> >If I add more than 2 tablespoons of honey to a loaf of bread there is a
> marked reduction in loaf volume.  So much so that the quality of the loaf 
> is
> unsatisfactory.  Up to the 2 tablespoon point the loaf volume is reduced 
> but
> acceptable.
>
> Thanks, Dave, that is so interesting!  Now I'm really curious about the
> mechanism(s) involved!

Repeat: the hygroscopic nature of sugars reduces the moisture available for 
yeast in a bread dough: yeast needs moisture to ferment the simple sugars 
that the amylases made available by converting the starch in the endosperm 
into simple sugars: more sugar or honey added to the dough results in 
reduced fermentation by the yeast. Adding vinegar, as one poster does, does 
not make the yeast "happy;" the acidity that the vinegar imparts has a 
tightening effect on the gluten network in the dough, and this in turn 
enables a greater rise to the loaves (due to better dough structure). Up to 
a point, a modest increase in acidity, generally in the form of sourdough, 
does aid in loaf volume. Too much has an opposite effect, and things get so 
tight that loaf volume is impaired.

Jeffrey
Baker
Vermont 

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