If you don’t have yeast, you can use honey water, sugar water, or old noodles instead of leavened dough.

1. Honey fermentation method

When making dough, if there is no yeast powder, we can use honey instead. Honey can promote dough fermentation, and its high moisture content can Makes bread softer.

Prepare one pound of flour, 250 grams of water, and one and a half spoons of honey. Pour the water and honey into the flour, stir evenly, then knead it into a dough without powder, and put it into a basin. Cover with a damp cloth, place the pot in a warmer place, and ferment for 4-6 hours. After the time is up, we can see that the dough has doubled in size.

2. White sugar fermentation method

Adding white sugar can not only increase the fermentation speed of the dough, but also the steamed buns will be sweeter. Generally, when making dough, melt the sugar with warm water and then add flour. This can shorten the fermentation time of the dough. If the fermented dough is a bit sour, then we can add some edible alkali to the fermented dough to make the pasta taste better.

3. Old noodle fermentation method

"Laofei" is also called "noodle fertilizer", which is the noodle starter used when fermenting flour. The main thing is to leave a piece of previously fermented dough to dry in the sun, and then soak it in warm water until it becomes soft when fermenting flour next time. Note that the fermented dough must be mixed with alkali (otherwise it will have a sour taste). This will make the dough sweeter, softer and more elastic.

Precautions for fermentation

1. Do you need to control the temperature during fermentation?

Break the old dough fertilizer into small pieces and mix it with water and flour. In summer, Use cold water, warm water around 40C in spring and autumn, and 60-70cC hot water in winter to make the dough. Cover with a damp cloth and place it in a warm place to ferment. If the old dough has less fertilizer, you can first add warm water and dough fertilizer to make a thick paste. After the paste foams, add more flour to make a dough and wait for fermentation.

The optimal temperature for dough to rise is 27-30C. As long as this condition can be maintained, the dough can ferment successfully within 2-3 hours.

2. Do you need to control the degree of fermentation?

If the dough does not rise well, the dough will be lumpy, dark in color, and sticky to the teeth when eaten; if the dough is over-risen, the dough will The finished pastry surface is prone to cracking. Because over-risen dough must be fed with heavy alkali, the color of the pastry will turn yellow and dark, and may even have a rancid smell.

Dough with normal fermentation is commonly known as "zhengfa", and the noodles produced are white, soft and shiny. How to tell if the dough has risen properly? After the dough ferments for 1 to 2 hours, if the dough becomes too elastic and has few holes, you need to maintain the temperature and continue fermenting.

If the surface of the dough is cracked, the elasticity is lost or too small, the holes are in pieces, and the sour taste is very strong, the dough has overdone. At this time, you can mix flour and water, knead it again to form a ball, and cover it. Cover with a damp cloth, let it sit for a while, and then you can make the pastry.

3. How to prepare alkaline water?

The purpose of alkaline treatment is to remove the sour taste in the dough and make the finished product more enlarged, whiter and softer. The key to good alkali is to master the concentration of alkaline water. Generally, alkaline water with a concentration of 40% is suitable. In order to ensure the success of the alkali test, you can cut a small piece of the alkali-friendly dough into a cage and steam it first, which is called "testing the alkali."

After steaming, the color becomes stagnant, the texture becomes inelastic, and it tastes sour, which means there is less alkali, so you need to add alkaline water to knead it; if the color turns yellow after steaming, or the skin cracks, the alkali If the dough smells obvious, you need to cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave it for a while to "run" with the alkali before making it; if you test the alkali, the dough will be white, soft and elastic, indicating that the alkali is suitable and can be used to make pastry immediately.