November 7, 2013 - 12:31pm
Calorie count?
My flour bag tells me there are 110 calories in 1/4 cup of flour. A small artisan loaf takes 2 1/4 cups and gives me roughly 10 slices. That should translate to 110 calories/slice, average (commercial bread is 85-100 per slice).
So is that a good reckoning? Or does the yeast eat some of that and reduce the number of calories in the dough? Does the baking alter it?
Anyone have any ideas on calorie counts for homemade bread?
This is basic flour-water-yeast-salt bread: no sugar or oil.
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I do the math based on the ingredient weight (except water) and their caloric content, then weigh my bread after baking/cooling. Typical calorie contents for lean breads (flour, salt, water, yeast or sourdough) are about 210 kcal/100 gram. With rich breads and when incorporating raisins/currants this can shoot up to 270-300.
Fermentation should result in some caloric content loss as carbohydrates are transformed into carbon dioxide and alcohol which evaporates but in the big picture I think it's negligible and other factors become more relevant. For instance if you bake with wholewheat flour or add bran, the digestibility and hence physiologically relevant caloric content of the fibre comes into play and there's not really a scientific consensus about that. Compared to this the uncertainty around fermentation losses becomes insignificant.
Have to start weighing my bread after baking. Here's a recently baked boule, just FYI: