Nerding out on bread

Some weeks ago I was approached by the ABC through a very good friend about an interview on bread. I also provided a set of notes, and the interview was very well received, with hundreds of downloads. What follows is the notes I offered, which pretty much distil breadmaking into the essence of what it needs to be.

Nerding out on Bread!

Actually – the intent is exactly the opposite. There is nothing quite as nerdy as a bread nerd in full swing, and that adds a lot of mystery to what is a simple process with a bunch of complexities (see – back in the nerdiness already!).

When I started making bread I didn’t understand the difference between a recipe written by a chef and those scribed by a baker (FYI – Chefs don’t always get it right…) – and I definitely didn’t understand the importance of hydration, fermentation time, acid development and importance of the right flour. What I hope to do in this piece is to provide a couple of developmental shortcuts based on my own experiences and observations, and get you to making consistently delicious bread. I have tri ed to keep the science out of it as much as possible – but let me know when you want to get your nerd properly on – and make it practical. My aim is that everybody has access to fresh, delicious bread that can come out of your own kitchen oven. Full disclaimer – right now my breads are made in a shitty, tiny oven that struggles to get to anything like the temperature it needs to. But we cope, and our bread is good.

First up – the definitions and technical stuff:

·         Sourdough or yeast doughs: Depends on your timeframe and what you want out of your bread. Sourdough definitely takes longer, but there are recognised health benefits from the additional fermentation. Yeasted doughs can be made with long fermentation also, and can taste every bit as good as a sourdough. This is absolutely personal preference.

·         Hydration. This is a really important concept, and refers to the ratio of water in the recipe to flour. The wetter the dough, the more difficult it is to work. At the same time, you can get more lift in your dough, and a better ‘crack’ on your crust.

·         Flour. Not all flours are equal. You absolutely need a high protein flour. Protein refers to the gluten content in the flour, and without it there will be nothing to support your bread as it rises. Look for a protein content of at least 11%.

·         Gluten. Gluten is a protein that forms a web of fine strands that stretch and trap carbon dioxide in the dough as it proofs. Carbon dioxide is released by the yeast as it feeds on the sugars/starches in the flour.

·         Regardless of the type of bread you are making, you will have yeast. It will either be a commercial, predictable agent that you add, or a wild, natural beastie that you culture through a process of nurturing and love. Yeast can be frozen, and is killed with heat – when it passes through 56 degrees Celsius from memory.

·         Proofing. Is the process where dough is left to rise – or for the yeast to convert the sugars in the dough. You will often see this in a recipe written as “leave in a warm place until doubled in size”.

·         Time. The constraints given in recipes are often unrealistic, and rely on the overuse of yeast. The bread is ready when it is ready… Unlike almost all other kitchen processes, you don’t get to control your bread. At best, it is a mutually rewarding relationship – ie you should do as you are told, and work with the dough when it is ready.

·         Heat vs Cold. Dough will rise at cool temperatures, just more slowly. The longer a dough ferments, the more flavour it develops. You can absolutely make a dough and leave it in the fridge (covered) overnight. It will take a little longer to be ready to bake when you get going in the morning but that is OK. Get it started, have a coffee and walk the dog. If you want it ready earlier, then get out of bed earlier!

·         Bakers Percentage. You probably wont see this bandied about too much in a Chef’s cookbook, but it is a really simple concept that makes life really simple. It is a game of ratios, where everything is measured against the flour in a recipe which is always 100%. This helps in recipe development to, and you can set up a really simple excel spreadsheet to help if you are so minded. By way of example: A recipe with 50% hydration means that for every 100gm of flour, the recipe has 50 gm of water. You can also work backwards – if you are making 500 gm loaves, and want a recipe for three loaves, then your dough weight needs to be 1500gm. Using a 50% hydration, you will need to develop a recipe with 1kg of flour (but more about that later).

·         Cooking temperature. Regardless of what the books tell you I reckon that domestic ovens just don’t get hot enough. For bread making at home, just crank up the dial as far as it goes. The big trend at the present time is to bake in a dutch oven. What this does is to more closely mimic a commercial baking environment – but it does have its limitations. I don’t use it, as my baking volume is just too much, and I don’t want to be limited to a single loaf shape. I just bake on a steel tray in a standard oven (for now – I do have my eye on a stone deck bakers oven when the house is completed!)

·         Steam. Is steam important? In a word yes. It will help keep the skin of the dough moist during the initial part of the cooking process. If the skin dries out too much, you run the risk of the crust forming too early, and the finished loaf being overly heavy. I generally find that when the oven is full, there is enough humidity in the dough to provide steam. The best way to inject a form of control is to keep a tray in the bottom of the oven. As soon as you load your dough into the oven, pour a little boiling water into the tray.

·         Oven spring. This is another one of those ‘wanky’ bakers terms that will mark you as a certified bread nerd when you start critiquing your and others loaves (as in “Nice oven spring – its gunna be a good loaf…”). Oven spring refers to the immediate cooking process that occurs when the loaf is first loaded into an oven. The yeast that is in the loaf has a final burst of development up until it reaches that magical temperature of 56 degrees Celsius.

Now for the recipes:

Simple yeasted dough

Ingredient	Percentage	Test
Flour	100%	1kg
Water	65%	650 gm
Salt	2%	20 gm
Yeast (Instant, dried)	0.5%	5gm

 Method: Mix all ingredients together, and bring together into a shaggy mass. Tip out onto a bench and knead together until the dough comes together into a smooth ball. The knead time should be 10-15 minutes, and the best way to learn to knead is to just do it… There are a number of demonstrations videos on You Tube, and a number of methods that all work. My recommendation is to look at stretching and folding as a preference. (Note – packets of yeast are 7 gm, and there is no problem using the whole packet in this recipe. I just like to go slow in the fermentation).

Cover your dough, and leave to proof. The temperature of your proofing environment will determine the time it takes for proof, but a rule of thumb is that the dough needs to double in size. Knock the dough back, and scale into the loaf sizes you want. In my kitchen I use the following scale weights:

Bread rolls: 120-130gm

English Muffins: 100gm

Baguettes: 350gm

Loaves: 650gm

Roll the dough into a ball, tucking the edges under (this helps build ‘surface tension’ that lets the dough expand properly in the oven. Without proper tension, the loaf runs the risk of falling flat in the oven – particularly when working with higher hydration). Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Shape the dough into the shape you want, and leave to proof for a final 45 minutes before baking. Again, look into shaping demonstrations on You Tube to get your method correct – it definitely affects the quality loaf you end up with.

Most loaves will take about 25-35 minutes to bake. The best test is to tap the loaf on the bottom when you think it is done – if it sounds hollow it is done. Pull it out of the oven, and rest on a rack to cool, and set the loaf. Try and wait at least an hour or two before you attack the loaf…

A word on crust colour: I like a dark crust, with a bit of depth to it. The colouration of a crust is more about caramelisation than burn – and if you want to get a real nerd on, research the Maillard reaction…

Sourdough

The first thing you need to do is to build and then maintain a starter. This is a very simple process when you get going, and has the advantage of extending the fermentation time. There are plenty of tips online for how to create your own starter. I currently use two starters:

·         Harriet – I built this starter when I first came to Australia in 2000, and have used it through a multitude of postings across Australia and a couple of deployments…

·         Johnny – I have recently been given this starter. It is a 200+ year old culture, originating in Turkey. This is only fed with wholemeal flour.

Both cultures are very different, and make very different (but equally delicious) bread. Both of my starters are what is called a liquid starter (the other option is a ‘stiff’ starter), and the recipe below is based on that. If you start reading bread books, you will start to see the term ‘levain’ – this is the French translation and is interchangeable with starter.

I keep my starter in the fridge between bake days, and bring it out a couple of days prior. There is nothing scientific about my feeding schedule, except that it makes for a very active culture! I have left my starter in the fridge for up to 8 months without feeding/baking with it (typically when deployed overseas). It develops a grey liquid on top of the starter – just pour this off (don’t drink!) and start a feeding schedule again. When getting ready to bake, I will feed every 12 hours, and try to feed 3-4 times before mixing dough. It is as simple as taking a spoonful of starter, and stirring in equal quantities (by weight) of flour and water. Cover and leave on the bench until the next feed. A good healthy starter will slowly increase in volume over 6-8 hours, and then collapse a little. The choice of when to use your starter is a matter of preference, but a guide is that the culture will be sweet as it increases in volume, and then become more sour after it collapses.

My basic recipe follows:

Ingredient	Percentage	Test
Flour	100%	1kg
Water	66%	660 gm
Salt	2.66%	26 gm
Starter	45%	450gm

Method: is the same as for yeasted doughs, but just remember that things will take a little longer.

Many commercial bakeries will add a little bit of yeast into their sourdoughs. This will assist in providing a little more standardisation to the process. I like the challenge of seeing what comes through at the end of the process! If you do want to add a little yeast, then it would be no more than about 2gms per kg (of flour).

I don’t use baskets to do my final proof. Instead I have canvas cloths that I dust with rice flour and semolina (to prevent sticking), and fold the cloth in between each loaf to help it hold its shape.

Recipe variations:

The base recipes above can be manipulated in many ways depending on what you are looking to achieve. Some of those options are as follows:

·         Flour – Instead of just using white flour, try adding Spelt or Wholegrain flour (up to about 40-50%)

·         Liquid – if you want a slightly richer dough, switch out some of the water for milk

·         For sourdoughs, play with the starter percentage. Just remember that the starter is 50:50 flour:water, so include that in the recipe calculations. I have done breads with anything from 15-45% starter

·         If you are making pizza dough, add a little olive oil into the dough. This increases the extensibility of the dough.

·         I don’t add sugar, but a honey wholewheat bread is lovely.

Tips:

·        Retard the dough. This just means to slow down the development of the dough by chilling it. You can successfully retard the dough for up to three days before baking. This can help in the home kitchen by allowing you to work within your own schedules.

·         Preferments. This is specifically the case for yeasted doughs, and allows for some of the development that you get in a sourdough. It is as simple as taking some of the flour and water from a recipe, mixing it together and letting it slowly start to ferment overnight. Use equal quantities (by weight), and enjoy the results.

·         Developing your own recipes.  I suggest recording what you are doing in a journal. That will aid you in determining what it is you are doing well/to your taste for further replication.

·         Shaping the dough. Watch videos. I reckon I did it wrong for at least 10 years…

·         Scoring the dough. Scoring is done to provide a direction for steam to escape as the bread rises in the oven. It allows you to define how the bread should form in the oven.

·         Bench work. Don’t feel like you need to add flour to your bench when you are working with the dough – all you end up doing is mucking your planned hydration levels. It might seem counter-intuitive, but when the dough starts to stick, first try wetting your fingers instead of using flour.

Most importantly – Have fun! The bread you bake will be more rewarding than anything you can buy.

I have had some really good feedback, including from a retired baker, whose family has been in bread since 1863! John would like to share his family starter with me - would be a stablemate to Harriet and "Jam Jar Johnny"...