Janae Brown

she/her

Education: Bachelor of Science in bakery science and management (May 2020)

Currently pursuing a Master of Science in food science at Kansas State University

McNair Project: The Effect of Flour Particle Size on the Baking Characteristics of White Pan Bread (2019)

Mentor: Rebecca Miller Regan, Ph.D.

The particle size of flour is an important flour characteristic for bread making because it affects the starch damage and water absorption of the flour. Flour that is milled to a finer particle size typically has a higher level of starch damage, which causes the flour to absorb more water. Starch damage and water absorption combined can affect the quality of bread. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of flour particle size on the volume, texture, and cell characteristics of white pan bread. Eight different varieties of flour of varying known baking quality were milled into both coarse and fine particle sizes. Bread was baked using a no time straight dough process. The baked bread was analyzed the day after baking based on volume, texture, and cell characteristics. There was no significant effect (p < 0.05) of particle size on any of the measured bread quality characteristics.