When you see a bread recipe anywhere else, you can see tons of ingredients are used in it. That’s why it is confusing what are the staple ingredients, the main ingredients needed to prepare the bread dough. No problem, if you want to know not only the top 4 main ingredients that are used in bread making but also what they do and how they affect the overall crumb, texture, flavor, and after all the rise of the bread, then stay tuned. Today, in this article we will talk about what are the 4 main ingredients in bread making.
First off, let’s cover some basics. As we all know you must need some flour and water to prepare a dough, a mixture of these two ingredients. Now, if you bake the mixture of flour and water it won’t prepare a bread, you will need to add some more ingredients. One of them is the yeast, a microorganism that helps in the fermentation process and thus the rising of a dough. It creates a lot of carbon dioxide which helps in creating the light texture of the bread.
Flour
As we have told before, flour is a staple material of bread dough. Flour is made by milling the seeds threshed from various grains. There are two kinds of flour: strong flour and soft flour. Let’s know about them in detail.
Strong Flour
It is a kind of flour that is rich in protein content. What will happen if it has a higher protein content? The answer is that it has proteins that are prone to form glutens. Glutens are a network of two types of protein, giladin and gelatin.
As it has a lot of gluten-forming proteins, it produces more gluten structures. And, a great gluten structure allows the dough to trap and hold carbon dioxide which results in light and better rising dough.
For these reasons strong flours are ideal for bread, As it helps in preparing the perfect dough, that rises well and gives the bread the desired texture.
Another type of flour is soft flour.
Soft Flour
Soft flour has a lower protein content compared to strong flour. That’s why they can’t create a powerful gluten structure and for that reason, if you use this flour in bread making, the bread will not look like bread at all moments.
That’s why soft flour is used in quick bread, muffins, and pancakes where less structured crumb is needed. But, soft flour has a milder flavor compared to strong flour which allows the other ingredients to shine when put into our mouth.
That’s why choosing the perfect flour is important when making bread, as it is the staple ingredient of the bread.
So, in a nutshell, flour does the following things in bread making:
- It helps in the formation of gluten which helps to structure the whole bread.
- It helps to prepare the texture.
- During the fermentation process, the gluten traps the CO2 produced by the yeast.
- Also, during fermentation, yeast absorbs sugars from the flour. This means it also works as a nutrient source for yeast.
Water
Water is the mixing agent in the dough. As I have discussed at first, water helps to bind all the ingredients of the dough along with the flour, water does the following things in the bread dough:
- Water hydrates the flour.
- Water provides a liquid environment to activate the yeast to start the fermentation process.
- Water is essential for creating gluten formation, and traps the carbon dioxide generated by the yeast.
Also, during the kneading process, it incorporates the heat caused by friction between the floor and the bread dough and the inner layers of the dough. Also, yeast works well in a warm environment. As water distributes the heat, the yeast of the whole dough gets its desired environment for working properly.
Also, water, while kneading, incorporates the yeast all over the dough which helps in a consistent and balanced rising of the dough.
Water helps to form gluten, So, it also affects the crumb structure.
Yeast
Yeast is a microorganism that is used in bread dough for the following reasons:
- It plays a crucial in the fermentation process, which produces carbon dioxide, resulting in a lighter crumb.
Fermentation process:
Fermentation is a biological process, in which microorganisms like yeast and other bacterias breaks down complex sugars or carbs into simpler substances. In the meantime, it also produces some by-products, especially carbon dioxide which helps in a better rise of the bread.
- It helps to develop the ideal flavor and color of the bread. But how? When the yeast does fermentation, it produces organic acids. These acids contribute to the overall flavor profile of the bread. Also, it produces alcohol which also contributes to the flavor.
In this way, yeast helps to develop the overall quality of the bread.
By the way, the overall texture of the bread depends on many other things. Most of the time, breads get soft when they are softened. You can see this article if you wanna know about it: Does Bread Soften As Cools? Also, sometimes it gets hard as well. I have also discussed about it here: Will Bread Harden As It Cools?
Salt
Salt is like a flavor enhancer of the bread. However, salt does many other things to the bread besides enhancing the flavor, here’re some of them:
- Salt creates an osmotic effect. It is an effect, that draws away water molecules from the yeast cells. As yeast gets activated by the water, drawing away them helps slow down the rate of fermentation, which helps control the development of flavors and textures of the bread.
- Salt strengthens the gluten network in the dough, This helps to control the overall structure of the bread.
- Salt also influences Maillard’s reaction Maillard’s reaction is responsible for browning foods. A proper amount of salt which may be discussed in your recipe book can give your bread a perfect mouth-watering color.
Conclusion
Except for any other ingredients used in bread making, these 4 ingredients only can increase the overall quality of your bread a hundred times better. If you can use them in proper portions they can make the taste, the texture, and the overall color of your bread.
For some additional ingredients, you can add milk instead of water. Milk can soften the taste of your bread and can change the overall color, texture and, everything.
Hope you have now gotten the answer What are the 4 main ingredients in bread making? and enjoyed a lot. Thanks for reading.
