Injera Baking Stove (Mitad) Type Determines Injera Quality

Oli Legassa and Workneh Abebe

Bishoftu Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research

Corresponding author’s: e-mail: workinehabebe.zeleke@uva.es

Abstract

Injera is the national staple of Ethiopians, mainly prepared from tef grain and other cereals or their blends. Injera quality is known to vary from process to process, depending on factors like the cereal type and other ingredients used, and baking techniques. This study evaluated the texture, sensory attributes, and shelf stability (at 25°C, 60% storage relative humidity) of injera baked using three types of injera baking stoves: biomass-fired Lakech (LS), common electric (CES), and pizza-baking-type (PBTS) stoves. PBTS exhibited the fastest reheating rate (0.22°C/sec) but produced injera with higher moisture (7.13% d.b.), lower sensory scores, accelerated texture degradation, and the shortest shelf life (56 h). LS-baked injera had superior sensory acceptance (4.9/5). slower firming and longer shelf life (80 h), while CES injera showed relatively closer performance in most parameters to LS. The findings highlight the critical role of injera baking stoves, indicating the superior performance of LS despite its energy inefficiency and inconvenience, and the need to optimize heating rate and distribution, together with moisture management in the electric-powered stoves, mainly in the PBTS.