Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi Everyone

I bake my own bread and have done for a number of years, my last two loaves have been fine and the taste is okay but after a couple of days they have been giving off an aroma something similar to peardrops , Now I have never ever encountered anything like this before normally a loaf last 2 or 3 days and on the odd occasion 4, its kept in a bread bin and a plastic bread bag.

There's been no change in ingredients or cooking method. Anyone got any thoughts on this

Regards

Arnie

Is it only when making bread?

If you use a breadmaker - is it the breadmaker that is giving off the smell. If you bake bread in an over I would have expected if it was something to do with the oven or some cleaning product fumes burning that it would smell whenever you used the oven

We've had some rather humid weather recently and I wonder whether this has been affecting the yeast in the bread in some way. You could try storing your bread in the fridge in a plastic bag instead of keeping it in the bread bin and seeing whether this makes any difference.

Hello Arnie
What fat/butter are you using? This type of substance will very easily aborb odd flavours particularly in warm weather. Have they been stored near something with a strong flavour? Taste a little of them to see if the same flavour is present.

John

Hi glallotments,

I only use the bread maker as a mixer, the oven is fine, its the bread that is giving of the smell and its only just started to happen with the last two loaves, the last loaf started off fine then a day or so later it started to smell.

Hi Primrose & John

You may be close to the cause but the only item that might turn is the olive oil, everything else is dry goods such as yeast,salt,flour,sugar. Primrose I have done what you suggest and put what's left in the fridge and John I am going get some new olive oil and try again.

Thank you all for your help

Regards

Arnie

Pear drop smells are acetaldehye or ethanal, which is normally present in bread, and is a metabolite of ethanol. I imagine the amount of it depend on the type of yeast and fermentation conditions.

Hi Arnie,
If all the ingredients that you use are the same I would suspect the oven temperature used to bake the bread. Normally the high initial temperature kills off all of the yeast but if the oven temperature is not high enough a very small amount of yeast make not be killed off and this then can give off some really obnoxious smells especially when kept in a confined space.
I bake my bread at 230C for about five minutes and then reduce to 200C.
I had an oven thermostat go wrong on me a few years back and the bread produced smelled awful and was inedible from the start although the bottom tapping lead me to believe the bread was well cooked.
JB.

Hi Tony/Johnboy

Thanks for the info on the yeast Tony, it helps knowing that its present in the process of bread making

Johnboy I will do as you suggest, but how long do you cook it for, as I feel that this my be where I have been going wrong, the top of the loaf is fine but sometimes the middle is a bit doughier then it should be, I cook my loaves on high at the bottom of the oven, perhaps I should do as you have said but in the middle of the oven

Regards

Arnie

Yes, a certain amount of yeast definitely gets get left in bread. I seem to remember seeing odd recipes in the past for kickstarting the fermentation of home made beer or wine where a slice of bread or two is put in the liquid so that the yeast can get it going. It was possibly brewed like this in olden times where access to the more sophisticated packets of yeast from winemaking suppliers was not available.

Hi Primrose,
I suspect that the use of bread to start off a brew is from the natural yeast produced from the bread mould and not the yeast you used as a raising agent.
If you put your bread into the oven at a high temperature the raising yeast should all be killed off by the high temperature and there should not be any live yeast left.
JB.

My wife was given a starter a while ago for one of those Herman sour dough friendship cakes and has been using it successfully for bread making even since. We have an even kitchen temperature with the Aga on all the time so it just sits on a nearby counter in a big Kilner jar. Easier than trying to find endless people to pass the culture on to when it is ready to divide.

Hi Arnie,
I generally use a 50/50 mix of Wholemeal and Strong White flour and cooking times can vary quite a lot depending on the flour involved.
I generally start off at 230C for about 5 minutes and then reduce to 200C for about another 45 minutes and maybe a little longer at times. After about 30 minutes I take the loaves out of their tins and return to the oven for about another 15 minutes this gives the bottom of the loaf a good crust but that is a personnal preference.
With conventional ovens the heat is from the sides but with my oven the heating elements are at the top and bottom. Having said that I used to use the same practice with a conventionally heated oven.
I have a stainless steel range with just a single oven which is 24" wide and I can bake 4 loaves at a time side by side.
Also can cook a 20lb turkey and all the roasties side by side
Using the rotiserie drip tray I can cook French Loaves 25" long which with most domestic ovens is not a possibility.
I bought this oven brand new from Midlands Electricity Board shop when they were privatised and the shops were closing down for £400.00. which was a real bargain. It has been really good for quite a few years and today the price of anything approaching is well over two grand.
Now I know that the information about my oven will really help you to improve your bread!!
JB.

Hi Everyone

Johnboy I think I've cracked it did as you suggested and started on gas mark 9 for 15 minutes and then I turned it down to 7ish and let it cook for a good 30 minutes, it was a lot darker than I normally have my loaves I then took it out of its tin and left in the oven after I had turned it off.

Will have to wait and see if this loaf gives off its odd smell Will report back in a couple of days

As for your cooker/range not envious much somehow I have a feeling that it would not fit in this kitchen

Johnboy do you know how to make crusty cobs/ baps

Thanks to everybody for there help

Regards

Arnie

Hi Arnie,
If I want a batch of rolls I just make up the same mix allow to double in size then cut them to size and weight batch them roll them up in ball put they on a grease baking tray cover with lightweight polythene film to prove and same treatment. High temperature for a couple if minutes only then reduce and cook until suitably browned. Cooking time is considerably less than a loaf only about 25 minutes. I have never made Baps but would think they would need the very minimum or very little cooking because you are not after a proper crust.? To me Baps are always a little doughy.
JB.