salt generally appears as a condiment in daily cooking. It seems to have little to do with baking, but it plays an indispensable role, not just to provide salty flavor.
Bakers all know that Water, salt, Yeast and flour are the four basic ingredients for making bread . As one of the salt, the use of salt is a key link in the process of making bread.
plays an indispensable role in improving the flavor of bread, improving the physical properties of the dough, inhibiting the substances that hinder fermentation in the main raw material wheat flour, regulating the action of enzymes, and preventing the reproduction of miscellaneous bacteria.
Next, we will introduce the application of salt in baking in detail. The role of
salt in baking
01. Add flavor
salt is the most basic taste of salty. In the production, it can not only give the bread a slight salty taste, but also when used with sugar, it can make sweet and salty taste complement , thus achieving an effect of enhancing the bread flavor.
In low-component packaging such as French and German bread , using appropriate amount of salt can also highlight the wheat aroma in the flour.
02. Increase dough tendon
salt can change its physical properties by dissolving protein . enhances the performance of gluten absorbing moisture , thereby making the gluten tissue dense, elastic and tough, expand and crack continuously.
At the same time, when the dough has obvious relaxation and adhesion, you can also add some salt to reduce the properties of dough adhesion to make the dough form better.
03. Increase the gas retention force of the dough
In the dough, salt can act on protease , making the relaxed dough elastic and improving the retention force of the gas. After the gas retention force is improved, the pores inside the bread will become thinner.
04. Control and adjust the fermentation rate
General microorganism When the amount of salt exceeds 0.1% (calculated in the amount of flour), it will produce obvious osmotic pressure , which has an inhibitory effect on yeast fermentation and can reduce the dough fermentation rate .
3Salt inhibits yeast activity, thereby delaying the gas production rate in the dough and uniform air pressure, allowing the entire gluten network to expand and extend evenly. While the bread volume increases, it forms an internal structure with uniform tissue and large irregular holes.
05. Antibacterial and freshness
In a humid environment, salt can absorb moisture from the environment, keeping bread soft , delaying the degree of corruption.
At the same time, salt can also inhibit the yeast's gas production function and also have a bactericidal effect. Wild bacteria are weak in resistance to salt, which can inhibit its growth and can even kill them.
06. Change the internal tissue and color
Addition of salt delays the rate of sugar consumption , and improves the color of bread surface . Moreover, the gluten is more tough after adding salt, which can create finer tissue inside the bread. This makes the inside of the toasted bread whiter and tastes delicate.
salt dosage
salt dosage has many ratios. toast bread is generally 1.8%-2%, sweet bread is 0.8%-1.2%, French bread is 1.8%-2.2% . The amount of salt will be used differently depending on the product made.
In addition, due to differences in summer and winter, or factors such as the balance between raw materials, specific volume of bread, etc., the amount of salt will also vary (usage can be referred to the table below for general dosage).
Bread Fresh Yeast/% | sugar/% | ||
sauce/% | salt/% | ||
salt/% | |||
html l32.0 | 6 | 2.0 | |
2.5 | |||
2.5 | |||
3.0 | 20 | 20 | 1.1 |
4.0 | 25 html l18 | 0.8 | |
5.0 | 32 | 32 | 0.6 |
When soft water is used, you can add more salt appropriately.
In the overnight seeding method of , such as the preparation method that requires long-term fermentation, even if the amount of bread yeast is used, as long as is used appropriate amount of salt , it can play the role of stabilizing dough and improving the flavor, aroma and coloring of bread .
In addition, is smaller than bread with a smaller volume or low sugar , which will easily feel the flavor of salt when eaten. If you decide the correct amount of salt in this case, it will be better.
salt usage
Salt first and then salt method in the dough stirring.
After salt is added to salt and fat together or when the yeast is stirred in the dough until it dissolves, add . This way, the dough forms gluten faster and is easier to control the temperature, but it may cause the salt to be stirred and dissolved inadequately. Generally, French bread mostly uses the post-salt method.
Commonly used salt in baking
Sea salt: Sea salt is a type of edible salt. It introduces seawater into the salt field and is made by sun exposure, evaporation and crystallization. Compared with other salts, sea salt can retain more trace elements in the sea water and stimulate the original taste of the ingredients. For example, sea salt is often used when making salt croissant and raw toast .
baking salt: baking salt is mainly used for the surface decoration of European bread , baking is stable, high temperature resistant . Its shape is uniform coarse particles, much larger than ordinary salt particles; it can be sprinkled directly on the surface of the dough and decorated with other foods.
For example, when making German , baking salt is used as surface decoration.
In the process of making bread, only a few grams of salt play a role in baking. Master the usage of salt is a major focus in the process of making bread. In order to make bread more flavorful, bakers need to study it more.
