Do I have to add sugar?
Flour contains enough natural sugars for yeast to prove without the need to add extra sweeteners (sugar, honey, molasses etc.). It just takes a bit longer. If you’re watching calories, omit it.
Is salt necessary?
It’s not essential. The Real Bread Campaign recommends no more than 6g (1 teaspoon) per 500g of flour. The Food Standards Agency’s target is 1% or less by loaf weight.
What is the best flour to use?
Stoneground wholemeal flour is milled from the bran (fibre aids digestion), the germ (B vitamins and fatty acids aid brain function) and the endosperm (contains protein, B vitamins and iron).
- In 1961 the scientists at the Chorleywood Flour Milling and Bakery Association discovered that when hard fats, extra yeast and chemicals were added to dough and mixed at high speeds, bread could be made faster and cheaper using low quality, low protein British wheat. The bread was 40% softer than previous loaves and lasted twice as long.
- 80% of all bread is now made the Chorleywood way.
- Chorleywood detractors argue that by adding three times the quantities of yeast needed to create traditional bread, the process may be responsible for the rise in bread-related digestive illness, by introducing excessive quantities of yeast to our gut flora.
Source:
Alex Renton, ‘Is your bread making you ill?’, 14 June 2011, ‘MailOnline’
- The Real Bread Campaign was launched by the charity Sustain and Andrew Whitley of Bread Matters in 2008. By April 2012 they had nearly 9000 followers on Twitter and 1600 on Facebook.
- There are currently some 4,500 small craft bakeries in the UK, each employing between 5-25 people.1
- Nearly 12 million loaves of bread are sold in Britain every day. White bread accounts for 76% of the bread sold.2
- 50% of the bread we consume is used for sandwiches. 3
- Large bakeries, which produce wrapped and sliced bread, account for 80% of UK bread production. In store bakeries produce 17%. That means only 3% of bread is still made in neighbourhood bakeries.4
- The breakdown of UK milled flour in 2010/2011 was 47.6% white bread making, 6.2% wholemeal bread making and 2% brown bread making. The remaining 44.2% was milled for cakes, biscuits etc.5
Source:
1 The National Association of Master Bakers
3 The Federation of Bakers, Factsheet No. 6. Did you know?
- Gluten is a combination of two proteins (glutenin and gliadin) found principally in wheat but also in barley and rye. Once hydrated and mixed with yeast, it helps give bread a light, airy texture.
- Around 1% of the British population is gluten intolerant
- In those who suffer from the medical condition ‘coeliac disease’, gluten triggers an immune reaction that damages the lining of the small intestine causing symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pain and headaches.
- Coeliac disease is a hereditary, autoimmune disease. It is not a food allergy or intolerance.
- Coeliac disease affects 1 in 100 people in the UK. Research suggests that around 500,000 people remain undiagnosed.
- If you think you may suffer from coeliac disease, it is essential to keep eating gluten until your GP makes a medical diagnosis. This involves a simple blood test and a referral to a gastroenterologist for a gut biopsy.
- Self-diagnosis is inaccurate and potentially harmful.
Source:
