PROBLEM: Formulating with animal proteins has grown expensive amidst the increasing prices of egg and dairy ingredients.
SOLUTION: Egg and dairy extenders and replacers can be used to develop reduced-egg and reduced-dairy formulas without sacrificing flavor, function or quality.
Ask any baker today and he'll tell you just about everything costs more than it used to. Ingredients that were $0.85 per lb. now are $1.50 per lb. Staple ingredients, such as wheat and corn, have doubled or tripled in recent months. Prices of fats and oils also have increased, pushed higher because of high energy costs and pressure from biofuels. Proteins have fared no better. In the last year, egg and dairy ingredients both spiked at the same time, sending purchasers and researchers into the market to find alternatives. Dairy prices have settled in recent months, but no one expects them to return to where they were. Whole egg powder still costs more than $3.50 per lb., and dried whites cost more than $5.50 per lb. for industrial users. When egg and dairy prices are high, industrial bakeries look to egg and dairy extenders and replacements for a solution.
In 2002, Natural Products Inc. (NPI) introduced a new line of ingredients under the brand name Scotsman's Mill™. These blended ingredients are formulated to address the problem of unstable and rising costs of animal proteins. Each Scotsman's Mill ingredient is a blend of soy and other functional ingredients, which provide the functional equivalent of the animal protein they are replacing or extending. Each offers a lower pricing structure and amazing cost stability. The first ingredient in this line was BLUE100 Whole Egg Replacer. NPI has since added IVORY100 Dairy Replacer and NOVA1000 Egg White Extender.
“Recently, NPI developed an industrial angel cake formula using NOVA1000 Egg White Extender, which demonstrates the potential for savings,” says Jon Stratford, sales and marketing manager, NPI, Grinnell, Iowa. “It also gives bakers an excellent idea how simple it is to incorporate Scotsman's Mill ingredients into their products and begin to save a lot of money.”
NPI began with the following industrial angel cake formula: “In our first trial, we simply reduced the dry egg whites by 35 percent (to 21.7 g) and incorporated 11.7 g of NOVA1000,” Stratford says. “The batter was slightly more viscous than the control and the volume was reduced by approximately 15 percent. Bakers will experience similar results on the first bench top trials.”
NPI ended up replacing 40 percent of the egg whites with NOVA1000 by making the following minor adjustments: Increased the cake flour by 15 percent, boosted the leavening system by about 10 percent, increased the salt and vanilla, and added extra water. The final 40 percent replacement had the same volume as the control, less shrinkage after depanning, and no difference in eating qualities, including no off-flavors.
These modifications result in a significant savings and stabilization of costs for industrial bakers currently using dried egg whites. “Bakers can replace between 35 percent and 50 percent of egg whites in leavened white cakes and angel dry mixes,” Stratford says. “For every 2,000 lb. of egg whites replaced by NOVA1000, we estimate the savings to be more than $5,500, given today's dried egg white prices.”
Visit NPI's Web site at www.npisoy.com for photos and to download the complete formula.
| Control | 40% Repl. | |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered sugar | 318.6 g | 318.6 g |
| Wheat starch | 112.0 g | 112.0 g |
| Cake flour | 59.8 g | 69.05 g |
| Powdered egg whites | 33.4 g | 20.0 g |
| NOVA 1000 | 0 g | 13.4 g |
| SALP | 14.4 g | 15.8 g |
| Baking soda | 12.6 g | 13.9 g |
| Salt | 5.4 g | 7.1 g |
| MCP | 3.96 g | 4.4 g |
| Vanilla | 0.64 g | 1.2 g |
| Water | 339.6 g | 353 g |
When egg and dairy prices are high, industrial bakeries look to egg and dairy extenders and replacements for a solution.