Can I make bread without adding salt?

soba

Hi, I've just found out that my blood pressure is sky-high. I've been advised to avoid fat and salt. I've got a Panasonic bread maker, and use it regularly, but I don't know if it's possible to make bread without salt - or even a reduced amount. Can anyone help?

flea72

how much do you use, i only use about 1/2tsp in a 2lb loaf

i have tried using no salt, but found the crust was a bit tough - dont know why though

Flea

soba

I just use whatever the recipe calls for but can't remember the amount off-hand.

comping_cat

Yes, i know people who make it without salt and sugar, i use less salt and sugar than the recipe states but still put some in, i think its the sugar that changes the texture of the crust, the sugar will change the taste, but if you are used to food without salt, you will prob be fine.
Catherine x

Ticklemouse

I use less than 1/4 tsp to a 500gm (1 1/2lb loaf) My recipe says 1 1/2 tsp but That's too much for me. I have used as little as 1/8th tsp in a part white, part wholemeal loaf, but I found the taste got a bit bland.

Give it a try and see - after all, we all like different tastes and textures so you might find it's OK. Even if you use 1/8th tsp, that's very little in quite a large loaf and it's so much less than in a commercially bought one.

I also use olive oil in mine, as opposed to butter or other types of oil. This would be better for you too. I use the light olive oil - it's not as strong tasting as extra virgin.

cha97michelle

The salt can be reduced. I found with my BM the loaves were rising, but then sinking in the middle when they cooled. This was with half the recommended amount.

The tip section advised me to up the salt or reduce the yeast. I upped the salt to about 3/4 of the recipe amount and have had no further problems.

I haven't put in less sugar, because the chemical reaction that the yeast does to make the bread rise, requires sugar and water, and reducing this would affect the bread.

Hope this helps - good luck with reducing the salt - i think you need to experiment and see how it turns out. I think you'd still be reducing your salt just by not eating shop bread - in some brands there can be as much salt in a couple of slices as in a whole HM loaf.

LAst thought - perhaps you could try using lo-salt in your BM, which is a brand based on potassium rather than sodium, and shouldn't affect the water levels in your blood,which increases the blood pressure.

suki1964

To be honest I wouldnt be worrying about the small amount of salt that you will be getting from a slice of home made bread. Shop bought bread is another matter - 5 tsp a loaf or some such high amount.

At the end of the day your body needs salt. What it doesnt need in the vast amounts of salt that is in processed foods - sauces, breads, cooked meats, tinned food etc. Cut them from your diet and you will be doing yourself more favours then cutting out the tiny amount from a home made loaf

troll35

Don't know how or why but... I don't have a BM but I make bread without salt or sugar using fresh or dried yeast and with any sort (or combination) of strong flour and I've never had any problems. I usually do try to remember to add about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt as I do think it tastes better but if I forget it still tastes fine and gets eaten like a shot. I keep toying with the idea of a BM but as I work from home and can make a batch in 10-15 mins, stick timer on for an hour, knock it back and shape it in 2 mins, timer on for an hour and then bake it. Plus the Kids love bread making all that goo and lots of bashing and folding, gets rid of any pent up aggression. Very therapeutic. Downside no new bread for breakfast, but upside lots of lovely new bread for lunch before OH gets his paws on it at teatime!!

krishna

Salt affects the rate at which the bread rises. i.e. the more salt, the longer you need to leave the dough to rise. Salt-free bread rises more quickly. This explains why you can make salt-free bread more easily without a breadmaker since you then have control over how long the bread rises for before baking.

I don't use a BM but if it is possible to adjust the rising time at all then try shortening that when making salt-free bread. Alternatively just use the BM to make the dough and prove it and then transfer into tins, leave to rise and bake in oven. Failing that, as others have said, experiment.

As for how much the salt in the bread matters re blood pressure, that depends on how much bread you are going to eat. I haven't added salt to any food (including bread dough) for the last 15-20 years. Your taste buds adjust and you begin to enjoy the innate flavours of the raw ingredients. The amount of salt your body needs is small and your body recycles what it has, so you do not need to add ANY salt to your food. More likely to need potassium.

Sugar. This encourages the yeast to multiply. However, modern dried yeasts don't really need sugar. So you can get away with cutting that out in a BM, especially if you are making salt-free or reduced salt bread.

Ronankfan

I dont use the recommended salt amount i normally halve it and i havent had any problems. I dont use the full amount of sugar either nobody has noticed so it doesnt affect the taste.
HTH

samcat_2

I accidentally missed the 1/2 tsp salt in a medium loaf in my Panasonic Bread Maker yesterday and it tastes REALLY bland, despite being the 'seeded loaf' recipie. None of us have touched it.

Might turn it into Bread Pudding.

The other suggestions to 1/2 the amount of salt should be ok I think... or what about Lo-salt would that work?