AP Fermentation Lab: Bread Dough Challenge

 Background: 

Read about the history of bread on History.com: https://www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of-bread Here is also a

quirky and kind of long video on bread making: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oidnwPIeqsI 

Nowadays, bread is commonly made using bread or fast-rising yeast that is added to the dough. However, for the purpose
of this lab, we will be making a traditional sourdough bread using a week-long fermented ‘mother’ or ‘starter.’

Yeast is found in the air (pause for universal gasp). Therefore, by adding yeast food (fuel) to a container and sealing in air
(containing yeast) we will be providing the yeast a nice cozy environment to begin digesting the food. In this lab, we will
be examining the anaerobic respiration of yeast, or fermentation.

As with any organism, you will need to feed your ‘mother’ each day, very similar to how you would a pet. Essentially, the
anaerobic bacteria will rapidly multiply and readily consume all the food. If they run out of food they will starve and die,
essentially undoing the whole process. Also, because we do not need unlimited bread, you will be removing part of the
‘mother’ and discarding it every day. Don’t worry, you’ll still have plenty left. Otherwise if you keep feeding and
allowing it to grow every day for a week, your lab group alone could probably feed the whole class. We don’t need that.

After the mother is full of yummy yeast and bacteria making O2 bubbles and smelling quite interesting, it is time to
actually take the ‘mother’ and make it into bread. I am providing you with a very basic, back in BC times type of recipe. It
is up to your group to decide what change(s) need to be made, but I am limiting all lab groups to ONLY TWO
CHANGES to the provided recipe, in order to keep everything fair for the super-duper bread challenge aspect of the lab,
worth 5 bonus points on the digital portfolio of all group members who actively participate.

To be fully prepared, there are actually a lot of pre-lab questions for this section, some of which will require research. The
more prepared you are, the faster this lab will go and the better tasting the bread will be. Typically, each person in the lab
group is expected to at least taste their final bread product. Obviously, during COVID times there will be no eating and we
will not be baking the bread at school. However, I strongly encourage any individual that grows their material at home to
bake their bread and taste it. Read through the ENTIRE lab before getting started please.

Pre-Lab Questions:

1. What kind of fermentation do yeast use? What is the equation for it and where in the cell does it occur?

Yeast uses anaerobic respiration, which results in the production of ethanol and carbon dioxide and is used in food
processing. It is specifically alcoholic fermentation. The equation for it is C H O → 2 C H OH + 2 CO. This process
6 12 6 2 5

occurs in the cytosol of yeast cells.

2. What is the purpose of yeast in bread? What would occur if you forgot to put the yeast in bread?

The purpose of yeast in bread is for it to rise. If you forget the yeast in bread, the result would be a heavy solid “brick-
like” bread. This is due to the fact that yeast produces CO2 pockets, making regular bread light and airy.

3. Where is yeast found? How long has it been used in bread?

Yeast is commonly found on plant leaves, flowers and fruits. It has been recorded that yeast has been used in bread since
the ancient Egyptian civilization.

4. What is found in flour that would be necessary for yeast growth? Does all bread require more than flour for yeast food?

Flour also contains starch, which serves as food for yeast. Bread also needs water since yeast use both water and flour for
food.
5. What variables can impact yeast growth? Really try to think of anything and everything that could impact. Put a + or –
to show whether it will have a positive or negative impact on yeast respiration.

+ higher sugar concentration

+ Warmer temperatures
+ Addition of sulphur
- Lighter environment
- Extreme pH’s

6. Examine the basic recipe provided in Step 1. Discuss as a group possible changes that could be made to the recipe.
Remember that each group only gets to make TWO changes.

One change will be a change in baking temperatures change could be cooler temperatures. Higher baking temperatures as
well as colder storage temperatures tend to inhibit yeast growth, which could affect the height and even weight of the
same amount of bread. 

a. Super-Duper Bread Challenge: Which group will be able to create the largest air pocket inside their bread. 5 points will
go to the best bread pocket in each class. Picture proof will be required.

b. TIP: Think about what substance is contained within bubbles so try to impact that part of the reaction.

7. Write a hypothesis for the variables you changed. Don’t forget to give a possible explanation as to why.

If we were to put the yeast in a cooler area, as well as bake at a higher temperature, then the bread would be heavier,
smaller, and not contain as much Carbon Dioxide, because the variables changed affect yeast growth, thus meaning they
affect the bread’s ability to rise.

How to know when your starter has gone horribly bad and needs to be 100% discarded: It has brown, orange, white or
pink streaks or patches that appear fuzzy and mold-like. It should smell stinky like yeast (think about what dough smells
like, but not stinky as in rotted food. It should also be wet/moist/bubbly. Stiff, dry peaks means the bacteria are dead and
decaying. No Bueno. There may be groups that have to start over after THOROUGHLY cleaning their materials.

Materials for Mother: Materials for Bread:

Warm water Mother

Flour Flour

Closed glass container Mixing bowl and spoon/spatula

Measuring spoon/scale Any materials needed for variable 

Original sourdough recipe: ½ cup all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons mother

Procedure for Mother (Day 1-5):

1. Determine who will be creating the mother for your group. I will have physical materials at school for this that can be
taken home (and returned at the end of lab). If you have the resources at home, more power to you. If multiple people in
the group want to create their own mother, fantastic. Leaving the mother at school is not an option this year due to the fact
y’all aren’t here every day to feed it and document observations.

2. Place ¼ cup of flour (bread flour is what I have at school) and ¼ cup warm water in a closed container and seal it off
WELL. At school I have canning jars that we use.
3. It is recommended that the mother stay in a dark, warm place for at least the first 3 days. Decide where you will stick
your mother. Please be sure to label.

a. Storage spot for your group: _______________________________________

4. Feeding is to occur daily at approximately the same time for 1 week. To feed:

a. Pour off half of the mother from the previous day. This goes in the trash, not down the drain.

b. Then, keeping half of the mother in the container, add ¼ cup of flour and ¼ cup warm water. Gently mix so all flour is
wet. You’ll want to do this step quickly and thoroughly because the longer you have it open the more you are damaging
the anaerobic environment.

c. Seal off the container and return back to the predetermined location for storage.

d. Repeat steps a-c each day for one week. Now, that does include a weekend, so keep this in mind when determining who
will be storing and feeding your mother each day.

5. Make sure each day you are taking documentation. I would recommend some sort of chart with an image taken daily
and then some written notes with observational data (see section below). This way everyone in the group can participate
actively.

Procedure for Bread (Day 6):

1. In a bowl, mix together the mother and water according to the original recipe provided above and be sure to include any
modifications your lab group made. Remember, you get TWO changes ONLY.

2. Slowly add the flour and stir to combine.

3. Using your CLEAN hands, mix in any remaining flour in the bowl. 4. Knead dough for 1 minute. Not sure how do to
this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySOj0fFWo1U

5. Roll dough into a ball, place it on a bowl or baking sheet and lay plastic wrap across.

6. All dough will be allowed to rise anywhere from 30 min to 20 hours (group choice), but for fairness NO MORE than 20
hours for rising.

7. Bake the bread at 350 degrees F for 20-30 min. These are relatively small so keep an eye on it. It should turn brown and
act like bread when poked.

8. Now it is time to break it open to find your biggest bubble. For your group’s submission into the Bread Challenge you
must take a picture with yourself, the bread bubble, and a ruler so that the sizes of the bubbles can be compared.

9. Then, you eat! It is highly encouraged for one person to at least taste your bread to see how it turned out. We want
bread to still serve its function of being tasty as well as completing the challenge.

Observational Data:

So as you may have realized, this lab is highly observational as far as data. Therefore, your data needs to be highly
detailed as far as the visual and other observations you make as the days progress and you feed your mother. This can be
in the form of a list. Below are some links to some resources to help you do this well: https://sciencing.com/laboratory-
observation-methods-10063607.html   https://www.invespcro.com/blog/9-tips-to-conducting-accurate-qualitative-
research/

 
Observations: Color, Smell, Amount of Mother in Jar, any other observations

Day 1 (creation day) Day 2 Day 3 Day Day

4 5

Control

Variable, Liquid/paste like.  Still Liquid-like but slow Rose about quarter
(Refrigerated) Did not have too moving when tilted due to half inch, small
much of a smell, just to temperature, rose amber-colored film
like regular flour. about a quarter of an on top of mixture,
Pure white/grayish inch, slightly strong stronger yeast
color, smooth smell, no bubbles smell, bubbles
within

Conclusion:

1. What variable caused the most fermentation in the yeast? Explain how this can be true by referring to the fermentation
equation from your pre-lab, your understanding of cells and yeast, as well as your observational data.

2. How would you modify the original recipe to increase the rate of respiration in bread?

3. What type of data collection was done for this lab? Why? How is this type of data analyzed?

4. Finally, what have you learned through this lab and how did your bread turn out/taste?