Adding baking soda to sourdough bread

We all know that an active and determined sourdough starter helps produce a good rise in sourdough bread, but what about baking soda? Now there are some sourdough recipes that call for the addition of baking soda, and in this article, we'll talk about what happens when you add baking soda to sourdough bread. Here is everything you need to know.

What is Baking Soda?

Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is a natural chemical agent used specifically for baked goods such as muffins, cookies, pancakes, quick breads and more.

Baking soda works best when combined with an acidic ingredient and a liquid that produces carbon dioxide, which allows baked goods to rise, becoming light and fluffy.

What happens if you add baking soda to sourdough?

Many sourdough recipes may call for the addition of baking soda. The baking soda reacts with the starting sourdough to produce a good rise and sweeten the dough by counteracting the acidic taste.

Just add a small amount of baking soda to give your dough an extra boost. Adding baking soda to your starter will make it bubble right up.

For a lighter noodle, add baking soda sourdough bread dough to achieve perfectly baked sourdough bread.

How much baking soda should I add to the sourdough bread recipe?

When it comes to adding baking soda to baked goods, it's important to remember that a little goes a long way.

or ¼ teaspoon baking soda to 1 cup flour in a recipe should be enough.

How to fix dense sourdough bread?

If you're an avid sourdough baker, you're probably no stranger to scary ones. dense bread. If you have had this unfortunate circumstance more than once, then here are some things to help manipulate the dough at different stages. These will help encourage a light and airy loaf.

Here are some tips to get you started:

Increase the hydration level of the dough

ABOUT bigger holes in your sourdough breads, you need to adjust the water level in your sourdough recipe. The more water added to the sourdough recipe, the wider the crumb will be. The only downside to this is that the dough is stickier than normal, so quite difficult to handle.

To address this, try gradually increasing the water or decreasing the amount of flour in your recipe.

Use different flours

of type of flour that you use in your recipe will drastically affect the outcome of your final loaf. The gluten strands are what help strengthen the dough while the yeast produces gases in the dough.

For fluffy bread, choose hard white bread flour instead of whole wheat flour, however, you can also choose low-gluten flour such as rye flour to get a good rise.

Use sifted flour

If you want to stick with whole wheat flour, then try sifting some flour to eliminate some of the bran. The bran acts like sharp pins that pierce the gluten strands, preventing them from holding air up in the dough.

Absorb the Flour

Soaking whole wheat flour overnight, before adding it to the dough mixture, will soften the bran in the wheat, making it more pliable. This will ensure that it doesn't affect the gluten as much.

For extra rise and perfect fluff, add a little baking soda to your sourdough bread recipes!