The Leavening Agent

Sounds impressive but what is a leavening agent? I first learned about the leavening agent many years ago in high school. A word that you hardly ever hear about but, it is the main ingredient that makes a difference on whether you are successful or fail in your endeavor to make something rise.

While most recipes do not call for a leavening agent like yeast or baking powder, breads are an exception to the rule. So much goes into making a good bread--and in the end practice makes perfect. You can use the same recipe and measured ingredients but other factors come into play, such as; humidity, room temperature and the age and measure of your flour. We always use the unbleached variety. Experience is the key--just knowing by sight what the dough should look like and then, there is the feel of it. But nothing can replace yeast which fails.

The successful bread is largely determined by how much the bread rises or fails to rise. Instructions must be carefully followed.

Once the ingredients have been mixed and the leavening agent (yeast) has been added, there is no going back. The bread in process you "hope" will turn out well. Some things in life are like bread, in that you just do the best you can with what is given to you.

Does anything smell better than a freshly baked bread? I think not...