ISSN: 2449 - 0539 BAYERO JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (BJET) VOL.16 No.1, JAN, 2021 PP 42-51 42 Also available online at https://www.bayerojet.com DEVELOPMENT OF A DOUGH KNEADING MACHINE WITH THREE DIFFERENT DETACHABLE BEATERS 1 Sunmonu, M.O. 1* Sanusi, M.S. 2 Hussein, J. B. 3 Anjorin, I.B. 4 Abodunrin, T. and 1 Adeleke, O. J. 1 Department of Food Engineering, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria 2 Department of Food Science and Technology, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola Nigeria 3 Department of Food Technology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria 4 Department of Food Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria *Corresponding author email: sanusi.ms@unilorin.edu.ng ABSTRACT Dough kneading is an essential operation which enhances the development of gluten that gives bread its structure. Manual dough kneading is laborious, energy-sapping and time consuming, even at a small-scale level of production. This study focused on the development of dough kneading machine and evaluation of the effects of beaters type (elbow, flat and wired) on the physical qualities of bread. The kneader performance was evaluated based on kneading time, kneading efficiency and kneading capacity. The physical properties of the bread in terms of volume, bulk density and weight loss for each beater was measured and analysed statistically at p<0.05. The result shows that kneading time varied significantly based on beater type. Optimum kneading time was achieved at 20 min, 27 min and 35 min for elbow, flat and wired beaters respectively. The optimum kneading efficiency and capacity were found to be 90.13% and 18 kg/h while using elbow beater. From the product evaluation, the beater type had no significant effect at p<0.05 on the volume, bulk density and weight loss of the bread produced using the developed dough kneader. The developed dough kneading machine was efficient for the production of bread when using the elbow beater. Keywords: Bread, Beaters, Dough, Kneading, Physical properties 1. INTRODUCTION In bakery industries, kneading is regarded as one of the significant operations that define the mechanical properties of dough, which have a direct effect on the quality of the end product (Rosell and Collar, 2009). To achieve optimal kneading, flour is placed in a vessel of some type which allows the material to be moved and stirred in a desired pattern at the desired speed and torque. The main purpose of the kneading operation is to obtain a homogeneous mixture of the raw and auxiliary materials and at the same time obtain dough with viscous-elastic structure and properties (Canja et al., 2014). Kneading of dough enhances development of gluten, the protein found mainly in wheat flour. Kneading incorporates air and breaks the air pocket to form viscous-elastic material. This mechanical operation stretches the gluten into sheets that trap the CO 2 as the dough expands (Hwang and Gunasekaran, 2001). It also helps to equalize temperature throughout the dough mass and cause the subdivision of gas bubbles formed during fermentation to give uniformity and fineness to the grains (Dahiru et al., 2007). In Nigeria, large-scale bakeries adopted conventional dough kneaders such as vertical bowl and planetary kneaders with dough hook or