Submitted by sallam on April 26, 2009 - 6:00am
Greetings
I've read that some sliced bread loaf recipes have vinegar in their ingredients. I hope that you shed some light on the benefits of adding vinegar, and how does that affect the finl result, specially on doughs that use instant yeast.
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Yeast enhancer.
The highest breads I've ever made have vinegar in them. My Double Crusty recipe calls for a tsp. of vinegar which somehow gives the yeast a real boost and you can't stop the bread from rising to great heights. I've made this bread with all white flour and all whole wheat and part of each, and it practically leaps out of the pans. I've also used it in rolls called Air Buns and they expand like mad.
I see two possible reasons
One is to increase the acidity of the dough which, within limits, helps gluten development. Another is preparation of ersatz-sourdough bread.
for PaddyL
You said something about vinegar that I never knew about. So do you use vinegar in all your bread recipes regardless of the kind of bread you're baking? When do I put the tsp of vinegar - before the 1st rising?
I'm assuming of course that sweet breads don't require vinegar?
vinegar
No, I don't use it in all the breads I bake, but recently I did use it in some sourdough whole wheat and it worked beautifully. With just the 1 tsp., you won't taste it at all, and it certainly does seem to help the yeast, be it wild yeast or commercial dried yeast. I don't think it would hurt in sweet breads at all.
Dough Enhancer
I baked KA's multi-grain loaf this weekend and the recipe called for KA's "dough enhancer". I looked up the ingredients which are basically vital wheat gluten and ascetic acid. I had vital wheat gluten on hand so all that was needed was something to give the dough a little bit of acid. I added a tsp of vinegar and it was great. I got a good rise despite the lower gluten grains that were part of the dough and a lovely crumb. I couldn't taste any sour flavors at all.
Used judiciously, vinegar is a great addition to your bread.
dough enhancer/vinegar
I have been making bread for 50 years. I have finally realized I need to use vital wheat gluten and I have been looking for dough enhancer. You really answered my questions regarding what exactly is enhancer? So - thank you. I will try it - and thank you very much for sharing your research. Yay for vinegar.
Thanks paddyL and janknitz
I learned something useful, thanks to you both. I think vinegar will now be a part of my standard bread ingredients - even sweet breads!
Vinegar as additive
Vinegar doesn't seem to harm yeast in small amounts, but is a yeast inhibitor if you use too much. The way it helps breads acheive more height may have more to do with the beneficial effect acids have on gluten develpment, as one poster already mentioned.
Dough enhancers often include ascorbic acid (rather than acetic), because it is beneficial to both yeast and gluten. Ascorbic acid is vitamin C :-)
-dw