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Down to Bread Business

 Of course, now I’ve read this…


…I am regarding all food that I haven’t made at home from fresh ingredients with high suspicion. I did our weekly shop yesterday (according to trade figures the ‘average’ person does 16 shopping trips a month! Seriously? I do around six, and I think that’s too many, in my ‘there are too many people out there’ introverted way) and as I wandered around the aisles, all I could think was, ‘Supermarkets are just one massive UPF outlet.’ I paused every now and then to pick up a packet of this, or a tin of that, to read the ingredient list. Terrible. Even bread, which should be flour, salt, yeast, water, plus oil if you fancy, has unpronounceable stuff in it. All in the name of speed and cheapness of production and shelf-life, of course. 

Luckily, we make all our bread at home! Luckily. Or so I thought. I checked the fast action dried yeast I use. You wouldn’t think yeast would have an ingredients list, would you? You’d think yeast was just, well…yeast. WRONG! 

Dried yeast is: yeast, sorbitan monostearate (E491), ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)

Tinned yeast is a UPF. Of course it is….doh! Yeast isn’t naturally dry. This yeast, for our convenience, has been dehydrated, and to make it easier to be rehydrated, has been treated with the emulsifier sorbitan monostearate. This coats the yeast cells and protects them from damage by oxygen. Sorbitan monostearate is an artificial chemical combination of sorbitol (artificial sweetener) and stearic acid which is a naturally occurring fatty acid. Side effects of sorbitan monostearate include stomach upsets and skin irritations. BUT the EU food standards people say it’s safe to use in foods and that it ‘generally’ won’t cause side effects for ‘most’ people. That’s okay then. Pah! 

Back to shopping. I genuinely couldn’t bring myself to buy products that I normally wouldn’t think twice about throwing into my trolley. Mostly things like vegetarian products. And a pot of jam, a jar of marmalade. Mayonnaise. Ketchup. Even stock cubes.

Because what I’ve read has either a) made me more determined to avoid UPFs and eat as healthily as possible or b) turned me into a quivering paranoid wreck. 

I’m NOT a quivering paranoid wreck! But I am angry about how the food industry has scant regard for the health of its consumers. I understand that eating to avoid UPFs will take time, effort and money. And I am VERY grateful that I am in the position to be able to do this. I don’t know if it will make a discernible improvement to my health, but I am determined to give it a shot.  

What to do about the yeast issue then? Andy said that the amount of sorbitol monostearate is probably so tiny, the effects are negligible. However, I am concerned about the cumulative effects. Sorbitol monostearate (also known as synthetic wax) is an emulsifier that’s used in many, many products. They all add up. The obvious alternative is to use fresh yeast…
But fresh yeast doesn’t keep very long. Which would mean buying it and doing a mahoosive bread baking session and filling the freezer up with bread. Which is doable, because I have the time and facilities. However, fresh yeast CAN be frozen. Just takes time to bring it back to temperature so it will reactivate. I’ve never made bread with fresh yeast. I’m going to give it a go, test out the logistics. 

I am also (ever the optimist) trying this again…


Yup! The sour dough starter is making a comeback! A handful of rye flour mixed with warm water into a dough ball and left to sit on the side in the kitchen to do its thing. Or not. That’s the thrill of kicking off a sour dough starter. You never quite know what’s going to happen…other than it will smell gross for a while which is when I usually call time on it! 

But if it all goes ticketty-boo, it will be a free bread making resource which won’t run out, so no more buying tinned dry yeast. Which has increased in price by about 40% this last year. 

(P.S Update on the swallow babies. Not 4…not 5…but 6 I’ve counted so far! They are starting to spill out of the nest!) 





Comments

Anonymous said…
I have downloaded the book. And read the introduction. My finger is poised (trembling) over the ‘continue’ button, especially as ice cream appears to roll in with Chapter 1. You didn’t tell me about the bacterial slime!
(Mrs Duck)
8 June 2023 at 21:00
Denise said…
Brace yourself, Mrs Duck - there’s worse to come than bacterial slime….😱
9 June 2023 at 06:25
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