July 19, 2008 - 3:07pm
Ascorbic Acid
in Peter Reinhart's book "Whole Grain Breads" he recommends using ascorbic acid and i've seen it in bakery whole wheat loaves in the ingredient list as a "dough conditioner." I'm sure as you all know ascorbic acid is basically vitamin c, but i'm just curious as to what you would use as your source of ascorbic acid.
Does anybody know, or have some suggestions or ideas? I'm really clueless on this one, hope to hear from you guys very soon because I'm going to be baking another loaf of bread soon and would like to try this. I appreciate all your help in advance.
-Dan
Share
Hi, Dan.
This question has been addressed in several recent TFL threads. Here's one with answers to your question (and other questions you might have asked):
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/7223/scaling-ppm
The search function (see the text box in the upper left corner of the TFL pages) is really useful.
David
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/7416/ascorbic-acid
==== SOMEWHAT OFF-TOPIC COMMENT ====
An inexpensive substitute for powdered ascorbic acid is citric acid. Citric acid is used in home canning - specifically water bath canning of tomatoes. Since we're in the height of canning season in the US, you might be able to get an inexpensive packet of citric acid if home canning supplies are sold in your area. Citric acid is also available via mail order on the internet.