---
title: "What is a Bread made of?"
description: "Flour, water, yeast and salt — plus, in most factory loaves, enzymes, emulsifiers and a mould inhibitor. Every component, the material it uses, and the constraint th"
url: https://atoneplace.net/made-of/bread/
site: "At One Place"
---

# What is a Bread made of?

**What is a Bread made of?: Flour, water, yeast and salt — plus, in most factory loaves, enzymes, emulsifiers and a mould inhibitor.**

The difference between a bakery loaf and a supermarket one is mostly time. The Chorleywood process, developed in Britain in 1961, replaces the long fermentation that develops gluten with intense high-energy mixing plus oxidising agents, cutting bread-making to a few hours and allowing weaker home-grown wheat to be used. It made bread cheap and consistent and is now used for the large majority of packaged bread in the UK. Staling is not drying out: it is starch retrogradation, the recrystallisation of gelatinised starch, which is why a stale loaf freshens briefly in the oven and why bread stales faster in the fridge than on the counter.

## Component by component

*Every material is a choice, and the third column is the constraint that drove it.*

| Part | Material | Why that material |
| --- | --- | --- |
| flour | wheat flour, with glutenin and gliadin proteins | Those two proteins combine with water into gluten, an elastic network that traps gas; no other common grain forms it. |
| leavening | baker's yeast, or a sourdough culture of wild yeast and lactobacilli | Yeast produces the carbon dioxide that inflates the gluten network; sourdough bacteria add acid, which slows staling and adds flavour. |
| salt | sodium chloride, around 1.5-2% of flour weight | It tightens the gluten and moderates the yeast; bread made without it rises too fast and tastes flat and papery. |
| improvers (factory bread) | ascorbic acid, fungal amylase and xylanase, emulsifiers such as DATEM or SSL | They let a loaf be mixed, proved and baked in about three hours instead of overnight, and keep the crumb soft for a week. |
| preservative | calcium propionate or vinegar | It suppresses mould rather than bacteria, which is the failure mode of a wrapped loaf at room temperature. |

## Other food and drink objects

- [Marshmallow](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/marshmallow/) — Sugar syrup whipped full of air and held there by gelatin, which comes from animal collagen.
- [Chewing gum](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/chewing-gum/) — A base of synthetic rubber, wax and resin that you never swallow, carrying sweetener and flavour that you do.
- [Chocolate](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/chocolate/) — Ground cocoa solids and cocoa butter with sugar, plus a trace of lecithin — the fat does the rest.
- [Gelatin](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/gelatin/) — Collagen from animal skin and bone, broken down with acid or alkali and dried. There is no plant version.
- [Cheese](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/cheese/) — Milk protein clotted by an enzyme, drained of whey and salted — four ingredients and a lot of time.
- [Potato chips (crisps)](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/potato-chips/) — Thin potato slices fried in vegetable oil, seasoned with a maltodextrin-carried flavour powder, packed in nitrogen.
- [Tofu](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/tofu/) — Soy milk curdled with a mineral salt and pressed — cheese-making, with soybeans instead of milk.

## Common questions

### What is a Bread made of?

Flour, water, yeast and salt — plus, in most factory loaves, enzymes, emulsifiers and a mould inhibitor.

### What is the flour of a Bread made of?

Wheat flour, with glutenin and gliadin proteins. Those two proteins combine with water into gluten, an elastic network that traps gas; no other common grain forms it.

### What is the leavening of a Bread made of?

Baker's yeast, or a sourdough culture of wild yeast and lactobacilli. Yeast produces the carbon dioxide that inflates the gluten network; sourdough bacteria add acid, which slows staling and adds flavour.

## Related pages

- [Marshmallow](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/marshmallow/)
- [Chewing gum](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/chewing-gum/)
- [Chocolate](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/chocolate/)
- [Gelatin](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/gelatin/)
- [Cheese](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/cheese/)
- [Potato chips (crisps)](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/potato-chips/)
- [Tofu](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/tofu/)
- [Pencil](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/pencil/)
- [Tennis ball](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/tennis-ball/)
- [Banknote](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/banknote/)
- [Golf ball](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/golf-ball/)
- [Paper](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/paper/)
- [Glass](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/glass/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)