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Biscuits are commonly served as a snack food either as an accompaniment to a cup of tea and coffee or even taken independently. If you take a closer look, you will see some small holes in certain biscuits with a uniform distance all over the surface. These holes are intentionally cut and are a very important feature. These cut-out holes are actually known as docking holes.

How these small holes in the biscuits play a crucial role in baking and texture?

The purpose for their formation is the release of steam while baking the dough. While the biscuit dough is baking in the oven, the moisture in the dough changes which helps puffing the biscuits and getting a perfect crunch. The docking holes help control the flow of this steam out of the biscuit dough. This way, while moisture leaves the dough gradually, it keeps flat until. This technique prevents biscuits from rising like pillows by maintaining a shape with no mixing of structures. So, the biscuits remain as thin as required with crispiness.

The placement of these holes is not arbitrary. The pattern is intended for an even spread of the release of steam. The need for consistency is not trivial, it is also essential in terms of even baking. Baking a biscuit has a rather long history. At the outset of biscuit baking, cooks discovered that by poking a hole into the biscuit dough, they could control its rise when they put it into the oven.

In the past, docking was carried out by hand methods that involved forks or docking devices. These methods helped the baker control the product before baking. Currently, machines punch shapes on biscuit products, which ensures the baking of uniform-quality products that have texture similar to products that have been expected by consumers.