Reduced Sodium Bread

Just to clarify, by "reduced" I mean trace amounts (less than 5mg per serving)

I tried this a few weeks back and it was "okay". By that I mean the taste was good enough but the texture was a bit "cakey".

I'm making a small modification to the recipe I used before. Last night I had the urge to make a little bit of my homemade "cream cheese". One of the by-products of this is whey, a protein-rich liquid with countless uses. If you have ever opened a carton of sour cream (or yogurt) and used about half, the next day or so after you usually find a clear fluid pooling or "separating". This is whey.

Having about 2.5 oz of whey left over from my cheese-making, I've decided to use it as a supplement part of the water in the original recipe.

• 6 1/2 oz. hot water
• 2 1/2 oz. whey (right from the fridge)
• 3 cups King Arthur(tm) White (bleached & enriched, whole grain) flour
• 1 tb sugar
• 2 tb Hollywood(tm) Peanut Oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

Since I use a bread machine to do my kneading, I put these ingredients into the machine in the order above (your requirements may vary) and set to "dough" cycle, a 90-minute ensemble of mixing, kneading and rising.

I'm hoping the whey will boost the flavor and alter the texture somewhat. As an added bonus there will be a little extra protein added as well. The whey was from a light sour cream that was not high in fat, sodium or cholesterol.

Right now the machine is doing it's thing. I'll add more once I start baking (with full details of course!).


90 minutes later...

Took the dough out of the machine, turned it on a lightly floured surface, rolled it up and placed it seam-down in one of my new loaf pans.

Placed in a 375F preheated oven to bake for about 20 min., testing with a bamboo skewer to see if it was done. Was a little doughy so I gave it 10 more minutes and it was done.

Cooled on a wire rack before testing it out.


20 minutes later...

Success! This is rather interesting. The whey has given the bread a more "cellular" structure and a nice wholesome taste.

Typically I use Pam or something similar to oil the top of the dough, or I split it to manage how it rises. Didn't work so well this time as the top of the bread "tore" open in the oven. Not very "elegant" looking, but it tastes very good!

I'll be making it like this from now on. 

Finished loaf. Will yield about 14-16 slices.