M O D E R N I S T MODERNIST B R E A D BRE AD
Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya
MODERNIST BREAD ISBN 978-0-9827610-5-2 SRP $625 USD / $625 CAD / £425 GBP / €525 / $825 AUD
ABOUT NATHAN MYHRVOLD THE COOKING LAB FOUNDER Nathan Myhrvold, lead author of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking (2011), Modernist Cuisine at Home (2012), The Photography of Modernist Cuisine (2013), and Modernist Bread (fall 2017), is a chef, photographer, and scientist. Myhrvold founded the Modernist Cuisine team and led the development and production of all four books as well as the Modernist Cuisine Gallery in Las Vegas. In addition to his culinary and photographic pursuits, the former chief technology
officer of Microsoft is the founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures. He is an avid inventor and prolific author in the fields of technology, paleontology, climatology, energy, bioterrorism, and more. He holds several degrees, including a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics; master’s degrees in economics, geophysics, and space physics; a bachelor’s degree in mathematics; and a culinary diploma from École de Cuisine La Varenne.
ABOUT THE TEAM The Modernist Cuisine team is an interdisciplinary group in Bellevue, Washington, founded by Nathan Myhrvold. The team comprises scientists, research and development chefs, a full editorial and photography department, and sales and marketing staff—all dedicated to advancing the science of the culinary arts through creativity and experimentation. They have published Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking (2011), Modernist Cuisine at Home (2012), and The Photography of Modernist Cuisine (2013), and produced The Photography of Modernist Cuisine: The Exhibition. In addition, The Cooking Lab has developed a spherification kit, gel kit, and the Modernist Cuisine™ Special Edition Baking Steel. Modernist Cuisine Gallery, located in Las Vegas, features the books and Nathan Myhrvold’s photography.
ABOUT FRANCISCO MIGOYA THE COOKING LAB HEAD CHEF Francisco Migoya is the co-author of Modernist Bread and leads the Modernist Cuisine culinary team as head chef. An innovative pastry chef, his most recent book, The Elements of Dessert (John Wiley & Sons, 2012), won a 2014 International Association of Culinary Professional Cookbook Award in the Professional Kitchens category. He has been recognized as a top U.S. pastry chef and chocolatier. Gremi de Pastisseria
de Barcelona awarded him the Medal of Master Artisan Pastry Chef (2013). Migoya owned Hudson Chocolates in New York and worked at both The French Laundry and Bouchon Bakery as executive pastry chef. Prior to joining the Modernist Cuisine team, Migoya was a professor at The Culinary Institute of America, where his areas of instruction included bread, viennoiserie, pastry, and culinary science.
ABOUT THE COOKING LAB The Cooking Lab is Modernist Cuisine’s in-house publishing division. In addition to publishing, The Cooking Lab provides consulting, R&D, and invention services to food companies and culinary equipment makers, both large and small. Their new research laboratory, operated by Intellectual Ventures, provides one of the best-equipped
kitchens in the world and includes access to a full set of machining, analytical, and computational facilities. Equipped with a state-of-the-art photography studio, the team uses groundbreaking photography techniques, including in-house SEM, micro, and macro imagery.
MODERNIST BREAD ISBN 978-0-9827610-5-2 5 volumes + kitchen manual More than: • 2,600 pages • 1,000,000 words • 3,000 photographs • 1,200 recipes Description: Five 10.25 × 13.4 inch hardcover books with ribbon markers, two wedges, and wire-o kitchen manual. 13.75 × 11.13 × 8.63 inches (stainless steel slipcase)
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MODERNIST CUISINE BREAD
LEAN DOUGH
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FOREWORD BY CHAD ROBERTSON FOREWORD BY FRANCISCO MIGOYA MY CULINARY JOURNEY BY NATHAN MYHRVOLD STORY OF THIS BOOK ABOUT THE RECIPES
Volume 1 History and Fundamentals CHAPTER 1: HISTORY The Ancient World The Premodern Era The Industrial Age The Information Age The Future of Bread CHAPTER 2: MICROBIOLOGY FOR BAKERS Spoilage and Fermentation Foodborne Illness Sources of Contamination Preventing Contamination CHAPTER 3: BREAD AND HEALTH Dietary Systems Medical Dietary Systems Nonmedical Dietary Systems Gluten Intolerance CHAPTER 4: HEAT AND ENERGY The Nature of Heat and Temperature Energy, Power, and Efficiency Heat in Motion
CHAPTER 7: GRAINS Amazing Grass Wheat Other Grains The Life Cycle of Grain The Economics and Politics of Grain The Commodity System and Cheap Bread CHAPTER 8: FLOUR Flour Milling What is in Flour? Wheat Flours Rye Flours Other Flours and Powders CHAPTER 9: LEAVENING Yeast Sourdough Chemical Leaveners CHAPTER 10: FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS Ingredient Classification Salt Sugars Fats and Oils Improving Dough CHAPTER 11: INGREDIENT PREPARATION Inclusions Grain and Seed Inclusions Flavored Liquids and Purees Fruits and Vegetables Meats and Cheeses Nuts and Sweets
CHAPTER 5: THE PHYSICS OF FOOD AND WATER Water Is Strange Stuff Freezing and Thawing Vaporization and Condensation Water as a Solvent Water Quality and Purity
FURTHER READING
FURTHER READING
CHAPTER 12: FERMENTATION Commercial Yeast Preferments Levain
Volume 2 Ingredients CHAPTER 6: MAKING BREAD The Basics of Bread Planning to Bake Bread Bread Making by the Book
Volume 3 Techniques and Equipment
CHAPTER 13: MIXING The Details of Mixing Machine Mixing Hand Mixing Bulk Fermentation
CHAPTER 14: DIVIDING AND SHAPING Dividing Shaping by Hand Braiding French Regional Breads CHAPTER 15: FINAL PROOFING Proofing Equipment Final Proofing Methods Calling Proof Cold-Proofing Dough CHAPTER 16: SCORING AND FINISHING Scoring Finishing CHAPTER 17: HOW BREAD BAKES The Physics of Baking Ovens Deck Ovens Convection Ovens with Steam Convection Ovens without Steam Pizza Ovens Tandoor Ovens CHAPTER 18: BAKING Transforming Dough Into Bread Baking In Professional Ovens Baking In Home Ovens Baking Without An Oven Parbaking Bread CHAPTER 19: COOLING AND SERVING Cooling Staling and Spoilage Storing Slicing and Serving
CHAPTER 21: ENRICHED BREADS Brioche Challah White Sandwich Bread CHAPTER 22: RYE BREADS Farmer’s Bread High Ryes CHAPTER 23: WHOLE GRAIN BREADS Breads Made From Whole Grains Bavarian Pumpernickel Vollkornbrot FURTHER READING
Volume 5 Recipes II CHAPTER 24: FLAT BREADS Crackers Injera Dosa Inflated Breads Naan Focaccia Pizza
CHAPTER 25: BAGELS, PRETZELS, AND BAO Pretzels Bagels Bao CHAPTER 26: GLUTEN FREE BREADS Gluten Free Ingredients
Volume 4
CHAPTER 27: BREAD MACHINE BREADS Lean Breads Enriched Breads Rye Breads Whole Grain Breads
Recipes I
FURTHER READING
FURTHER READING
CHAPTER 20: LEAN BREADS French Lean Breads Sourdough Breads Country Style Breads Ancient Breads Whole Wheat Breads High Hydration Breads
GLOSSARIES OF CULINARY AND TECHNICAL TERMS SOURCES OF EQUIPMENT AND INGREDIENTS, REFERENCE TABLES THE MODERNIST CUISINE TEAM, CONTRIBUTORS, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, STEP-BY-STEP PROCEDURES AND BEST BETS TABLES, INDEX
THE STORY OF THIS BOOK When I tell people what we’ve been working on since our last book, the reaction often goes something like this: “Did you say 2,500 pages? On bread?” I’ll concede that at first blush, 2,642 pages might seem a little over the top. But we’ve been here before. We got the same initial reaction when we were working on our first book, Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, which ran an encyclopedic 2,438 pages. When it was released in 2011, people in the publishing industry told us that a nontraditional $625 cookbook would never sell. Well, Modernist Cuisine broke a lot of rules. And to my great relief, that worked. More than 230,000 curious and passionate food lovers— from home cooks to renowned chefs to staff at educational institutions—decided that the book fit the right value equation. It won numerous major food writing awards and has been translated
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I was determined to tell the story of the role that the underappreciated and underpaid farmers play in our agricultural system. Starting around the 1920s (but at an increasing pace throughout the 1960s), bread became an industrial product. Giant machines and factories were cranking out millions of loaves of bland, precisely uniform sandwich bread, and people welcomed these snow-white loaves. By the 1970s, though, both bread lovers and bread bakers were beginning to rebel, eventually building what is today called the artisanal bread movement (page 128). In the United States, the search for quality led to the breads of Europe—and in Europe, bakers turned to the past. The idea behind the artisanal bread movement was a great one: bread lovers wanted to increase the variety, flavor, and quality of bread beyond the cheap industrial products that swamped supermarket shelves. Going back to preindustrial bread-baking practices and returning to smallscale methods historically used by village bakers seemed like just the thing to do. But it can’t possibly be true that all the best ideas in bread baking have already been discovered—creative bakers around the world have made some amazing new loaves. Science and technology are not the enemies of great bread. The laws of nature govern baking just like they govern everything else in the world. Knowing which laws affect your bread helps; understanding technology helps, too. When it began, the artisanal bread movement was so liberating: it freed consumers from insipid, machine-made white sandwich bread by giving them choices. But any belief system can become stagnant if it is closed to new ideas. This stagnancy is all the more troubling today, in a world in which bread is under attack from the gluten-free trend and the low-carb movement. Now more than ever, it’s vital to start unleashing the creative possibilities of bread. With all the excitement around today’s innovative, modern cuisine, it’s time to make bread more than just an afterthought. Why not have fun and explore what the latest science can add to the bread we know and love? At the risk of sounding dramatic, bread must innovate to survive and thrive. We took an approach that is fiercely analytic
into nine languages. It’s fair to say it has had a big impact on the culinary world. Now I am excited to introduce Modernist Bread: The Art and Science. It’s just as disruptive, just as comprehensive, just as visually appealing, and just as thought-provoking as its older sibling. In the space of five volumes plus a kitchen manual, we tell the story of one of the world’s most important foods in new and different ways. Through this story, we hope to enlighten, delight, and inspire creativity in others who love not only bread but also the science, history, cultures, and personalities behind it. Why focus on bread? Because it has so many of the things that we love in a topic. Bread may seem simple, but in fact it is highly technological and scientific—it’s actually a biotech product whose creation requires harnessing the power of microorganisms that ferment. Making bread is so technique-intensive that small variations in the method can make huge differences in the outcome. There is a tremendous amount of skill involved, to the point that bread making can be daunting to home bakers and professionals alike. During the baking process, bread’s simple ingredients go through such a mind-blowing transformation that the product that comes out of the oven bears almost no resemblance to the flour, water, salt, and yeast that went in. That’s just cool. Focusing on bread has given us the opportunity to explore such wide-ranging scientific topics as the structure of gluten and the physics of ovens. It has given us a window into the minds of the inventors and innovators who have made, improved, and transformed this important staple over the course of thousands of years. Our focus on bread has also allowed us to look closely at the evolution of cultures through the lens of a single food that has spanned so much of human history: bread was the primary source of calories for the ancient Greeks and Romans and the Western civilizations that followed. We also became intrigued by the evolution of our agricultural system. There is currently a lot of nationwide and global concern about this system, after all, and wheat is at its center. As the grandson of a Minnesota wheat farmer,
but also deeply appreciative of the artistry and aesthetics of bread. We studied exhaustively (or at least until we were exhausted!). We researched ingredients and history, milling technologies and dough rheology, grain botany, bubble mechanics, and more. We talked to grain farmers, millers, food historians, statisticians, and every great bread baker we could find. Over time, we became even more convinced that our book could offer something fresh and new. We believe the idea of Modernist bread—bread that looks to the future, not the past—should be celebrated. In these pages, you’ll find our contributions to what we hope will become a movement. This movement isn’t just about new recipes, though—it’s about the way we think of bread from the ground up. For each of our key recipes, we developed a traditional version and a Modernist version. You can follow only the traditional recipes and find much of value in this book—or you can branch out into our Modernist recipes to explore new ideas. Better yet, use this book as a jumping-off point to make new kinds of breads that no one has tried before. Whether you are a strict traditionalist or an avid Modernist, a home baker or an artisan baker or a restaurant chef, we hope that this book will open your eyes to the possibilities of invention and encourage different ways of thinking about bread. We believe this kind of disruption will even help change the economics of bread. (We’d like to see bread go the way of chocolate and wine, which are sold in a wide range of quality levels and price points.) In short, we believe the golden age of bread isn’t some mythical past that we all should try to return to—the best days of bread are yet to come. 13
A LOOK INSIDE MODERNIST BREAD We spent over 4 years looking at bread from every angle. We devised experiments to test the limits of techniques, develop new recipes, investigate bakery lore, find the best ingredients and tools, and understand the science of bread making. We traveled around the world to speak to bakers, chefs, farmers, scientists, and historians and go behind the scenes at mills, ingredient companies, museums, and even the Svalbard seed bank in Norway—tasting bread at every stop along the way. And, of course, we baked tons of bread. Literally. Here’s a small sample of some of the discoveries, techniques, recipes, and discussions you’ll find in the five volumes of Modernist Bread.
Historical Stuff
Marking (and Marketing) Bread with Stamps Bread Through the Ages A Long History of No-Knead Bread
Roman Bread Stamps
New Techniques
Our Rye Flour Revelation The Uses of Cold Proofing in a Wine Fridge Best Damn Gluten-free Bagel High Bubble Count Pizza Dough Shaping Very Wet Doughs Canned Breads Dough CPR
Canned bread
Debunking
Does Pure Water Make for Better Bread? Weird Stuff in Starters Which is Better: Fresh or Aged Flour? Are Whole Grains Healthier for You?
Discoveries 100% Rye Bread
The Largest Loaf Bread is Lighter Than Whipped Cream How Much Payload Can Dough Hold? Supercharged Yeast
Inside Look
Crumbs for the Farmer The Great Autolyse Debate The Evolution of a Sourdough Fats: How High Can You Go?
Hi From sto ry
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BREAD THROUGH THE AGES When we read history books, we’re often learning about the big events of the past. But the more mundane facts of ordinary life aren’t always recorded. Some ancient and premodern recipes have been preserved, but not many. So what was the bread like? We researched paintings through the ages and from around the world in order to find out what they looked like in the past. A few artists, like Pieter Brueghel the Elder and his son, also named Pieter, painted scenes of ordinary people. Others focused on royal scenes, so it’s reasonable to a ssume we’re
15th century
1 1467 • Belgium
3
1475 • Spain
4
5
1525 • Italy
1500
1530 • Belgium
1550
1564 • Netherlands
1560
6
1585 • Belgium
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16th century • Belgium
7
1590 • Italy
1570
1580
8
1594 • Italy
10 16th century • Netherlands
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17th century
11 1601 • Italy
16th century
1460
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looking at fancy breads, some of which appear to be enriched. Still, the bread forms in all these works look very familiar. Even the practice of serving bread swaddled in a napkin dates back centuries. At medieval banquets, the server carried the lord’s bread and knife to the table in a decoratively folded napkin called a portpayne, or portpain. That way the bread would not touch the server’s hands. There’s also a long Jewish tradition of wrapping a piece of matzo in a cloth and hiding it. Some say the wrapped afikomen symbolizes the way the Jews carried their unleavened bread as they left Egypt.
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14 1615 • Belgium
1590
1600
12 1606 • Italy
17 1630 • France
20 1640 • Netherlands
16 1620 • Spain
19 1635 • Netherlands
1610
1620
13 1606 • Belgium
1630
1640
18 1625 • Italy
15 1618 • Spain
HISTORY 17
M F i r Fo crob om r B io ak log er y s
Molds
Some kinds of mold fluoresce when illuminated by ultraviolet light.
Although fungicides have been effective at controlling wheat rusts, they can have damaging side effects in some ecosystems. Fungicides have been implicated as a contributing factor in bee colony collapse disorder, for example.
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Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, when bread goes “bad” (not merely stale), mold is to blame. People are less tolerant of mold on food than they are of other kinds of microbial growth, for the simple reason that whereas viral and most bacterial contamination is invisible, mold is easy to see. And, in most cases, mold stinks—literally. Although bakers typically see mold as an enemy, many foods—from Stilton, Roquefort, and Brie cheeses to soy sauce and citric acid—owe their existence to the transformative power of molds (see page 174). Molds are not a particular taxonomic branch of the fungal family tree; rather, they are one of the three main growth forms that fungi can take. Any species of fungus that, at a particular stage in its life cycle, weaves its hyphae filaments into a fabric-like network (called a mycelium) is behaving as a mold. People often think of mold as an infestation that brings the shelf life of a fully prepared food— or, even more commonly, the leftovers of a meal— to an end. But molds play important roles at every stage of the food supply, starting in the field. Fungi cause nearly three-quarters of all crop diseases. They inflict annual losses on farmers tallied in the billions of dollars. In wheat farming, periodic outbreaks of several forms of fungal infections known as rusts can wipe out part or nearly all a farm’s yield. In recent years, rusts have damaged wheat crops throughout Asia, A ustralia, the Middle East, North Africa, and the United States. Farmers have bred rust-resistant strains of wheat, but the fungi have evolved new ways of attacking them. Fortunately, fungicides remain an effective, though expensive, way to halt rusts. Stinking smut, also known as bunt, has been the bane of wheat farmers for centuries. This disease, caused by fungi in the genus Tilletia, fills the kernels of the grain with black spores. As a thresher cuts the grain down during the harvest, the kernels burst, and black clouds of spores erupt and spread the disease across the field. According to Don E. Mathre, emeritus professor in plant sciences and plant pathology at Montana State University in Bozeman, stinking smut singlehandedly compromised a fifth of the wheat crop in Washington State in the early 20th century. The clouds of spores were so thick around the VO LU M E 1 : H IS TO RY A N D F U N DA M E N TA L S
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horse-drawn combines that sparks of static electricity from the equipment set off explosions— more than 160 in 1915 alone. The invention of effective fungicides in the 1970s brought the disease under control in high-income nations, but the disease persists in regions where farmers cannot afford to treat their seeds. Other grains commonly used in baking are also vulnerable to fungal disease as they grow. Oats, rice, and corn are all susceptible to various kinds of smut and to stunting diseases caused by molds that destroy their roots or rot their stalks.
S poiled B efore Baking Between harvest and milling, grain is typically stored in silos or warehouses, where fungi get another shot at it. Once the plant matter is dead, a different set of molds—the saprophytes—can set in and start to break it down. The economic losses caused by spoilage are significant and are one factor in the fluctuating prices of grains. But some grain molds can also pose a food-safety problem for bakers because, under certain conditions, they produce poisons called mycotoxins. More than 200 kinds of mycotoxins have been identified so far, and they contaminate a q uarter of food crops globally, according to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The most dangerous of these compounds are aflatoxins, which are made by the common yellow-green molds Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. In high doses, aflatoxin B1 can cause liver damage and immune problems. Aflatoxins are also among the most potent carcinogens yet identified, at least in lab animals. In the United States, the toxins most frequently ruin corn, nut, and peanut crops after harvest. A robust testing system ensures that foods containing unsafe amounts of mycotoxins are thrown out, but losses are so frequent and severe in warmer climates that Aspergillus effectively dictates where in the United States these crops can and cannot be grown economically. Unfortunately, there is no practical method yet for reliably protecting crops against contamination by Aspergillus molds, which are virtually ubiquitous. For wheat, barley, and rye, the main threat is scab, a head blight produced by Fusarium graminearum and other species in this genus. In addition to reducing crop yields due to the disease, this
mold can produce toxins known as trichothecenes. One of these, called vomitoxin, is just as unpleasant as it sounds. Ingesting a large amount of the toxin, which is also known as deoxynivalenol, or DON, causes the rapid onset of gastrointestinal distress and illness, headache, dizziness, and fever. As with aflatoxins, scrupulous screening of grain supplies has largely prevented human illness from these mycotoxins in Europe and North America, though the blight has claimed wheat crops from North Dakota to North Carolina. In addition, outbreaks have occurred in Asia and Africa. Several species of Aspergillus molds produce ochratoxins when they infect corn, barley, wheat, oat, or rye. Ochratoxin A—secreted by species including A. niger, the same mold used to make citric acid—is known to cause kidney damage and poses a cancer risk. Penicillium molds, which are usually thought of as helpful or innocuous (they are used, for example, to make penicillin and blue cheeses), are another source of ochratoxins. And both Aspergillus and Penicillium molds also secrete
citrinin, a mycotoxin linked to kidney disease. Fortunately, ochratoxins and citrinin appear to be quite rare in grains produced in the United States. Unfortunately, mycotoxins are remarkably heat resistant, and most can retain their poisonous effects even when cooked to 121^ / 250|— well above the peak internal temperature in a fully baked loaf of bread. So the best protection against them is to buy flour and grains from reputable, well-managed vendors who comply with all government regulations on grain handling, storage, and testing. The rules are designed to ensure that contaminants remain below levels established as safe for human consumption.
B read G one Bad Mold does terrible things to the flavor of breads, and that’s no doubt one of the main reasons that people generally don’t get sick from eating moldy bread—bread gone bad is pretty easy to avoid. It helps, too, that few molds are able to infect healthy people. Some do, of course: most adults MICROBIOLOGY FOR BAKERS
A galaxy of spores erupts from moldy bread when it is given a gentle tap. Molds get around by producing tiny spores that waft through the air. The spores produced by Puccinia graminis, which causes black stem rust in wheat, can drift on the winds for more than 3,000 km / 1,860 mi, carrying the disease from the Deep South of the United States all the way through the Midwest and up to C anada. Spore collectors mounted on airplanes have shown that airborne fungi are able to cross oceans, drifting on the winds from one continent to another. The waterborne fungus Phytoph thora infestans caused the Irish potato blight of 1845–1847 that— exacerbated by unconscionable mismanagement on the part of the government—led to famine and a diaspora that together halved the population of Ireland (see page 110). Plasmopara viticola, a fungus that causes grapevine downy mildew, wiped out the vineyards of Europe in the 1870s.
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He Fro En at a m e r nd gy
4 2
EVEN BETTER WHEN BROWNED
The steamthat comes off bread as it toasts is invisible, but the hot water vapor often quickly condenses in the cooler kitchen air into visible wisps of fog. The surface of the slice must dry— which means the water in it must boil off into steam—before the bread can brown. As long as substantial moisture remains in the bread, the arriving heat goes into boiling that water rather than raising the temperature of the solid part. When the water is mostly gone, the temperature can climb into the range, around 150^ / 300|, where browning gets going in earnest.
The best invention since sliced bread? Maybe not, but the modern toaster can sure make sliced breads taste better. Before Alan MacMasters invented the electric toaster in Scotland in the late 1890s—as one of the first uses of household electricity other than lighting, preceded only slightly by the electric kettle—unattended toasting had relied mostly on convective heating. Toasters for woodstoves tilted bread over a vented metal can; hot air p ouring through the vents washed over the bread, browning it. But MacMasters’s idea of using a red-hot element, combined with the later addition by others of a pop-up spring and timer, transformed toasting into an exercise in irradiation. Greater convenience and reproducible results, however, came at a price: toast made by infrared heating is susceptible to a positive feedback effect, so it doesn’t brown as evenly as bread toasted by convection or conduction. For a practical guide to making perfect toast, see page 3·434.
White bread turns toasty brownas its temperature rises above 130^ / 265| or so, into the range where Maillard reactions—and also caramelization, for sweet breads—transform sugars and proteins into an array of aromatic and increasingly dark compounds. The darker the shade, the less incoming radiation is reflected and the more the heat gets absorbed. This positive feedback mechanism, known in physics as the albedo effect, is one of the reasons that toasting is tricky: the transformation proceeds slowly until darkening begins, and then it accelerates, leaving a narrow window of time between too little toasted and too much.
Radiative toastingtends to darken bread unevenly compared with toast made conductively (on a griddle) or convectively by using hot air. Some parts of the bread inevitably contain more moisture than others, so they are slow to dry out and darken. And the toaster’s wire cage and support elements block some of the infrared rays, casting shadows that leave some spots on the slice slightly cooler than others. These small differences get amplified as the hottest spots darken and the toasting accelerates.
Inventors have patented ideas for appliances that could monitor how toasted the bread is by using ionizing sensors—much like those in smoke detectors—to detect some of the invisible particles that waft from the bread as it bakes. Those smart toasters might be able to adapt automatically to bread slices of different colors, thicknesses, moisture levels, and starting temperatures. But cost may be an obstacle: years after the patents were filed, even high-end toasters still lack a sense of smell.
Red-hot heating elementsthrow off a little red light—and far greater amounts of infrared radiation—when a strong electrical current passes through them. The wires, typically made of a nickel–chromium alloy known as nichrome, can reach temperatures above 1,000^ / 1,830|, well into the range where radiation dominates heat transfer. Because nearly all the toasting work is done by radiation, not hot air, toasters that have reflective interiors will be more efficient and toast the bread more evenly.
Controlling the degreeof toasting is nearly impossible to do precisely with most toasters. There are simply too many variations among different breads—even different slices taken from the same loaf on different days will vary—to predict how the bread will respond to radiative heating. The color, cut, thickness, fat content, moisture content, starting temperature, and ambient humidity all affect the outcome.
Gravity takes its share of the breadas crumbs inevitably fall to the bottom and, because of their high surface-tovolume ratio, soon char. Much of the appealing aroma of toasting bread typically comes as much from the crumbs stuck in the machine as from the slice. Burnt crumbs don’t smell so nice, however, so it’s a good idea to empty the tray frequently.
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M I C R HO EB AI OT LAONGDY EFNOERR G B AY K E R S
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6 SURPRISING SCIENCE
Density Comparison
Bread Is Lighter Than Whipped Cream The heading above is surprising but true, and you can test it yourself: put 1 L of whipped cream on the left pan of a balance scale and a 1 L brioche on the right. The scale will tip to the left. The demonstration is hard to believe because it violates our expectation that a foam should be lighter than a solid. But bread is also a foam—it is just a set foam. The brioche’s crust is solid enough, but the crumb inside is mostly air. This simple comparison illustrates that the density of bread— that is, its mass divided by its volume—is less than that of almost any other kind of food. Ciabatta, baguette, b rioche, sandwich bread, and other common yeast breads typically have a density of just 0.22–0.25 g/cm3. Whipped cream, by comparison, has a density of 0.49 g/cm3. A liter of whipped cream thus weighs twice as much as a brioche of equal volume! Bread seems denser than it is in large part because its
mass is not evenly distributed: a crunchy baguette crust, which resists cutting and chewing, is 50%–100% more dense than the crumb. The crust is about as dense as pinewood (and whipped cream), whereas the density of the crumb is more like that of cork. But if the crust is as dense as whipped cream, why does crust feel heavier? The short answer is that the chemistry of these two foams differs. To bite through bread (a set foam), you have to tear apart strong chemical bonds among adjacent molecules. But to eat whipped cream (a colloidal foam), you merely have to push adjacent particles apart. Intuitively, you might expect that airier breads, such as a baguette, are less dense than loaves that have a tighter crumb, such as pumpernickel and other rye breads. And, in fact, that’s true, as the chart (at right) shows.
g/cm3 0
sea sponge, 0.02
0.1 sandwich bread, 0.23
French lean bread, 0.25
0.2
egg-white foam, 0.13 balsa wood, 0.15
0.3
cork, 0.21 0.4 pine charcoal, 0.35 steamed bun, 0.40
brioche, 0.27
0.5 Whipped cream has a reputation for being light and airy, but it’s about twice as dense as a brioche. To demonstrate this using a scale, we baked a loaf of brioche in a 1 L container and carefully shaved off the extra bits that rose above the lip. Meanwhile, we filled a 1 L acetate-lined container with whipped cream, froze it, and then gently peeled off the acetate.
0.6
apple, 0.46
proofed lean dough, 0.47 whipped cream, 0.49
0.7 100 Ă rye, 0.58 0.8
red pine, 0.51 0.9 vollkornbrot, 0.71
olive oil, 0.92
1.0
1.1 wheat kernel, 1.25 1.2
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VOLUME 2: INGREDIENTS
MAKING BREAD
pumpernickel, 1.09
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6 1
2
12
11
13
14
3 4 17 3
15
1
16
18
5 6
BASICS
20 19
21 22
8 7
9
RECOMMENDED
10
23
NICE TO HAVE 24
25
27
30 32
28 26
33
29 31
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VOLUME 2: INGREDIENTS
MAKING BREAD
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F Gr rom ain s
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THE HARVESTING PROCESS Farmers get just a few cents per pound of wheat that’s harvested, so they want to harvest economically. Combine harvesters require large capital investments, but they’re essentially efficient rolling factories that harvest and thresh the
wheat. A combine can harvest 900 bushels of corn in an hour. The rolling hills of the Palouse region of Washington state (pictured below) are prime wheat country, even though when you think of wheat, you’re more likely to think of the Midwest.
A combine harvester cuts the wheat and sucks it through a threshing mechanism that separates out the kernels and spits them into a holding tank while blowing the chaff out the back of the machine. Today, a combine operator needs less farm know-how
and more computer literacy. The job involves monitoring an onboard screen that does everything from tracking engine performance to verifying that the threshing mechanism is operating properly.
From the combine, the wheat is dumped into the grain cart. Some grain carts can hold as many as 2,000 bushels. The work of harvesting requires team effort. During harvest, enormous seed trucks are at the ready, waiting to be filled from the grain carts. They look like big, lumbering machines, but they get the job done—once they’re filled, they speed the grain to its destination.
Some farmers have local storage facilities where they can hold the grain until they can get the price they want. Others ship it directly to a local elevator, where it’s stored temporarily before being transported to a larger facility or a mill.
Companies are developing robotic technology for many aspects of farming. Farmers in Japan have used small radio-controlled crop-dusting helicopters for years.
156
VOLUME 2: INGREDIENTS
GRAINS
157
F Flo rom ur
8
WHEAT ANATOMY
WHAT IS FLOUR?
Wheat is a type of grass that grows in long stalks, with b ristly heads. The bristly part is called the spike. It’s what helped the wild wheat plant propagate because the spike would break
apart, and its seeds would disperse with the wind. Spikes can also stick to the coats of animals, which would deliver them to new locations. And thus, wheat, like many grasses, spread.
Head
Before we get into the process of milling, we’ll start with some basics. Grain is made of three main parts: germ, bran, and endosperm. The vast majority of flour on the market is made from the endosperm, which is softer and whiter than the other
Whole kernel: botanists call this the caryopsis; in grocery stores, it might be called a wheat berry, but here we call it a wheat kernel. When we talk about whole wheat flour, this is what we’re talking about—whole wheat kernels that are milled, often in separate streams; recombined; and then bagged up for sale, including the germ, bran, and endosperm. You’re getting the whole grain, with each of the three components in the same proportions as they were found in the farmer’s field.
Spikelet
Awn
The awn i s the slender strand that extends from the seed. It’s what gives wheat its hairy appearance.
Spike
two parts. You get the bran and germ when you buy wholegrain flour. The anatomy of the wheat k ernel is discussed below.
Bran: during milling, the bran is removed from the whole grain. It can be sold separately, but it can also be mixed back in with the endosperm and germ to make whole wheat flour. The sharp edges of the bran, and its capacity for water absorption, are detrimental to loaf volume (see Why Does Bran Make Bread Dense?
1st glume
2nd glume The glumesact as husks that protect the seed.
The caryopsisis the one-seeded fruit of the plant. Colloquially, it is often referred to as kernel, grain, or berry. Endosperm: pick up a bag of refined flour anywhere in the world, and you’re picking up a bag mostly filled with endosperm. That’s partly because grain itself is mostly endosperm. It’s also because the starchy endosperm creates the flour that appeals to consumers and bakers, so it’s the desired product of most mills. If you’re buying bread flour, enriched flour, high-gluten flour, or any kind of flour other than that labeled “whole wheat” or “high-extraction,” the endosperm is what you’re getting.
Caryopsis
Brush Leaf Endosperm
Bran
Stalk
Germ: the germ is the embryo of the living grain. This part is often separated out in milling because the fat content in the germ makes the flour go rancid. Sometimes, it’s sold separately as wheat germ. Other times, it’s mixed back in with the rest of the flour to make whole wheat flour.
Germ Germ Palea (upper hull)
Lemma (lowerhull)
28
VOLUME 2: INGREDIENTS
Wheat’s germ is often processed separately from the rest of the grain (left and in close-up at center). The germ’s oil can also be extracted (right).
FLOUR
Endosperm
Wheat flour imaged by scanning electron microscope (SEM).
29
F M rom ixi ng
13 2
STAND MIXER The stand mixer is a small version of a planetary mixer that can comfortably sit on any work surface, occupying minimal space. We recommend these mixers for home use and small restaurant production. The pluses are clear: they’re comparatively economical; many small repair shops can fix broken parts if needed; and they can perform various functions besides mixing. Their manufacturers offer many attachments (sold separately) that can use the spinning motor to sheet pasta dough, grind meat, mill grains into flour, and chop vegetables; these a ttachments make the stand mixer a versatile tool. In addition to having the same mixing attachments as planetary mixers (hook, paddle, and whip), stand mixers have a broad range of speed options, from very slow to very fast. The downside is that the m otors of these machines are often not powerful enough for some drier doughs, such as our bagel dough on page 322, and the dough capacity is relatively limited. The latter limitation is acceptable if you’re making just enough dough to use at home, but it is a shortcoming for bakers interested in large batches. These mixers tend to move around the table as they mix, so keep an eye on them or they may fall. (Some crafty bakers place a jar-lid gripper or damp towel underneath them to keep them from moving too much. We use clamps or a bungee cord to solidly anchor them.)
A horizontal hub on some stand mixers adds an extra degree of versatility. Power from the motor shaft can be delivered directly through this port to juicers, pasta makers, graters, slicers, and other laborsaving gadgets. Although a mixer doesn’t spin as fast as a food processor, it can stand in for that appliance on many low-speed jobs.
The more powerful the motor, t he better. Motors are rated in watts (W) or horsepower (HP), with 1 HP = 746 W . But only about a third of the rated motor power actually makes it to the bowl. A 1.3 HP mixer, for example, typically delivers around 0.44 HP to the food. The rest of the power is lost to heat and the gearing system. As a result, the metal case surrounding the motor can get uncomfortably hot after the motor has run for a while.
A series of gears c onverts the horizontal rotation of the motor shaft into a combination of rotation and revolution around a vertical axis. This lower arrangement is called a planetary gear because the motion of the beater shaft resembles the rotation and orbit of a planet around its star.
A speed sensor m onitors the motor shaft and transmits information about the rate of rotation to the control board.
The beater shaft i s the business end of the mixer. Vertically spinning attachments such as a hook, paddle, or whisk fit onto this pin and lock in place against the raised button.
A spring-loaded lever l ifts the bowl and locks it into the proper position for mixing.
A hook c an take much of the manual labor out of mixing to full gluten development. The hook works just fine on sticky doughs (although you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically). So the mixer can often complete mixing without adding flour, as you would have to do with hand mixing.
Flat beater (paddle)
Flex-edge beater
Wire whisk
The mixing bowl h as a large dimple on the bottom to prevent food from getting stuck, unmixed, in the center as the stirring attachment makes its orbit. Clearances between the bowl and stirring utensil are typically quite close, so a dented bowl can cause problems. Steel bowls are not as robust as they might seem; a fall to the floor can easily ruin one.
The Ankarsrum mixer is not very common, but we like it for our glutenfree breads in particular and for mixing other paste doughs such as 100 Ă rye breads. It has one arm that performs the mixing and another that scrapes the bowl, making for a very efficient mix. Also, because the bowl itself is spinning, which translates to an open top unobstructed by the motor housing that most stand mixers have, the extra open space makes it easy to pour ingredients into the bowl.
The paddle is useful when there is too little dough for a hook attachment to “catch” it, while the flex-edge beater scrapes the sides of the bowl. We sometimes start mixing with the paddle and then switch to the hook after obtaining a homogeneous mass. We also use the paddle for doughs that are made up of mostly rye flour. The wire whisk is used to whip air into mixtures, such as the meringue used to garnish the Tarte Tropezzienne on page 288.
30
VOLUME 3: TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT
MIXING 31
Di Fr v o Sh iding m ap a ing nd
14 2
HOW TO Divide and Weigh Your Dough This is the most common method used by home bakers as well as pro-
fessionals because it’s also the most economical in terms of equipment; it requires only a bench knife and a scale. As your output increases, the process of dividing and weighing dough takes more time, which means that precision and efficiency become all the more important. We f ocus on dividing dough by hand in this particular section, but we discuss various machines used for dividing dough on page 139. We prefer to use a square or rectangular tub for storing dough because once the dough settles into the container, it will generally take the tub’s shape, unless it’s a stiff dough with low hydration. (Typically, a dough of 70% hydration or higher will settle into the shape of the tub.) For easier handling, we also suggest lightly oiling the inside
1 2 3
HOW TO Divide Dough for a Particular Shape of any storage container. When a settled dough is then turned out onto a lightly floured surface, it maintains the shape of its container. The square or rectangular shape also makes it easier to divide the dough into equal pieces. It is important for the dough to be relatively flat and uniformly thick—large variations in either aspect will make the dough hard to divide evenly. If the rectangle is uneven in thickness, fold it over onto itself. This is the best way of evening out the thickness of a dough. The part of the dough that is in contact with the work surface is the smoothest (the most uniform). Keep this smooth side facing the worktable at all times until you are ready to preshape, at which time you will turn the dough over. You’ll want to work with a clean, sharp bench knife because it will cut your dough rather than tear it. Have your scale handy.
Beyond cutting your block of dough evenly, you should also decide
what shape you’ll be forming it into. It helps to cut a preliminary form that will make it easier to shape the dough for a particular loaf. For
a
b
ecide beforehand about the type of loaves D you’ll ultimately shape and bake—and about the number of loaves you can make in sync with the recipe. ransfer the dough from the tub onto a T lightly floured surface, handling it gently so that it retains the shape of its container. entally assess how you’ll divide the dough M as shown by the guidelines at right.
Ideally, the closer you can get to cutting square pieces of dough, the better off you’ll be for shaping round loaves.
4
7
I mmediately weigh the cut piece of dough as you go to make sure it is the correct weight before cutting a new piece. Doing so can help reduce the number of hand movements and also make the process of dividing dough more efficient.
eep track of the order in which you cut and K weigh all the pieces of dough. You’ll eventually want to shape each piece in the order that you cut it.
32
Cutting long, narrow shapes would not work well for making boules but is best for making long, narrow loaves such as ciabatta.
se your bench knife to cut cleanly through the dough, all the way to the work surface. (Don’t U worry if the dough degasses when you cut through it; that’s not uncommon.)
c
5
example, if you want to shape round loaves (boules), divide your dough as illustrated in (a) rather than dividing it into long rectangles as illustrated in (b).
8
over your dough with a clean plastic bag C or tarp so that it doesn’t form a skin.
VOLUME 3: TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT
d
6
eserve one piece of dough that you can R “harvest” from, or use it to make extra pieces of dough you can add to the main piece if needed. Don’t stack the extra pieces on top of each other on the main dough; spread them out.
9
For oval loaves (bâtards), you’ll want to cut the dough into short rectangles, as shown in (c).
L et your dough rest, covered, for 10–15 minutes before you preshape it.
For rolls, divide the dough into long, even strips, as illustrated in (b). Then cut the long strips into small squares, as shown in (d). Rolls are typically small in terms of size and, therefore, weight. For baguettes, you will also need squares, albeit larger ones than those used for rolls.
DIVIDING AND SHAPING
33
Fin F al rom Pr oo f in g
HOW BUBBLES GROW IN DOUGH Mixing infuses thousands of tiny air bubbles into dough (see page 82). As the dough ferments and proofs, the b ubbles expand. Each bubble behaves like a little gluten balloon that inflates as gases of several kinds seep into the interior and then expand in response to the gas pressure. The bubbles continue
to grow during the initial stages of baking; they are what power the oven spring that enlarges the loaf. The pressurized bread then sets from the outside in. While the crust forms, reinforcing the final shape of the loaf, the pressure in each bubble rises to the bursting point.
Wheat dough rises so effectivelybecause it contains gluten. Gluten is an elastic, viscous aggregate composed of several different kinds of proteins, most notably glutenins and gliadins. The longer glutenin pieces link up to each other via disulfide bonds to form strong, stretchy polymers. These interlinked strands are among the largest protein
molecules yet identified. More compact gliadin proteins allow the dough to flow like a fluid. The ratio of gliadins to glutenins in the flour has significant impact on the handling and rising characteristics of the dough, but it varies from among varieties of wheat and is difficult to measure or control.
Disulfide bond
Gas bubble
Gluten
Glutenin
The scanning electron microscope (SEM) gives a microscopic look at a stretched piece of French lean dough. Oval granules of starch (colored purple) are trapped within the gluten network. For more on the inner workings of the SEM, see Electrons Reveal More Details.
Gliadin
Gases Starch granule
CO2
O2 Ethanol (C 2 H 6O)
N2
H2O
Ethanol
CO2
34
A blend of gases i nflates each bubble during proofing. Just after mixing, the bubbles mainly contain humid air, which includes nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and water vapor (H2O). Fermenting yeast add ethanol (C 2H6O) and lots more CO2 to the mix. The heat of baking boils water into steam, drives dissolved gases out of solution, and causes all Wheat bread is more like bubble these gases to expand. wrapthan like beer foam. Bubble wrap can support a lot of weight without popping because the plastic in the bubble walls is both strong and stretchy. The same is true of gluten, as illustrated by the experiment shown above. After proofing 250 g / 9 oz loaves of dough, we put metal plates weighing up to 2 kg / 4.41 lb on the H2O loaves, baked them, and then measured the volumes of the resulting breads. Amazingly, the weights hardly made a dent! Even the loaf carrying 2 kg / 4.41 lb on top reached 60% of normal volume.
VOLUME 3: TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT
Bubbles can grow large in wheat bread (left), thanks to its high gluten content. Rye bread (center) contains practically no gluten, so it traps less gas and has a correspondingly tighter crumb. And in gluten-free bread (right), other ingredients, such as hydrocolloids, are typically added to retain gas—but so far none can match the stretchiness of gluten.
FINAL PROOFING
35
Sc Fr o o Fin ring m ish an ing d
16 2
HOW TO Score a Baguette
THE BAGUETTE SCORE UP CLOSE
A baguette is one of the most challenging shapes to score. You have
less surface area to work with because most of the required cuts have to be made along a narrow strip, but the same rules apply: scoring needs to be deliberate (quick and assertive) and to the same depth. It’s also important that the score lines don’t overlap too much (about 1.25 cm / ½ in is enough). Decide on the number of scores you wish to make, add one to that number, and then mentally divide the dough
There’s wisdom in the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Describing how to cut something doesn’t necessarily create a clear and immediate impression, and the notion of scoring bread can be complicated for those who have limited experience with this step. In the hope of clarifying the p rocess, we turned to one of the visual techniques we’re known for: we took proofed baguette dough, froze it, and, using a band saw, cut it in half to clearly detail the desired scoring angle.
into that many sections. For example, if you plan to make five cuts, mentally divide the dough into six equal parts (see top photo below). Be sure to make your cuts in the middle third of the dough, widthwise. Practice, as they say, makes perfect, but when it comes to scoring b aguettes, even the most seasoned bakers will falter now and then, whether the challenge is the angle, the depth, or the overlap and spacing.
Problem:This cut is practically straight down, and it’s too shallow (3 mm / Ć in), which will result in minimal ear formation.
1
Mentally divide the dough lengthwise, and then visualize performing the desired number of cuts within the middle third.
Note the 45° angleof the blade and the depth of the cut (6 mm / ¼ in).
2
core the bread, overlapping the cuts slightly; cuts should be the same length, the same angle, S and 6 mm / ¼ in deep.
3
E venly space the cuts along the center of the dough’s surface.
As the water within the doughbecomes steam, the temperature rises in and around the loaf. The steam finds the path of least resistance outward, which will be toward the closest score.
THE NUMBER OF
Baguette Scores
Thanks to oven spring, t he pockets of carbon dioxide and water vapor within proofed dough will enlarge as the dough bakes. This bubble expansion creates the final crumb, which is typically more open than the bubbles in unbaked dough.
Baguettes typically have five scores, but who decided on that number? Why not one, three, or even seven? As these things often happen, there’s a “bound by tradition” reason for the count but no practical purpose cited. In fact, pick a number from one to four—however many cuts you make, fewer than five is more efficient because scoring takes less time. A lthough making a single score is the most practical approach, we’ve also bought into the five-score tradition for aesthetic reasons. But there’s no rule—at least not one that’s enforced—that says a baguette must have five scores to be called a baguette.
For more on the trends in baguette shaping in Paris, see page 154.
36
Some bakers employ the nifty trick of letting proofed dough sit uncovered in the refrigerator for about 30–45 minutes. This allows the surface to form a skin, which a blade can easily and cleanly cut through.
From left to right: five-score baguette, classic épi, one-sided epi, and three-score baguette. Cutting the dough into an epi shape will result in more crust surface area. The crust-tocrumb ratio for an epi is even more than for a typically scored baguette, whether the baguette has one, three, or five scores.
VOLUME 3: TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT
SCORING AND FINISHING
37
OUR RECIPE CHAPTERS We’ve categorized hundreds of breads and placed them into the recipe chapters shown below. We also organized the breads into family trees.
LEAN BREADS
French Lean Bread
Sourdough
Ancient Grain Bread
10o% Whole Wheat
Country-Style Bread
ENRICHED BREADS
Brioche
Sandwich Bread
RYE BREADS
High-Ryes
Challah
FLAT BREADS
Crackers
Farmer’s Bread
BRICK-LIKE BREADS
Injera
Dosa
Inflated Breads
Naan
GLUTEN-FREE BREADS
BREAD-MACHINE BREADS
Gluten-Free
High Hydration Bread
Vollkornbrot
Pumpernickel
Focaccia
Whole Grain Loaf
Pizza
BAGELS, PRETZELS, BAO
Bread Machine
Bagels
MAKING BREAD
Pretzels
Steamed Buns
39
Le Fr an om Br ea ds
20 ingredient variation GENERAL DIRECTIONS
WALNUT BREAD It’s not too common for French bakers to put inclusions in their breads, though this one—often offered with cheese courses—is a frequent exception. If you machine-mix the walnuts into the dough, however, the skin may impart a purple tinge. Alternatively, you can TOTAL TIME
DDT
DIFFICULTY
Active 27 min Inactive 20 h 31 min
24–26^ / 75–78|
Easy: all aspects
BULK FERMENT
OVENS
Deck
MIX
peel them or fold them in during the bulk fermentation process as described in the hand mix method (note that it can be tricky to evenly incorporate the nut pieces).
Home Convection Combi
A
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
NET CONTENTS
Water
385 g
1¾ cups
75.49
Ingredients
Liquid levain, mature
180 g
¾ cup + 1 Tbsp
35.29
see page TK
Bread flour
365 g
2¾ cups
71.57
Medium rye flour
145 g
1 cup
28.43
Wheat bran, toasted
45 g
¾ cup
8.82
B
Fine salt
12 g
2¼ tsp
2.12
C
Walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted
50 g
½ cup
9.80
Yield
1.14 kg
active / inactive
by hand*
mix A to a shaggy mass; autolyse 30 min; add B, and mix until homogenous
see Hand Mixing Options, page TK
by machine*
mix A to a shaggy mass; on low speed; autolyse 30 min; add B, and mix to medium gluten development; add C, and mix on low speed until fully incorporated
see Country-style Breads Machine Mixing Options, page TK
5 min / 30 min
by hand*
4 h total; 6 folds (one every 30 min after the first hour, 30 min rest after final fold); after the first fold, add C; mix with your hands using a squeeze, pull, and fold-over motion; check for full gluten development using windowpane test
see Hand Mixing, page TK see Gluten Development, page TK
by machine*
2½ h total; 2 folds (1 fold every hour after the first hour), 30 min rest after final fold; check for full gluten development using the windowpane test
see How to Perform a FourEdge Fold, page TK and Gluten Development, page TK
divide
lg boule/bâtard
sm boule/bâtard
roll
miche
0–7 min
do not divide
500 g
75 g
do not divide
see How to Divide Your Dough, page TK
preshape
boule/bâtard
boule/bâtard
boule
boule
page TK
1–7 min
rest
20 min
20 min
20 min
20 min
20 min
shape
boule/bâtard
boule/bâtard
roll
boule
1–7 min
13^ / 55|
14 h
14 h
n/a
14 h
see page TK for proofing times for rolls
4^ / 39|
12–16 h
12–16 h
n/a
12–16 h
see Final Proofing Methods, page TK, and Calling Proof, page TK; see page TK for proofing times for rolls
13 rolls
Weight
Ă
Bread flour
455 g
75.83
Medium rye flour
145 g
24.17
Water
475 g
79.17
Walnuts
50 g
8.33
Wheat bran
45 g
7.50
Salt
12 g
2
FINAL PROOF
Multiply this recipe by two for a miche.
For salt, flours, and other notes, see page TK. For notes on substitutions, see page TK.
Why does the dough turn purple? Walnut skin contains an antioxidant called DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) that has a purple hue. When you agitate the skin, the antioxidant turns the dough purple.
NOTES
4·114
DIVIDE/SHAPE
INGREDIENTS
PROCEDURE
YIELD / SHAPES
1 lg boule or bâtard 2 sm boules or bâtards
TIME
38–41 min
5 min / 4 h 5 min / 2½ h
12–16 h
SCORE
for scoring options, see page TK
30 s–1 min
BAKE
see the Country-style Breads Baking Times and Temperatures table, page TK
15 min–1 hr
TOTAL TIME
by hand by machine
*choose by hand or machine
32 min / 21 h 50 min 27 min / 20 h 31 min
You can substitute other nuts for the walnuts, such as pecans, hazelnuts, or almonds. Some bakers add cranberries, too, which is a classic pairing with walnuts. If you would like to add cranberries, use 50 g / 1.76 oz / 9.80 Ă. You can also shape this dough into a baguette: divide the dough into three 330 g pieces, then see instructions for shaping baguettes, page TK. For baking instructions, see page TK. When mixing by hand, you may need to perform more folds and lengthen bulk fermentation time to fully develop the gluten, especially when using inclusions.
Though walnuts aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, they add a textural component and a savory meatiness to bread. Their aroma is attributed to a combination of molecules derived from their oil. However, they are also high in polyunsaturated linoleic acid, a factor that makes them prone to rancidity. Because of this, walnuts should always be stored in the freezer.
1 104 4
VVOOL LUUMMEE 44: : RREECCI IPPEESS I
D I V I DLLIENEAGANNABNBRRDEEASADHDSA P I N G
1 4 1 51
Le Fr an om Br ea ds
26 20
BANH MI ROLLS
ingredient variation
FILONE
Banh mi is one echo of the French colonization of Vietnam. The term translates literally as “wheat bread” and refers to a baguette-like loaf or smaller roll that has a slightly softer crust and tighter crumb than French baguettes. Banh mi has also become synonymous with a sandwich, made on these loaves, of pickled vegetables, cilantro sprigs, fresh chilies, and meat or tofu.
The filone is another Italian bread that is sometimes compared with the baguette, though as with the pane francese (see page TK), the dough is in the high-hydration spectrum so has more rustic character than the baguette. Filone loaves are often a bit shorter and broader than the slender French loaf. This dough uses protein-rich durum flour, which contributes its distinctive flavor and yellowish hue to the bread. DDT
TOTAL TIME
Active 35 min Inactive 4 h 54 min
24–26^ / 75–78|
DIFFICULTY
Easy: dough
OVENS
Advanced: shaping (baguette)
YIELD / SHAPES
3 baguettes or short baguettes
Combi Convection Home
Deck
TOTAL TIME
DDT
Active 35 min Inactive 3 h 48 min
24–26^ / 75–78|
4 ficelles A
INGREDIENTS
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
For the Poolish
B
C
Ingredients
Weight
Ă
Bread flour
485 g
84.26
D
Shortening or lard, melted and cooled
100 g
½ cup
16.67
Yeast
7 g
1.17
Salt
6 g
1
0.55
Yield
1.00 kg
1¼ cups
65
Instant dry yeast
3 g
1Ć tsp
0.75
GENERAL DIRECTIONS MIX
NOTES
active / inactive 12 h
preferment
mix the poolish 12 h before using
page TK
MIX
by hand*
dissolve A; add B and mix to a shaggy mass; autolyse 20– 30 minutes; add C, and mix until homogenous
see How to Mix in a Tub, page TK
5 min / 20–30 min
by machine*
dissolve A; add B and mix to a shaggy mass; autolyse 20– 30 minutes; add C, and mix to medium gluten development
see French Lean Bread Machine Mixing Options, page TK
38–44 min
see How to Perform a Four-Edge Fold, page TK and Gluten Development, page TK
5 min / 3½ h
3–5 min 3–5 min
DIVIDE/SHAPE
FINAL PROOF
by hand*
3½ h total; 3 folds (1 fold every hour after the first hour), 30 min rest after final fold; check for full gluten development
by machine*
2 h total; 2 folds (1 fold every hour after the first hour), 30 min rest after final fold
divide
baguette/short baguette
ficelle
350 g
250 g
see How to Divide Your Dough, page TK
preshape
baguette
baguette
see page TK
rest
20 min
20 min
shape
baguette
ficelle
27^ / 80| 65% RH
45 min–1 h
30–45 min
21^ / 70|
1–1½ h
45 min–1 h
30 min–1½ h
BAKE
for baking details, see French Lean Bread Baking Times and Temperatures, page TK; crisp crust requires steam
10–20 m
by hand by machine V O L U M E 4 : R E C I P E SI
DIVIDE/SHAPE
see How to Mix in a Tub, page TK
by machine*
see French Lean Bread mix A to dissolve the yeast; add B and mix to a shaggy mass; Machine Mixing Options, autolyse 30 min; add C and mix to low gluten development; pour D in and mix on medium speed to full gluten development page TK
36–38 min
1 h; book fold after the first 30 min
see How to Perform a Four-Edge Fold, page TK
5 min / 1 h
baguette
5–7 min 5–7 min
FINAL PROOF
divide
active / inactive
250 g
see How to Divide Your Dough, page TK
preshape
baguette
see page TK
rest
15–20 min
shape
20 cm / 8 in baguette
29^ / 85|
30–45 min
21^ / 70|
1–1½ h
10–12 min / 30 min
15–20 min 5–7 min see Final Proofing Methods, page TK, and Calling Proof, page TK
30 min–1½ h
SCORE
chill the dough uncovered for 10 min; single score down the center
30 s–1 min
BAKE
bake to an internal temperature of 90–93^ / 195–200|; crisp crust requires steam
10–20 min
TOTAL TIME
by hand by machine
*choose by hand or machine
39 min / 3 h 40 min 35 min / 3 h 48 min
3–5 min see Final Proofing Methods, page TK, and Calling Proof, page TK
30 s–1 m
52 4
mix A to dissolve the yeast; add B and mix to a shaggy mass; autolyse 30 min; add C and mix to low gluten development; pour D in and mix to full gluten development
20 min
single score down the center; see Scoring, page TK
*choose by hand or machine
by hand*
BULK FERMENT
5 min / 2 h
SCORE
TOTAL TIME
NOTES
TIME
PROCEDURE
TIME
PROCEDURE (choose by hand or machine)
PREP
BULK FERMENT
B
For salt, flours, and other notes, see page TK. For notes on substitutions, see page TK.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS
(choose by hand or machine)
100 57.50
1.93
260 g
1.00 kg
600 g 345 g
16.67
Water
Yield
Flour
100 g
3.17 g
2.75
1.17
Fat
Yeast
2 tsp
2½ tsp
1
For the Dough
11 g
7 g
Ă
1Ć tsp
11.00 g
Fine salt
Instant dry yeast, osmotolerant
Weight
6 g
Salt
21.25
Ingredients
Fine salt
0.10
½ cup
57.50
C
15.74 75.44
85 g
1½ cup
3.33
85 g
Durum flour
345 g
20 g
430 g
78.75
Water
Sugar
Durum flour
85
NET CONTENTS
3.33
Water
2Ą cups
Ă
2 tsp
100
all from above
VOLUME
20 g
¾ cup
315 g
WEIGHT
Sugar
170 g
340 g
INGREDIENTS
100
Water
Bread flour
4 baguette rolls
4½ cups
100
Poolish
Deck Combi Convection Home
600 g
1¼ cups Ċ tsp
YIELD / SHAPES
Bread flour
170 g 0.17 g
Advanced: shaping
Easy: mixing
OVENS
Water
Bread flour Instant dry yeast A
NET CONTENTS
DIFFICULTY
Our version of banh mi is soft crumbed and crispy crusted, just like all the bahn mi we have tasted. It is hard to tell this bread apart from the Mexican bolillo (pronounced “bo-lee-yo”) that is used for making the classic Mexican sandwich called a torta. In fact, we would suggest using them for the same purpose.
We highly recommend mixing this dough with a machine rather than by hand as it is a rather firm dough and you must achieve full gluten development. Doing so by hand is time-consuming. If you use an 8 qt stand mixer, we recommend doubling this recipe so there is enough dough for the mixer to catch all the ingredients.
26 min / 6 h 10 min 35 min / 4 h 54 min
LEAN BREADS
53 4
Le Fr an om Br ea ds
26 20
SOURDOUGH WITH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PUREES These variations each use a different puree, with an adjusted amount of water (relative to the amount of water the puree provides), and an inclusion such as corn kernels or chocolate chips for added flavor and texture. The purees are added to the water portion of the dough and mixed according to the Sourdough master recipe (see page TK). The inclusions are added as per the mixing instructions in the Black Currant and Marcona Almond Sourdough on page TK.
INGREDIENTS
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
Bread flour
480 g
3¼ cups
100
Fruit or vegetable puree
X
X
X
Water
Y
Y
Y
Liquid levain, mature
195 g
¾ cup
40.63
1 g
½ tsp
0.21
see page TK
Diastatic malt powder* Fine salt
12 g
2¼ tsp
2.41
Inclusion
Z
Z
Z
For salt, flours, and other notes, see page TK. For notes on substitutions, see page TK. *Optional: Diastatic malt powder (DMP) is recommended if you are cold-proofing your dough for more than 12 hours. For more on DMP, see page TK.
Cherry Pie and Chocolate Chip Sourdough Hominy and Mole Sourdough
INGREDIENTS
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
X
Cherry pie filling (canned)*
145 g
ą cup**
30.20
215 g
1 cup
44.79
ą cup
20.83
INGREDIENTS
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
Y
Water
X
Hominy, canned, solids drained*
190 g
2½ cups**
39.53
Z
Chocolate chips, bake proof*** 100 g
Y
Water
165 g
¾ cup
34.37
Z
Mole paste***
30 g
2 Tbsp
6.25
* Puree the hominy in a blender to a smooth paste. If the hominy isn’t pureeing easily, add some water from the recipe to the blender. **Before pureeing ***Mole paste can be found in most specialty Mexican grocery stores or online. See Resources, page TK. Dissolve into the water portion of the dough.
*Puree the pie filling whole in a blender. You can substitute blueberry pie filling or apple pie filling. **Before pureeing ***See Resources, page TK; add after the dough has reached medium gluten development.
Huitlacoche and Yellow Corn Sourdough INGREDIENTS
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
X
Huitlacoche*
100 g
½ cup**
20.83
Y
Water
235 g
1 cup
48.95
Z
Yellow corn (whole kernels, fro- 70 g zen or fresh)***
Ą cup
14.58
Pistachio Sourdough
*Huitlacoche is not readily available at many grocery stores, but it is likely you will find prepared cans or jars of it in specialty Mexican grocery stores; if this is how you find it, do not drain the liquid. Puree the contents of the jar in a blender until smooth (canned Huitlacoche is already seasoned and is sometimes spicy). Huitlacoche is also available frozen. Blend 70 g of the puree with 30 g of water in a blender until smooth. See Resources, page TK. **Before pureeing ***Add the corn after the dough has reached medium gluten development.
INGREDIENTS
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
X
Pistachio paste*
100 g
½ cup
20.83
Y
Water
315 g
1Ą cup
65.62
Z
Toasted pistachios**
100 g
¾ cup
20.83
*See Resources, page TK. Pistachio paste contains no water. Note that this much fat puts this sourdough in enriched dough territory. **See page TK on how to toast nuts; add after the dough has reached medium gluten development.
Aji Amarillo and Roasted Purple Potato Sourdough
Bosc Pear and Toasted Coconut Sourdough
INGREDIENTS
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
X
Aji amarilo, canned, solids drained*
145 g
½ cup + 2 Tbsp**
30.20
INGREDIENTS
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Ă
Y
Water
200 g
¾ cup + 3 Tbsp 41.66
X
Pears*
100 g
½ cup**
20.83
Z
Roasted purple potatoes***
100 g
¾ cup
Y
Water
235 g
1 cup + 3 Tbsp
41.66
Z
Toasted dried coconut flakes***
100 g
1¼ cup
20.83
*You can use fresh pears for this (make sure they are ripe). We prefer Bosc pears for this recipe, but you can use any variety that you like. You will need to peel and core the pears, and then puree them with the water amount in the recipe. You can also use canned pears (strain the pears; do not use the syrup) or store-bought pear purees. **Before pureeing ***Use unsweetened coconut; add after the dough has reached medium gluten development.
7 24 4
V O L U M E 4 : R E C I P E SI
20.83
* Puree the aji amarillo in a blender to a smooth paste. If the aji amarillo isn’t pureeing easily, add some water from the recipe to the blender. Aji can be found in most specialty Latin American grocery stores or online. See Resources, page TK. **Before pureeing ***See procedure for roasting potatoes, page TK; add after the dough has reached medium gluten development.
Huitlacoche and Yellow Corn Sourdough Pistachio Butter and Toasted Pistachio
LEAN BREADS
75 3 4
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