Bread

[Mike Reed]

Shout to Sainsbury's own multi seed, BLOOMERing luverly.

Been eating it for yonks; two sizes, long or fat (both 800g). Bought one today (£1.35). Superb to slice and freeze, to toast or au naturel. Flavour slightly malty. My wife says it has a high protein content, too. Baked, or at least finished in house, so luvverly and warm early-ish in the morning.

 

[gavreid]

A lot of shop bought bread is stuffed with salt...

 

[calorgas]

A lot of shop bought bread is stuffed with salt...

Yeah I remember reading that there's as much salt in a couple of slices of some supermarket bread as you get in a packet of crisps.
When we make bread in the bread machine we don't put any salt in at all. The recipes that came with the machine recommended ~1 tsp per loaf, but we stopped even putting that in as as we genuinely couldn't tell the difference without it.

 

[Stuart Frazer]

Yeah I remember reading that there's as much salt in a couple of slices of some supermarket bread as you get in a packet of crisps.
When we make bread in the bread machine we don't put any salt in at all. The recipes that came with the machine recommended ~1 tsp per loaf, but we stopped even putting that in as as we genuinely couldn't tell the difference without it.

I will try our bread maker without the salt. I've always wondered if it was really essential.

Where reasonably practical, food should always show salt, fat and other ingredients. I don't get why the Government refuses to regulate on this as clearly some foods are loaded with salt etc.

 

[gavreid]

I will try our bread maker without the salt. I've always wondered if it was really essential.

Where reasonably practical, food should always show salt, fat and other ingredients. I don't get why the Government refuses to regulate on this as clearly some foods are loaded with salt etc.

I bake a lot of bread and never use salt, totally unnecessary. Decent flour (if white I add about 10% rye or a bit more spelt) and maybe some pumpkin or sunflower seeds or a bit of honey in a brown flour for extra flavour...

 

[Mullardman]

A lot of shop bought bread is stuffed with salt...

I suppose it's all about what 'stuffed with' is defined as...

I've just checked a Co-op 'part baked baguette' which comes in at 0.09% salt. (1.5g per baguette) The Tesco 'Oat and Barley' is claimed at 0.08% or 0.4g per slice. This of course against the UK RDA of 6g. I will shortly be eating one of those baguettes, with some cold roast beef. (0.04g salt) I'll eat nothing else until this evening. So I'll get 1.9 g of salt from my 'Brunch'. I probably get more salt from my addiction to strong cheddar and occasional binge on Salted Peanuts.. but I doubt even my uncouth habits push my consumption over the RDA on a regular basis, and I couldn't eat enough bread for the salt to be an issue.

Moderation, as always, seems to be key.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

Perhaps somebody involved in food retail can explain why supermarkets seem to have made a decision to slice all their unsliced bread in late afternoon?

We buy almost exclusively unsliced loaves, there's less drying-out and it seems to keep for longer (there are just two of us). We tend to shop in the evening, and I'll sometimes pop into the Co-Op or Saisbugs on my way home from work, if we need some essentials. There's never any unsliced bread, and all the previously unsliced bread is usually being put out again, having been run through the slicer. So if we need bread, I have to make sure to buy it in my lunch break, which isn't always convenient.

There must surely be a logical reason for doing this, but I can't fathom it.

 

[AndyU]

If you make bread by hand you know immediately why salt is good - as soon as you add the salt, you can feel the dough strengthen and extend as you knead it. I think it has something to do neutralizing the charge on the gluten proteins. It also slows fermentation, allowing more flavour to develop, and increases the lifetime of the loaf. The taste of a good sourdough actually develops over a day or more. In Tuscany they don’t use salt in bread - it used to be taxed - and as a result the bread tastes pappy and goes stale very quickly, which is why there are a whole load of Tuscan recipes using stale bread - bruschetta, pappa al pomodoro etc.

 

[gintonic]

Perhaps somebody involved in food retail can explain why supermarkets seem to have made a decision to slice all their unsliced bread in late afternoon?

Ours dont, and its bloody irritating hanging around waiting for someone to operate the slicing machine. Sliced bread, when toasted fits in the toast racks (chef tells me). A toast rack is an essential accessory to breakfast (IMO)

 

[gavreid]

I suppose it's all about what 'stuffed with' is defined as...

I've just checked a Co-op 'part baked baguette' which comes in at 0.09% salt. (1.5g per baguette) The Tesco 'Oat and Barley' is claimed at 0.08% or 0.4g per slice. This of course against the UK RDA of 6g. I will shortly be eating one of those baguettes, with some cold roast beef. (0.04g salt) I'll eat nothing else until this evening. So I'll get 1.9 g of salt from my 'Brunch'. I probably get more salt from my addiction to strong cheddar and occasional binge on Salted Peanuts.. but I doubt even my uncouth habits push my consumption over the RDA on a regular basis, and I couldn't eat enough bread for the salt to be an issue.

Moderation, as always, seems to be key.

I'm afraid to say it but the RDA is for younger people with no existing conditions. Salt consumption should be minimised for the rest of us, especially if like me you have cardiovascular 'issues', as more salt in the blood stream increases blood pressure - as we get older our kidneys are less able to deal with the salt. Most shop bread is close to 1g per 100g or 1/2 g is per slice so those baguettes are doing well.

Here's a very common everyday example but the shop baked loafs are much the same...

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/261738730

 

[gavreid]

If you make bread by hand you know immediately why salt is good - as soon as you add the salt, you can feel the dough strengthen and extend as you knead it. I think it has something to do neutralizing the charge on the gluten proteins. It also slows fermentation, allowing more flavour to develop, and increases the lifetime of the loaf. The taste of a good sourdough actually develops over a day or more. In Tuscany they don’t use salt in bread - it used to be taxed - and as a result the bread tastes pappy and goes stale very quickly, which is why there are a whole load of Tuscan recipes using stale bread - bruschetta, pappa al pomodoro etc.

Yes salt kills bacteria so it will act as a preservative, it also kills yeast which will slow fermentation but then so will cooling it down. It's not necessary to baking a loaf and my bread is in no way pappy, however - fresh bread doesn't last long enough to go stale in our house

 

[Colinb]

True, salt is not needed but it does affect the flavour. I regularly make all sorts of different types of bread using different flours and experimenting with different flour mixes and other added ingredients, including sourdough when I have the time to get my starter going and we will not be away for any length of time. I found Richard Bertinets book Dough was an excellent source of inspiration.
Also it is so much easier if you have a decent mixer with a dough hook. Takes about 15 minutes to stick it all in the mixer and do the kneading. Then 2 hours for proving etc when I get on with something else. I use the french method for the kneading which is quicker and works perfectly well. Much better than any shop bought bread, and it does get eaten rather rapidly.

 

[AndyU]

Yes salt kills bacteria so it will act as a preservative, it also kills yeast which will slow fermentation but then so will cooling it down. It's not necessary to baking a loaf and my bread is in no way pappy, however - fresh bread doesn't last long enough to go stale in our house

Sure you don’t need salt, and there are those who say you don’t need to knead, and there’s even stuff called gluten free bread which seems to me an impossibility, but bread has been made by kneading flour, water, yeast and salt together for thousands of years across hundreds of cultures, it’s unlikely they’ve all got it wrong! As I said, you can feel the effect salt has on dough pretty much immediately if you knead it with your hands. Obviously if it gives you a heart attack, you will also feel its effects.

 

[gavreid]

Sure you don’t need salt, and there are those who say you don’t need to knead, and there’s even stuff called gluten free bread which seems to me an impossibility, but bread has been made by kneading flour, water, yeast and salt together for thousands of years across hundreds of cultures, it’s unlikely they’ve all got it wrong! As I said, you can feel the effect salt has on dough pretty much immediately if you knead it with your hands. Obviously if it gives you a heart attack, you will also feel its effects.

There's no genetic protection from salt because most people have already reproduced before it gets them. I was certainly a salt addict for most of my life, my Mum overused the stuff so from an early age, and I'd add it at the table too. It's an odd thing, when you start to leave salt out you don't miss it - in fact when you taste food with salt again it just tastes salty and unpleasant. Salt in bread is probably a fairly recent addition on your thousands of years scale.

 

[Bob McC]

Just got my loaf and veg from Unicorn in Chorlton and was delighted to see Norman Gammer doing his shopping there.


I was a big fan back in the day.

 

[Cav]

There's no genetic protection from salt because most people have already reproduced before it gets them. I was certainly a salt addict for most of my life, my Mum overused the stuff so from an early age, and I'd add it at the table too. It's an odd thing, when you start to leave salt out you don't miss it - in fact when you taste food with salt again it just tastes salty and unpleasant. Salt in bread is probably a fairly recent addition on your thousands of years scale.

If one has a medical condition which proscribes salt then one does not use it.

Otherwise, salt is an essential ingredient in almost everything to enhance flavour.

 

[gavreid]

If one has a medical condition which proscribes salt then one does not use it.

Otherwise, salt is an essential ingredient in almost everything to enhance flavour.

You're kidding yourself mate, it's hardening your arteries. I'm out because this thread is about bread - very important.

 

[Cav]

You're kidding yourself mate, it's hardening your arteries. I'm out because this thread is about bread - very important.

Salt does not enhance flavour? You know it does. My arteries are fine, so far.

 

[blossomchris]

Are you assaulting each other yet!

Bloss

 

[AndyU]

Salt does not enhance flavour? You know it does. My arteries are fine, so far.

I think the butter and cheese that you put on the bread might be a bigger risk than the salt .. to say nothing of making fried bread and putting an egg on top.