Our Bread Recipe

The first time we tried our bread recipe we added the ½ teaspoon of sugar to the basic recipe we were given, because we found the yeast needs sugar to work. The yeast uses the sugar to perform alcoholic fermentation, a form of anaerobic respiration. From this process, the yeast releases carbon dioxide which makes bubbles of air, and causes the bread to rise. This is important for fluffy bread. We added this in the first step when we combined the dry ingredients which were ¼ cup of flour, ½ teaspoon of sugar, ¼ teaspoon of yeast and a pinch of salt.

The next step was to add 4 tablespoons of water, which we heated up to exactly 120 °F - 130 °F, so it is hot enough to activate the yeast, but not too hot to kill it.

The next step is shown in this picture, where we mixed it together and let the yeast activate for 10 minutes.

Once we let it sit, we added another ¼ cup of flour and kneaded it into a ball.

Then we placed the dough under the lamps for 30 minutes to allow the bread to rise. After this trial day, we realized our bread did not rise a lot. So for the second day we decided to add more sugar, we used a ½ tablespoon the next time. We decided this because it may not have risen because the yeast didn’t have enough sugar to make the carbon dioxide the bread needed to rise more.

Science behind the Bread

6O2+C6H12O6 ---------  ATP+6CO2+6H2O

Baking bread is a prime example of cellular respiration both aerobic and anaerobic.  Cellular respiration occurs in the mitochondria of the cell which is all known as the powerhouse of the cell .One thing that you realize when doing this lab is that cellular respiration actually isn’t important in bread making .The more important process is known as alcoholic fermentation which is why the dough and bread rises.The ingredients in bread and how you prepare the dough is critical in order for you to make good bread. The main process that is required to make bread is cellular respiration and this is the reason why the dough rises.  When you put combine the hot water with yeast it activates the yeast without killing it.  This makes the yeast go through the process of cellular respiration but it lacks one major ingredient which is oxygen.  Without oxygen it must undergo anaerobic respiration and this doesn’t produce nearly as much energy and it gives off other products. These products are critical in making the best bread recipe though.  Since it is yeast it undergoes a specific anaerobic which is known as alcoholic fermentation.  The products of alcoholic fermentation are ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide.  The important product is the carbon dioxide that is given off.  This causes the dough to rise and when there is more carbon dioxide present the more the dough is going to rise.  If the dough rises a lot then when you bake it the bread will come out light and fluffy due to the presence of carbon dioxide when baked.  The reason it will come out light and fluffy is because the carbon dioxide gets trapped in the dough so when baked it leaves small pockets and that is what makes the bread fluffy. There are also scientific reasons behind us adding certain ingredients to the recipe.  One of the ingredients we added was sugar and this was to provide the yeast with food so more carbon dioxide could be produced. Another ingredient we added was salt even though salt slows down the rising process because yeast doesn’t like salt but we added a small amount to give taste.  There are many other ingredients we could have added but we felt that it was too many variables to control.  We realized with this lab that baking bread actually has a lot to do with science and the process of anaerobic respiration.

Mind Behind The Madness (photographer) Will is a loser

Salt, sugar, water, flour, and yeast; The key ingredients when it comes to making the perfect bread. Precision is key during the breadmaking process. If any of the measurements are off the whole process is compromised.  To make bread you need to use flour, yeast, and water, but there are many different ingredients you can add to improve the bread. To improve our bread recipe we added sugar and salt, ½ teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt. We added sugar to improve taste, and salt to help with the shape of the bread

This is our second attempt, the things we changed were adding a little less salt, and instead of only a ½ teaspoon of sugar, we used a ½ tablespoon so it could rise more.

Relection:

Our bread turned out well. It rose the appropriate amount and was fluffy. It also tasted good. This means we put enough yeast and sugar in for the yeast to release enough carbon dioxide to make bubbles so it rises and is fluffy inside. Next time, we might add cinnamon or another flavor to it, to make it have an even better taste.