Why Baking Soda in Yeast Bread?

So I was looking for another recipe to try out. I pulled out The Fannie Farmer Baking Book by Marion Cunningham. On page 449 I found Barley Buttermilk Bread. "Interesting," I thought. So that's what I'm going to make next, converting it fresh-ground whole grain.

But, while it's a yeast bread, the baking soda took me by surprise. Could someone explain it? Here's the recipe for two loaves.

1.5 c warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
1.5 T barley malt or 1T sugar
2 c barley flour
3 to 3.5 c AP flour
2.5 t salt
.25 t baking soda
1 c buttermilk, warmed

The rest of the recipe is the usual; bake 350 degrees 40-45 minutes.

Rosalie

This must be a hybrid bread! The baking soda is there to neutralise the lactic acid in the buttermilk thus creating carbon dioxide as a raising agent along with the yeast and sugar action to produce the same. It's the first time I've seen a recipe using both sources. would be interested to hear what it tastes like. .M

I have a recipe from King Arthurs' Baking catalog that asks for baking powder and Ive wondered what difference it makes also. All I know is that it foams alot when its added:) Its a quick pizza recipe that only rises for thirty minutes.

3/4 c water

1 T olive oil

1 tsp salt

2 c All purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp baking powder

I'd say the baking soda in the Fannie Farmer recipe would be most likely there to neutralize the acidity in the buttermilk. There doesn't really seem to be enough to contribute to the rising. It may also be there to make it a little more tender. The King Arthur recipe definitely sounds like a hybrid and a short cut recipe. I'd suspect you'd get pizza dough of that cardboardy type you get at some pizza joints. It would only save you about 1/2 hour of rising time so why bother? Unless you got some hungry kids just out of school and don't have time for much else. They probably wouldn't care and would probably be better than frozen.

It would be interesting to know how much CO2 from the B.P remains in the raw dough after waiting for the yeast to do its bit of leavening! M

That's a good point; I don't think there would be much left. Baking soda would react immediately with the acid in the buttermilk, and I doubt there would be anything left to react after the final shaping. Instead, I'm guessing the baking soda is there to allow the yeast to function. Commercial yeast doesn't like acidic environments, hence the neutralization reaction. It might also be there for flavor, to cut some of the acidic bite of the buttermilk.

As for why the Kind Arthur recipe calls for baking soda... that one has me stumped. There is no acid directly added to the recipe, and the dough doesn't ferment long enough for wild strains to produce any lactic acid. I don't see how the baking soda can have any effect on rising in that recipe. Perhaps it's there for flavor, to somehow compensate for the short rise. I'm reminded of boiling bagels in alkaline water, for the effect on taste.

But baking powder (as against soda) in the second recipe is what puzzles me. Because it immediately releases gas as soon as it is mixed with liquid I can't see its purpose. Yeast bread flavours don't need modifying! We'll have tp go to the source and ask them. By the way there is no King Arthur bread in NZ. M

Oh! The recipe does says baking powder! When I read it I saw baking soda. Well, that explains it then, it is there for leavening.

Your right that it would immediately release gas (when the tartaric acid and baking soda goes into solution.) However, commercial baking sodas nowadays are twice acting. When the temperature increases the baking powder releases another burst of CO2 thanks to the reaction of Calcium aluminium phosphate with sodium bicarbonate (which, if I remember right, happens at 145 degrees Celsius. I don't have my book with me.)

Thanks Rich. But wouldn't the CO2 from the BP dissipate considerably before the dough has proofed? i.e. when I make a batch of 24 whiitebait fritters (a NZ delicacy), shallow frying 4 at a time, I have to add more BP to the mixture about 3/4 way through if the last ones are to be as risen as the first lot. M

Thank you for that info. re calcium aluminium phosphate. I wondered what that was there for! The whitebait fritetrs still need that 3rd (and 4th) boost though! M

Often baking soda is used for a fluffy interior in baked goods such as cake, pancakes and I believe the same goes for bread.

Buttermilk is used for the same purpose.

Buttermilk biscuits use buttermilk because it is acidic. When you add baking soda, it reacts with the acid in the buttermilk and produces CO2 bubbles. This causes the biscuits to rise.

I was reading the original post about baking powder which is used in addition to yeast in some Bosnian bread to give it extra rise when the dough hits the hot oven. It helps form the pocket in the pita-type bread they make.

Baking soda is sometimes used to help form a crisp brown crust (especially in pizza dough).

The poster wrote soda but meant powder, I've seen this too. Baking powder gives off co2 when heated, so added rise perhaps, but why not just rely on yeast?

I just did this for the first time after getting an ancient grain cookbook.

the recipe called for 2.5 cups of freshly milled spelt flour, a high hydration wet dough that is supposed to sit for 24 hours, but I tripled the yeast and let it sit for 6 hours as I needed it for dinner.

Then you mix tapioca flour with baking soda and incorporate it into the wet dough, shape as needed. Bake whenever because the baking soda dismisses the second rise.

Result had some tearing, so perhaps the dough needs 12 hours minimum, or perhaps it does need about 30 minute rest for a second rise after incorporation.

Regardless, one of the best freshly milled recipes I’ve come across. This book will be top notch, a book I’ve been searching for all along regarding the baking or freshly milled flour without strictly utilizing natural yeasts, although it has plenty of that.