Flours & baking ingredients

Flours and baking ingredients

The salt

Salt is an important flavor carrier and enhancer in bread. In the human body, salt in measured quantities provides an essential supply of minerals and trace elements. For use, the normal table salt (common salt) is the most suitable for bread making. Salt regulates and causes many interrelationships in bread and is thus responsible for the color, taste, volume and structure inside the bread.

When making the dough of the bread, the addition of salt is always done after about 2 minutes in most breads. The addition takes place right after the dough mixing and gives the dough, together with the gluten, the certain stability. Salt and yeast are not direct friends, so you should never add the salt right next to the yeast.

The water

For most doughs, you can use our Swiss drinking water straight from the tap without any problems. Only water with a very high lime content may require an increase in the water content.

What exactly does the water in the dough do?

The water in the bread dough serves as a supplier and thus brings the yeast and food (starch) together; the enzymes are set in motion and begin their work. Water = life!

What is the ideal water temperature?

For almost all doughs, cold water (approx. 5-12 °C) is added to the dough.

The yeast

Something so small can do so much big....

What exactly is yeast and what does it do?

By adding yeast, we breathe life into every loaf of bread and therefore it is even more important that we understand what yeast needs for an ideal baking result. Yeast is a unicellular fungus that feeds on sugars, multiplying and producing CO2 at the same time.

The fermentation gases loosen the dough and allow it to rise. The perfect propagation temperature of yeast fungi is approx. 24 °C. At a temperature above 24 °C, the formation of CO2 (carbon dioxide) begins to increase. It should be noted that the temperature should never exceed 40 °C, because this causes the yeast fungi to die immediately.

The most common mistakes when using yeast:

- Yeast should never come into direct contact with salt.

- Yeast should not be dissolved in warm liquid (e.g. lukewarm milk).

Fresh yeast, liquid yeast or dry yeast?

You can buy yeast either as fresh yeast (refrigerated in cubes), as liquid yeast, or as dry yeast (on the shelf by the baking supplies in small sachets). We recommend using fresh yeast whenever possible for making dough.

However, the dry yeast can be used very well as a reserve at home for spontaneous baking projects. 1 bag of dry yeast (7 g), equivalent to 21 g fresh yeast.

Shelf life and storage of fresh yeast:

approx. 3 weeks in the refrigerator at 6 °C

Shelf life and storage of liquid yeast:

7 days in the refrigerator at 6 °C

Shelf life and storage of dry yeast:

several months at room temperature 18-22 °C