Using Salt
One day I was asked why salt was considered 1 of the 4 primary ingredients in bread - the other 3 ingredients being flour, water, and leaven (yeast or sourdough starter). What's the real purpose of salt in bread dough? Since I couldn't provide a very thorough response to the question, I did some research and came up with the following conclusions:
- Salt is a natural antioxidant and not only adds taste but especially helps bring out the flavors and aromas present in the flour and other ingredients.
- Salt plays a role in tightening the gluten structure and adding strength to your dough. It helps the loaf hold on to the carbon dioxide gas that is formed during fermentation, supporting good volume.
- Salt slows down fermentation and enzyme activity in dough. The salt crystals draw water away from their environment. When salt and yeast compete for water, salt wins and the yeast is slowed down. When yeast is slowed down, the flavors have more time to develop.
- Because of its moisture maintaining properties, salt can prevent bread from getting stale. However, one of the undesirable side-effects of adding salt to bread dough is that the salt in the baked bread can also absorb moisture from the air and leave you with softer crusts, depending on how you store your bread.