze-dried basic dough can be stored at room temperature, but it is also possible to cold-store it at a temperature of approximately -7 degrees Celsius to +10 degrees Celsius where the basic dough is not frozen, or to freeze-store it in a temperature range below -7 degrees Celsius, either.

In step (3) of preparing a dough, the freeze-dried basic dough, water, and one or more other bakery ingredients are mixed and kneaded together to obtain a bakery dough. In this step, the bakery dough can be prepared by introducing the freeze-dried basic dough, water, and one or more other bakery ingredients in a mixer at the same time, and mixing and kneading these components in this mixer together.

As the other bakery ingredients, mention can be made of, preferably, starches, yeasts, yeast foods, fats and oils, sugars, dairy products, egg products, salts, leavening agents, emulsifiers, enzymes, seasonings, preservatives, proteins, amino acids, flavors, or the like. As will be described below, it is desirable that fats and oils are added during the course of this step (3), and not at the beginning of this step.

The weight ratio between the freeze-dried basic dough and water used in step (3) is generally 1 : about 0.5 to about 50, and preferably 1 : about 1 to about 10. The types of other bakery ingredients and the ratio thereof relative to the grain flour are not particularly limited, and can be conventional ones as used in ordinary production methods of bakery products.

Moreover, it is preferred that further one or more grain flours be added during this mixing and kneading step. The amount of the grain flours added is preferably approximately 50 to 10000 parts by weight and more preferably approximately 100 to 1000 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the grain flour used in step (1) for preparing the basic dough.

Alternatively, the bakery dough can also be prepared by first mixing and kneading the materials other than the freeze-dried basic dough (i.e., water, grain flours, other bakery ingredients, and others) to obtain a pre-dough and then mixing and kneading the freeze-dried basic dough and said pre-dough to prepare the bakery dough. In this case, it is desirable that oils and fats as other bakery ingredient are added, not during the preparation of said pre-dough, but after wheat gluten has completely bound together during the mixing and kneading of said pre-dough and the freeze-dried basic dough for the preparation of the bakery dough, thereby homogenously kneading the oils and fats into the bakery dough. This is because, if oils and fats are added before gluten has completely bound together, the binding of gluten may be inhibited.

Bakery products can be prepared from the dough thus prepared, using conventional methods depending on the types of the bakery products. In the case of breads, for example, dough fermentation and heat treatment steps follow said step for preparing the bakery dough. The dough fermentation and heat treatment steps can be carried out as in conventional bakery production methods in this art, respectively. The heat treatment step may comprise baking, steaming, steam-roasting, or frying depending on the type of the bakery product.

Examples of bakery products according to the present invention include breads, dried bread products, cakes, waffles, cream puffs, donuts, fried snacks or confectionaries, pies, pizzas, and crapes.

The term breads as used herein includes, for example, pan-breads (for example, white pan-bread, brown bread), French bread, biscuits or hardtack, variety breads, bread rolls, cooking breads (for example, hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizzas), sweet buns (for example, jam-filled buns, "an-pan" (a red bean paste-filled bun), sweet cream-filled buns, raisin breads or buns, "melonpan" (a bun resembling a melon), sweet roll buns, croissants, brioches, Danish pastries, and "corone"), steamed buns (for example, "niku-man" (a steamed food made of flour dough and filled with cooked ground pork, also known as pork buns or meat buns), "an-man" (a steamed food of the same type, but filled with a red bean paste)), and specialty breads (for example, breadsticks (Grissino), muffins, and naan). The process according to the present invention is particularly suitable for producing pan-breads.

Another aspect of the present invention is a bakery premix, which contains said freeze-dried basic dough. The "premix" is a powder formulation convenient for making cakes, breads, or the like, and examples for the bakery premix according to the present invention include bread premixes, cake premixes, and cooking premixes (for example, pizza premixes). To the bakery premix according to the present invention, grain flours and other bakery ingredients can be added in addition to the freeze-dried basic dough. Examples of grain flours used in the premix include wheat flour (for example, bread flour, cake flour, semi-hard flour, all-purpose flour), barley flour, rye flour, buckwheat flour, corn flour, rice flour, millet flour, barnyard millet flour, adlay flour, and soy flour. Examples of suitable other bakery ingredients used in the premix include yeasts, yeast foods, fats and oils, starches, sugars, dairy products, egg products, salts, leavening agents, emulsifiers, enzymes, seasonings, preservatives, proteins, amino acids, and flavors.

Bakery products can be produced from said premix by mixing and kneading the premix and water to prepare a bakery dough, and then processing the dough according to conventional methods.