Hi all- my mom called me last night after her failed attempt at a new
bread recipe. We talked about testing her yeast, water temp, etc, and
then she told me that there is vinegar in the recipe. Would that have
any effect on the yeast? I have made a bit of bread, but can't ever
recall using vinegar..TIA!...

On 5/17/2011 2:05 PM, merryb wrote:
> Hi all- my mom called me last night after her failed attempt at a new
> bread recipe. We talked about testing her yeast, water temp, etc, and
> then she told me that there is vinegar in the recipe. Would that have
> any effect on the yeast? I have made a bit of bread, but can't ever
> recall using vinegar..TIA!...

Vinegar is used as a flavor enhancer in order to approximate the
flavor of slowly-risen bread. A slow fermentation of the yeast
provides more flavor, and supposedly adding a titch of vinegar to a
standard bread recipe will simulate that taste. Personally, it didn't
make much difference in the recipe I tried.

In article >,
Hell Toupee > wrote:
>On 5/17/2011 2:05 PM, merryb wrote:
>> Hi all- my mom called me last night after her failed attempt at a new
>> bread recipe. We talked about testing her yeast, water temp, etc, and
>> then she told me that there is vinegar in the recipe. Would that have
>> any effect on the yeast? I have made a bit of bread, but can't ever
>> recall using vinegar..TIA!...
>
>Vinegar is used as a flavor enhancer in order to approximate the
>flavor of slowly-risen bread. A slow fermentation of the yeast
>provides more flavor, and supposedly adding a titch of vinegar to a
>standard bread recipe will simulate that taste. Personally, it didn't
>make much difference in the recipe I tried.

I had a friend's homemade bread the other day and he used a
poolish (sp?) -- it was very distinctive and quite good.

Steve

Hell Toupee > wrote:
> On 5/17/2011 2:05 PM, merryb wrote:
>> Hi all- my mom called me last night after her failed attempt at a new
>> bread recipe. We talked about testing her yeast, water temp, etc, and
>> then she told me that there is vinegar in the recipe. Would that have
>> any effect on the yeast? I have made a bit of bread, but can't ever
>> recall using vinegar..TIA!...
>
> Vinegar is used as a flavor enhancer in order to approximate the flavor
> of slowly-risen bread. A slow fermentation of the yeast provides more
> flavor, and supposedly adding a titch of vinegar to a standard bread
> recipe will simulate that taste. Personally, it didn't make much
> difference in the recipe I tried.

My mom also had failed bread recently. I got her some King Arthur flour
with everything else being the same and the bread came out great. She once
again used her cheap Gold Medal Flour and once again... failed bread.

I bet it is the flour. Their were past discussions here on bread making
that indicated bad flour from others here.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

"merryb" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all- my mom called me last night after her failed attempt at a new
> bread recipe. We talked about testing her yeast, water temp, etc, and
> then she told me that there is vinegar in the recipe. Would that have
> any effect on the yeast? I have made a bit of bread, but can't ever
> recall using vinegar..TIA!...

Gluten free bread often contains vinegar. It helps the dough rise.

In article >,
wrote:

> On Tue, 17 May 2011 20:09:53 +0000 (UTC),
> (Steve Pope) wrote:

> >I had a friend's homemade bread the other day and he used a
> >poolish (sp?) -- it was very distinctive and quite good.

> What the heck is a poolish????????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poolish

"There is not currently any credible explanation for the origin of the
term."

"Generally, there are two pre-ferment varieties: sponges, based on
baker's yeast, and the starters of sourdough, based on wild yeasts and
lactic-acid bacteria. (Some bakers, however, use the term to refer only
to the yeast variety.[3]) There are several kinds of pre-ferment
commonly named and used in bread baking. They all fall on a varying
process and time spectrum, from a mature mother dough of many
generations of age to a first-generation sponge based on a fresh batch
of baker's yeast:

* Biga and poolish are terms used in Italian and French baking,
respectively, for sponges made with domestic baker's yeast. Poolish is a
fairly wet sponge (typically made with a
one-part-flour-to-one-part-water ratio by weight), while biga is usually
drier.[4] Bigas can be held longer at their peak than wetter sponges,[5]
while a poolish is one known technique to increase a dough's
extensibility."

Sorry you asked, aren't you?

:-)

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Tue, 17 May 2011 23:15:49 -0500, wrote:

>On Tue, 17 May 2011 20:09:53 +0000 (UTC),
>(Steve Pope) wrote:
>
>>In article >,
>>Hell Toupee > wrote:
>>>On 5/17/2011 2:05 PM, merryb wrote:
>>>> Hi all- my mom called me last night after her failed attempt at a new
>>>> bread recipe. We talked about testing her yeast, water temp, etc, and
>>>> then she told me that there is vinegar in the recipe. Would that have
>>>> any effect on the yeast? I have made a bit of bread, but can't ever
>>>> recall using vinegar..TIA!...
>>>
>>>Vinegar is used as a flavor enhancer in order to approximate the
>>>flavor of slowly-risen bread. A slow fermentation of the yeast
>>>provides more flavor, and supposedly adding a titch of vinegar to a
>>>standard bread recipe will simulate that taste. Personally, it didn't
>>>make much difference in the recipe I tried.
>>
>>I had a friend's homemade bread the other day and he used a
>>poolish (sp?) -- it was very distinctive and quite good.
>>
>>Steve
>
>What the heck is a poolish????????
>
>Isn't sour dough made with vinegar? (just seems I heard that, but
>maybe I'm wrong).

Adding vinegar mostly acts to extend shelf life and improve texture,
most commercial breads contain acetic acid. With sweet doughs I like
to add a bit of lemon juice.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_th..._before_baking

In article
>,
merryb > wrote:

> Hi all- my mom called me last night after her failed attempt at a new
> bread recipe. We talked about testing her yeast, water temp, etc, and
> then she told me that there is vinegar in the recipe. Would that have
> any effect on the yeast? I have made a bit of bread, but can't ever
> recall using vinegar..TIA!...

A little vinegar is touted as a bit of a preservative in bread.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

In article >,
Nad R > wrote:

> Hell Toupee > wrote:
> > On 5/17/2011 2:05 PM, merryb wrote:
> >> Hi all- my mom called me last night after her failed attempt at a new
> >> bread recipe. We talked about testing her yeast, water temp, etc, and
> >> then she told me that there is vinegar in the recipe. Would that have
> >> any effect on the yeast? I have made a bit of bread, but can't ever
> >> recall using vinegar..TIA!...
> >
> > Vinegar is used as a flavor enhancer in order to approximate the flavor
> > of slowly-risen bread. A slow fermentation of the yeast provides more
> > flavor, and supposedly adding a titch of vinegar to a standard bread
> > recipe will simulate that taste. Personally, it didn't make much
> > difference in the recipe I tried.
>
> My mom also had failed bread recently. I got her some King Arthur flour
> with everything else being the same and the bread came out great. She once
> again used her cheap Gold Medal Flour and once again... failed bread.
>
> I bet it is the flour. Their were past discussions here on bread making
> that indicated bad flour from others here.

Huh. I baked three loaves this morning using GM flour. Bread turned
out just fine. Good oven spring.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller