Dough Preparation
The wafer quality depends on the accuracy during preparation, particularly as far as weighing and mixing are concerned. In the course of the whole mixing process the consistency is changing due to material dissolving and swelling processes, gluten development and reactions with other raw material, including air etc.
When a certain consistency is reached, the mixing process is finished, particularly when a uniform mixing of all ingredients allows for an accurate batching of the dough on the baking plates/cone baking dies.
We recommend to leave the dough 5 minutes, if possible, and to pass it through a serve afterwards in order to hold back all particles which have not been dissolved completely completely. The dough will also swell again. If flour with higher level of coarsely ground grain is used, the dough should even be left for about 10 minutes the longer the dough can rest the better will be its flow ability. This is referred to as natural slackening of the dough.
After the optimum recipe has been found out, it should only be modified in exceptional cases and after previous check ,by the master baker only.
Mixing of the dough
For beating the Wafer dough, High speed Mixers are best suited. Depending on the type of machine and the charge volume the mixing period in between 3 and 10 minutes. A sufficient beating is also important for a gleaming surface of the wafer sheet without any pores. For the type of mixing procedure different requirements have to be met.
All - in - Procedure (one-stage procedure)
All components , including water are portioned directly into the mixer.
Multi-stage procedure
First mix the whole dry matter with about half of the liquid. Add the remaining liquid after-wards on your own discretion, until the suspension shows the adequate flowability. All raw material and additives except the flour are beaten together with the main amount of liquid, until they are mixed thoroughly. After that the flour is mixed in together with the remaining liquid.
Temperature
The dough should have a temperature of 20 - 25 C when being prepared warmer dough tend to turn sour due to the addition of soda, if they are stored intermediately. The temperature of the pouring wafer is adjusted according to the temperature of the flour and the mixer.
Material processes during mixing
The significant process during mixing are dissolving and swelling of the flour components. They are decisive for the quality of the baking process and the wafer sheet and for the energy demand during baking, for the water added during dough preparation has to be vaporized again during baking.
IMPORTANT ADVICES FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE WAFER BATTER
Generally please use smooth wheat flour with medium content of gluten. Depending on the quality of the flour the amount of water should be increased or reduced, as every type of flour has different soaking characteristics. In order to get a wafer sheet of good quality, the batter should not be too visid or diluted.
Preparation of the oil / Fat - Lecithin Emulsion:
Oil / Fat should be heated lukewarm, Lecithin added slowly and stirred up until it is dissolved completely. The quantity of the emulsion should correspond to the batter recipe used. Then it is poured into the ready prepared wafer batter and stirred up.