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How are granular breakfast cereals made from fermented dough?
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Cereal processing
Common wheat (Triticum aestivum).
Granular breakfast cereals are produced through a specific process involving fermentation and thorough baking. The production steps are as follows:
- Dough Preparation: A stiff dough is created by mixing wheat, malted barley flour, salt, dry yeast, and water.12
- Fermentation: The mixture is allowed to ferment for approximately five hours.1
- Baking: The fermented dough is formed into large loaves and baked thoroughly at 205 °C (400 °F) for about two hours.12
- Processing: Once baked, the loaves are fragmented and dried. In some variations, the product is crumbled and rebaked before being ground into rough bits using corrugated rolls.12
- Sieving: The final product is sieved to achieve a standard size. Any pieces that are too finely ground are typically added back into subsequent dough batches.1
As a final step, the cereal is often treated to restore vitamins lost during the cooking process and may be coated with sweet flavoring.2