So I have been
making my own bread for several years now, and I've never had a problem with bread going mouldy before. I have always used
Allinson Dried Active Yeast except for a few times when I have made sourdough bread. Anyhow, the other day I knew I was out of yeast and I was in the shop and was in a bit of a hurry so I bought some Hovis Fast Action Yeast. The bread is reasonably tasty, although much less "crumbly" and better suited for slicing and sandwiches than my normal bread -- but now, I have just noticed -- it has gone mouldy!
I have had bread that got dry and hard and stale, but I have never had home-made bread go mouldy on me before. Suffice to say, it is stored in the same conditions as usual, etc. So I go to investigate and I notice that the yeast I bought contains "a blend of dried yeast and bread improvers." Methinks the improvers are the cause of the mould. Anybody else have this experience?
I have had bread that got dry and hard and stale, but I have never had home-made bread go mouldy on me before. Suffice to say, it is stored in the same conditions as usual, etc. So I go to investigate and I notice that the yeast I bought contains "a blend of dried yeast and bread improvers." Methinks the improvers are the cause of the mould. Anybody else have this experience?
5 comments:
We always use Allinsons or supermarket own brands and never have a problem - the bread becomes doorstop before it goes mouldy. Maybe the Hovis stuff needs a little more baking as shop bread hasn't had all the yeast baked out of it, so goes mouldy.
I use Doves Farm quick yeast and have not had a problem with mould. I've just looked at the ingredients and it doesn't have any flour improvers so maybe they are linked to the problem.
I haven't read the ingredients before, just assuming that Doves Farm stuff would be pure yeast but I notice it contains a rehydrating agent Sorbitan Monostearate - didn't realise I was putting additives in my bread - must remember to read the small print.
I use whatever yeast I can find - and it's different everytime. That said, unless we eat our bread within a day or two we will most certainly get mold. In my area, in the spring and summer, it's so humid everything molds. Even stuff that shouldn't, like notebook paper. I'm sorry you had an unfortunate mold incident. Do you have a dehumidifier you could set in your kitchen for a while, or an airtight box you can toss a desicant into with your bread? On the upside, sheep and chickens don't care one iota about a little mold (I draw the line and won't feed them anything that dark green and stiff) so a slightly moldy loaf of bread like in your picture would go to the animals.
Tameson -- don't worry, it has gone to the chickens! Nothing gets thrown out around here...
It never lasts long enough for us to find out.
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