The Effects of Gluten in Focaccia Bread

Skylar Smith and Alessandro Petruzzella

Abstract:
This topic was investigated because of a passionate Italian lab partner who is very familiar
with focaccia bread, and eager to learn about the roles of different types of flour in a typical
focaccia recipe. The 3 flours we tested during this experiment were all-purpose flour, bread flour, a
flour with a high concentration of gluten, and the Italian 00 flour (tipo 00), a very fine flour with a
lower concentration of gluten known to make the best focaccia bread. The questions we
researched was how stretchy or chewy the dough/bread was, how soft or hard it was, and how
moist it was. To do this experiment, we used a typical online focaccia bread recipe and swapped
the flour out with our 3 flours. In our results, we found that the flour with the most gluten, bread
flour, made the stretchiest dough, the most dense bread, and the most moist bread. The 00 flour
made the softest bread, and the all-purpose flour made the least stretchy/chewy bread and the
least moist bread. Even though the numbers proved our predictions through research, the results
were relatively close in all numbers so it was difficult to make confident interpretations and
conclusions.

Introduction:
Focaccia was a traditional dish in southern Italy
many centuries ago. There are several kinds of
focaccia; each one characterizing a town. A
popular type of this bread is called "Focaccia
Barese" since it's typical in the city of Bari
located in the heel of the Italian boot.
The tradition provides an artisan production,
usually older women spend a lot of their time
making traditional dishes like focaccia. This
recipe is not only a type of quick food to get and
to eat anytime, but also a way to liven up the
culture.
in the dough as well, to relieve the bubbling on
the surface of the bread when it is being baked.
We decided to make this recipe so we can
show the difference between Italian and
American food. In Italy, the 00 flour ("tipo 00") is
typically used because it is a very fine flour
which makes lighter and thinner breads. In our
research, we saw that the Americans tend to
use thicker and less refined flours, like bread
flour or all-purpose flour for pizzas and
focaccia. Research also shows that bread flour
tends to make bread more chewy. This is

Economically, focaccia became the main food

consumed in the streets of Italy; it's easy to get,
cheap, fast, and delicious.
It's the perfect meal to eat anytime of the day.
Since the first age of the city, it was referred to
as "the symbol of the town".
Focaccia is a type of flat, oven baked bread
typically topped with olive oil, spices and other
ingredients. Essentially, focaccia bread was an
early prototype of a modern day pizza. Early
versions of this bread were cooked on the
hearth of a hot fire, or on a hot tile. The baker
would usually poke holes
The reasons for experimenting with different
types of flour in focaccia bread is so we can
observe how stretchy it is, how soft it is, and
how moist it is. We will be measuring these
qualities by conducting a test that will show how
much the dough will stretch, calculating the
density of the bread, and testing the moisture of
the final product with a moisture sensor.
After we made the doughs with the 3 different
types of flour, we started testing how stretchy
they were. To measure this, we set a tape
measure on the surface of the table, and we

mostly due to the high amounts of protein, or

gluten. The more gluten, the more sticky and
chewy the bread will be. We also expect that
the more chewy the focaccia bread, the more
dense it will be. During this project, we want to
show which flours are used for the best
purposes.
Methods:
In our experiment, we investigated what makes
the softest/hardest focaccia bread, what makes
the moistest focaccia bread and what makes
the chewiest focaccia bread. In our experiment,
we tested 3 different types of flour: all-purpose
flour, 00 flour and bread flour. Additionally, this
was a controlled experiment in which we used
the same recipe and same amounts of
ingredients for each focaccia bread we made.
Therefore, the dependent variable in the
experiment was only the flour. The independent
variables were the remaining ingredients in the
focaccia bread recipe: salt, sugar, yeast, oil,
water, and other seasonings.

given object. A piece of focaccia bread was

very light, so we needed a scale that measured
in grams. Computing the volume of a piece of
bread is a bit more tricky. It is difficult because
its hard to be precise with measuring a piece of
food that is so small. In order for us to obtain an
accurate number for our volume of bread we
needed to use a method called displacement.
Displacement is a method used to compute the
volume of an object as accurate as possible.
Typically, the displacement method is used with
a fluid such as water. The object is then placed
in the water, and the change in volume of water
is recorded. The difference of the rise of water
is the volume of the object.
However, instead of using a liquid to measure
the volume for our piece of bread, we used
sand. We didnt want to use a liquid when
calculating the volume because we thought that
the bread would absorb the liquid, which would
lead to a less accurate number for the objects
volume. Knowing this, we thought sand would
be a great way to measure this volume
because it will surround the object but the
object will not absorb the sand. The type of tool
we used to measure this was a flask that
measure in increments of 2 mL which was the

placed the dough at the beginning of it. Then,

we pulled and stretched the dough just before
its breaking point. We did this for all flours: allpurpose flour, bread flour, and 00 flour. We
expected the stretchiness to correspond with
the chewiness of the final focaccia bread
product. It was difficult to test how stretchy the
final focaccia bread product was because it
didnt stretch very much and on some of the
edges, the bread would break quickly because
of the crispiness from baking. Therefore, to test
our theory, we created a qualitative Google
Form for our class and for the exhibition. This
way, we are able to see if the chewiness of the
final bread product corresponds to the dough.
After we calculated the chewiness/stretchiness
of the focaccia, we measured the density of the
bread. Calculating the density was much more
difficult than testing how chewy/stretchy the
bread was. We know that the density of an
object is equal to its mass divided by its
volume. Finding the mass of an object is
simple, all we need is a scale that can give us
an appropriate number of units for the
Results:
Lab spreadsheets, tables, measurements,
results and figures are shown on the last page
below.
After having completed a personal experiment
on focaccia bread, creating multiple
spreadsheets, and calculating results, we can
now analyze, compare, and make conclusions
based off of the three types of flours that were
tested in the experiment.
In our experiment, we wanted to see which of
the three flours provided the softest focaccia
bread, the chewiest bread, and the most moist
bread. From observing and analyzing Table 1 in
the from the quantitative results spreadsheet, I
can conclude that the stretchiest dough was the
one with bread flour, the softest bread was the
one with 00 flour and the moistest bread was
the one with the bread flour.
In Table 2 of the quantitative results
spreadsheet, the bread flour stretched an
average of 43 inches. This was a higher
average then the all-purpose flour stretching an
average of 26 inches, and the 00 flour
stretching and average of 40.6 before breaking
point. The softest bread was made from the 00

most accurate tool we had possession of.

Finally, we measured the moisture of our 3
breads. This was a simple task to do. All we
needed to do was obtain a moisture sensor,
make sure to zero it before inserting it into the
breads, and to test different pieces of the
breads. After we collected all of our
measurements, we were able to make tables
and graphs, and further discuss and explain our
results.
22.43% of the bread was moisture. However,
the 00 flour also had a similar amount of
moisture in the bread, averaging at 20.73%,
and the all-purpose flour averaging at 17.9%
moisture.
For all initial measurements and calculations,
there was little variance in the numbers we
collected. The range of stretchiness between all
three trials of the all-purpose flour was 4, 2 for
the bread flour, and 1 for the 00 flour. The
range of density for all three types of flour was .
053 grams per centimeter cubed for the allpurpose flour, .053 grams per centimeter cubed
for the bread flour, and .009 grams per
centimeter cubed for the 00 flour. Lastly, the
range of moisture percentage between the flour
was 1.9% for the all-purpose flour, 1.0% for the
bread flour, and 4.5% for the 00 flour. As you
can see from these variance calculations, the
ranges for all three flour in all three tests were
relatively low, leading to more accurate
numbers to work with and analyze.
The qualitative data we collected from several
different people who completing our survey was
significantly more scattered with numbers that
were more difficult to comprehend. In the
survey link under qualitative data, the numbers
for almost every bar graph were fairly random.
A great example of this is in Figure 1 (below) on
the question, How soft was Bread B? From
this bar graph, 4 people thought that Bread B
had a softness level of 1 on the scale from 1-10
(1 meaning stale in this situation), and 4 other
people thought that Bread B had a softness
level of 9 on the same scale! This shows how
inconsistent and irrelevant
systematic errors in our experiment. However,
there are always other ways to make
calculations and measurements more accurate:
more trials, more accurate measuring tools, etc.
For what we had available, we made the most

flour, averaging at a density of .378 grams per

centimeter cubed. The bread flour made the
hardest bread at an average density of .611
grams per centimeter cubed, and the allpurpose flour stayed in between the two other
flour at an average of .447 grams per
centimeter cubed. Finally, from analyzing Table
2 of the quantitative results spreadsheet, the
bread flour also made the most moist focaccia
bread. An average of
our qualitative data was for this experiment,
unfortunately.
Discussion:
Overall, the quantitative data was much more
useful and helpful in this experiment rather than
the qualitative data using the google survey. As
stated above, we can see that the bread flour
made both the stretchiest/chewiest
dough/bread and the most moist bread, and the
00 flour made the softest bread.
We predicted, from our research, that the flours
with the highest amounts of gluten would lead
to the stretchiest/chewiest breads and vice
versa. We also predicted that the 00 flour would
create a thinner and lighter bread. Our
predictions were correct in the fact that the
bread flour, the flour with the most gluten,
created the chewiest and stretchiest
dough/bread along with the most dense
focaccia bread. Also, the 00 flour created the
softest, or least dense piece of bread. So, our
prediction was nearly on point, all depending on
what one would classify as light and thin.
With the quantitative data, we are fairly
confident with our results. We completed 3 trials
for every test we conducted with our focaccia
bread/dough. When we measured the density
of our three different breads, we thoroughly and
carefully zeroed the scale each time to get a
precise weight number in grams of the bread
along with measuring the change in
displacement of each of the breads. We also
zeroed the moisture sensor when measuring
the percentage of moisture in each of our
breads as well. Meticulously knowing that we
did this, there were no
partner and I both thought personally that the
Bread B (bread flour) was the chewiest and
hardest, and the 00 flour was the softest and
easiest to chew, which would have supported
our other data, and predictions. But, my idea of

accurate measurements with the tools we had.

The only test that was not the most accurate
was the stretch test of the doughs we made.
Even though we did 3 trials for the stretch test
on 3 different doughs (all-purpose, bread, and
00) it seemed like we could have stretched
each of the doughs a little further by kneading it
for a longer amount of time, or setting up a
separate test to measure the
stretchiness/chewiness of the dough after it
baked in the oven.

a chewiness level of 5 could have been another

persons 8, or 3, or any other random number
on the given scale. Even though, at first it
seemed like having a number scale would be
more accurate and would have given us a more
accurate set of numbers to go off of, it didnt.
Sometimes, the more simple tests are the
better tests. This was a great experiment to
learn from to further enhance personal
experiments of mine in the future.
Conclusion:

We are not, however, satisfied with our

quantitative data. The survey that we made did
not seem to help gather more information to
support a better conclusion. This could be
classified as a random error, because of all the
random data points and graphs made from
peoples opinions. One way why this data could
have been so scattered is because of people's
tastes or perspectives. For example, if one
person thought that the Bread A (all-purpose
flour) was at a chewiness level of a 5 and the
same person thought that the Bread B (bread
flour) had a chewiness level of a 9, this would
have shown that Bread B was chewier than
Bread A which would have been accurate
according to our quantitative data. It would
have been better if the survey that we
conducted asked each person which of the
three breads was the chewiest, moistest, and
softest. Doing this would have supported our
quantitative, therefore leading to a stronger
conclusion. Additionally, my lab
reacts better when baking in the over. We can
conclude from our quantitative results that the
breads withe the most amount of gluten (bread
flour) were more stretchy and more thick. And
the breads with the least amount of gluten (00
flour) were more fine, and soft. This study
shows the importance of the flour is in bread
recipes. Even though this experiment focused
on the study of flours in a focaccia bread
recipe, the overall message is to have
consumers have more consideration to their
choices of flour when baking. We didnt find big
differences between the three flours, but in a
social situation where we address a culinary
dilemma, its important to take into
consideration. If this experiment were to be
extended, the next step would be to research
another key ingredient in focaccia bread such
as the yeast, a significant ingredient in the
bread making process.

Throughout our research, results, and the

process of cooking, we were able to discover
the importance of flour. We use flour almost
everyday for many differents recipes without
knowing the significance of it. The idea to learn
more about this question using a scientific
experiment, arose from a discussion between
different culinary cultures. As stated before, in
the American culture, many people use gluten
heavy flour such a bread flour to make the
bread chewier and thicker, unlike european
countries where they carefully choose their flour
according different types of bread. During our
experiment, we learned the importance of the
gluten, not only during the experiment but also
during preparation and cooking. We personally
found the 00 flour more appropriate to this type
of recipe. The quantitative data shows how this
type of flour makes the bread softer and we
found it easier and more suitable for baking,
since the dough spreads quickly on the pan and

Quantitative Data:
Table 1:

Table 2:

Qualitative Data:

Figure 1: