the key points of baking high quality French/Italian style breads are as follows... (a) start with high quality flour of ideal gluten ratio. gold medal flour has additives iirc, but for some reason tastes better than king arthur and a few other brands on the market. again iirc, i think the gluten percent in G.M. is about 10.5%. (c) the water you start with must be above room temperature but below body temperature. you will get better results if you filter your water first, or use distilled or non-chlorinated water, to promote yeast growth (b) as you get more experience you should be able to add in the non-flour ingredients (dont try anything else until you master bread of only flour, yeast, salt and water) completely by eye and touch only. i havent measured anything in bread with an actual measuring cup or tsp/tbsp measure for years. yeast should be maybe an even tablespoon for your medium-large sized breads. salt should never exceed 1.5 tsp for the same amount, unless youre trying to make hard tack or something. water is added as follows... (c) form a volcano shape of the dry ingredients. stir in the water into the middle of it, trying to incorporate the dough together and add the water evenly. you will know you have added enough water specifically when the dough starts to look scraggly, like one of those green wire scrubbers looks after youve scrubbed with it until its in tatters. stop adding water at this point and work the dough until its of even consistency. your kneading should involved stretching it to 2x width, folding over, squeezing around the edges to stretch again, kneeding again. the qualities of the bread while kneading will depend entirely on the temperature of the water youre using (!) - cold water will prevent you from working the dough well, it will be too tense and youll know its too cold because itll revert to its previous shape after you stretch it, and also tend to tear. (d) the flavor of the dough will completely change depending upon how long you let it sit - refrigerated or non-refrigerated, preferably the former - after mixing and kneading it initially. this is called a pre-ferment by professional bakers. this allows the dough to develop flavor and has noticeable effect on its chemical qualities. (e) a period of pre-rising, interleaved with folding and light kneading, after you take it out of the fridge (where it should have been for at least 12 hours) is essential. it should rise in as warm of a place as possible, covered with a towel to prevent moisture loss - a radiator, a fireplace, above an oven emitting heat (dont start a fire)... this, along with proper gluten development, is what enables bread to have the huge puffy holes of good italian bread like ciabatta, focaccia, etc., or good french bread like baguettes... (f) understand the qualities of how bread is affected by baking practices after you add it to the oven. the outside of the bread can be treated very lightly with white flour (can ruin the bread with overuse, but kind of fancy with light use), with corn meal or related (chewier, corn-flavored, a little more strange), or oil (more common in italian breads like focaccia - strongly promotes heat transfer to the outside of the bread). the temperature of the oven is paramount. 375 degrees is the absolute bare minimum for any bread - raising the temperature from there is going to decrease cooking time and decrease crust thickness, from a typical 1/3cm crust thickness you get at that temperature, and 10-30 minute cooking time (every oven behaves differently for temperature settings, so use your eyes and your nose) - if your oven goes up as high as 550 or 600 you can get a very thin crisp on the crust, like you get in a commercial pizzeria... (g) even after all that, you can ruin your bread if you fail to cool it properly or cut it prematurely (unless all the moisture has left, in which case you can cut it quickly after its taken out of the oven). breads of any appreciable thickness must be cooled on a wire rack or the closest thing available to it, otherwise theyll get soggy and unpalatable. likewise, cutting your bread can mush it together along the cut, making it act like dough instead of bread where most of the moisture has left (h) enriched breads (breads with oil) are very tasty even though theyre bad with you... ive had a ton of success using infusions of herbs in olive oil, mostly oregano, basil, etc.. oil which is added, around the edges of a bread, especially near the edge of a pan, will promote the development of browning crispiness like in french fries, which can be delicious. caramelized onions, tomato preparations are also great on breads (should be added later in bake to avoid burning or even overcooking)... i used to use cheese but shun the practice now. preparations with ingredients like field roast chao (iirc its coconut oil and tapioca flour) may be interesting as stuffings for bread, without the ethical, nutritional and taste problems associated with dairy cheese. oil enrichment inside the bread should be balanced with oil treatment on the outside of the bread... too much oil inside the bread can ruin its texture, development and taste, and make it too greasy to eat...a well-oiled edge of a bread, lightly oiled top, and very lightly oiled inside is a nice theme... (Y)
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:00:52 +0000
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