January 2, 2012 - 7:39am
Yeasty smell problem
I made a 100% whole wheat sandwich loaf today, based on Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads formula. Previous attempts at this have turned out good bread apart from a strong yeasty smell. I reckoned the 2.5 tsp of instant yeast called for in his recipe could be excessive in my warm tropical climate. In my house (about 30C room temperature and 60% relative humidity), my bread always rises and proofs quickly. So today I experimented with 1.25 tsp instant yeast. The bread rose willingly but there was still a slight yeasty smell. How can I solve this problem? Reduce the yeast further? Or is there another reason for the yeasty smell?
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A beer-like, boozy, yeasty smell is probably a result of overproofing. Since the temperature where you are is so high, I'd place bets on that being the case.
Reduce the amount of time the dough spends proofing.
Perhaps the fermentation is too aggressive and rapid. Try cooling the dough with ice water when mixing. Or yes, reduce the yeast further. You can also delay adding the yeast letting the dough soak for a period of time working the yeast in when you're ready to raise the dough.