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el pan fresco Welcome to El Pan Fresco - Bakers of Distinction

You've heard the saying...

"There really is nothing on earth that tastes quite as special as freshly-baked bread."

That's why every product in the El Pan Fresco range is baked with love and care using our finest recipes and core ingredients.

So from the first mouthwatering bite to that last precious crumb you'll love El Pan Fresco bread.

el pan fresco How bread is made

The principles of baking bread have been established for hundreds of years. The basic ingredients are flour, yeast, salt and water.

All our bread making processes rely on 4 key steps:

  1. Mixing
  2. Proving/Fermenting
  3. Baking
  4. Cooling

There are two main methods of making bread:

  • Bulk Fermentation Process (BFP)
  • Chorleywood Bread Process (CBP)

BFP is a traditional method. Ingredients are mixed together to form a dough and left to ferment for up to three hours. During fermentation the dough changes from a short dense mass into an elastic dough. The time taken to reach this state largely depends on the amount of yeast and the dough temperature.

CBP The modern commercial process used in large bakeries is known as the Chorleywood Bread Process and was developed in the early 1960's by the Flour Milling and Baking Research Association at Chorleywood. This method produces bread and other fermented bakery goods without the need to ferment the dough in bulk. Dough development in CBP is achieved during high speed mixing by intense mechanical working of the dough in a few minutes. Not only does this save considerable time (which helps keep down the cost), it also produces bread which is better in respect of volume, colour and keeping qualities. CBP is now by far the most common method used throughout all sectors of the bread baking industry.

The same base ingredients – flour, water, yeast and some salt are used. In addition, to achieve the shelf life expected by today's consumers, a small amount either fat or emulsifiers are also used. These help to stabilise the bubbles in the dough that give the bread its characteristic soft texture.

Bread Improvers (flour treatment agents), usually Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), are used in commercial production. These help to stabilise the bubbles in the dough that give British bread its characteristic soft texture. All these ingredients are clearly identified on pack. The plant bread production process takes around 4 hours from end to end.

Extract taken from the Federation of Bakers - Representing the UK Bread Industry