What Are And Are Not Leavening Agents?
Yeast is a tiny, microscopic plant that lives in the air and soil. It requires air, moisture and sugar or starch to grow. As it grows, the sugars and starches convert to carbon dioxide and alcohol. The process is called fermentation. A starter is a mixture of flour or meal and water or beer that is left in a warm place to absorb yeast spores present in the air. It is known as a sourdough, beer or salt starter. After it begins to ferment and bubble, some is removed to mix into a dough to make bread. The remainder can have more water and flour stirred in to be set aside a while to make bread again in a few days. In the days of ancient Israel, they did not have commercially available leavening agents as we do today and sourdough was their mainstay. Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) was the first chemical leavener used in this country. When combined with an acid (buttermilk, yogurt, molasses, sour milk, vinegar, lemon juice, cream of tartar) it will produce the carbon dioxide that makes do
