Bread Blog

Bread Blog

In our biology class, we are making bread. Considering none of us are true “bakers” and have never attempted to make bread from scratch before, we weren’t too sure about how our product would turn out. The main point of this bread lab was for us to better understand how fermentation, photosynthesis and cellular respiration takes place when making bread.

Procedure:

First, in a ziploc baggie mix together ¼ teaspoon yeast, and ¼ cup of flour and, 1 tbsp of sugar and ½ tsp of salt

Then we heated 4 tablespoons of water to 120 °F - 130 °F and let the water heat for 1 minute in the microwave.

Slowly add the 4 tablespoons of heated water to the baggie and stir all of the ingredients up.

After everything is stirred up let the mixture set for 10 minutes, to activate yeast.

Next mix in an additional 1/4 cup of flour in the baggie.

Knead dough for 1 minute.

Take dough out of the bag and roll it into a ball.

Place dough ball under heat lamp and allow it to rise for 30 minutes

(One with the orange writing on the tape)

After heated for 30 minutes, bake in the oven.

Ingredients:

Our bread-making ingredients consisted of;

¼ teaspoon yeast

¼ cup of flour

1 tbsp of sugar

½ teaspoon of salt

2.5 tablespoons of water

¼ cup of flour (additional at the end)

Why did we choose these specific ingredients? Well, a couple givens are flour, sugar and water. We knew that these were necessary for making bread. Although some ingredients such as sugar and yeast, were two things that our group had not known were necessary for making bread. After looking over our teachers recipe, observing our classmates attempts, researching online and trying the experiment once (and failing) we collected data and information and decided specific amounts we wanted to use per each ingredient. As mentioned earlier, our first bread-making experience was a failure. So, to increase the overall quality of our bread the second time we ensured that we added sugar (which we did not do the first time), and also added salt. Want to find out why these components are a key to success when making bread? Then keep reading, in the next section, The SCIENCE of Bread Making!

The SCIENCE of Bread Making!

The first day was just a practice day to see what works and does not work when making bread. Therefore, it was a failure. At first, we were missing some key components like sugar. Sugar is a crucial part in this lab because in order to make bread, the yeast needs to be activated. In order for yeast to be activated, it needs to feed off of glucose, which is sugar. In the bread making process yeast goes through cellular respiration, which is undertaken in the mitochondria. The equation for cellular respiration is C6H12O6 + 6O2  →  6H2O + 6CO2 + ATP. Originally, the bread respires aerobically, or with oxygen- this process helps create CO2 and assists in helping the bread rise. Then, as the oxygen runs out, much like humans when, for example, exercising aerobically (running), anaerobic respiration begins.  

You might be wondering, how does bread making tie in with the Carbon Cycle? Well, The carbon cycle is the cycle of carbon through the atmosphere, ground, plants, and animals. Bread has yeast in it, and yeast needs Carbon Dioxide for it to activate and grow. The carbon comes from the air and the yeast absorbs and uses it. The carbon is made in a way it can be used when hot water, yeast, and sugar are together.

Our final Product

(Top left)

Reflection

In the end, our recipe was not 100% successful because our bread was a bit too watery and salty, although it was still a success because we learned what we could do better next time and gained a better understanding on the science aspect part. What could we do different? In the future, we could do more additional research on ratios of the ingredients and also know exactly what ingredients we need. And also we could use less salt. Overall, the experiment was a great learning experience and something we all enjoyed doing!