"Dick Adams" > wrote in
:

>
> "Mac" > wrote in message
> news >
>> Can you quantify how much the salt slows the rise?
>
> http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/64/7/2616/F2
>
> Also, from
> http://www.kingarthurflour.com/stuff...eb4311b0be08b2
> b590b39ac3f2c77/download/KAF-04-009%20Salt.pdf
>
> "Salt has a retarding effect on the activity of the yeast. The
> cell wall of yeast is semi-permeable, and by osmosis it absorbs
> oxygen and nutrients, as it gives off enzymes and other
> substances to the dough environment. Water is essential for these
> yeast activities. Salt by its nature is hygroscopic, that is, it
> attracts moisture. In the presence of salt, the yeast releases
> some of its water to the salt by osmosis, and this in turn slows
> the yeast's fermentation or reproductive activities. If there is
> an excess of salt in bread dough, the yeast is retarded to the
> point that there is a marked reduction in volume. If there is no
> salt, the yeast will ferment too quickly. In this sense, the salt
> aids the baker in controlling the pace of fermentation.
> Nevertheless, we should note that a careful usage of yeast,
> control of dough temperature, and the type, maturity, and amount
> of preferment used are better tools for fermentation control.
> Salt quantity, as we have noted, should stay within the 1.8 to 2%
> range."
>
> In my experience, forgetting ~1.5% (relative to flour weight) of
> salt results in the rise going about twice as fast.
>
> (OT: Case of bread machine, where the rise time is fixed, the
> quantities of salt and dry yeast, relative to other quantities,
> are paramount importance -- that is one case where weight
> measure makes sense.)
>

I calculate a teaspoon of kosher salt at little over 5 grams.

I do use an analog kitchen scale ($10 at Wal-Mart) to measure my
ingredients, but it does not accurately measure quantities as low as 5
grams. So I measured 4 level measuring cups of kosher salt, and divided
it by 192 (the number of teaspoons per 4 cups).

My normal bread ingredient proportions by weight are these:

1x sponge (50% hydration)
5x flour
3x water
..1x salt (ends up being 2% of the flour's weight)

So, if I have 200 grams of starter, the right amount of salt is 20 grams,
or 4 level teaspoons.

3% salt is, in my opinion, too much, for the bread tastes too salty, no
matter how nice the rise is. 2% leaves me yearning a little.

The higher the percentage of sponge in the recipe, the higher percentage
of salt to dry flour, and lower the percentage of water. If you use the
same weight of flour and sponge, then 3% salt is the right proportion.