April 5, 2017 - 6:43pm
Salt-yeast method
This apparently is a method I have been curious about but found little information on the net.
With this method salt and yeast together are mixed in water and left for an extended period of time before making the dough. Does anyone have any experience with this method or information about?
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I think the salt may just kill the yeast.
Can you post any more information or a link?
-Brad
Demi-Baguettes (Yield: 2)
– 200g strong white flour (100%)
– 140g mineral water (70%)
– 4g fresh yeast (2%)
– 4g sea salt (2%)
Salt-Yeast-Method: Dilute both the yeast and the salt in 40g of water. The temperature of the water must not exceed 23°C. Let stand for 4-48 hours.
Make a soft dough by your favorite method.
Bulk Fermentation: 1 hour
Divide dough in half, let rest for 10 minutes and shape.
Final Fermentation: 1 hour
Bake at 240°C for 15-20 minutes.
Source: A variation of a recipe published in the book “Dough” by R. Bertinet
And then I found this https://theinversecook.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/the-salt-yeast-method-and-demi-baguettes/
Is it a hoax? I haven't tried it as I never use fresh yeast (mainly sourdough starter and occasionally instant yeast) and just wondered if there was anyone who had ventured into this kind of baking.
interesting... Thinking about the yeasts, it sure would kick the weaker ones out of the picture. "survival of the fittest" I Thought 8% was the limit and still keep a group, albeit small at first, alive to raise dough if given enough time to do so.
Certainly doesn't sound like a hot weather trick as the salt solution cannot exceed 23°C (73.4°F) I think my tap water is warmer. Fresh yeast... can't get ahold of any. Would love to try this out.
Edit: Lots of interesting studies under: salt stressed yeast growth
http://www.soeagra.com/abr/vol1/169-76.pdf
This 40 min 7% salt solution study:
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science/Salt-stressed-yeast-leads-to-bigger-softer-bread-Study
I captured this comment about salt in the "The Reluctant Gourmet" (I use sugar to make fresh yeast collapse into liquid.)
Paul says:February 20, 2015 at 6:51 amYou need a lot of salt to kill yeast. Salt does inhibit growth somewhat, but it can also pull something from the yeast cells to make the dough more elastic. I have baked with pressed yeast initially mixed with only salt. This mix makes the pressed yeast collapse to a liquid, but this liquid still makes the dough rise as normal.
That might be an interesting trick with some of the less elastic flour doughs.
interesting,no doubt. But in baking bread to me the fun factor should not suffer due to scientific studies, that takes the hobby a bit too far. I may get my hands on some fresh yeast and then see if I can replicate the result described in the Demi-Baquettes link. The fact there is so little info to be found is probably evidence very few people have felt the urge to experiment. Any volunteers?
I've been baking going on 20 years and have only gotten my hands of fresh yeast twice!
But I found out it is surprisingly easy to obtain here. I put in an order for a mere 100g with Amazon JP. Specialty shops and online shops can deliver as well. I am going to put the theory / myth to the test in the coming weeks :-)
You might be able to coax a bit of fresh yeast out of a local bakery, if any of them use it.
I left the salt-yeast mix for about 12 hours and made the dough. Followed the recipe in the above post. Salt destroying the yeast is a misconception as this experiment proved. The dough rose quickly and the baguettes were very tasty actually (great crust), considering the minimal time spent on it. I would like a little more open crumb, but I think this could be achieved by some additional S&F and a higher hydration. After freezing and defrosting the bread tasted even better and was also chewier! I froze the left over yeast (I had 100 grams) and used (a defrosted) 7 grams in a chia-rye recipe. Gave a great rise, finished product very tasty.
I've done that a couple of times before. It's super easy (throw stuff together and leave it out overnight) and it's works very well. I've made wonderfully fluffy white bread with that method. I'd link to the recipe but it's in German. I'm a bit annoyed by how hard it is to find fresh yeast in the States, though, but sometimes I get lucky at Kroger. :)
Here is someone who has tried the technique and bothered to report! Thank you. A German recipe could be translated easily with google, or I could do it if you show the link. Fresh yeast does not seem to be popular in the States as instant is so convenient and instant yeast lasts in the refrigerator for one to two years. Also the taste it delivers to your bread is not different from that of fresh yeast so the story goes. Which is an illusion. Seriously, try it.
this method is used by lutz Geissler in his first bread book. as that is a book I looked on his blog and found this:
https://www.ploetzblog.de/2015/05/23/berliner-toastbrot/ Interestingly the blog version uses sourdough as the leavening agent, whereas the book version uses yeast. hope the link helps:)
Rob
As I now have fresh yeast and this week, cool temps and all the ingredients. After baking the first loaf, I can repeat, reduce the liquids, divide the dough after the first mixing time and add fruit concentrates for a little colorful fun. :).
The shaping of one Lutz loaf includes dividing dough into thirds or quarters and making mini loaves and pack them into a standard loaf pan but turned 90° so that the sides of each roll are smacked against each other. Laid "| | | |". Instead of "----" into the pan. This gives a softer fluffier crumb when cutting from the end of the loaf.
I read this method from another German blog, which followed the recipe from Homebaking. This reminded my curiosity of this method before (first saw in Plötzblog Salz-Hefe-Mischung, aka Salt-yeast mixture )
I decided to give it a try using instant yeast (1% of total flour weight) in 10% salt solution (in warm water; then I realized that it's no need). Place in the vegetable storage in the fridge (T ~ 8-9C, not the coolest space 4C) for 12 hours.
Follow similar recipe from Homebaking but increased the hydration to 70%. Because I had little time, I couldn't do my regular long bulk fermentation in the fridge and need to proof at the room temp for 3 hours.
Anyway, the bread rolls came out nicely. The crumb was chewy. Didn't have large holes as before but that probably was due to the change in the bulk proof. Will try it again to check the difference between this method and regular way.