Bread Baking: An Artisan's Perspective

Preface ix

1 The History of Bread Making 1

A Brief History of Bread Making 2

Bread’s Impact on Basic Survival 2

A Cornerstone of Civilization 2

How Bread Began 3

Bread: An Accidental Creation 3

Mechanized Bread Making 6

Direct Mixing Method 7

World War II and Its Aftermath 7

The Intensive Mix Method 8

Rescue Arrives —The Improved Mix Method 9

Renewed Interest in Great Bread 11

2 Ingredients and Their Effects 13

Ingredients for Baking Bread 14

The Most Important Ingredient: Flour 14

Wheat Dough Can Inflate 15

The Wheat Berry 15

Wheat Classification 16

Other Grains 18

Water 19

Salt 20

Yeast 21

Sweeteners 23

Fats and Oils 23

Milk Products 24

Eggs 24

Nuts, Seeds, Grains, and Dried Fruits 25

Using Whole Grains 25

Herbs and Spices 27

3 Basic Baker’s Percentage (Baker’s Math) 31

An International Language for Bakers 32

It’s All in the Percentages 32

Changing Batch Sizes 35

Find the Total Flour Weight: Using the Percentage Sum 36

Discrepancies in Batch Size 38

When You Have Two or More Flours 38

4 Mixing Methods 41

The First 10,000 Years: Hand Mixing 42

Two Stages in the Dough Mixing Process 42

Dough Transformation During Mixing 43

Precursors to Mechanized Mixing 43

Mechanization Arrives: The Short Mix Method 44

Intensive Mix Method 44

The Improved Mix Method 47

Is There a Best Mixing Method? 47

Special Circumstances or Exceptions 50

5 Fermentation 61

Fermentation: A Process of Transformation 62

Does Fermentation Create or Destroy? 62

Fermentation of Bread Dough 63

Yeast Fermentation: Produces Carbon Dioxide and Alcohol 64

Bacterial Fermentation: Produces Organic Acids 65

Nonliving Organic Substances: Esters and Enzymes 66

Manipulating Fermentation: Time, Temperature, and Hydration 67

Pre-Ferments: How to Shorten Fermentation Time While Increasing Strength and Flavor 68

Natural Pre-Ferments 70

6 Division and Shaping of Loaves and Rolls 77

Giving Form to Dough 78

The First Step: Division 78

Shaping Loaves and Rolls 82

7 Proofing and Retarding 105

Proofing Defined 106

Judging the Readiness of Proofed Loaves 106

Proofing versus Bulk Fermentation 107

Collapse of Overproofed Dough 107

Gas Production in Successful Proofing 107

Changing the Temperature of Dough 108

Yeast Quantity in Dough 110

The Degradation of Dough Structure 110

Retarding Loaves of Bread 111

Dough Degradation in Retarding 113

Specialized Equipment for Proofing and Retarding Loaves of Bread 113

8 Baking 121

Baking Transforms Raw Dough 122

Recognizing When Loaves are Ready to Be Baked 122

Scoring Loaves 122

Baking Temperature 125

Using Steam 127

How to Judge the Doneness of Bread 130

The Importance of Cooling Bread after Baking 131

9 Rich and Laminated Doughs 137

The Effects Ingredients Have on Dough 138

Strategies for Turning Lean Dough into Rich Dough 139

Why Not Just Add the Fat to the Dough? 139

Lamination Defined 140

The Lamination Process 142

Differences between Croissant Dough and Danish Dough 148

Some Caveats in Working with Laminated Dough Products 149

Shaping Croissants and Danish 149

10 Creating Dough Formulas 155

Formulation: How Can We Design Our Own Reliable Bread Dough? 156

Choose Your Ingredients 157

Create a Formula, Not Just a Recipe 159

Advanced Topic #1: Flour Composition and Milling Technology 173

Elements of the Wheat Endosperm 173

The Milling Process 178

Advanced Topic #2: Advanced Baker’s Percentage 181

Using Pre-Ferments in Formula Creation 181

Which Pre-Ferment Should You Use? 183

Advanced Topic #3: Controlling Fermentation: Living and Nonliving Players 185

Controlling Yeast Activity 185

Controlling Bacterial Activity 186

Enzymes: Amylase and Protease 187

Advanced Topic #4: Decorative Dough Pieces 189

Working with Decorative Dough 189

Types of Decorative Dough 189

Appendix: Formulas 193

Glossary 237

Bibliography 247

Index 249