I even named my starter Beast because all living things deserve a name! In the case of the baking powder bread, the liquids were added last and not over-mixed to prevent the carbon dioxide bubbles from escaping. Manipulating the baking chemistry this way produces bread that rises higher and has a more refined texture. Though baking soda, baking powder, and yeast all result in the production of carbon dioxide gas and leaven dough, there are many differences. https://bakerbettie.com/basic-quick-bread-recipe-sweet-or-savory/. During this quarantine, I’ve had a lot of time to do things that I didn’t have time for before, so one of the things I took up was bread making. Many types of bacteria, such as lactobacillus, produce lactic acid as a waste product when they eat, which makes bread and yogurt sour. In terms of texture though, this bread overall had the largest irregular air bubbles, and a chewy texture in the bread, a crust also formed on the outside of the bread that was crunchy and slightly chewy. On the other hand, baking powder is made with chemical compounds such as sodium bicarbonate. Your ultimate guide to baking with yeast! The best part of this scientific investigation... the eruptions! It derives its carbon dioxide gas through a biological process of fermentation. A leavener is what the dough needs to begin to rise. Since I was ultimately going to be making 3 loaves of bread, I decided to quarter the recipes to avoid creating unnecessary waste. About: We make fun and educational STEM kits that let you play with microbes. Through your experiments, you’ve learned different ways to make your bread denser or fluffier. Since both the yeasted and the sourdough breads were kneaded, and the yeasted had additional kneading time, they both got a crunchy chewy crust due to the gluten. This variety of yeast in the starter gives the bread its unique flavor as well as contributing to the unpredictable pattern in the rising and bubble structure of sourdough bread. Once the bread has baked, this is what gives the loaf its airy texture. Watching yeast respire involves putting gloves on top of your dough containers to capture your yeast's waste CO2 and seeing how fast this CO2 inflates the gloves. Create electricity from the bacteria living in mud, or make bread while racing yeast! (Save the gloves for your yeast! I was left with three rather tasty different types of bread, and that’s all due to chemistry of the ingredients going together. Add 3 large packets of sugar (1/4 tablespoons total) to container #2, the “Added Sugar” container. How do your independent variables impact your dependent variables? Baking powder and yeast are two of the most commonly used leavening agents in baked foods. Dough was left out in the open to "rise," as yeast (which naturally live on grains and other foods) would munch up sugars and release gas bubbles into the dough. Pour the water over the dry ingredients up to the 350ml mark for each container (2/3 cup of water). Now, get ready to bake by turning the oven to 350 F (adult supervision required). Their names may sound similar. Wheat flour contains a protein, called gluten, which adds to the stretchiness of dough and the chewiness of bread. But these two simple looking white powders can cause BIG reactions. Why might it be stretchy? They may be used for the same purpose but they are different from each other. The baking powder bread tasted slightly egg-like, almost biscuit-like in flavor. To keep the experiment controlled, I decided to use simple similar bread recipes that the only major difference between was the leavening agent. Baking powder is made of a combination of an acid, a base, and a filler all in powdered form. B) Salt: Add a couple more pinches of salt to the top of your flattened dough before baking. Once your mixture looks foamy, repeat step 1, and if your mixture doubles in volume in about 6 hours, it's time to use. https://www.firstforwomen.com/posts/food-recipes/how-to-replace-yeast There are hundreds of ways to make dessert breads and cakes. Yeast is activated or woken up by warm water and then the sugar acts as its food. The recipes I found used baking powder, yeast, and sourdough starter as the leavening agents. In the bottle with the yeast and warm water nothing happens. After playing with your ball, knead it back together, and pop it in the oven at 450 degrees F for 15-20 minutes (with adult supervision). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Baking powder is activated by a combination of heat and moisture. Wash your hands between each container to prevent contamination. Although some of the recipes took time, they don’t require you to have incredible baking skills, so don’t be afraid to try your hand at making bread of your own! In the case of the yeasted bread, the dough was kneaded to create stronger gluten strands. Advice that I incorporated in this crumpet recipe that uses yeast and baking powder was; add vinegar, add oil, incorporate dry baking powder into batter by sifting it in and whisking quickly. Can you explain the results you find? This causes dough to become stretchy and gooey. Baking soda experiments or activities are a great, safe and easy way to introduce the concept of a chemical reaction to children. The happier the yeast, the faster their respiration rate, and the faster the gloves will inflate! Yeast & Baking Lessons We want you to be successful in baking! Share it with us! Baking soda is a simple base and therefore needs to be combined with an acid of some sort, such as yogurt, lemon, or vinegar, in order to become activated. This drives down pH (to more acidic) and gives the sour taste to sourdough bread. I combined Yeast with baking powder Hey everyone im a beginning brewer trying out a new hobby. When you're ready to use your starter, take it out of the fridge, and return to Step 2, "Activate your Starter.". The addition of water also allows the straggly glutenin and gliadin proteins to bond together to form gluten. When the yeast feeds on the sugars, it decomposes the sugars into carbon dioxide and ethanol alcohol. One thing I noticed about the sourdough though was that it spread a lot, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t put in enough flour so that’s my bad. Work out any flour clumps. Sourdough starter is made using flour and water, and the wild yeast and natural bacteria in the flour start to feed on the sugars and thrive. 4. Be sure to use a new stick (or spoon) for each container so that you don’t cross-contaminate the mixtures. Google didn't help. As far as the procedures go though, I really just followed the recipes as written. You'll need the following materials, included in Magical Microbes's DoughLab, or available at your local grocery (or pantry! Bread started out consisting of only 3 ingredients, grain, salt, and water, but today, bread often contains over 30 ingredients in just one loaf! Try adding a bit of yogurt with active cultures to your dough to see if you can grow lactobacillus and make tasty sourdough bread! Find out the difference between baking powder vs. yeast and when to use each. In terms of texture, the bread was airy, with mostly small air bubbles and a few large bubbles, and a soft chewy texture in the bread, a crust also formed on the outside which was crunchy and slightly chewy. Once you see bubbling in the mixture and the glove inflating, your yeast are replicating! If your dough looks good, you can save the dough you removed in an air-tight container in the fridge and bake it later! Soda bread, on the other hand, uses baking soda to create volume, reacting with an acid to form carbon dioxide and breathe life into the loaf. Bonus Experiment: Sourdough (Quick version). When a liquid is added to a batter containing baking powder, the tartaric acid (cream of tartar) and the sodium bicarbonate(baking soda) dissolve in the liquid and thus have more freedom to move around and react. Change ). Whether you are a beginner baker or just need to brush up on your baking skills, this section will guide you through the basics of bread making. To make this process faster, people would add pieces of old dough, mashed grapes, or beer foam, which are all full of yeast. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water. This process of eating food and releasing waste is called “respiration.” Interestingly, even without oxygen, yeast continue to respire. So, when wet, a neutralization reaction occurs between the acid and base in baking powder, forming water, potassium sodium tartrate (a salt), and carbon dioxide. This is an experiment was done to know how Yeast react to different liquids and which produce the most carbon dioxide. I cultivated my starter from a few simple ingredients, water, and flour, and over time it started to grow. You may find a cake recipe or two that calls for yeast such as Potica or Panettone. This process is aided by the gluten built up in the bread because gluten is a protein, so at higher temperatures it begins to coagulate and turn into a semisolid or solid-state, giving the crust it’s characteristic chew and crunch. In sourdough, these bacteria typically outnumber yeast 100-to-1! You can mix your dough with WARM liquid not hot, as hot liquid will kill the yeast. Baking Soda vs Baking Powder go head to head in this epic battle between two kitchen staples in this kid approved science experiment.