What should I do if the dough is a bit sour

Leavened dough is used in the preparation of many pasta dishes, the most common of which is steamed buns. When steaming buns, if the dough is allowed to ferment, the buns will be soft, puffy and white. If the dough is not fermented well, the steamed buns will be very solid and yellow in color. The most common thing that happens when making dough is that it turns sour, and the sour taste can even be very strong. So, what should I do if the dough turns out a bit sour? Let’s take a look at the solution below.

If the dough has a sour taste, you can add a small amount of alkaline flour into the dough, which can effectively alleviate the sourness of the dough. If you don’t know where to buy alkaline flour, baking soda can also resolve the sourness of the dough. It is also relatively easy to buy in supermarkets and is more suitable for people who are just starting to learn how to steam buns. Dilute baking soda with water, add it gradually to the dough and knead it evenly to remove the sour taste.

Dough making method

1. For the sake of health, use half whole wheat flour and half white flour, pour into a basin, use chopsticks to make a well in the middle, pour in a small amount of water, and add an appropriate amount of yeast powder. For “appropriate amount”, you can refer to the instructions on the yeast package. When you first start making it, you may not have experience and may have questions about how much to put in. But it doesn’t matter. If you put in too little, the fermentation time will be longer. On the contrary, if you put in too much, it will not affect anything. The key is to make sure you check the production date and shelf life of the yeast. Expired yeast will not be able to make dough.

2. Add water and stir with chopsticks until the flour becomes flakes.

3. Knead the dough into a ball with your hands until it is shiny, the dough, the bowl and your hands are shiny.

4. Apply some water on the surface of the dough to keep it moisturized.

5. Cover and place in a warm place to ferment.

6. The fermentation time depends on the temperature, it is shorter in summer and longer in winter. When the dough has doubled or tripled in size, it is ready.

7. To test whether the fermentation is successful, you can dip your finger in some flour and poke a hole in the dough. If the hole bounces back immediately, it means that the fermentation is not enough and it still needs to be fermented. If the surface of the dough collapses, it means that it is over-fermented and the dough will have a sour taste. You can use an alkali, such as baking soda, to neutralize it.

8. Check the inside of the dough, you will find honeycomb-like holes.

Dough making skills

1. Choose the right fermentation agent

1. There are three kinds of leavening agents used for making dough: baking soda, yeast (old dough) and dry yeast powder. They all work in a similar way: under the right conditions, the leavening agent produces carbon dioxide gas in the dough, which then expands when heated, making the dough soft and delicious.

2. Baking soda does not release a lot of gas, so the dough made with it is not very soft. Moreover, it is a weak alkaline substance that will destroy the vitamins in flour and reduce the nutritional value of pasta, so it is not recommended.

3. Yeast fertilizer is also called old dough in some places. It is a piece of dough left after the last fermentation. After proper storage, it is used as a culture medium to start fermentation. Yeast must be used with alkali because it will make the dough sour. However, alkali will destroy the nutrition of flour, and the dosage is very difficult to control, and the finished product is easily wasted. Haha ~ So it is not recommended to use it.

4. Active dry yeast (yeast powder) is a natural yeast extract. It is not only rich in nutrients, but more importantly, it contains rich vitamins and minerals. Not only does it contain rich vitamins itself, it also has a protective effect on the vitamins in flour. Not only that, yeast can also increase the B vitamins in the dough during the reproduction process. Therefore, the nutritional value of finished pasta made by fermenting it is several times higher than that of unfermented pasta such as cakes and noodles.

2. The amount of baking powder should be more rather than less.

Baking powder is a natural substance. Using too much of it will not cause any bad results. It will only increase the speed of fermentation and perhaps add more nutrients. Therefore, for novices in making pasta, it is better to use more rather than less to ensure the success rate of making pasta.

3. Activating yeast is more important for beginners.

I actually don’t care about the method of adding dry yeast. Sometimes I’m lazy and just mix it with flour, then add warm water and knead the dough. However, for beginners, issues such as the amount of yeast used and uneven mixing will have some impact on the results of the dough. Therefore, it is recommended that novices activate the yeast first: put an appropriate amount of yeast powder into a container, add warm water of about 30 degrees (about half of the total amount of water used for kneading the dough, don’t be too less. If you want to save trouble, all the water is fine.) Stir it until it melts, and let it stand for 3-5 minutes before use. This is the process of activating yeast. Then pour the yeast solution into the flour and mix well.

4. The water temperature for kneading the dough must be controlled well.

Use warm water to knead the dough. The temperature is best between 28-30 degrees. But what do many friends do if they don’t have a food thermometer at home? Just use your hands to feel it. Just don't let your hands feel hot. Special tip: Use the back of your hand to measure the water temperature. Even in summer, warm water is recommended. Of course you can also use cold water, I just want the dough rising process to be as short as possible to save time.

5. The ratio of flour to water should be appropriate.

The ratio of flour to water is very important for making dough. Many friends always say that the bread doesn’t rise, probably because the dough is too hard. If there is less water and more flour, the dough will be hard, and this kind of dough is suitable for making hand-kneaded noodles. There is more water and less flour, the dough will be soft and the finished product will have a poor taste. What is the appropriate ratio? I'll give you a rough ratio: for 500g of flour, the amount of water cannot be less than 250ml, which is approximately equal to a ratio of 2:1. /*A newbie personally proved that the result of a 2:1 mix is ​​rice cake. Of course, whether you are making steamed buns or steamed dumplings, you can adjust the softness and hardness of the dough according to your needs and eating habits. At the same time, it should be noted that different flours have different hygroscopicity, so they should be used flexibly.