Bread Recipe

jimricho · Guru

Bread Recipe

capt cream bun · Senior Member

Did you know powdered bird feathers are still used by some manufacturers in bread making recipes? put a new meaning into "down in the mouth" Anyway some bread improvers can be a little on the doubtful side of healthy eating, some that is. I have heard (but have not tried) that a good alternative to common bread improver is simply the addition of a single vitamin C tablet.
And while we are on about oddities in baking, i suggest to all that we get to know the difference between a meat pie and a beef pie.

jimricho · Guru

I think I recall seeing ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the ingredient list on a Lauke pre-mix pack. Bread improver usually consists of an enzyme to "feed" the yeast plus a mould inhibitor, and soy flour to "bulk" it out. The enzyme and the soy would not be a health issue but the mould inhibitor, depending on what it is, and some other "numbers" if present may be, depending on the brand as Capt CB points out.

I tried the vitamin C trick without much success but I didn't persevere with it so it would not be fair to suggest it doesn't work.

A far greater health issue is the lack of fibre and nutriments, as well as the level of salt and sugar, plus the high glyceamic index of white bread. It also tastes like garbage as a consequence. A small amount of salt is necessary to control the yeast action and for flavour, my mix recipe on the other post uses about half the normally recommended quantity of salt and the small amount of sugar is optional.

As for the "powdered bird feathers" rumour, It may be true but I treat a story such as this with some scepticism until I see evidence to back it up.

jimricho · Guru

If you're having trouble obtaining good quality bakers wholemeal flour you can try adding wheat germ and wheat (or oat) bran to white bakers flour. you'll need to experiment with the quantities. Note again that plain flour (wm or white) is not suitable for bread baking.

Sheba · Guru

I've only ever used Yeast and Gluten [ this really gets it rising] to rise the dough. Honey instead of sugar. Some people won't be able to use the Gluten though.
Cheers,
Sheba.

jimricho · Guru

Sheba wrote:

I've only ever used Yeast and Gluten [ this really gets it rising] to rise the dough. Honey instead of sugar. Some people won't be able to use the Gluten though.
Cheers,
Sheba.

There are many variations one can try and yes I've tried gluten instead of improver, I seem to recall that the bread was a little denser but quite acceptable. I only use a small amount of sugar if any (usually brown). If using honey instead of sugar use a dark full flavoured honey to bring out the honey flavour in the bread, really nice when combined with a couple of tbs of LSA (linseed, sunflower, almond mix). One can also experiment with adding gluten to plain flour to increase its strength. (may or may not work?). Whilst plain flour (per se) is not suitable for bread making it's my understanding that bread flour is not suitable for cakes, scones, damper etc... Maybe some expert damper cooks out there can confirm or correct this.

Note that bread flour (and all wheaten flour, including white) contains gluten and those with coeliac disease (gluten intolerance) are most likely intolerant to bread anyway. There are special gluten free bread mixes available and some machines have a gluten-free program cycle. I think the gluten free mixes use rice flour plus xanthan and/or guar gum or something like that to strengthen the flour.

edit...bloody spelling miss steak...wye can't eye get it rite the first thyme?

-- Edited by jimricho on Tuesday 1st of June 2010 06:32:49 AM