What
is Breading?
Breaded foods are
everywhere. From chicken nuggets, patties and tenders, to jalapeno poppers, fried
fish, shrimp and mozzarella sticks. American consumers just love breaded foods.
Classic Italian dishes such as chicken, eggplant and veal parmigiana contain
breading, as do many varieties of onion rings. But, what exactly is breading?
Breading (also known as crumbing) is a dry grain-derived food coating
for a piece of food made from bread
crumbs or a breading mixture with
seasonings. The term breading essentially refers to the coating,
traditionally formed by bread crumbs, which is applied in dry form to the outer
surface of a food. A more general definition considered breading as thermally
processed cereal-based foods.
Breading can also
refer to the process of applying a bread-like coating to a food. Breading is
well suited for frying as it lends itself to creating a crisp coating around
the food. Breading mixtures can be made of breadcrumb, flour, cornmeal, and
seasoning that the item to be breaded is dredged in before cooking. If the item
to be breaded is too dry for the coating to stick, the item may first be
moistened with buttermilk, raw egg, or other liquid.
Breading contrasts
with batter, which is a grain-based
liquid coating for food that produces a smoother and finer texture, but which
can be softer overall.
The breading can be
applied directly to the food substrate or, most frequently, to the surface of a
previously battered food. The
breaded food has a more complex structure as it also contains a layer of
batter, which acts as an adhesive glue to fix the breading.
Most frequently, bread crumbs are used for breading, but
breading can be simply composed of cereal
flour, usually wheat, or they might contain also other ingredients such as
gums, seasoning, colorants, and so on. The selection of the breading composition
will depend on the required functionality (crispness, flavor, oil absorption,
etc.).
Properties
of Good Quality Bread Crumbs
In the production of
bread crumbs, the breads that are used may come from regular bread production
(whether fresh or returned stales) or may be baked according to special
recipes, which may contain spice
blends, increased shortening levels, special flavors, and other functional
additives. Also the breads may be processed to differ in texture, either more
compact or more expanded, so as to cover specific requirements and to achieve
the highest variability. Some bread crumbs are manufactured through an extrusion process, without using loaves
of baked bread. The crumbs produced by extrusion differ in appearance, flavor,
mouth feel, and consistency from those processed from loaves of bread. The
bread crumbs contain larger and more porous particles that are crunchier in texture
than the denser and more finely ground particles produced by extrusion.
The breading must have sufficient strength and
integrity to adhere to the food. In general, the higher density and more compact-textured
bread crumbs, the less the oil and moisture absorption.
The selection of
breading particle size also depends on the substrate dimensions. Golden
medium-to-coarse breadcrumbs are preferable to achieve golden color and uniform
coating in fish/chicken fillets or burgers. Fine-to-medium breadcrumbs are
preferable for chicken nuggets, fish sticks, oysters, shrimp, and scallops.
Types
of Breading for Meat and Fish
According to the
ingredients and mainly, to the production method employed, breading is
classified into different types. The most common types are as follows:
1) Dry Breadcrumbs
Dry breadcrumbs are
made from dry breads which have been baked or toasted to remove most remaining
moisture, and may even have a sandy or even powdery texture. Bread crumbs are
most easily produced by pulverizing slices
of bread in a food processor, using a steel blade to make coarse crumbs, or
a grating blade to make fine crumbs. A grater or similar tool will also do.
2) Flour Breaders
It consists of wheat
flour, although it might contain other flours, starches, gums, colorants, and
seasonings. This type of breading is the simplest and creates a home-style
appearance.
3) Cracker Meal Type
This type of breading
is formed using a cracker-type formulation. The ingredients are mixed with
water to form a dough that is passed through a series of paired rollers forming
a sheet approximately 1 inch thick. The dough sheet is baked out completely or
baked to higher moisture, then requiring a secondary drying after grinding.
The final moisture content of the breading is approximately 8 percent. This
moisture level ensures a long time
stability of the breading and contributes
to the absorptive capacity. The crumbs obtained may be sieved for size.
Different from cracker
baking, the manufacture of cracker meal-type breading does not require long
fermentation times.
Cracker meal-type
breading provides a hard and crunchy texture. However, texture modifications
can be obtained by changes in the formulation. This type of breading is widely
used on fish products.
4) American Bread Crumbs
This type refers to
bread crumbs obtained from baked loaves of yeast-raised bread. In this method,
the dough mixing operation is followed by a fermentation time. The dough is
divided into portions that are proofed and baked as in the production of
sandwich bread. The loaves are dried to the required moisture, then ground and
sieved into fine, medium, and coarse sizes.
This type of breading
is more porous and provides a less tough, crispier texture than cracker meal-type
breading. American bread crumbs also tend to darken more quickly.
5) Fresh Bread Crumbs
The breads used to make soft or fresh bread crumbs are not quite as
dry, so the crumbs are larger and produce a softer coating, crust, or stuffing.
The crumb of bread crumb is also a term that refers to the
texture of the soft, inner part of a bread loaf, as distinguished from the
crust, or "skin".
6) Japanese or Oriental-Style Bread Crumbs
This type is made by
cooking traditional yeast bread dough using microwaves or electrical
resistance, instead of oven-baking. The bread is cooked in less than one-half
the time taken for conventional oven baking. The result is a crust-free,
low-density loaf. The breading obtained is of low density, very porous
material.
What is Panko Bread
Crumbs?
The Japanese first
learned to make bread from the Europeans, and panko is derived from the
Portuguese word for "bread", pão, and -ko, a Japanese
suffix indicating "flour", "crumb", or "powder"
(as in komeko, "rice powder", sobako, "buckwheat
flour", and komugiko, "wheat flour").
Panko is a variety of flaky bread crumb
used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods, such as tonkatsu.
Panko is made from bread baked by passing an electric current through
the dough, yielding bread without crusts. These bread crumbs are larger than
regular bread crumbs, with a coarse texture. The size and texture of Panko
bread crumbs allows them to cling better to food surfaces. They also hold-in
moisture better than regular bread crumbs, eliminating sogginess. Panko bread
crumbs are known for producing a light, flaky crust, that maintains a
high-level of delicate crunchiness. It has a crisper, airier texture than most
types of breading found in Western cuisine and resists absorbing oil or grease
when fried, resulting in a lighter coating.
Outside Japan, its use
is becoming more popular in both Asian and non-Asian dishes: It is often used
on fish and seafood and is often available in Asian markets, specialty stores,
and, increasingly, in many large supermarkets and online stores. Purchase the
#1 bestselling Panko brand at Amazon.com. Use this link... Kikkoman
Panko and get FREE shipping.
Panko is
produced worldwide, particularly in Asian countries, including Japan, Korea,
Thailand, China, and Vietnam. In February 2012, the US fast-food chain Wendy's
introduced a cod fillet sandwich that they advertised as having a panko
breading.
Watch Video: Panko
Bread Crumbs: The Secrets Revealed
Learn the Physics
of Cooking Meat.
7) Crispbreads using Extrusion Cooking
This type of breading
is manufactured through an extrusion process, without using loaves of baked
bread. A cooker−extruder system is employed. The flour is mixed under highly
turbulent conditions in the presence of steam to a moisture content of
approximately 18 percent. The steamed flour is then directly fed into the
extruder. The particles obtained by this system are denser and more finely
ground than the ones of American bread crumbs.
Modernization
in Breaded Food
Due to the increased
health concern of consumers, oil
absorption reduction continues to be an important future issue in breaded
food. In this regard, an important necessity is to reduce the fat absorption
during frying without scarifying crispness. Oil absorption mainly occurs due to
moisture replacement, and so oil
reduction is typically associated with a reduction of crispness sensation. The
number of scientific research that investigate the relationship among oil
reduction and crispness is scarce so further studies will be required in this
field.
Research in ways of
creating new textures which provide different crispness sensations as well as
new colors and flavors will always be necessary as the market is always
demanding food products with innovative properties. New crumb sizes and
geometries, enriched colors, combination of flavors and seasonings, new
sophisticated ingredients are some of the innovation possibilities.
Another future
research need is the quality improvement of breaded food finally cooked by microwave. In comparison
with frying, microwave cooking confers a not
pleasant soft and soggy texture, because in this type of heating water is
conducted from the inside to the outside. New research on ingredients or
mixtures of ingredients that avoid water migration from the coated food to the
outer breaded crust will help in improving the quality of microwave-breaded
food. Also more knowledge about ingredients that may confer crispness on
microwave heating may be convenient.
Related to the health issue
also stands the increase in the fiber
content of the breading. The employ of whole-grain ingredients and the
incorporation of fibers from a variety of sources will increase the nutritional
properties of the breading. The study of the effect of fibers in fat absorption
is another future concern. The incorporation of a retrogradated resistant
starch (type 3 resistant starch) in a batter formula increased the fiber
content and reduced fat absorption during frying.
Have
you tried frying? Do you know the Properties of Fats and Oils in Cooking that
You Should Know
How to Make
Breading Stick to Chicken
Why can't you get the bread crumbs stick to the chicken meat? Every time
you try to fry it in a pan, the breading starts falling off in huge pieces. You
have tried using various dredge recipes you found online and in cook books, but
no matter what changes you make, it still happens.
The breadcrumbs did not stick to the meat because it's too wet under
the coating. The moisture underneath the breading turns to steam
and the steam pushes the breading off the meat.
There are a lot of different ways to deal with this -- the most common
are flouring the food before dipping in liquid and finally breading, and
allowing the breaded food to rest and stabilize awhile before frying.
Breading pork chops involves striking the right ratio of wet to dry
ingredients. However, there are more ways than one to skin this cat, and some
of them are specific to what you're breading and how you're trying to bread it.
Materials Needed:
1 large fresh egg
3 shallow bowls or
plastic food bag
1/4 cup milk or water
Whisk or a fork
1 cup breadcrumbs or
Panko
2 tsp. fresh or dried
herbs
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. rock salt
½ tsp. ground black
pepper
Paper towels
Directions:
1) As a general rule, chicken pieces
should be thoroughly wiped dry with a paper towel so the coatings adhere,
especially if the chicken has been marinated. Next, a thin coating of flour can
help the breading stick better.
2) You need to salt the meat before
anything happens, this breaks down the myosin and makes the meat sticky in
addition to being tasty.
3) Beat 1 large fresh egg into a
shallow bowl. Add 1/4 cup of milk. Whisk the two ingredients together.
4) Blend together 1 cup of bread
crumbs or Kikkoman Panko breadcrumbs with 2 tsp. of minced fresh or dried herbs
in another shallow bowl. Use rosemary, oregano and basil for an Italian flavor,
chili powder and cilantro for a Southwestern taste or curry and saffron for
Indian seasonings.
You can experiment
with using both fresh and dried herbs, but if you’re frying the meat instead of
baking it, be cautious with the amount of fresh
herbs you use because they can burn
quickly and leave a bitter taste
to the meat.
5) Place 3/4 cup of flour into a third
shallow bowl. Add 1/2 tsp. of ground black pepper. Mix together the flour and
herb until combined.
6) Pat chicken meat cuts dry with
paper towels. Dredge one piece at a time into the flour mixture. To avoid a
pasty taste and lumpy texture, shake off
the excess flour before moving onto the next step in the process.
7) Dip the floured chicken into the
egg mixture. Roll the chicken meat in the seasoned breadcrumbs until thoroughly
coated. The breading will cover approximately 1 1/2 pounds of chicken meat.
Cook according to your recipe's directions.
8) When breading fresh chicken,
because of food-safety and sanitary concerns, it is imperative that the
left-over breading ingredients in the bowl not be re-used.
Watch
Video: How To Bread Meat and Keep it from Falling off of Your Fried Foods
Quick
Cooking Tips:
a) For a solid crust,
double coat the meat cuts by dipping them into the flour and egg twice before
coating in breadcrumbs.
b) Strive for a light but total covering of
each ingredient. Too much egg, for instance, can turn breadcrumbs mushy.
Too thick a layer of breadcrumbs will soak up too much oil during frying.
c) Only a complete
coating of breading will adhere to the meat during cooking, locking in the
flavor of the pork chops and forming a crisp crust. Be sure to fully cover the
meat adequately with each ingredient.
d) To avoid spreading
bacteria, wash your hands and all affected surface areas and utensils after
handling eggs and raw meat.
Watch
Video: How to Make Oven-Fried Panko Chicken
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Panko Bread Crumbs:
The Secrets Revealed.
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCNU9TrbiRk
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