Reporting Assault: Salt’s Negative Impact on Yeast Fermentation

Abstract

Yeast, a key ingredient of the baking of bread, cakes, and other baked goods, causes dough to rise by consuming sugar and other carbohydrates and producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. Another key ingredient in baked goods, however, has a tremendous impact on the functionality of yeast: salt. We examined the relationship between salt concentration and the rate of fermentation in a yeast solution, and whether or not too much salt could effectively cease the fermentation process. Our team measured the carbon dioxide production in five trials for three separate fermentation solutions containing different levels of salt concentration. We expect our experiment to provide scientific guidelines to the baking community in regard to the amount of salt that ought to be used in recipes to result in the fluffiest, tastiest treat.