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I have some bread that should still be good for few days that now smells like vinegar. There is no mold, ect. on it that makes it look bad. It is store bought whole grain bread with some oatmeal, if that matters.
Personally, I've never known bread to smell like vinegar, even when it has gone bad. So what would cause it?
I also emailed KAF my question. They think ferment time is culprit. I will have to give it a try.
Could it also maybe be combo of time + yeast? Bread is still tasty; I am still experimenting.
stephen
Here is reply from KAF:
Hello Stephen,
Thank you for contacting us here at King Arthur Flour.
The vinegar-ish smell you describe is from the acids of your fermented dough. If it bothers you, you might try fermenting your dough in a slightly cooler room, or for a shorter time. This should help.
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance or if you have additional questions. If you need immediate assistance, feel free to contact us directly at 800-827-6836.
Thank you again and have a great day!
Sincerely,
Jaydl
King Arthur Flour 800-827-6836
Vinegar is acetic acid. It is made when yeast eat starch and produce alcohol which is then consumed by acetobacter bacteria to make acetic acid.
I have a hard time imagining a bread smelling strongly of vinegar but all the ingredients are there. The bread was fermented by yeast and did contain alcohol before it was baked. If the bread was a little underbaked and picked up the right bacteria it could be trace amounts of vinegar.
Other options are that the bread picked up a normal sourdough-esque bacteria and just smells sour without having actual acetic acid.
Either of these options would require the bread to be under baked or very moist.
Anything beyond this would be conjecture.
Maybe the bread was baked with vinegar in it?
I'd like to suggest that over-proofed bread produces a very yeasty smell, like the smell of half fermented beer. Easily mistaken for vinegar.
Then a low- less than normal - baking time for this might well produce the smell you are describing. At a relatively fresh state, the bread scent overpowers the residual from the beer brewery.
Source: I fell asleep during the last proofing one time. My kitchen smelled like I was in a beer brewery
