Raising agents- help needed for an amatuer

LauraLoo

Hi

I cant eat wheat so ive been trying to bake different kinds of bread with different wheat free flours. My difficulty is with raising agents.

I know im going to come across as a complete ignorant but i dont know the difference (or what the use is for) between yeast, baking soda and baking powder.

I cant eat yeast either so ive been stuck with gluten free baking powder which is expensive and runs out very quickly so im trying to find out whats the best way to make the bread raise.

When i look on the ingredients of wheat free bread mixes they say raising agent: glucono delta lactone and sodium bicarbonate. Is the sodium bicarbonate the real name for baking soda?

Also, is maize starch just cornflour?

Id appreciate any help, thanks

Bicarbonate of soda/ sodium bicarbonate/ bread soda/ baking soda are all the same thing. You need buttermilk/sour milk to make this raise your bread. I am fairly certain maize starch and cornflour are the same thing. With baking powder any liquid can be used.

Minder

OsciiBoscii wrote: »

Bicarbonate of soda/ sodium bicarbonate/ bread soda/ baking soda are all the same thing. You need buttermilk/sour milk to make this raise your bread.

... and not to be confused with baking powder which is not recommended for use with acidic activators such as buttermilk or yoghurt.

LauraLoo

thanks for that

if the sour milk/buttermilk is for raising then what is the sodium bicarbonate for? I find it leaves a very bitter taste in the bread- if i use buttermilk can i leave out the soda or are both needed for the raising reaction?

Can i also leave out the yeast if im using the milk?

Sorry about this- i have no clue what the purpose of the soda or yeast is for- i presumed they were for raising.

Alun

The sour milk/buttermilk provides the acidic element that reacts with the bicarb to release CO2 bubbles which causes the raising action. With baking powder, that acidic element is included in it (cream of tartar) so it will become activated just by adding water. So if you use bicarb you must use the milk or else nothing will happen.

The corn / maize starch in baking powder is just there as a stabilizing / preserving / anti caking agent.

With yeast, which is a living organism, it feeds off of sugar to multiply and releases CO2 in the process. Again it's the CO2 bubbles that effectively provide the raising action.

Personally I too find the lingering background taste of soda in some scones or soda bread to be quite unpleasant. I don't know whether this is down to some bicarb remaining 'unconverted' because there was too much put in or conversely too little of the acidic agent (or too weak an acidic agent) to convert it all.

Minder

Are you sure you're using baking soda and not baking powder - baking soda is alkaline in nature and reacts to the acidic buttermilk to produce carbon dioxide - giving the dough a lift.

Baking powder is made from baking soda (alkaline) and an acidic agent - a phosphate or sulphate. These react together when added to water, again producing carbon dioxide and giving the dough lift.

When you add baking powder to buttermilk, there is too much acidic agent and it is not all used up in the reaction - the residue makes the bread taste bitter.

So you use baking powder with water to make CO2 and give lift. You can also use baking soda with buttermilk. Or yeast with sugary water. Each combination is typically used without the introduction of any other raising/leavening agent. In my (limited) experience baking powder is used to lighten cake mixes and batters. Yeast and baking soda are used to make bread.

The other thing to note is that baking powder and baking soda do not give the same amount of lift - baking soda is a stronger agent, so you need less of it.

And to really complicate things, you could try a sourdough starter to raise bread. There is some anecdotel evidence that gluten intolerances are as a result of the industrialisation of bread production where the traditional leavening process that used to take days has been shortened to a couple of hours. Sourdough breads are allowed to prove slowly.

LauraLoo

thanks for that alun & minder you've helped clear alot up!

Now i can get to experimenting with them to find which works out the best