# Does all bread not contain yeast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723 "2018-01-02T00:23:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/41 "2018-01-03T12:20:03Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Not inedible, but certainly challenging to eat - [Hardtack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardtack) was used as rations for soldiers & sailors for centuries. In part because it lasts for centuries. Ha! A picture in that same article shows the [oldest known](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardtack#/media/File:Oldest_ship_biscuit_Kronborg_DK_cropped.jpg) piece of hardtack clocking in at a “mere” 1-2/3 centuries. This [Youtuber](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga5JrN9DrVI) who specializes in military rations bravely samples a piece from 1863. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/42 "2018-01-03T12:26:17Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Catholics take communion on Good Friday, but it is from the host consecrated the day before and reserved in the Altar of Repose. Same with the Holy Saturday morning Mass but Holy Saturday after sunset is the vigil of Easter. There is no such thing as a “Holy Saturday morning Mass”. The services held on Holy Saturday do not include Consecration, therefore they’re not Masses. The ones in the afternoon count as Resurrection Sunday for liturgical purposes so they include Consecration and are Masses. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/43 "2018-01-03T13:10:55Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > My dad used to make his own wine, using a recipe handed down from his own father, who came over from “the old country.” He added no yeast at all; he just crushed the grapes using a hand-cranked device and let them sit in a whiskey barrel for about a week. They always fermented. His explanation was that there was wild yeast on the grapes. There are breweries making beer commercially (sours, farmhouse ales, etc) using feral yeast. At a certain point in production, panels in the ceiling are opened, allowing wild yeasts to settle onto the surface of the beer. Mmmmmmmmmm! ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/44 "2018-01-03T21:25:44Z")
Another possibility is that most modern bread is made with powerful mixers that essentially whip air into the dough. Yeast is added for flavor more than leavening. Maybe they just left it out for that variety. > **[Chorleywood bread process](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorleywood_bread_process)** > > The Chorleywood bread process (CBP) is a method of efficient dough production to make yeasted bread quickly, producing a soft, fluffy loaf. Compared to traditional bread-making processes, CBP uses more yeast, added fats, chemicals, and high-speed mixing to allow the dough to be made with lower-protein wheat, and produces bread in a shorter time. It was developed by Bill Collins, George Elton and Norman Chamberlain of the British Baking Industries Research Association at Chorleywood in 1961. As of... ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/45 "2018-01-03T21:37:48Z")
To be complete, many breads without any yeast, chemical leavening, or mechanically-added air do get a fair amount of rising just from expanding steam as they’re cooked. Popovers/Yorkshire pudding and Indian Poori are the most spectacular examples, but wheat tortillas and others do puff up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/46 "2018-01-04T00:22:53Z")
It’d be really odd for a bread labeled as “sourdough” to leave out “yeast used for flavoring”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/47 "2018-01-24T07:36:11Z")
> [@ThisOneGuy](#): > > Another possibility is that most modern bread is made with powerful mixers that essentially whip air into the dough. Yeast is added for flavor more than leavening. Maybe they just left it out for that variety. > [Chorleywood bread process - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorleywood_bread_process) Ah. I haven’t got the dates, but perhaps that partly explains what happened to the other mechanical raising process I mentioned above (injected gas). It was replaced by imported high-protein wheat and / or the Chorleywood process. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/48 "2018-01-24T19:40:15Z")
Since this has been revived, I came across [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YalQxzPaVHg) YouTube video for no-knead bread. It has a smaller than usual amount of yeast but no sugar, just water, flour, salt, and the yeast. Color me confused. I thought at least a small amount of sugar – a tablespoon or two – was necessary to give something the yeast to eat. The first proof is for 18 - 24 hours and it doubles in size so the yeast is eating _something_. Could it be the starch in the flour is converted to sugar? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/49 "2018-01-24T22:11:41Z")
It’d have to be-- With those ingredients, there’s nothing else they could be eating. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/50 "2018-01-24T23:06:17Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Since this has been revived, I came across [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YalQxzPaVHg) YouTube video for no-knead bread. It has a smaller than usual amount of yeast but no sugar, just water, flour, salt, and the yeast. > > Color me confused. I thought at least a small amount of sugar – a tablespoon or two – was necessary to give something the yeast to eat. The first proof is for 18 - 24 hours and it doubles in size so the yeast is eating _something_. Could it be the starch in the flour is converted to sugar? You definitely do not need any sugar for bread. I almost never use sugar for my breads, unless I’m doing sweet styles that are supposed to have noticeable amounts of sugar. This is not atypical at all. The yeast does just fine with the starches. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/51 "2018-01-24T23:12:49Z")
[Here’s the science of it](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/enzymes-the-little-molecules-that-bake-bread/). Basically, a number of enzymes move the process along. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/52 "2018-01-25T03:45:14Z")
I used to use sugar to start the yeast when I was baking bread. I mixed dried yeast, a bit of flower, a bit of sugar, a bit of water or milk, for half an hour or so, to get the yeast started. When you have a lot of active yeast, you mix it through the flour. If you are buying active yeast you don’t have to do this. And by the way, sourdough starter contains more than just yeast. It’s a yeast/bacteria co-operation, like in vinegar mother, or when you have dandruff. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/53 "2018-01-25T14:41:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You definitely do not need any sugar for bread. I almost never use sugar for my breads, unless I’m doing sweet styles that are supposed to have noticeable amounts of sugar. This is not atypical at all. The yeast does just fine with the starches. Huh. I can’t say I’m an expert bread-maker, since I use a machine, but I did notice the recipes that came with it seemed to divide white bread into two types, French and regular. The French had water, flour, salt, yeast, and a dab of sugar. The regular had two or three times the sugar, plus fat (butter or oil) in addition to the first four ingredients. In either case, the yeast was about double what the video recipe called for, with a similar amount of flour. Now, overnight for the first rising would test the patience of any bread machine aficionado so I’m guessing the extra yeast and added sugar is to kick the first rising into high gear. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/54 "2018-01-25T16:52:56Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Huh. I can’t say I’m an expert bread-maker, since I use a machine, but I did notice the recipes that came with it seemed to divide white bread into two types, French and regular. The French had water, flour, salt, yeast, and a dab of sugar. The regular had two or three times the sugar, plus fat (butter or oil) in addition to the first four ingredients. In either case, the yeast was about double what the video recipe called for, with a similar amount of flour. Now, overnight for the first rising would test the patience of any bread machine aficionado so I’m guessing the extra yeast and added sugar is to kick the first rising into high gear. The no-knead recipe purposefully uses a small amount of yeast, due to the long rise times. The yeast eventually makes enough of itself over time. And, yes, the sugar does help speed up the process. It is not necessary. You can do a same-day bread without using any sugar. But bread always tastes better given longer ferment times, in my opinion. The no-knead recipe isn’t particularly flavorful as far as that goes, but let it rise for half the time at room temperature, and then give it a couple days in the fridge, and it’s much better. Same with pizza doughs. At least overnight it for better flavor. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/55 "2018-01-31T18:26:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Same with pizza doughs. At least overnight it for better flavor. That matches my experience of working in a pizza place. We had a dough-maker who was working part time. He’d show up about noon after getting off his “day” job at the local bread bakery, weigh out what was predicted for the next day, mix it knead it, and portion it out into pans. It then went into the refrigerator over night where it ever so slowly doubled in size – he’d go home after working about two or three hours. The next day from time to time we’d take what we figured would be needed over the next few hours, punch it down and let it rise at room temp before flattening and stretching it onto a pizza pan for someone’s order. Unless we had an unexpected rush the evening before, the dough would be in the refrigerator at least 24-hours. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723/56 "2018-02-01T02:30:58Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I used to use sugar to start the yeast when I was baking bread. I mixed dried yeast, a bit of flower, a bit of sugar, a bit of water or milk, for half an hour or so, to get the yeast started. When you have a lot of active yeast, you mix it through the flour. If you are buying active yeast you don’t have to do this. > > And by the way, sourdough starter contains more than just yeast. It’s a yeast/bacteria co-operation, like in vinegar mother, or when you have dandruff. I now I see that the Sourdough rye I used to buy no longer contains “starter”. They used to put “sourdough” in the ingredients to conceal the use of wheat flour in their rye bread. Now that they are no longer doing that, they have evidently decided not use starter at all, because they now list the important enzyme (created by the starter) as an ingredient. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-all-bread-not-contain-yeast/805723.md?page=2)