Jeanie -
It would appear that there is a source of contamination from something.
Assuming she is using clean utensils, and after using the same recipe
successfully for 30 years that is a given, the only thing I can think of is
that a strain of "wild" yeast (as opposed to that which comes from the
package or jar) has taken up residence in her baking area. Yeast is always
present around us, and is particularly prevalent in areas where baking takes
place. It is KNOWN to mutate over time, and this is the reason that some of
the renowned regional breads, such as San Francisco sourdough, are just not
the same when made elsewhere by the same method and same ingredients.
She may now have such a potent wild strain of yeast in her baking area that
it totally overwhelms the cultivar she is trying to use from the package. A
good way for her to test this is to make the bread in a different location,
preferably at a friends house or somewhere else where she can be totally
isolated from her normal baking surroundings. I have no suggestion for a
long term solution; fungi are notoriously difficult to eradicate, so
sterilizing her kitchen will likely be very difficult if this is, indeed,
the problem.
I would be very interested in hearing the resolution to this if one is
found.
Regards.
---
Bill Hatcher
bhatcher@beldar.com
Southampton County, Virginia, USA
> --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v098.n083.2 ---------------
>
> From: JSvahula@aol.com
> Subject: Bitter Dough
> Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 16:07:01 EST
>
> A good friend of mine has made the same recipe for dinner rolls
> for over 30
> years. It is a pretty basic recipe of flour, butter, sugar, eggs, salt,
> water, yeast. The last time she made it, she routinely tasted the dough
> before putting it aside to rise, and found it to be very bitter -
> something
> that had never happened before. So, she made it again and everything was
> fine. Then the bitterness happened again the next time she tried. She is
> unable to pinpoint it to one of the ingredients, i.e., eggs from the same
> carton were used in both the bitter and good batches, likewise
> the yeast, etc.
> Does anyone have any ideas? Please help if you can! Thanks much. Jeanie
>