MESSAGE bread-bakers.v099.n001.4
From: "Ellen C." <ellen@brakes.elekta.com>
Subject: Non-refined Sweeteners in Yeast Bread?
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 12:02:20 -0500
What non-refined sweeteners work in yeast doughs? We are eliminating all
refined sugars from our diet, so that basically leaves brown rice syrup
and
barley malt. Will these have the same interaction with yeast as sugar
does?
Has anyone tried baking bread with the herbal sweetener Stevia? It's a
very
concentrated sweetener, so it is used in tiny amounts. My guess is that
the
yeast can't feed on it. So, if I increase the rising time, will the
yeast still
do it's job (ie, by feeding on the flour)?
The bottom line is that I'm trying to figure out how to make bread
without
sugar, honey, molasses, or maple syrup.
==========
Dear Ellen,
Yeast can feed perfectly well on flour, and do not "require" refined
sugar. They like Barley Malt very well; you can use the gooey crap or
you can buy Barley Malt as Malted Barley flour. It is a dark-cream
colored powder because it is an unrefined flour made from the sprouted
(malted) barley grain. I use about 1 tsp. per loaf, pitched in right on
top of my dry yeast. (However, I also use honey, so you may wish to
experiment with more of the powder.)
If you are concerned about your yeast becoming sluggish and not lifting
the heavier whole-grain loaves because they are working without the
"supercharge" of sugar, you may find it effective to begin to experiment
with "sponge" cookery. Take about 1/2 c of your water and about 1/2 c
of your flour, (plus 1/2 tsp. of your barleymalt, if desired) and stir
this into a sponge--a separate "starter" for your bread. Inoculate this
sponge with about 1/2 tsp. of your total intended yeast. (Most of my
loaves use 1 or 1.5 tsp. TOTAL). Let this sponge work for an hour or 4
in a warm draft-free place, such as your oven with a pilot light, or
with the electric bulb turned on. This will give even the most wimpy
yeast a nice "head-start" on a heavy-grain loaf.
A special note, I have explicitly stated that you should not use ALL
your yeast in your sponge. This contradicts the "old-fashioned" methods
of sponge-making. I have done so because I have found that the newer
yeasts, which have been recently created to respond to the comparatively
brief rising times of bread-machines, will sometimes exhaust themselves
before they have done their "real" work of raising the actual loaf in
the machine. Again, *Sometimes*, but not always. By holding back some
of the yeast and adding it to the machine along with all the remaining
ingredients--after your sponge has developed--you work your
machine-cycle from a "known" starting point. The yeast are working from
two different starting points. The new yeast work with their customary
explosive vigor, while the slightly older yeast have moved into a
"steady-state" population which is reproducing constantly, but perhaps
not explosively. Your newer yeast give the required ABM "shove" but the
older yeast give you a larger basic yeast population and a more even
distribution of the CO2. If you aren't using an ABM, my method is
unnecessarily complicated.
I recommend sponge cookery over the simple expedient of adding more
yeast because the flavor of the two sorts of loaves is very different;
less yeast grown over more time gives a nicer texture and a richer
flavor to the bread, while more yeast pitched in suddenly tends to give
a flatter flavor with a distinctly less pleasant "yeasty" or "musty"
taste and smell. I suspect that if you are eliminating refined sugar,
the flavor of your loaves is going to become more important to you very
soon.
Some folks keep a sponge going in the refrigerator all the time, and use
that as a "helper" but you may not wish to do this. Yeast mutate rather
quickly, and move away from the lovely basic strain we now know as
commercial bread yeast. Also, wild yeasts can creep in (contaminate),
and then you must basically have the luck of a lottery winner to have a
good taste. This is the foundation of sour-dough cookery, and not all
wild strains are equally desirable. So, if you start your sponge fresh
every time, and give it an hour's "head-start" you can accomplish much
of what is desirable in a starter without the difficulties of what is
not desirable in a starter.
I also strongly recommend you experiment with varieties of yeast. I
find SAF yeast (available through King Arthur) is very different from
Fleischmann's or RedStar. It gives me a much better rise. This may be
because they have already added ascorbic acid. If I can't get SAF I
will take RedStar over Fleischmann's every time. I experimented with
these and several other yeasts, and found Fleischmann's had a tendency
to fail completely more often than I will tolerate. It just plain
arrives dead from the grocery store--if you proof it side by side with
other yeasts you see it has a very different vigor.
Increasing the gluten content of your loaf may improve structure and so,
give you a better lift on a heavy loaf as well.
Finally, if you still find that your yeast must be stimulated more than
barley malt will provide, add some lemon-juice (1/2 to 1 tsp.) to give
them ascorbic acid, and add just a pinch of ground ginger. Both of
these are well-known as yeast stimulants.
I can't address any of your other questions about sweeteners. I
recommend you experiment with them and let us all (here on the list)
know your results.
Regards,
Chris Olmstead