Given a piece of bakery, how can you tell if it was made with yeast or
baking powder?

I want to be able to do this in order to make things that I don't have
receipe for.

Let me make a first attempt: if there are large, uneven bubbles inside, then
it is made with yeast. If the texture is even and spongy, it is made with
baking powder/soda. Right?

Using this guide, that I would guess that corn bread is made with baking
powder. But why? Afterall, shouldn't bread be made with yeast, by
definition??

peter wrote:
> Given a piece of bakery, how can you tell if it was made with yeast or
> baking powder?
>
> I want to be able to do this in order to make things that I don't have
> receipe for.
>
> Let me make a first attempt: if there are large, uneven bubbles inside, then
> it is made with yeast. If the texture is even and spongy, it is made with
> baking powder/soda. Right?
>
> Using this guide, that I would guess that corn bread is made with baking
> powder. But why? Afterall, shouldn't bread be made with yeast, by
> definition??
>
>


Many/most "quick breads" like corn bread, beer bread, and fruit breads
(banana bread, zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, apricot breads, lemon
bread, etc.) are made with baking powder and/or baking soda.

gloria p

Oh pshaw, on Wed 15 Nov 2006 08:06:00p, peter meant to say...

> Given a piece of bakery, how can you tell if it was made with yeast or
> baking powder?
>
> I want to be able to do this in order to make things that I don't have
> receipe for.
>
> Let me make a first attempt: if there are large, uneven bubbles inside,
> then it is made with yeast. If the texture is even and spongy, it is
> made with baking powder/soda. Right?
>
> Using this guide, that I would guess that corn bread is made with baking
> powder. But why? Afterall, shouldn't bread be made with yeast, by
> definition??

Most quickbreads, by defintion, are traditionally made with baking powder
and/or baking soda and various liquids that may or may not be acidic that
react with one or the other leavening agents. Some quickbreads, like
cornbread, are most often made with baking soda alone and buttermilk which
react with each other to produce the leavening power. Risen breads, by
definition, use commercial yeast or a sourdough starter to provide the the
rise.

Many quickbreads are far sweeter and richer with fat than yeast-risen
breads, although there are yeast-risen sweet doughs and doughs with more
than the usual amount of fat. They are seldom as sweet or rich as
quickbreads.

Quickbreads are more akin to "cake" than are yeast-risen breads.

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

My favourite mythical creature? The honest politician.

"peter" > wrote in message
news:sAQ6h.4889$T_.684@trndny06...
> Given a piece of bakery, how can you tell if it was made with yeast or
> baking powder?
>

If I were given a piece of bakery, I can tell by taste alone. Perhaps not
so much if it is baking powder only, but some bakery pieces are made with
both baking powder and baking soda (for whatever scientific reason the
recipe calls for); but if it has any baking soda in particular in it and
baking powder , it tastes of amonia to me. For that reason I try not to
make any bakery product that uses baking soda in it, but I will try a new
recipe that does.

You might try to fine tune your taste senses in this regard when eating a
bakery piece in a shoppe, then ask which it has -- perhaps you'll prefer one
over another and that is another way of learning/or telling what you really
like or want to bake.

Happy baking,
Dee Dee

Yeast is a living organism that needs time to develop and multiply in a
dough mixture. As it develops, it produces carbon dioxide gas. In
order for yeast to make dough rise, the dough has to have a certain
amount of gluten developed so that it can stretch and support the
bubbles of CO2 produced by the yeast. If the dough mixture is too thin
(more like batter), the gas bubbles will simply rise to the surface and
dissipate, like champagne bubbles. If there's not enough gluten, the
same thing happens. Typically breads that rely on baking powder rather
than yeast don't have enough gluten (usually provided by wheat flour) to
support the slow yeast-driven rising process.

Baking powder is a combination of chemicals that produce gas when
moisture is added. Usually it is added to a bread batter with the other
ingredients, and baked almost immediately. So it is still producing gas
as the batter begins to set up during baking, causing some of the gas to
be trapped in the batter as it solidifies, making it rise mostly in the
oven. Gluten content of the batter is much less of a factor than is
simply having the "right" amount of baking powder for the batter
mixture.

Bob
=========================
In article <sAQ6h.4889$T_.684@trndny06>, says...
> Given a piece of bakery, how can you tell if it was made with yeast or
> baking powder?
>
> I want to be able to do this in order to make things that I don't have
> receipe for.
>
> Let me make a first attempt: if there are large, uneven bubbles inside, then
> it is made with yeast. If the texture is even and spongy, it is made with
> baking powder/soda. Right?
>
> Using this guide, that I would guess that corn bread is made with baking
> powder. But why? Afterall, shouldn't bread be made with yeast, by
> definition??
>

Dee Randall wrote:

> "peter" > wrote in message
> news:sAQ6h.4889$T_.684@trndny06...
>
>>Given a piece of bakery, how can you tell if it was made with yeast or
>>baking powder?
>>
>
>
> If I were given a piece of bakery, I can tell by taste alone. Perhaps not
> so much if it is baking powder only, but some bakery pieces are made with
> both baking powder and baking soda (for whatever scientific reason the
> recipe calls for); but if it has any baking soda in particular in it and
> baking powder , it tastes of amonia to me. For that reason I try not to
> make any bakery product that uses baking soda in it, but I will try a new
> recipe that does.

Ah - interesting! *Some* baking powders use an ammonia compound for the
dry (water and/or heat activated) acid. Perhaps it's really the baking
powder you taste, but only when there is also baking soda present,
possibly in excess relative to all the acids in the batter...

Dave

"Dave Bell" > wrote in message
...
> Dee Randall wrote:
>
>> "peter" > wrote in message
>> news:sAQ6h.4889$T_.684@trndny06...
>>
>>>Given a piece of bakery, how can you tell if it was made with yeast or
>>>baking powder?
>>>
>>
>>
>> If I were given a piece of bakery, I can tell by taste alone. Perhaps
>> not so much if it is baking powder only, but some bakery pieces are made
>> with both baking powder and baking soda (for whatever scientific reason
>> the recipe calls for); but if it has any baking soda in particular in
>> it and baking powder , it tastes of amonia to me. For that reason I try
>> not to make any bakery product that uses baking soda in it, but I will
>> try a new recipe that does.
>
> Ah - interesting! *Some* baking powders use an ammonia compound for the
> dry (water and/or heat activated) acid. Perhaps it's really the baking
> powder you taste, but only when there is also baking soda present,
> possibly in excess relative to all the acids in the batter...
>
> Dave

Thanks Dave, for your discussion. Interesting to me, too. I didn't realize
that about "some" baking powders. Hmm.
Dee

peter wrote on 15 Nov 2006 in rec.food.baking

> Given a piece of bakery, how can you tell if it was made with yeast or
> baking powder?
>

1. You can fold bread slices made with yeast...Quick breads don't fold
worth a damn. The developed gluten allows for more twistability in yeast
raised breads

2. the crumb structure is different. Quick breads have smaller air spaces.
Hence no folding.

There's probably more differences as well, like with similar sized slices
the quick bread is heavier by far.


Hope this helps with your homework assignment.