It recently came to my attention that a change in my Internet ID caused a
number of notes that I had posted to the BBD had not gotten published. The
automatic program that processes such material had rejected the notes
because my new ID was not listed as a subscriber. Thanks to Reggie and
Jeff, the situation is straightened out and we can talk, again.
First, let me tell you that we have reduced the price of the top of the
line Zoji S-15A again. Call or e-mail for our e-mail catalog!
These comments are a little dated but may still contain information of interest.
Q1. How do I separate Yeast from salt?
A1. What we found about Yeast and oil was that the Yeast became
encapsulated in the oil and wouldn't mix with water. As a result, it lost
its ability to produce CO2, which is the gas that makes the dough rise.
When adding ingredients to your bread pan, use the flour to separate the
Yeast from any fats in the recipe. If you add water first, add the oil and
other ingredients to the water. Then add the flour with the yeast on top.
Others and I have said that it is important to keep Yeast away from salt in
preparing recipes. We did some testing, two years ago, that reinforced this
opinion. A few minutes ago (15), I decided to test this question with SAF
yeast. Here is the experiment and I invite you to duplicate it:
1. Fill two water glasses half full of warm water (85 - 100 degrees F.)
2. Add 1 tsp. sugar to each glass and stir.
3. Add 1 tsp. salt to one glass and stir.
4. Add 1 tsp SAF yeast, to each glass, sprinkle it on the water surface.
5. Wait 15 minutes.
To our amazement, we found no difference in the performance of the yeast!
Each glass had a good, typical, proofed, foaming yeast head on it. Is it
the SAF yeast or would this be true of yeast in general? I don't know yet
but I will let you know as soon as we can get some other yeast and try it.
We do know (and I consider it a definitive test) that SAF yeast is
unaffected by the presence of salt!
I invite you to try this experiment yourself and to post your comments.
Q. Pam asks, "Is it necessary to be quiet while the Zoji is making bread?
My husband says "Yes!" my mother says "No!"
A. It is an interesting question and one that I haven't thought about for
years. When I was a boy, my mother took her baking seriously. Absolute
silence was required in the house. No doors slamming, no loud music on the
radio (the box without pictures) and no loud footsteps!
"Don't make any noise, the cake or bread will fall!!" Sometimes they did
fall. We ate them anyhow. During the depression, who could be fussy. The
money was spent we had to eat it.
Before Zojis came on the scene, this board was filled with talk of bricks.
Why did they collapse from the wonderful breads they might have been? There
are many reasons. But, no matter how many reasons you might be able to
name, there is only one basic reason why a bread collapses: the dough
simply doesn't have the structural strength to contain the gas bubbles the
yeast produces. We know how to improve it: we can add gluten; we can be
sure that there isn't too much water in the dough; we can be sure that
there isn't too much yeast; that the dough isn't allowed to rise too long.
Each and all of these can cause the dough to be weak enough to collapse.
Can noise do it? Sure it can! Would you like to prove it? blow a soap
bubble and see what happens to the bubble when you clap your hands close
by. The sound energy will cause the bubble to shimmer and shake very
suddenly. If the soap film is too thin, the noise will cause it to
collapse. The same is true of the bubbles in freshly risen dough. Will a
bread in the oven collapse or fall if the door is slammed? Very likely. Not
only will the noise be able to start a bubble bursting chain reaction but
the mechanical force of the door slamming or footsteps producing vibrations
that transfer to the dough all increase the likelihood of the bread or cake
falling. So we have to score one for your husband!
On a final note, is noise likely to collapse a bread in your Zoji? My
answer is, not very likely. The Zoji has three or four walls between the
noise and the bread. Ovens usually have three. The advantage the Zoji has
(and I must confess I don't know how significant this advantage may be) is
that the bread pan is spring mounted and the springs will absorb some of
the sound energy without transferring it to the loaf. So let's score one
for your Mom, too.
Irwin/Delta Rehab/Using Zojis
Internet ID: irwin@prodigy.com
Tel. # 800-641-9093