Bread Basics from a European Guru
One cannot make bread from a recipe. This has been my experience in these first six months of my fermentation adventure (fermenture?). I have made my own bread for more than a dozen years, where I carefully measured out ingredients using the back side of a knife to ensure a level measurement. I now see that as a futile effort of implied precision in a process driven by feel.
At a recent Braukurs (tr., brewing course), the proprietor of Der Bierrufer, Sten, discussed the basics of bread making with the goal of baking some bread with the spent grain as a grand finale. During the brewing breaks of mashing, sparging, and boiling, the group discussed flour types, moisture content, and the fermented dough.
Flour
In Europe, packages of flour have numbers assigned to them, ranging from the 400s to a bit over 1000. These numbers reflect the amount of minerals left over when incinerated. The generic white flour will be sold as 405 to 450. At a high-level, the wheat grain consists of an endosperm, where the plant sprouts and all the nutrients are contained, and a hull (or bran), where one finds the minerals.
The mineral content of the flour reflects the amount of hull that is included in the mix. Rye flour tops the charts, while whole wheat flour is often without a number as it is all included. One can also argue that the higher the number on the package, the lower the amount of gluten; however, this is better understood by proportion. The gluten is contained in the endosperm; so the more hull included, the resulting proportion of gluten as a percentage of the total weight is lower.
The implication that all packages of flour listed as 405 act the same when used is also false. Sten described the need to understand the personalities of flour. The flour may require more or less liquid to be added given how dry it had been stored, how finely it was ground (more surface area will bind with more liquid), and even the growing conditions of the grain.
Water
Despite the need to get to know your flour, there are general guidelines one can use when forming the perfect dough. In general, the common bread uses 1:600, a ratio of flour to liquid. This is interpreted as a mixture of 1 kilogram of flour and 600 mL of liquid (know that this is also 600 g of water; score for the metric system). This liquid is generally water, but could also be flat beer, whey, buttermilk or milk; note that ricotta, cottage cheese, and eggs can be considered a liquid in the calculation.
As the dough starts to form, it is wise to ensure that the temperature of the liquid remains around 100°F (38°C) in order to ensure an environment best suited for the yeast to thrive. Too cool and the yeast will be sluggish; too warm and the yeast will die. Additionally, hold off adding the salt until the end. Salt will hamper the energy of the yeast, which need only be hampered during fermentation. The salt will also work to constrict the gluten. Aim to add salt weighing two to three percent of the weight of the flour.
Gluten as a Friend
The purpose of kneading the dough is to ensure the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Additionally, it is at this time that gluten strands are formed and cross-linking is made. It is these cross-links of gluten that trap the CO2 produced by the fermenting yeast which cause the bread to rise.
While it feels authentic to do all the kneading by hand, be careful not to warm the dough while working it. During summer months, bakers using machine kneading systems often need to add ice to the dough to slow temperature increases. The higher temperature will overly activate the yeast; the gluten will not have a chance – the loaf will deflate and need to be reworked.
When working the dough, it is best to use a ‘stretch and fold’ process where you take and edge and fold it into the center, turn the dough, and repeat. As the dough may start out a bit sticky, you will want to sprinkle flour around dough as if performing a satanic ritual; slowly work this extra flour into the dough as you scrape underneath and fold on top.
Before you set the dough aside to let rise, tuck sides down and under the loaf to ensure a smooth surface. It is this surface that will trap the produced CO2. The seam should be positioned on the bottom. Whether in an oiled bowl or on a draft-free counter, the dough should be covered in order to maintain humidity. Without this moisture, the surface will harden and the growth will be hindered. If a hardened surface does form, wet the covering towel.
The dough is ready for the oven when the divot formed when pressed with your fingers pops back out approximately 70 percent of the way. If the dough stays deflated (i.e., the divot remains), rework the dough and let it rise again. Another test is to take a portion of the dough and stretch it out to near transparency (also known as the windowpane test).
Baking
With the completed, risen dough, the next step is the oven. The key to success in this phase is heat and humidity. During the course, we discussed putting a pan of water in the oven to create humidity; however, this may just leave you with a pan of hot water. Instead, you should consider tossing some water into the hot oven as if enjoying a sauna – creating instant steam. Let the air circulate a bit and then add the loaf. Shoot for a high temperature at the start (250°C / 475°F), and then let the oven cool for the remainder of the baking (200°C / 400°F).
The initial high temperature will excite the yeast, which will become really active. This final growth phase only works if the outer surface remains soft and pliable. After this growth and like a frog left in a slowly heated pot, the yeast will succumb to the excess heat and perish.
Once the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when knocked on with knuckles, the bread is ready to be cooled on a rack. Baking too long will create an unpleasantly dry bread. The length of time until the bread is complete is usually around 35 minutes.
Spent Grain
As this intro to bread course was coupled with a brew day adventure, the loaf being made was to include some Treber (tr., spent grain). To reiterate, the additional ingredients are discussed in terms of the weight of the flour. In this case, we used spent grain from the porter equal to 40 percent of flour weight. This was worked into the dough before the first rise (or primary ferment). For the spent grain bread, we attempted a 1:650 hydration ratio.
The proprietor used a cookie cutter to imprint a bear face into the loaves, but simple scoring of the loaves prior to placing them in the oven also suffices.
Enjoy!
