No-Nasty Bread Improver | For Sourdough & Any Yeast Bread

I've baked sourdough at home for years and the results are genuinely amazing, except for one thing. My loaves would be perfect for a day or two and then go hard, while a shop-bought loaf stayed soft for noticeably longer. It wasn't the bread going stale that bugged me. It was the bread going hard.

So I started looking into bread improvers, and I was excited to find there were "natural" options out there. Then I bought them and read the labels and thought: there is not a chance I'm putting that in my bread. What's the point of baking from scratch if you add the same rubbish back in? For years I told my audience two things about bread improvers: you don't need one, and why would you want to add that stuff anyway. That held true for every single improver I could find in Australia.

But I still wanted that caramelised crust and a loaf that stayed soft for longer. There wasn't a good option, so I started testing ingredients I was genuinely happy to use in my own kitchen. What I ended up with is a three-ingredient blend that gives a better crumb, a more caramelised, toasty crust, and a loaf that stays soft for longer.

Since my family and I started using it, it has levelled up our bread in a way I didn't think was possible at home without nasty ingredients. I'm the home cook who said she'd never use a bread improver. This is the one that changed my mind.

Hand-made in small batches in Melbourne by Alyce and her mum, in the same commercial kitchen where our flavour blends are made. Same recipe, same ingredients, same care, just more of it.

Every ingredient in here earns its place. Diastatic malted wheat flour gives the extra fermentable sugars behind a darker, caramel-malty crust. Sunflower lecithin does the one job fermentation can't do at all, keeping the crumb soft instead of letting the loaf go hard. Roasted malted barley flour adds direct colour and toasty notes that round the whole thing out. Three ingredients, three distinct jobs, nothing along for the ride.

Diastatic malted wheat flour, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), roasted malted barley flour.

CONTAINS WHEAT AND BARLEY (GLUTEN). NOT SUITABLE FOR A GLUTEN FREE DIET. May contain sesame, soy, tree nuts and dairy. Vegan.

Net weight 50 g. A level teaspoon is roughly 2.5 g, so one bag is about 20 loaves.

Keep refrigerated. Reseal promptly and return to the fridge straight after use.

MSG, artificial colours, artificial flavours, preservatives, anti-caking agents, fillers or bulking agents, soy flour. Just REAL ingredients, same as you've got in your pantry at home.

What does a bread improver actually do?

A bread improver is a small addition to your flour that changes how the dough behaves and how the finished loaf turns out. No-Nasty Bread Improver gives you a better rise, a deeper, more caramelised crust, a softer crumb, and a loaf that stays soft for longer rather than going hard after a day or two.

Do I actually need a bread improver for sourdough?

No, you don't need a bread improver to bake great sourdough, and I said exactly that for years. No-Nasty Bread Improver is for bakers who are already happy with their loaf and want to push the crust, the crumb and the softness further, without adding anything they wouldn't want in their own kitchen.

How much No-Nasty Bread Improver do I use, and when do I add it?

Use one teaspoon of No-Nasty Bread Improver per 500 to 600 g of bread flour. Whisk or sieve it through the dry flour before anything wet goes in, then carry on with your recipe exactly as written.

Can I use No-Nasty Bread Improver in a Thermomix machine or a bread maker?

Yes. No-Nasty Bread Improver goes in with the flour, so it works with whatever you already use to make your dough, whether that's a Thermomix machine, a bread maker, a stand mixer or your hands.

Why does No-Nasty Bread Improver need to be kept in the fridge?

Keeping No-Nasty Bread Improver in the fridge keeps the malt at its best, so it goes on doing its job properly for longer. It won't spoil if it's been sitting out of the fridge, it just works better for longer when it's kept cold, so reseal the bag and pop it straight back in.

What does the best before date mean, and can I use it after that?

The best before date on your No-Nasty Bread Improver is a guide to when it will do its best work, not a safety cut-off. The ingredient that changes most over time is the diastatic malted wheat flour, and its activity gently eases off as it ages. That's the same reason we ask you to keep the bag in the fridge, which slows that down. Past the date you may notice a little less colour in the crust than when the bag was fresh, but it is still doing a job and it is still perfectly good to use. Best before means exactly that: best before, not unsafe after. As with anything in your pantry, trust your senses, and if it ever smells or looks off, let it go.

Is No-Nasty Bread Improver gluten free?

No. No-Nasty Bread Improver contains wheat and barley, so it contains gluten and is not suitable for a gluten free diet. It's made for ordinary wheat-flour sourdough and yeast breads, not for gluten free baking.