The Science of Bread (Part 1) - Flour Water Yeast Salt

A lengthy introduction to bread science, focusing on homemade bread made from baker's yeast, or commercial yeast. I delve into the importance of flour, water, salt, and yeast in bread-making, as well as other critical factors like gluten, starch, enzymes, and fermentation.
For those of us that have school-related PowerPoint PTSD, I'm sorry to say this is a PowerPoint. However, I tried to make it as visual and informative as possible.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:05 Flour
26:50 Yeast
37:36 Water
40:13 Salt
Part 2 (The Bread Making Process): • The Science of Bread (...
Part 3 (Sourdough Bread): • The Science of Bread (...
Part 4 (Rye Bread and Rye Flour): • The Science of Bread (...
Part 5 (Salt-Rising Bread): • The Science of Bread (...
My blog: brock280.wixsite.com/rachelsf...
References and citations, and more details about this video are available here: brock280.wixsite.com/rachelsf...
#sourdough #sourdoughstarter #flourwatersaltyeast #sourdoughbread #highhydration #opencrumb #yeast #naturalyeast #wildyeast #yeastyboys #homemade #bread #breadrecipe #homemadebread #rachelsfoodventures #breadscience #foodscience #rye #ryebread #ryeflour #wheat #wheatbread #wheatflour #wholewheat #gluten #glutenstructure #crumbstructure #crustyloaf #crustybread #dutchovencooking #dutchoven #dutchovenbread #breadporn #fermentation #lacticacid #lacticacidbacteria #lactobacillus #foodmicrobiology #microbiology #microbes #aceticacid #lacticacid #enzymes

[@JS-qs8du]

As someone who works in STEM let me first congratulate you on this detailed and informative presentation, your science background is on full display and it is AMAZING. I learned more about bread in this one video than I have from the plethora of "how-to" baking videos out there. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge via this presentation.

[@robertmatthews8992]

Couldn't agree more I've spent so much time looking for this type of content that clearly explains how bread "works" and this is by far the best video I've seen. Thank you!!!!

[@gareth6517]

I can't believe this isn't the first video that youtube shows when anything bread related is searched. This is amazing! The knowledge, and the time that went into it... And I love LOVE how scientific it is! How are you not much more famous in the youtube realm is beyond me!

[@justice5408]

It was the first video I was recommended

[@dillongoble7483]

Who is the genius of a woman who has made the videos I've always wanted!?!? Subscribed!

[@dobisPR780]

As someone who's not a STEM person, this was really enlightening and easy to follow!

[@orbifold4387]

Very clear presentation of many major aspects of bread making. Just a couple of comments. 1) It is only the small fraction of damaged starch that can be digested by amylase and converted into maltose during proving. Intact starch granules, on the other hand, cannot be digested by amylase unless they are gelatinized (which won't happen at room temperature). 2) Whole wheat bread is not necessarily more nutritious than white bread, because the nutrients in whole grains are not bioavailable to the human gut. Sourdough may help increase nutrient bioavailability. 3) The ratio of gliadin to glutenin is more important than the total amount of gluten (gliadin+glutenin). The reason rye bread is denser is because rye flour does not contain enough glutenin (a 1:1 ratio of glutenin to gliadin is best for gluten formation) Looking forward to the next videos. Thanks!

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Hi, thank you so much for more clear and accurate information! I was hoping someone who knew more would chime in because no matter the amount of resources I've found in bread science they usually only tell part of the story or glaze over the details.

[@ChongFrisbee]

I feel myself going ever deeper in my bread making madness. I read comments on frenchguycooking's video, found the most epic knowledge bomb comment in recent KZbin history. This leads me to this amazing scientific presentation on the making of breads... deeper the rabbit hole goes... what awaits me in the comment section of this exciting video!? Another epic knowledge bomb comment!!! Will Orbifold's channel contain alchemical bread making gold? Will I ever go to bed? Or have I already gone and this is just a wild dream? I don't have any answers... but I'm sure to bake some bread tomorrow Thanks for all the awesomeness folks

[@josh2045]

In the case of rye, is there any ingredients that could be used to increase the Glutenin to help for a lighter loaf. Currently I don't make wholemeal or rye without mixing with some strong bread flour but if you are correct then that won't equalise the ratio, though it does help just wondering if there is a better way.

[@orbifold4387]

@@josh2045 I don't have much experience with rye bread. You may try adding vital wheat gluten. Are you using fast-acting yeast or a sourdough starter? A starter seems to be essential for lighter rye breads.

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

I can't fix the audio quality on this video but I have fixed the subtitles in English. I am also adding automatic subtitles in other languages, so if you don't see your language here, please comment!

[@rabenklang7]

Thank you Rachel. Hope you have much sucess on KZbin!

[@JensGraikowski]

This is probably more in-depth than I would ever need for baking bread (usually, if you follow a good recipe, you'll be fine 😁), but I really need this for another reason. I'm on keto and of course bread is off-limits on the keto diet. Most of the keto bread recipes (or pizza recipes) you can find on KZbin or websites are done with almond flour, coconut flour, etc and don't really taste like real bread. So I'm experimenting. This video will help me immensely in finding a suitable flour substitute which I can then hopefully use for pizza, baguettes, bread rolls, etc. Thank you ever so much! Understanding what happens during the fermentation process brings me a huge step closer to my goal. 🙏🏽😌

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

I'm considering researching alternative flours in the future, so there may be a video up someday! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@JensGraikowski]

@@rachelsfoodventures54 - Looking forward to it. 👍🏽😉

[@nleblanc88]

Enjoyed this. Thank you for putting it together and sharing your knowledge!

[@brayingmonKEY]

I came to your channel from your comment on Alex's bread video. You have some great stuff here! I love to learn about the science behind food, and this is excellent!

[@JohnBowring3D]

Just what I was looking for, you've helped me understand much more about why bread does what it does. Hopefully it'll help tame my own attempts. Great stuff, thanks.

[@user-ej8yz5er6l]

THANK YOU♡ I rarely comment but it is great to be able to find such in-depth material on youtube. Really enjoyed this and appreciate your effort in putting this together!

[@DigitalMarketingAgency25]

Hey, thanks a lot for doing the video you have benefited a lot of people and have a lot of understanding about bread and it's related to the making process.

[@DouglasRosser]

I'm only about about 2+ years behind the "Pandemic Curve" but I baked my first leavened loaf of bread a couple weeks ago. I'm hooked. Love the details here!

[@mariastevens6406]

Thank you for this. This has really helped me learn how to make better breads. I'm a visual learner and your gifs at 14:18 really connected everything you spoke of for me.

[@jacoblawrence7019]

I’m new to breadmaking and this video was perfect. Thank you so much for making it. You rock!

[@edkaempf906]

You did a really good job on describing the science of bread. Congratulations! I took so many notes for my next bread (e.g., dissolve the salt first, maybe not more than 110 degree water because of a couple of enzymes that cannot tolerate much higher). And the example of the 0%, 2% and 5% salt was great, explaining why we generally see 2% (plus or minus) in recipes.

[@Andrea-gz7hf]

Excellent, very well explained video, super clear with images. Thank you for this! now I have a better understanding which will help with my bread making.👏👏

[@samdot]

amazing video, really helpful. thank you rachel

[@pashmeenarora]

Thankyou for making such an informative video. Helped me learn so much.

[@fivizzano]

INVALUABLE clear explanation....

[@vatuesbet8353]

extremely well presented! brava 🙏🏻

[@rousp]

This is gold! Thank you Rachel :))

[@attentiondeficitoutdoors9134]

Rachel! You are awesome! So many people want to follow a recipe. I want to know what the heck is actually going on inside the process. The Chemistry & Biology helps so much more with conceptually understanding why we are completing the steps in a particular way. New to this journey and found this to be incredibly helpful. Thank you so much. Will be watching the next part during my ride (I ride indoors).

[@1Speed14]

Outstanding presentation

[@nonchalanthabibi5394]

Such an awesome video, very informative 👌🏻🤌🏻

[@lordxauce007]

Wow. Fantastic presentation

[@patrickshanghai2064]

very interesting, thx Rachel

[@devlin25711]

I'm a little late to the party with finding these videos but so far they're excellent, I hope you're still making new ones.

[@Po4to]

I love the level of detail in your scientific approach :) I've been experimenting with bread baking for almost 10 years now - but it was always less about reading and more about trying the wildest ideas possible. I started out with buckwheat bread - out of necessity, being gluten intollerant - and from there I expanded into wheat and rye (for my family), and just last year, into chickpea, lentil and rice bread, because I found out that buckwheat is not good for my kindneys. So I wish there was more scientific research into those grains in baking - especially managing the density and viscosity. I'm now using flax gel for more elasticity - but results vary: buckwheat (which always seemed like a heavy and unruly substance) cooperates splendidly, but rice and lentils... not so much, sadly, and potato starch, which I always used to make buckwheat breads lighter, seems completely immune to the gel's effects. Flax gel - and other hydrocoagulants - is a worthy topic on its own. I read somewhere that alkalizing it might increase viscosity - which I find interesting but not very practical, since my breads are heavily acidic.

[@danielzuzevich4161]

A work of art.

[@kristingrady3590]

Thanks Rachel. I am writing a book about a Baker, and I figured that he should know a thing or two about bread! This was very informative!

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Great! Let me know how the writing goes 🙂

[@bellagioufarooqanou6874]

after spending like 50.to 60 mint finally found your content and click .it was the moat amaizng and detailed lessons that i got ever . thank you sooo much wish i was in france to learn more and more from you.

[@tarakeshchadaram8847]

This video really helped me a lot

[@undecidedgenius]

I never thought I would ever hear anyone saying anything about bread is sexy....but hey, you do you (as long as no one is getting hurt, right) But in seriousness, it is kind of satisfying to watch.

[@uhno6771]

i cannot thank you enough, I do food science and i need to investigate how different flours affect the outcome of the bread, thank you so much

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Glad you enjoyed it! Part 4 is on rye flour, maybe it'll help with your work.

[@uhno6771]

@@rachelsfoodventures54 that would be amazing, thank you

[@bs701]

As someone trying to escape tutorial hell this is pure gold. Thank you so much for making this!

[@chrisperu]

Wow! what a vast and amazing information! I am engineer and love chemestry of bread and others fermentations! Thanks!!

[@shohrehpizza]

your information really helped me out to understand fermentation. please make more video

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

I am trying!

[@5618sci4tt]

Thank you for your wonderfull vdo❤

[@canadiansparky64]

I like the explanation. Relates to my pizza learning dough.

[@fssaifanclub4398]

Mam, you explained very excellent this..👌👌👌

[@ErikKubica]

Thank you, that will help me make better bread for my friends (I am on keto, so I cannot eat it :D ) but there is something satisfying about doing it.

[@kristian4805]

Thanks, I like the video :), using it to try and understand and improve my pizza skills 😁🤓😎

[@valentijnvanderhorst3444]

Thank you so much for this! I've gone down innumerable rabitholes looking for exactly this content. Please keep making these!

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Thanks for watching and I am very glad you enjoyed it! I will be posting again soon.

[@csurbhi]

Ditto!

[@zeddzorander9935]

God yes. Thank you for this.

[@lisztsistr]

Very informative video, thanks so much! If you speak French, there's a great book called Dictionnaire Universel du Pain that is an amazing reference work.

[@Cyrano263]

Hi! I will watch the video a bit later since it's getting a bit late where I am. If i can ask, would you consider making a video on the different types of flour in the future? I've found that a lot of times there are interesting types of flour at the supermarkets I go to that people don't tend to buy such as spelt flour, wholemeal or even coconut. It would be really great to be able to explore how these types of flour differ and how that fits into baking! :)

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

I'll look into it. Thanks!

[@Cyrano263]

@@rachelsfoodventures54 That would be super helpful! Thanks a lot!

[@chloemason2491]

Yeah you slayed

[@probably_afk]

Very good. I got tired of watching recipes and asking myself.. "why tho??"

[@buf3363]

How does this only have 30k views

[@zoltangacsi4614]

Excellent video. You talked about percentages of water and of salt but not of yeast. Could you give some guiding hints about that? (e.g. fresh yeast: 1.5-2.5% for AP flours and standard white bread)

[@brayingmonKEY]

I would wholeheartedly disagree with the statement made around 6:30 that a flatbread made with just flour and water would not taste very good. in the Indian subcontinent, as in many other places, the most basic bread that has been eaten for millennia is a simple unleavened flatbread called roti or chapati. In its basic form, it contains just flour and water, with some salt or oil as optional ingredients. It has a subtle and complex flavor which comes from the flour itself, without additional fermentation. The milling process of flour has a massive impact on the flavor of the flour. The common form of milling wheat in the Indian subcontinent is stone grinding which produces a specific type of flour called 'atta', which gives excellent flatbreads without need for fermentation.

[@darmawan88]

what is the best hydration percentage as a rule?

[@CesarSandoval024]

Im still learning... but just a thought... When the bread bakes, the moisture is released from the gluten and swells up the statch molecules and performs starch gelitinization. This process helps grab carbon dioxide and gives rise. Would this process be responsible for the smaller holes we see next to the bigger ones? These small holes would be the "body" for the bigger holes.

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Hello! I'll be going into the baking process in my next video, such as starch gelatinization etc. I'll address your question in that video. Thanks!

[@shohrehpizza]

it is possible to give me more explanations about cold fermentation process. how does dough become more bubbly and have strong texture? thanks

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Hi, I had forgotten to respond to this. I wish I had a good answer. But, it is difficult to achieve perfection. Most sources suggest a longer fermentation, so cold does help with that. Typically higher hydration doughs achieve more bubbles. If by "strong texture" you mean a strong dough, then this is achieved by good gluten development at the beginning of mixing. It is best to have a strong elastic dough before it starts bulk fermentation and cold fermentation. If the gluten is strong then the gluten strands can hold more gas and may make larger bubbles. I think these are things you have to test if you are seeking this in your dough. My environment, technique, and ingredients may be completely different from yours.

[@rabenklang7]

If different enzymes are responsible for different successive interacting processes, would it be disadvantageous to start yeast with sucrose? Because that would multiply the enzymes for the invertase, which would not happen, if the main dough has no suggar in it?

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Let me see if I understand your question. You can make delicious bread whether you add sugar or not. If you start bread with white sugar (sucrose), it speeds up fermentation because the invertase in the yeast has a lot of substrate (sucrose) to bind with. Not all the sucrose or it's byproducts are consumed by the yeast, so the bread is still sweet after fast fermentation. However, if you do not add sugar, the dough may need to rest much longer so the yeast can undergo the amylase-maltase-zymase chain, which usually develops a different flavor (not sweet). So it is NOT disadvantageous to add sucrose to the yeast. It will be sweeter and the bread will be done quicker. It depends on how much time you have and what flavor you want your bread to be. I hope that answers your question. If not, let me know!

[@JordanWthereal]

So then what is a good way to make a recipe get softer results? Ill post the link on the comments for the bread I'm wanting to make less dense

[@JordanWthereal]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIOboHRrdqikhsk

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Okay, so these questions are hard to address because I don't know all the details of the recipe despite the video tutorial, your technique, or your experience. But, I will attempt to address your question. I am assuming you want a soft interior and exterior. For a soft exterior don't worry about steam like he does in the video, just bake at 350 or 375°F until the bread is 200°F internally. You can also brush butter on the baked loaves while hot to soften the crust. Next to address internal softness. There are generally two components to this: 1) the recipe 2) the technique. Ethan mentions enriched doughs in his video and lightly enriches his own. Play around with the recipe, cut it in half and for one half do his recommended amount of honey and oil and for the other half do 2x that amount of sugar and fat and see how it affects flavor and texture as a start. Then secondly, technique. Depending on if you have hard water, what protein content his flour vs. your flour is, how much you knead it, and whether you proof it fully, these can all affect softness. Generally, you want to knead a dough like this until it passes the windowpane. He says he is using a bread flour which in the US is usually about 11% protein and can get soft but sometimes dense results. And finally, focus on the proofing. Under or overproofing can get dense results. Do the finger poke test multiple times during the final rise and see where you're at. Let me know if you have more questions, but again I can only suggest so much without being present.

[@maresionut-laurentiu7128]

Salt, does have an impact on the starch structure, not just for taste.

[@bwplifescience4902]

U mentioned that Rice & Corn contains Gliadin + Glutenin, but those product are gluten free by nature. Where did u find that rice & corn contains gluten?

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

The paper is titled: CELIAC DISEASE Overview and considerations for development of gluten free foods. The information they use in the table was sourced from other sources that are behind paywalls, but you are free to explore why they discuss glutenin and gliadin in corn and rice, because this doesn't seem to be the consensus. Some other information I have found: rice contains protein that is okay for most people with a (wheat) gluten allergy or Celiac disease. Some individuals are sensitive to rice protein. "Corn contains a form of gluten called zein." This is different than wheat gluten, however, some Celiac patients are still sensitive to zein.

[@greenati]

Can someone explain please - 2% salt in weight or Quantity?

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

The salt weight in percent is always calculated based on the weight of the flour, which is 100%. This is not to be confused as the salt as a percent of the total loaf weight. So, if the loaf has 565 g of flour, a 2% salt content would be 565 × 0.02 which is 11.3 g salt. If you want a quantity, you can try to calculate the weight and use teaspoons, but this is more variable. Some teaspoon measuring spoons get 5 g of salt, some get 6 g of salt, and that also differs with the size of the salt grains, e.g. coarse vs. fine. So I would recommend going with the weight, and remember, the salt is always the percentage of the flour, not the whole loaf.

[@greenati]

@@rachelsfoodventures54 Thanks for responding and for the cautious explanation - Got it! In order to scale up my game I will need a scale.. Great videos! thanks

[@tcalika]

Me too =)

[@shawntepitts488]

OH Gosh

[@BloodBlight]

The audio is a bit.... harsh on this one (no idea how to fix that). Loving the food porn!

[@rachelsfoodventures54]

Hello! I am just starting out and I did have the mic too close to my face and made mistakes while editing the audio. I am hoping to fix these issues in the future videos. Thanks!