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The Secrets Of Great Breads
by
Dennis Weaver
Often we field questions about
making great bread. Great
is a matter of using the right ingredients and
the right techniques—there’s no single secret
that will make perfect bread. But really great
is readily attainable. We’ve compiled our list
of what goes into great bread.
1. The right flour.
2. An understanding of yeast.
3. A good dough conditioner.
4. A baker’s thermometer
Now this isn’t everything that goes into great
but the baker that is armed with these four tools
is likely to be baking great bread.
The Right Flour
Recently we stated that if there is a secret ingredient
that bakers use it’s the flour. So we put the
right flour on the top of our list.
To understand how important flour is, you need
to understand just a little about gluten. Gluten
strands are formed from the proteins naturally
occurring in wheat flour. It's what gives
its chewy texture. If you use a flour with a higher
percentage of protein, you will have more gluten.
Most commercial
bakers are going to use flours with 10 to 14%
protein--bread flour.
Commercial bakers have access to dozens of different
flours. If you want really good bread, buy a good
quality
flour--even if you have to make a deal with a
local baker.
If you buy your flour at the grocery store, be
aware that all flours are not equal. For
you want a
flour. Name brands are likely to do a better job
of holding to a specification and will provide
more consistent results. You can get an idea of
the protein content from the nutrition label.
Divide the grams of protein by the grams in the
serving size to get the approximate percentage
of protein in the flour (subject to rounding error).
For home baking, you want at least ten percent
and preferably higher.
Understanding Yeast
Yeast is a living organism. The gases expelled by the growing yeast are what leavens the bread. The skilled baker recognizes that with the dough, he or she is culturing a living organism and that the yeast must be growing in the right culture to create the gases to make light airy bread. The right culture is primarily a function of moisture, temperature, and pH or the acidity level.
A Dough Conditioner
This brings us to our dough conditioner. Dough conditioner alters the pH of the dough (among other things) so that it enhances the growth of the yeast and it makes the dough more extensible. All else being equal, dough conditioner can make a good great.
You can buy dough conditioner (or dough enhancer as it is sometimes called) in some grocery stores or you can get our dough conditioner. Ours is a commercial dough conditioner that we have found to be very good and that we use in all our breads. You can buy dough conditioner from us but, for a limited time, we’ll give it to you free with your order of $25 or more.
A Thermometer
And finally, a thermometer has been called the baker’s secret weapon. We would not think of making without one. We use it to measure water temperature. (When we use our machines, we measure the water temperature to exactly 80 degrees—not one degree off. When we make in our stand-type mixer or by hand, we use water between 100 degrees and 110 degrees.) We nearly always measure the temperature of the when it comes from the oven. And you can use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the dough to make sure that you have the right temperature for your yeast to thrive in. You can buy an insta-read thermometer at most department stores and many baking sites for $10 to $15.
There you have it. Start with the right flour. Make sure you understand how yeast works. Use a good dough conditioner and a baker’s thermometer. You’ll soon be baking great bread.
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Dennis
Weaver is a baker, a recipe designer, and a writer.
He has written many baking guides and How
to Bake, a comprehensive baking and reference
e-book--available free at The
Prepared Pantry which sells baking supplies
and mixes and has a free online baking library.
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