Tortillas

Creating tortillas that are appealing to consumers yet can withstand the stresses of manufacturing and shipping is a difficult task. Over the years, the Gum Gurus^® at TIC Gums have helped countless companies deliver quality tortillas to their customers.

"How can I add flexibility and durability to my tortillas?"

It can be tricky to formulate a tortilla that is easily manufactured yet still enjoyable to eat. Too little moisture in the dough makes it less durable while too much moisture can result in a dough that is too sticky to roll or convey.

Customers frequently ask our Gum Gurus to recommend stabilizers that can improve the quality and manufacturability of their tortillas. Whether you need to increase the flexibility and durability of your tortilla dough or reduce sticking in processing or after packaging, adding gums and stabilizers to your formulation may resolve those issues as well as challenges related to moisture retention and control.

One of our popular stabilizers for tortillas and flatbreads is Ticaloid^® 1023 T Fine. It creates a flexible, soft tortilla by increasing moisture retention and dough strength.

Download our white paper titled Gums for Tortillas for more information.

"How can I reduce the cracks in my frozen empanadas?"

Empanadas are delicious fried dough pockets stuffed with meat, cheese, vegetables or fruit. When formulating empanadas available for the prepared foods section of your local grocery store, several challenges can arise.
Colombian-style empanadas are unique due to the masarepa-based dough as opposed to flour-based formulations. Masarepa, which is precooked cornmeal, poses additional challenges as it does not contain the gluten found in wheat flour. Without the functionality of gluten, the dough is fragile and more susceptible to tearing, puncturing and cracking during sheeting and freezing. When fried, an empanada with cracked dough will absorb excess oil and cause the filling to fall out.
Our R&D scientists have been hard at work developing a solution to eliminate these imperfections. They found that machinability and freeze stability improved with the addition of Ticaloid^® Tortilla in conjunction with solid fat. This innovative gum system provides maximum flexibility, moisture control and product stability to commercially produced tortillas.

Incorporating Gums into Tortillas

When adding gums to tortillas, we usually recommend that the gum be blended with other dry ingredients at a ratio of 4 to 6 oz. per 100 pounds of flour and that 5 parts additional water be added to the formulation to prevent the final product from being too dry.

To talk to a Gum Guru about your specific formulating challenges, chat live online or call our technical support hotline at (800) 899-3953/+1 (410) 273-7300.