Jeremy Boudreau Mod 1 Block F Science Connection

Title: Yeast Fermentation

Purpose/ Introduction: In a commercial bakery, all breads will have to go through the fermentation process. The fermentation process is when complex carbs, mainly flour in all culinary operations, is broken down into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. This process does not usually happen naturally; usually something is added to speed up the process. In a bakery, this ingredient will be yeast. Yeast is a single celled bacteria which feeds on the complex carbs and breaks them down. Yeast is very temperamental and, like all bacteria, grows best in certain environments.

Hypothesis- The yeast will produce more fermentation if we use warm water as compared to other water temperatures. If we use salt in our samples then there will be less fermentation due to the salt killing the yeast.

Procedure1. Combine one cup water with two and a half tablespoons yeast in an empty wine bottle. 2. Cover the top of bottle with a balloon and observe reaction. 3. Complete this process by combining yeast and water for all samples with two tablespoons sugar and 1. One quarter cup vinegar 2. Two teaspoons salt 3. Four teaspoons salt Leave these samples at room temperature and observe. 4. Combine one cup ice water with two and half tablespoons yeast in a wine bottle. 5. Cover with balloon and place in ice bath to observe. 6. Repeat steps four and five except use room temperature water and leave the sample at room temperature. 7. Repeat steps four and five except use warm water and place sample in a pot of warm water.

8. Repeat steps four and five except use boiling water and place sample in a pot of boiling water. 9. Once all samples are created, line up bottles and observe balloons. Record observations. * It is important to note that all samples besides the control (the first one) have two tablespoons sugar in them.

Observations: Sample Control (no added sugar) Acid Room temperature Two teaspoons salt Four teaspoons salt Ice-water Warm water Observations The balloon did not rise at all, due to the lack of food for the yeast. Balloon did not rise at all, the acid killed the yeast. Begins to rise second only to the warm water sample, continues to rise at a steady rate, and showcases good conditions for fermentation. Salt kills most of the yeast although there is still a little rise in the balloon. The balloon does not rise at all due to the salt killing the yeast. Balloon begins to pull into the bottle and the yeast does not activate at all. Balloon begins to rise the quickest and continues to rise at a steady rate. This sample showcased the ideal conditions for yeast fermentation. Yeast dies very quickly due to high heat and the balloon begins to pull into the bottle. Then, the balloon begins to rise.

Boiling water

Conclusion: My results from this lab came out as I expected them too for the most part. What surprised me was that the two teaspoons salt did not fully kill the yeast. I truly thought that two teaspoons would be enough to stop the yeast from fermenting. Also, the boiling samples balloon actually rising puzzled me. After some thinking, I came up with the idea that the steam produced from the hot water inside the bottle caused the balloon to rise and that the yeast had no part in the process. The information gathered in this lab is very important in bakeries as well as kitchens for many reasons. One reason is it shows you what happens when yeast is exposed to a certain condition. By knowing this information, a baker or cook is able to figure out how to treat their yeast to properly ferment it. Also, it will help them troubleshoot and come up with a solution if their product does not come out like it is supposed to. Every student that has gone through baking and worked on any of the bread stations has used this information to prepare their delicious yeast doughs.