A recent inquiry to the American Bakers Association (ABA) asked what the purpose of emulsifiers are in a bakery formula. Using fundamental chemistry as a background, here is a generalized overview of lecithin in a bakery environment. (To read part one of this series, see “The fundamental chemistry of baking cookies,” which analyzes the role of sodium bicarbonate, among other factors, in a sugar cookie dough formula.)
Emulsifiers are one of the lesser-known aspects of the baking industry, and we tend to rely on “heritage formulas” and “heritage knowledge” in using emulsifiers in a bakery environment (using the rationale of “that’s the locked-in formula” and “we have always done it that way”). Lecithin is a widely used emulsifier, and there are specialized emulsifiers for specific purposes.