My first question concerns buttermilk & vitamin C. These both acidify the dough, which gives the yeast a boost. Does the buttermilk do anything else - or anything different than regular milk?
...my comments are restricted to the use of buttermilk in loaf breads only. By this I mean a bread recipe designed to be baked in a loaf pan made with commercial yeast. It does not apply to hearth breads or sourdough breads.
IMHO, the use of buttermilk produces a somewhat softer crumb for a "sandwich loaf" made primarily or wholly with white flour. The crust also may be somewhat softer. This assumes that the liquid in your recipe calls for buttermilk, OR whole milk OR 50/50 whole milk and water plus some fat (usually butter).
I have found the difference to be quite subtle and that, in general, for this kind of bread, most ppl can't tell the difference.
For basic white sandwich bread or rolls, I personally seldom bother with purchasing buttermilk. While I enjoy the taste of buttermilk, I find that I don't use it up. I prefer using whole milk, sometimes enriched with the addition of some butter (butter! - not margarine).
I add buttermilk to a basic white artisan recipe to make sandwhich rolls, reducing water content to maintain the right texture. I believe you could use 100% buttermilk, though it might take a bit more mixing to get all the ingredients incorporated.
The result is a softer texture, a more even crumb (although that may be due more to the extra handling required to shape the rolls) and a subtle tang in the flavor. I believe softer texture is the main reason to use buttermilk, although there is a flavor component
Buttermilk, like yogurt, is acidic. Acidity, in moderation, strengthens gluten. It also helps to keep enzymes such as amylase and protease under control. However, it liberates the enzyme phytase. These issues are important in whole wheat, where gluten is typically weak and there are lots of enzymes.
Why do you think acidity boosts yeast?
I use buttermilk in powdered form, which has almost no fat and keeps a long time.
Buttermilk: One tip that hasn't been mentioned yet, is that many yeast bread recipes using buttermilk, often include a bit of baking soda. This small addition offsets the zing to your tongue that buttermilk can give.
Basic Formula: per 1 cup of buttermilk, add 1/4 tsp baking soda to the dry ingredients.
Vitamin C: Adding just a dash, can also help inhibit mold growth.
Modifiers... Truth be told when I want bread that won't get mold I go to Aunt Millie's outlet just down the street. "All Natural Crunchy Oat". Costs 90 cents, tastes ok, and keeps a month. Nine line list of ingredients too.
Hi, with buttermilk as the only liquid you can extend hydration to 100% and even more. At least I can do it with the buttermilk that we have here. I sometimes bake hearth-breads with 100% hydration. Makes the bread lovely juicy. -- Harry
Harry, do you also have (hydration %) experience with buttermilk, for sandwich breads, as opposed to hearth-breads?
unfortunately I have no experience with sandwich breads. Very sorry. The normal bread over here is a wheat-rye-bread, made with sourdough. No pure wheat breads.
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Hi JERSK,
I have never read any "Bread Bible", sorry. So I do not know what you are going to say. If buttermilk contains 90.5% water and 1.75% fat, fine for the buttermilk. But what has it to do with the hydration of a bread dough?
-----
Harry
--------------------------------------- Everyone is a stranger somewhere - so don´t give narrowmindedness or intolerance no chance nowhere.
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re buttermilk...
...my comments are restricted to the use of buttermilk in loaf breads only. By this I mean a bread recipe designed to be baked in a loaf pan made with commercial yeast. It does not apply to hearth breads or sourdough breads.
IMHO, the use of buttermilk produces a somewhat softer crumb for a "sandwich loaf" made primarily or wholly with white flour. The crust also may be somewhat softer. This assumes that the liquid in your recipe calls for buttermilk, OR whole milk OR 50/50 whole milk and water plus some fat (usually butter).
I have found the difference to be quite subtle and that, in general, for this kind of bread, most ppl can't tell the difference.
For basic white sandwich bread or rolls, I personally seldom bother with purchasing buttermilk. While I enjoy the taste of buttermilk, I find that I don't use it up. I prefer using whole milk, sometimes enriched with the addition of some butter (butter! - not margarine).
"I am not a cook. But I am
"I am not a cook. But I am sorta cooky."
Buttermilk sandwich rolls
I add buttermilk to a basic white artisan recipe to make sandwhich rolls, reducing water content to maintain the right texture. I believe you could use 100% buttermilk, though it might take a bit more mixing to get all the ingredients incorporated.
The result is a softer texture, a more even crumb (although that may be due more to the extra handling required to shape the rolls) and a subtle tang in the flavor. I believe softer texture is the main reason to use buttermilk, although there is a flavor component
I am not a cook. But I am sorta cooky."
re: buttermilk
Buttermilk, like yogurt, is acidic. Acidity, in moderation, strengthens gluten. It also helps to keep enzymes such as amylase and protease under control. However, it liberates the enzyme phytase. These issues are important in whole wheat, where gluten is typically weak and there are lots of enzymes.
Why do you think acidity boosts yeast?
I use buttermilk in powdered form, which has almost no fat and keeps a long time.
Buttermilk & Baking Soda (Formula) Plus Vit C
Buttermilk: One tip that hasn't been mentioned yet, is that many yeast bread recipes using buttermilk, often include a bit of baking soda. This small addition offsets the zing to your tongue that buttermilk can give.
Basic Formula: per 1 cup of buttermilk, add 1/4 tsp baking soda to the dry ingredients.
Vitamin C: Adding just a dash, can also help inhibit mold growth.
Warmly,
Sharon Anne
My personal cooking site: http://www.sharonanne.com
Modifiers... Truth be told
Modifiers... Truth be told when I want bread that won't get mold I go to Aunt Millie's outlet just down the street. "All Natural Crunchy Oat". Costs 90 cents, tastes ok, and keeps a month. Nine line list of ingredients too.
buttermilk - hydration
Hi,
with buttermilk as the only liquid you can extend hydration to 100% and even more.
At least I can do it with the buttermilk that we have here.
I sometimes bake hearth-breads with 100% hydration. Makes the bread lovely juicy.
Harry
---------------------------------------
Everyone is a stranger somewhere -
so don´t give narrowmindedness or
intolerance no chance nowhere.
Buttermilk Hydration %
Harry, do you also have (hydration %) experience with buttermilk, for sandwich breads, as opposed to hearth-breads?
Warmly,
Sharon Anne
My personal cooking site: http://www.sharonanne.com
buttermilk hydration
According to RLB's "Bread Bible" commercial buttermilk contains 90.5% water and 1.75% fat. She's a pretty reliable source on these matters.
buttermilk - hydration
Hi Sharon Anne,
unfortunately I have no experience with sandwich breads. Very sorry.
The normal bread over here is a wheat-rye-bread, made with sourdough. No pure wheat breads.
-----
Hi JERSK,
I have never read any "Bread Bible", sorry. So I do not know what you are going to say.
If buttermilk contains 90.5% water and 1.75% fat, fine for the buttermilk. But what has it to do with the hydration of a bread dough?
-----
Harry
---------------------------------------
Everyone is a stranger somewhere -
so don´t give narrowmindedness or
intolerance no chance nowhere.