Why You Ought to Put Yeast into Dough Individually from Salt and Sugar

Q: I’ve heard you advocate that the yeast not be put into the water with the salt and sugar. Why is that this?

A: Each salt and sugar can exert an awesome osmotic stress (they impede the flexibility of the yeast to soak up vitamins by the yeast cell wall/membrane). This impact can impair the flexibility of the yeast cells to feed, and below sure situations (excessive salt and sugar and little water) it could actually truly exert a really damaging, eviscerating have an effect on upon the yeast cells the place the liquid contained throughout the yeast cells is pulled out into the salt/sugar water.

If this isn’t unhealthy sufficient, contained inside that liquid is the amino acid, glutathione. Glutathione may be very related in its impact upon dough as is L-cysteine, the energetic ingredient in lots of dough-relaxing brokers resembling PZ-44.

So, by mixing your yeast, salt and sugar collectively within the water, you stand an excellent probability of impairing the flexibility of your yeast to operate at its greatest. You additionally stand an opportunity of probably getting a softer dough than you had bargained for if any glutathione ought to be leached out from the yeast cells.

Because of this we wish to “play it protected” and advocate that the yeast at all times be saved separate from the salt and/or sugar till they’re all included into the dough. The one actual exception to that is within the case the place energetic dry yeast (ADY) is used. On this case it’s generally advisable that only a very small quantity of sugar be added to the nice and cozy water by which the yeast is being hydrated/activated. In these small portions, no hurt will come to the yeast.

The late Tom Lehmann was a longtime columnist for PMQ and served as director of bakery help for the American Institute of Baking (AIB).