this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2024
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expectationvsreality
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2 percent is frankly a little low for the bar sugar by weight to still be considered bread, but 10 percent(which is where they were at) is obviously outrageous. If you want a really aggressive rise while keeping a high hydration, adding sugar and heat can get you there. I don't think you're making bread anymore beyond 4 percent though.
Maybe I'm too European for this, but I would never have thought of putting sugar in regular bread. Even milk buns don't have added sugar in them, unless you count lactose.
…I'll have to try this, because it sounds off to me. Like putting a dishwasher in the bathroom. Not really insane. But I'd quietly judge someone who does that.
Edit: Not great for bread.
The only reason I would use a very small amount of sugar is to jump start the yeast. That shouldn't even take a teaspoon though, and it's only necessary when you have to get a faster rise.
The bread tastes better when you let it rise slowly though.
It's common in America when you want a quick rise or to increase moisture in the end product. Conversely, some recipes encourage proofing the dough in the fridge. This reduces yeast activity while retaining amylase activity, resulting in more sugar (maltose usually in this case) in the bread. In general, the best practice is to use the starches in the bread as the sugar for the yeast to develop complex flavor.
In the end bread is not an exact science and there's lots of variables to play around with to get what you want. It's just at 10 percent sugar you've certainly gone beyond that.
Ive made bread a handful of times and I’ve never used sugar.
Here is the BBC Website with recipes for bread and checking the regular British breads I don’t see sugar listed on any.
That's interesting! I don't know if it's a north american thing, but I always start the yeast with either sugar or honey before I add the flour.
It gives an initial boost, but not necessary. All my bread is sugar and milk free. The yeast and flour figure it out
I've heard this a few times and have always wondered - what do Europeans use in bread to feed the yeast and make it rise, if not sugar?
Flour
Flour doesn't feed yeast to make it rise.
It does.
Look up sourdough recipes. The bacteria and yeasts will eagerly eat some longer-chain carbs. They aren't picky. Same goes for commercial supermarket yeasts.
It does. The bread I make is only flour, yeast, water and salt. Toss them together and wait 2 hours you have a risen bread
Starches are just chains of sugar.
You can test for yourself if starches are sugar.
Grab a spoon of oat flakes, no milk no nothing, but em in your mouth and chew and chew. It's a fair bit of work, but soon you'll taste the sweetness.
Yeast does rise from "sugar" but it's actually the glucose contained within the flour. Bread yeast does not directly feed on sucrose. The process of breaking down starches into sugars is actually what gives bread a lot of it's flavor.
That said lots of European bread uses sugar too, just in lower percentages. American white bread is quite similar to French pain de mie.