Flour quality and dough elasticity: Dough sheetability

Current practices in testing flours call for measuring dough strength, not elasticity. Sheeting is a common method for processing developed doughs, the elasticity of which governs dough’s sheetability as dough springs back exiting rollers. To characterise dough sheetability, a study was conducted testing 18 different doughs made from six different flours. Each dough was sheeted using an instrumented sheeter and data for exit sheet thickness and roll forces were captured under a range of sheeting conditions. The true rheological properties of doughs were measured and used to calibrate the ABBM constitutive model for dough (1). Numerical simulations of sheeting operations were conducted; the R2 coefficients between measured and predicted sheet thicknesses and roll forces (vertical and horizontal) were nearly all >0.9. Relaxation times were derived from dough model parameters and revealed that flour quality for dough elasticity should be assessed by examining moisture effects on dough relaxation time.

► ABBM model describes rheology of North American and Australian wheat flour doughs.
► Noodle and bread flours differentiated by moisture effect on dough relaxation times.
► Virtual sheeting tests using ABBM model essential for analysing dough sheetability.
► Dough elasticity is not synonymous with dough strength.
► Instrumented dough sheeter is a potential dough quality control testing device.