The sponge-and-dough mixing method consists of two distinct stages. In the first stage, the mixture, called the sponge, usually contains one-half to three-fourths of the flour, all of the yeast, yeast foods, and malt, and enough water to make a stiff dough. Shortening may be added at this stage, although it is usually added later, and one-half to three-fourths of the salt may be added to control fermentation. The sponge is customarily mixed in a large, horizontal dough mixer, processing about one ton per batch, and usually constructed with heat-exchange jackets, allowing temperature control. The objectives of mixing are a nearly homogeneous blend of the ingredients and “developing” of the dough by formation of the gluten into elongated and interlaced fibres that will form the basic structure of the loaf. Because intense shearing actions must be avoided, the usual dough mixer has several horizontal bars, oriented parallel to the body of the mixer, rotating slowly at 35 to 75 revolutions per minute, stretching and kneading the dough by their action. A typical mixing cycle would be about 12 minutes.

The mixed sponge is dumped into a trough, a shallow rectangular metal tank on wheels, and placed in an area of controlled temperature and humidity (e.g., 27 °C [80 °F] and 75 percent relative humidity), where it is fermented until it begins to decline in volume. The time required for this process, called the drop or break, depends on such variables as temperature, type of flour, amount of yeast, absorption, and amount of malt, which are frequently adjusted to produce a drop in about three to five hours.

At the second, or dough, stage, the sponge is returned to the mixer, and the remaining ingredients are added. The dough is developed to an optimum consistency, then either returned to the fermentation room or allowed “floor time” for further maturation.

Advantages of the sponge-and-dough method include: (1) a saving in the amount of yeast (about 20 percent less is required than for a straight dough), (2) greater volume and more-desirable texture and grain, and (3) greater flexibility allowed in operations because, in contrast to straight doughs (which must be taken up when ready), sponges can be held for later processing without marked deterioration of the final product.

The sponge method, however, involves extra handling of the dough, additional weighing and measuring, and a second mixing and thus has the disadvantage of increasing labour, equipment, and power costs.

The straight-dough method

Two of the many possible variations in the straight-dough process include the remixed straight-dough process, with a small portion of the water added at the second mix, and the no-punch method, involving extremely vigorous mixing. The straight-dough method is rarely used for white breads because it is not sufficiently adaptable to allow compensation for fluctuations in ingredient properties.

“No-time” methods

One set of procedures intended to eliminate the traditional bulk fermentation step are the “no-time” methods. Popular in the United Kingdom and Australia, these processes generally require an extremely energy-intensive mixing step, sometimes performed in a partially vacuumized chamber. Rather high additions of chemical oxidants, reducing agents, and other dough modifiers are almost always required in order to produce the desired physical properties. “No-time” is actually a misnomer, since there are always small amounts of floor time (periods when the dough is awaiting further processing) during which maturing actions lead to improvements in the dough’s physical properties. Even then, the flavour of the bread cannot be expected to match that of a traditionally processed loaf.

Dividing

The filled trough containing remixed dough is moved to the divider area or to the floor above the divider. The dough is dropped into the divider hopper, which cuts it into loaf-size pieces. Two methods are employed. In the volumetric method, the dough is forced into pockets of a known volume. The pocket contents are cut off from the main dough mass and then ejected onto a conveyor leading to the rounder. When density is kept constant, weight and volume of the dough pieces are roughly the same. In the weight-based method, a cylindrical rope of dough is continuously extruded through an orifice at a fixed rate and is cut off by a knife-edged rotor at fixed intervals. Since the dough is of consistent density, the cut pieces are of uniform weight. Like the pocket-cut pieces, the cylindrical pieces are conveyed to the rounder.

Rounding

Dough pieces leaving the divider are irregular in shape, with sticky cut surfaces from which the gas can readily diffuse. Their gluten structure is somewhat disoriented and unsuitable for molding. The rounder closes these cut surfaces, giving each dough piece a smooth and dry exterior; forms a relatively thick and continuous skin around the dough piece, reorienting the gluten structure; and shapes the dough into a ball for easier handling in subsequent steps. It performs these functions by rolling the well-floured dough piece around the surface of a drum or cone, moving it upward or downward along this surface by means of a spiral track. As a result of this action, the surface is dried both by the even distribution of dusting flour and by dehydration resulting from exposure to air; the gas cells near the surface of the ball are collapsed, forming a thick layer inhibiting the diffusion of gases from the dough; and the dough piece assumes an approximately spherical shape.

Intermediate proofing

Dough leaving the rounder is almost completely degassed. It lacks extensibility, tears easily, has rubbery consistency, and has poor molding properties. To restore a flexible, pliable structure, the dough piece must be allowed to rest while fermentation proceeds. This is accomplished by letting the dough ball travel through an enclosed cabinet, the intermediate proofer, for several minutes. Physical changes, other than gas accumulation, occurring during this period are not yet understood, but there are apparently alterations in the molecular structure of the dough rendering it more responsive to subsequent operations. Upon leaving the intermediate proofer, the dough is more pliable and elastic, its volume is increased by gas accumulation, and its skin is firmer and drier.

Most intermediate proofers are the overhead type, in which the principal part of the cabinet is raised above the floor, allowing space for other makeup machinery beneath it. Interior humidity and temperature depend on humidity accumulating from the loaves and on ambient temperatures.

Molding

The molder receives pieces of dough from the intermediate proofer and shapes them into cylinders ready to be placed in the pans. There are several types of molders, but all have four functions in common: sheeting, curling, rolling, and sealing. The dough as it comes from the intermediate proofer is a flattened spheroid; the first function of the molder is to flatten it into a thick sheet, usually by means of two or more consecutive pairs of rollers, each succeeding pair set more closely together than the preceding pair. The sheeted dough is curled into a loose cylinder by a special set of rolls or by a pair of canvas belts. The spiral of dough in the cylinder is not adherent upon leaving the curling section, and the next operation of the molder is to seal the dough piece, allowing it to expand without separating into layers. The conventional molder rolls the dough cylinder between a large drum and a smooth-surfaced semicircular compression board. Clearance between the drum and board is gradually reduced, and the dough, constantly in contact with both surfaces, becomes transversely compressed.

Panning

An automatic panning device is an integral part of most modern molders. As empty pans, carried on a conveyor, pass the end of the machine, the loaves are transferred from the molder and positioned in the pans by a compressed air-operated device. Before the filled pans are taken to the oven, the dough undergoes another fermentation, or pan-proofing, for about 20 minutes at temperatures of 40 to 50 °C (100 to 120 °F).