Baking & Snack - June 2022 - 98

featured technical expert Q&A
Roger Daniels
Stratas Foods
Roger Daniels is driven by service to others. And for him, there's
no better way to serve than by providing people with great food
through baking.
" Food is about relationships and honing one's skills to reconcile
the science side with the art side of what makes outstanding
bakery products, " he said. " This has afforded me the opportunity
to meet great industry friends and to advance ingredient interaction
through key insights as it relates to shortening, oils and margarine
in bakery products. "
A longtime baking veteran, Mr. Daniels will celebrate his 35th
year in the industry in August. He graduated from Ohio State
University with a bachelor's degree in biological sciences and a
master's degree in food science and technology.
Mr. Daniels has worked throughout the industry over the
years. This includes serving as a food techologist at American
Home Foods, Milton, Pa., where he worked on popular products
like Pam cooking spray and Chef Boyardee pasta. From there he
moved to Campbell Soup Co., Camden, NJ, as a senior food scientist
involved with Prego pasta sauces and Campbell's Chunky
Why might a baker want a custom shortening or oil?
The difference between a fat and oil is its physical form at room
temperature. A fat presents as a solid and an oil presents as a liquid.
Shortening is a blend of oil and fat crystallized to a morphology
which, when used in a dough, functions to help soften a dough
matrix. It accomplishes this by enrobing/wrapping around the flour
protein, thereby shortening the linkages of the protein/protein interactions.
Workability of a shortening is the area that a fats and oils
chemist may customize. A baker may want a customized shortening
to achieve an icing with working properties over a wider temperature
range, while another baker may need a highly emulsified
customized shortening to achieve a balance between piece inclusion
and crumb softness for the desired eating properties.
How can shortening be customized to fit bakers'
unique needs?
The fats and oils chemists may use blending technologies (i.e.,
oils and fats in specific ratios with or without minor additives like
emulsifiers) coupled with crystallization processes to achieve the
requested workability of the shortening over a variety of temperatures
or over a variety of use conditions.
From a topline perspective, the shortening needs to work as received
by the baker, in the baker's shop, through distribution/shelf
life, and on the consumer's plate. For example, the challenge for a consumer
packaged goods company or baker is that they need a bakery
shortening to function as received without undo work on the baker's
98 Baking & Snack June 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
Soup. In 2001 he joined Bunge
as director of new business development
before
progressing
to
director of research and development.
And in 2011 he began
his current role as vice president of
research, development, innovation and
quality at Memphis, Tenn.-based Stratas Foods.
Along the way, Mr. Daniels secured an MBA from Bloomsburg
University in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Daniels said he's also focused on attracting more talent to
food science.
" Food science as a curriculum is science-based, yet it is not
as well-known an area of higher learning for up-and-coming
students as areas such as culinary school or engineering, " he explained.
" Our industry needs all types of talent. Attracting higher
numbers of food scientists who are exposed to a broader curriculum
than specialists pursuing culinary or engineering degrees is
the current challenge. "
part to be ready to cream into a recipe. Next the bakery shortening
needs to achieve the desired end result like a cake with desired rise,
spread, dome and crumb texture with no, or at least minimal, visual
defects like blistering or cracking. This is followed by relying on the
shortening as a major contributor to achieving the desired shelf life
and post-bake organoleptic properties. Finally, all of this should be accomplished
to meet the end users' nutritional needs.
What information does a baker need to know to
customize a shortening or oil for their product/process?
Through collaboration with their shortening supplier, a baker may
be armed with insight into the appropriate shortening, margarine
and/or oil for their specific application. Oils are typically limited
to brownies and some cookie applications. Margarines confer flavor,
tenderization, layering and structure to pastry applications.
Shortenings with emulsifiers are formulated for a variety of cake
and icing applications.
What factors determine the effectiveness of
shortening in baked goods?
Shelf life of the shortening as it relates to workability is the critical
component. A baker needs to have confidence that the workability
of the shortening at the bakery temperature range is consistent.
For instance, the shortening is required to hold its shape and not
oil out at higher temperatures and conversely cannot be too firm
at lower temperatures. Using a blended shortening that has been
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