Bread in novels:
There's another book called
Bread Alone. It's a quiet novel written by my good friend Judi
Hendricks, and it, too, is wonderful. Much of the story takes place in a Seattle
bakery, and Judi confided in me that she loves Daniel Leader's Bread
Alone so much she named her novel after it.
I've read it
at least three five or six times, and it always inspires me to bake
bread. The sequel, The Baker's Apprentice is a delicious read as well.
Yet another
similarly titled book is Sarah-Kate Lynch's By
Bread Alone, a quirky novel I enjoy re-reading every couple of
years.
2. Start with the best
ingredients.
Depending on your point of
view, this may sound either completely obvious or totally unnecessary. Flour is
flour, right? Water is water? But when you are creating something with only four
basic ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast), the quality of those ingredients
is crucial.
Wheat that is grown in dead soil and doused with chemical
pesticides and herbicides, then sprayed with more pesticides once it's been
harvested and is sitting in storage so it doesn't get bugs in it (yes, this is
what is often done), and then highly processed and chemically bleached so
that it's nice and white—this flour will never give you great bread.
Organic flour is
the way to go. Stoneground if possible. It's hard to find stoneground white
flour, but Heartland Mill produces their white flours using equipment that
is very kind to the wheat. I use organic bread flour (sometimes called
high-gluten flour) for sourdough loaves, pizza
dough, and combined with organic all-purpose flour in other breads
like Farmhouse
White.
Water should be
pure. My water comes from a spring-fed, 300-foot deep well (actually 600 feet
deep if you figure we're already 300 feet down in a valley). It's run through a
large outdoor filter, and then I filter it again once it comes out of the tap.
Municipal tap water is full of chlorine and often other contaminants. These do
not make good bread.
Salt is a chic
ingredient these days, and some of it is incredibly expensive. There are many
natural alternatives to common table salt, which is pretty nasty stuff. Sea salt
is nice, but it can be heavily processed, and some people recomment not using
any sort of sea salt since our oceans have become so polluted. Kosher salt, a
coarse salt which can come from either mines or the sea, contains no
additives.
Look around, see what you can find, what you like the taste
of, and experiment with it.
Yeast is always a
topic of hot debate among bread bakers. Some highly respected professionals
swear by "instant" yeast—which can be mixed right into the dry ingredients—while
others refuse to even utter the words.
Fresh yeast is another hot topic;
again, some people swear by it, while others say it's too much trouble as it
doesn't stay fresh for long and can be hard to find. I've never baked with it.
My sourdough loaves don't use any added yeast. Once you have a sourdough
starter, that's all you need.
If you do use yeast, make
sure that it's alive—no matter what kind. I use instant yeast, which I buy in
economical
one pound bags . I store it in the freezer where it keeps for over a
year, though others say it won't, and still others say you should never, ever
freeze yeast; see how it can get really confusing?
You can read more
about the different types of yeast available here.
Oatmeal Toasting Bread 'Old' Dough (oatmeal bread
recipe here)
3. Use a sourdough starter or a
sponge or a poolish or a lump of old dough.
There are all different
types of 'starters.' Some are made in a few hours, some in a few days, and some
live in your fridge forever.
If you make bread two days in a row, you can
just save a lump of dough from the first batch and mix it into the second, or
you can freeze it for another time, like the Oatmeal
Toasting Bread dough pictured above.
Any kind of starter will
vastly improve the crust, crumb, and flavor of your loaves. It's simply a matter
of finding which one works for you. I've had my two sourdough starters
('regular' and rye) for nearly four years. The older they get, the better they
make your bread. I made them using the directions in Bread Alone.
4. Find a wooden dough
bowl and use it forever.
Update: While I still love using
my wooden bowls, most of the time I now let my dough ferment (the first rise) in
a straight-sided
food grade plastic container with a snap-on lid, which makes it easy to
see when the dough has doubled in size. There's no need to grease or flour the
container.
This is the bread baker's equivalent of the cast
iron skillet. The more you mix and rise your dough in it, the more
seasoned it becomes. Clean it with only a plastic scraper and a damp cloth. Wash
it with water if you must, but never use soap (though if you buy a used wooden
bowl, you'll need to clean it thoroughly with soapy water and soak it briefly in
a mild bleach solution before the first use).
Old yeast cells will
survive in the bowl, enhancing fermentation and building flavor in your doughs.
I've been using the same
antique wooden bowl for a dozen years. It's four inches high and about 13 inches
from rim to rim. It will hold enough dough to make three good-sized loaves.
Every so often I take a cloth and rub almond
oil or food
grade mineral oil into the wood to keep it from drying out. It
should really be done once a month. You can also use almond oil and mineral oil
on wood cutting boards and rolling pins.
New wooden bowls are available
in various sizes, or you might luck out and find one at an antiques store or
flea market or on ebay. Old bowls are often very pricey though, because
decorators and antiques collectors love them.
If you want to buy a new
wooden bowl, I would check out The Bowl Mill in Vermont. I haven't purchased any of their
bowls, but they appear to be of superior quality and workmanship. If treated
properly, a wooden dough bowl should last for many years.
Whether you
decide to buy a new wooden bowl or an old one, remember that you don't want one
that has been painted or stained or is cracked.
5. Sprinkle in the
flour and stir like crazy.
When you're mixing up your
dough, add only about a handful of flour at a time. Use your whole arm to stir,
making wide sweeping motions (I use a wooden spoon.) This will "whip" the dough
and allow the gluten to develop.
This technique works best with a wide,
shallow bowl. Take several minutes to mix in all the flour, saving one cup to
add while kneading. Then turn the bread out onto a floured surface and begin
kneading it.
6. Give it a rest and
then add the salt.
Honey
whole grain dough ready for a little rest
This tip not only greatly
improves nearly any type of bread, but it also allows you to decrease your
kneading time (which improves the bread even more). Autolyse (pronounced
AUTO-lees and used as both a noun and a verb) is a French word that refers to a
rest period given to dough during the kneading process.
When making your dough,
mix together only the water, yeast, flour, and grains until it forms a shaggy
mass. Knead it for several minutes, and then cover the dough and let it rest for
20 minutes. I simply leave the dough on the floured counter and put my wooden
bowl over it.
During this time, the gluten will relax and the dough will
absorb more water, smoothing itself out so that it is moist and easier to shape.
After the autolyse, knead the dough for several more minutes, mixing in
any other ingredients such as herbs or nuts or dried fruit.
Since salt
causes gluten to tighten, hindering its development and hydration, it should not
be added to the dough until after the autolyse. And if you're using the
"old dough" method (where you add a lump of finished dough from a previous batch
of bread to your new dough rather than use a sponge or starter), do not mix it
in until after the autolyse either, as it contains salt.
When you
incorporate an autolyse into your bread baking, you will be rewarded with loaves
that have greater volume and a creamier colored crumb, as well as more aroma and
sweet wheat flavor. They will also look nicer and taste better. Bread doughs
that contain a high proportion of white flour will benefit the most from an
autolyse.
7. Keep the temperature
low & the rise slow.
Taking the
dough's temperature before the first rise
The fundamental art of
bread baking can easily turn into a scientific study full of confusing technical
jargon and complicated explanations. Since this is only an article and not an
entire book, I am going to simply skip straight to the bottom line with this
tip: the longer your dough is allowed to rise, the better your bread will
be.
The two ways to extend
rising times are by adjusting the temperature of the dough and the amount of
yeast you put in it. The lower the temperature, the slower the rise. The less
yeast used, the slower the rise.
Crusty, European-style breads often rise
for many hours. For example, the sourdough breads I make contain no added yeast
at all, only the sourdough starter—actually called a chef—that lives in
my refrigerator.
The night before I plan to
bake bread, I mix the chef with flour and water and set it in a place
that is about 70° Farenheit for 8-10 hours. The next day, this mixture becomes
the base for my finished dough, which will rise for a total of another five to
six hours before it is finally baked.
Many bakers agree that the ideal
room temperature for bread dough to rise is between 70° and 75°. If you're
baking in a kitchen that is cooler than 70°, you can easily raise the
temperature of your dough by using warm or hot water (or milk)—or just let it
rise a little slower, which will improve your loaves. Keep in mind that kneading
the dough will also increase its temperature by a few degrees.
If the air in your kitchen
is above 75°, you can use cold water in your dough (and can hopefully find a
cooler place to let it rise). Storing your flours in the freezer is another way
to lower the temperature of your dough, and it will also keep whole grain flours
fresher.
An instant read thermometer, like the one pictured above, is a handy item to
have for taking water, flour, and dough temperatures, and it's indispensible if
you're a serious bread baker. You can buy one for about $5.00. Inexpensive digital
thermometers are also
available for under $15.00.
Using less yeast than is called for in a
recipe will allow the dough to rise for a longer period of time. A basic rule
you can apply to nearly any bread recipe is to simply use half the yeast and
double the rising time. You may have to make adjustments, but this is a good
place to start.
By doing just this one thing, you should see a great
improvement in your breads. They'll have more grain flavor, a nice, dense
crumb with irregular air pockets, and a pleasant chewiness.
8. Catch
yourself a Couche.
Pain Au Levain rising in my homemade
couche
Couche is the
French word for "couch" or "resting place." In the bread baking world, a
couche is a piece of heavy canvas that is dusted with flour and used to
support freestanding loaves, such as rolls and baguettes, while they are
proofing. (When making bread, the second rise—after the loaves have been
shaped—is referred to as the "proofing" phase. The first rise is the
"fermentation.") As you can see in the photo, the couche cradles the
loaves, keeping them straight and preventing them from sticking
together.
Couches made of special havey baker's canvas can be
purchased from commercial bakery suppliers. My couche is made from a yard
of raw canvas I bought several years ago at a fabric store for about $4.00.
Before using it the first time, I washed it in hot water (without any detergent)
to remove any sizing from the material. Since then, I have simply shaken it out
well after each use. If you do need to wash your couche, use cold water
(so the flour doesn't turn to glue) and no detergent.
You can place your
couche either directly on a counter or on a large baking sheet (I can't
imagine life without my commercial
half-size sheet pans) if you need to move the loaves somewhere else
to rise. Sprinkle it generously with flour and rub the flour into the canvas.
Long loaves such as torpedoes or baguettes should be placed in the couche
seam side up.
When you're ready to put
the loaves into the oven, flip them over onto your baker's
peel (or an upside down,
large rimmed baking sheet) so that the seam is on the bottom and the floured
side is facing up. I have several different peels and prefer the wood-handled
aluminum ones the best. The thin metal easily slides under the
crusts; I recommend buying the largest size you can.
To keep your loaves (and pizzas) from
sticking to the peel when you slide them into the oven, lay a piece of unbleached
parchment paper on the peel before turning the loaves onto it, then
slide the loaves and the parchment into the oven.
This is how you get that pretty white pattern
on the tops of your loaves (the dark parts are where the crust "bloomed" after
it was scored just before putting it into the oven). And, more importantly, your
crusts will be thicker and bolder because extra flour will have embedded itself
in the dough while it was rising.
9. Turn your oven into
a stone hearth.
A baking
stone will simulate a stone hearth in your oven and is a must if you
are trying to bake crusty, freeform loaves. (It's also the secret to making
fantastic homemade
pizza.) It will allow your
breads to bake more evenly, and the initial, intense burst of heat on the cold
dough will help to create high, richly colored loaves and chewy, better-tasting
crusts.
There are many shapes
and sizes and thicknesses of pizza or baking stones available. Be
sure to choose one that leaves a 2- to 3-inch gap of space on all sides in your
oven so air can circulate. My baking stone is 14"x15" and about 3/4" thick
(similar to this
one), and I've had it for 18 years. It's now dark and seasoned.
After each use, I just brush it off. If you need to wash yours, use only water,
never soap.
You should season a new baking stone by heating it once or
twice in a moderate oven before using it. When making bread or pizza, always
allow your baking stone to preheat in the oven for at least 45 minutes so that
it's nice and hot.
I find that placing my baking stone on a rack in the
center of my oven gives me evenly baked breads. If the bottoms of your breads
are burning before the tops are brown, or vice versa, try placing your baking
stone on a lower or higher oven rack. For pizzas I place the baking stone on the
lowest oven rack and crank up the heat to 500 degrees.
Freshly baked Oatmeal Toasting Bread
(recipe
here)
2009
Update: A few years ago I started baking all of my pan loaves on my
baking
stone. I place the cold stone in the cold oven like usual, let the
oven heat up, and then put the loaf pans full of risen dough directly on the hot
baking stone. I really like the results, and the loaves are nice and brown on
the bottoms and sides.
Heavy duty commercial loaf pans really make a
difference. I really like Chicago
Metallic pans (shown above) and USA
Pans.10. Make
some steam.
Have you ever wondered how some European-style breads get
that gorgeous, glossy shine on their crusts—and why your loaves never turn out
looking like that? Well, they can. All you need to do is fill up your oven with
steam during the first part of baking.
Steam slows crust formation, which
allows for the best possible oven "spring." It also gelatinizes the starch on
the surface of the bread so that it develops a thin, glossy, beautifully brown
crust.
There are two easy ways to create steam in your oven. One is to
fill an inexpensive plastic spray bottle with water and mist the walls and floor
of the oven for several seconds right after you put the bread in. Repeat this
two more times at two or three minute intervals. (Warning: Do not spray
the oven light! It makes a really big mess when it shatters.)
Try
to open the oven door as little as possible when you're misting so that you
don't lose all your valuable heat. You can set your oven 25 to 50 degrees higher
than you need it to be to adjust for the heat loss while misting, and then just
turn down the temperature once you're finished.
As long as your loaves do
not have a decorative flour pattern on them (like the sourdough onion rye bread
shown above), you can directly mist the dough as well. Or you can use a pastry
brush to paint them with water before putting them in the oven.
The other
way to create steam in your oven is by carefully pouring about a cup of hot
water into a preheated pan you have set on a rack underneath your baking stone.
Do this right after you have put your bread in the oven. Use a wide, shallow,
old metal pan or a cast
iron skillet.
Do not use your favorite Corningware stoneware
roasting pan, even though it's the perfect size. It will end up badly cracked,
and you will end up in tears. If desired, you can also directly mist the loaves
and oven walls at the beginning of the baking process when you use this
method.
2009 Update: I rarely bother with the steam
anymore, and I really haven't seen much (if any) difference in my breads. When I
do want to create steam, I follow this tip from Daniel Leader's awesome book, Local
Breads: Before you turn the oven on, place a cast
iron skillet (one of the best kitchen bargains on the planet) on the
rack below your baking stone. After you slide your unbaked loaves onto the hot
baking stone, toss a handful of ice cubes into the hot cast iron skillet and
quickly shut the oven door.
Oh, let's just make it an even baker's
dozen tips!
11.
Storing your edible masterpiece. Once you've baked a delicious loaf, you'll
want it to stay as fresh as possible (assuming it lasts more than a few hours).
Crusty loaves will keep best if you leave them unwrapped at room
temperature.
You can store them, cut side down, in a breadbox or a
cupboard or even on the kitchen counter. To re-crisp the crust, mist your bread
with water and reheat it in a 400° oven for 5 to 8 minutes.
I store
sandwich-style pan loaves in plastic bags at room temperature, but only for a
couple of days. If the bread is whole grain, I usually leave the bag partly
open. During our hot and humid Missouri summers I keep them in the fridge, which
will make some people cringe, but I always toast refrigerated bread.
If
you're not planning to eat your bread right away, consider freezing it. Bread
freezes beautifully. I always bake several loaves at a time, no matter what kind
of bread I'm making; there's no reason to go to all that effort for just one
loaf.
I simply put whole or half loaves in heavy-duty freezer bags and
toss them in the chest feezer, though some people recommend wrapping each loaf
in aluminum foil first. You can defrost frozen bread at room temperature, or you
can go straight from freezer to oven. For baguettes and large sandwich loaves
(and all sorts of other things), I love these 2-gallon
and 2.5-gallon
jumbo zipper bags, which I wash and reuse over and over.
12. Write everything down.
I used to be really
bad about doing this, but I now find it indispensable. Each time you bake bread,
simply take a few minutes to write down everything you did, from the amount of
ingredients you used to the length of each rise, to how the finished bread
looked and tasted. The more detailed your notes, the better.
There are so
many things that can affect your bread baking; everything from the brand of
flour to the weather can make a difference in how your bread comes out. For
instance, when it's cloudy because of a low pressure system in the area, bread
dough actually rises more quickly because it has less atmospheric pressure on
it. Taking notes allows you to not only look back and see what worked and what
didn't, but also helps you figure out why.
Farmhouse
White ready for the oven (recipe
here)Each time I bake bread, even if I'm
making my Farmhouse White for the 200th time, I pull out one of my bread
notebooks and make detailed notes about the entire process. I also record the
indoor temperature and humidity, the outdoor temperature, what the weather is
like, and any other variables I can think of. This information can be especially
helpful for the breads you don't bake very often.
Honey Whole Grain Bread baked using tips
2,5,6,7, and 9
(For sandwich loaves, I love my Chicago Metallic commercial loaf
pans)
13. And finally: Practice, practice,
practice.
There is nothing that will improve your breads more than simply
making them over and over again. And the best part is, there is nothing that
will thrill your friends and loved ones more than receiving the results of your
bread baking efforts.
So that's all there is to it. Just take these tips
with you into the kitchen, and in no time at all you should be hearing those
sweet, magic words, "This is the best bread I've ever tasted!"