Effects of Freezing Temperature and Freezing Center Temperature on the Quality of Frozen Dough Noodles

Frozen dough technology is widely used in the industrial production of flour products, however, frozen dough technology in the application process will still be flawed, resulting in frozen dough and final product quality deterioration. In this study, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to analyze the changes of thermal characteristics during dough freezing. The effects of different freezing temperatures and freezing center temperatures on the quality of frozen dough and final noodles were studied to determine the optimal freezing temperature and freezing center temperature. The results showed that compared with −20 ℃, the freezing rates of −30 and −40 ℃ were −0.44 and −0.51 ℃·min⁻¹, respectively, with faster freezing rates, shorter freezing time for the central temperature to drop to −18 ℃, shortest time to pass through the maximum ice crystal generation zone, and smaller and more uniform ice crystal volume formed. The frozen water content of dough and the cooking loss rate of noodles decreased to the lowest at −30 ℃. Under the freezing conditions of −30 and −40 ℃, there was no significant difference in water absorption and sensory score (P>0.05). The shear force, hardness, elasticity and chewiness of noodles reached the maximum at −30 ℃ with the decrease of freezing temperature, while there was no significant difference in adhesion (P>0.05). At the freezing center temperature of −18 ℃, the frozen water content of frozen dough was the least, the cooking loss rate, water absorption rate of frozen dough noodles were the lowest, the texture characteristics were the best, and the sensory score was the highest. This study would provide a reference for improving the quality of frozen noodle dough in industry.