December 24, 2017 - 6:03pm
Does sourdough bread need diastatic barley malt?
I make a sourdough rye that's about 80% to 90% rye flour. I add gluten which helps lighten it up, and just bought some diastatic barley malt because I know that the whole rye flour I use doesn't have it.
The purpose of the diastatic barley malt is to break down the starch in the flour to help the yeast feed. It's automatically added to all purpose flour and bread flour in the U.S. However, the lactic bacteria in sourdough also breaks down the starch into sugars for the yeast.
So, do you need to add diastatic barley malt to sourdough bread?
Thanks.