I have the strangest bread-caused heartburn issue and thought I'd post it here for input. I eat any store-bought bread/roll/cake/brioche/pastry/whatever without issue. I eat slow-rising homemade Italian bread [overnight starter and (4) 1 hour rises] without issue. I eat homemade pizza crust without issue. The only thing that gives me trouble is when I make a fast-rise bread/roll/bun. There are the ones that use 3x-4x the yeast of other homemade goods plus lots of sugar so that they rise fast. Even after they have sat in the freezer for weeks and I reheat them, a single roll will give me heartburn. It happened again today with a new hamburger bun recipe I tried...I ate one and was soon popping antacids. I have no other food issues. I can (and do) eat whatever I want, whether it's spicy ethnic food or tomato sauce-based food or fried foods or anything else. Cookies and all other flour-based (and sugary) baked goods are digested with no issue. Other than "Then stop doing that," does anyone have any idea exactly what may be at work here? Internet searches show that breads can cure heartburn much of the time, and that those who do have this bread issue might have problems with a certain type of flour. This is not the case with me...I use the same flour for the "can tolerate" and the "cannot tolerate" breads. It's driving me nuts.
You may be right. But I had an acid reflux condition a couple of years ago and had an endoscopy (which came back Normal.)
Nope. None of these "fast rise" recipes call for that. Just mix it all together, let rise for an hour, shape the rolls, let rise for an hour, bake. Do you think that makes a difference? Now that you mention it, yeast development is the only difference between those that give me troubles and those that do not. Why would that matter? I thought proofing only meant testing to see if it's still good.
Yeast keeps proofing throughout the baking process right through to eating the product. Your liver and pancreas are responsible for keeping a good chemical balance in the gut so if ya add in a bunch of yeast that’s trying to proof you have a nice chemical reaction and the pancreas starts the bile rolling out etc, etc, I Always proof yeast in warm water before I use it in my breads for a couple of reasons but the chief one is consistency. I also make sure that with any kind of herbal breads that the herbs and / or spices are fully blossomed before I mix them in.
Interesting. So my "I can eat without issue" recipes don't really call for the yeast to proof first...they just allow the small amount to develop over time. As I said, the Italian bread starter sits overnight, and the final dough proofs for 4 1/2 hours. My pizza dough proofs in the fridge for 3 days. How do you fully proof your yeast? Do you add sugar? How long do you let it sit (I really mean "how quickly do you use it") so you know it will still have life left to make the dough rise?
Warm water, a bit of sugar if you like and yeast and wait for it to quit blossoming. Usually takes no more than 15 minutes then add it immediately to the rest of the recipe. Dunno if you have a dough paddle on your machine or hand mix it but either way, once it is mixed and placed in the warm, the dough will start rising super quick and will keep doing so throughout 2,3 or four risings. Of course, if you do Not want the dough to rise simply cover it and put it in the cool. The dough will still proof a little but the cool will keep it from going into full proof.
In one recipe I introduced to the public, I used honey, granulated garlic and lightly sautéed basil (with the butter) along with the yeast in the blossoming process. As long as the yeast was fully blossomed (proofed) everything was consistent throughout the dough. Just before a sheet pan of those loaves was fully baked, I brushed everything down with cayenne butter and finished baking. Uh, light on the cayenne though but talk about some explosive tastes! I made bread to go with the meals but some folks came in just to buy the bread. All that said, I think your problem does stem from underproofed yeast. I remember talking to a couple of old school bodybuilders who used to eat block yeast thinking that it improved with their workouts but the one caveat was that, like taking too much creatine, did cause some stomach ailments.
@Bobby Cole Thanks for the advice. It's interesting that the yeast will continue to work after it is fully blossomed. I would think that once it ate the sugars, it would either be depleted or satiated. I've not added diastatic malt powder to these recipes...maybe that might help make even more food available to the yeast. Interesting that folks came your place just to buy the bread. I've seen it in other restaurants. Back in my hometown, there was a Greek all-night diner that has been there since the 60s. They have the best desserts, and--like you--folks came in just for those. They ended up opening a separate bakery that served both the restaurant and the public. I loved that diner. I've had spaghetti in a red clam sauce (with in-the-shell clams) at 2AM. Then a piece of baklava... I'll let you know how this turns out, but I gotta agree with you. Nothing else upsets my stomach buy these "lotsa yeast/fast-developing" recipes. Maybe I need to switch back to ciabatta buns, since they proof for so long. I just need to figure out how to stop them from spreading out into pancakes...
I thought temps over about 130 F killed the yeast? So after baking at 350 and above, there should not be any "bloom" left; the yeast should be dead.
That’s one aspect I hadn’t taken under consideration whilst thinking about John’s problem with eating breads at 4x the yeast content. Yeast does indeed stop or die whilst in the baking process so for that lack of thought I do humbly apologize. Still, if the added yeast content is the only major difference in his recipes then, as the Greeks say, a little is enough.
My eyebrows raised at this, Beth. I thought this was a warning when proofing the yeast by adding water with temps of 130 degrees or higher.
Actually, the 2 differences are a lot more yeast and a lot more sugar. I can't imagine it's the combination. I eat French Toast with syrup on it with no issue. And I'll have toast with cinnamon & sugar on it. And as I said, I eat cookies with no problem.