User:Nleamy/baking technique draft

There's been talk of a major reworking of baking or at least making a decent bread baking page. This is where to mess around with it:

Baking bread is the art of making bread. The person who does the baking is called a baker. MBaking bread is divided into five different stages: mixing, kneading, rise, baking, and cooling.^[1] The method and means of each stage varies greatly based on recipe and goal, but they have many things in common.

Ingredients

Nearly all breads contain flour and water or another liquid. Ingredients in baking can generally be divided into dry ingredients and wet ingredients. Dry ingredients typically include flour, leavening agent, or salt which may or may not be mixed before being combined with liquid ingredients. Wet ingredients are often eggs, water, or milk.

Mixing

Mixing can occur using several different methods, but usually involves the use of a spoon or dough hook.

Sponge Method

Some recipes ask for the cook to water and yeast with flour or sugar before mixing it to give the yeast an initial step for fermentation.

Kneading

Kneading is a process which is largely unique in cooking to the production of bread. The process involves vigorously stirring the dough in a maner which tests the dough's gained elasticity. Kneading can be done with a breadmaker, a mixer, a dough hook or by hand. The typical process of making a dough is performed (for a typical bread dough this will involve mixing flour, salt, water, oil and yeast). The dough is put on a floured surface, pressed and stretched with the heel of the hand, folded over, and rotated through 90º repeatedly. This process continues for around 10 minutes, until the dough is slightly elastic and smooth. The dough can then be proved.

Once baked, this will allow a strong, well-risen bread with many small air pockets. If the dough was to be proved and baked without kneading, the ingredients would not mix very well and the resulting bread would be very weak, and full of large air pockets. For a similar reason, it is better to use strong bread flours rather than normal plain flour.

Similar to kneading is knocking back, which is performed after proving the dough and is essentially the same process, though this time the aim is to remove any large air pockets which have formed in the dough.

Rise

Challah proofing in loaf pans. Bread covered with linen proofing cloth in the background.

All breads rise, some gaining volume before being put in the oven, while others get all of their rise through the time spent in the heat. Typically, yeast breads gain two thirds of their rise before being placed in the oven, and a third while in the oven. Quick breads may gain some volume from mixing or beating, but gain almost all of their rise in the oven.

Proofing

Croissants proofing on plastic tray.

Proofing is a step in creating yeast breads and baked goods where the yeast is allowed to leaven the dough. This step is not often explicitly named, and normally shows up in recipes as "Allow dough to rise".

During proofing, yeast converts glucose and other carbohydrates to carbon dioxide gas which gives the bread rise and alcohol which gives it flavor. Bacteria which coexists with the yeast consume this alcohol, producing lactic and acetic acids. Different types of bread have vastly different requirements for proofing depending on their recipe. Some breads will only require a single proofing while others will need multiple periods. Between stages of proofing recipes will often instruct a cook to "punch down" or "deflate" the dough to allow the bubbles of gas which have formed in the dough to deflate without popping (called overproofing). Length of proofing periods can be determined by time or characteristics. Often the "poke method" is used to determine if a bread has risen long enough; if the bread, when poked, springs back immediately it is underproofed and needs more time.

Proofing is divided into a number different categories including fermentation, proofing, retarding, autolyse. Fermenting is any stage of proofing which is completed prior to the shaping of the bread. Often a third of a bread's rise will occur during this stage. Proofing is the general term for allowing a break to rise while at room temperature after it has been shaped. Retarding is the stage in which bread is placed into a dough retarder, refrigerator, or other cold environment to slow the activity of the yeast. The retarding stage is rarely found in recipes with commercial yeast but often used in sourdough bread recipes to allow the bread to develop it characteristic flavor. Autolyse is a period of rest allowed for dough to relax. After the initial mixing of flour and water, the dough is allowed to sit. This rest period allows for better absorption of water and allows the gluten and starches to align. Breads made with autolysed dough are easier to form into shapes and have more volume and improved structure.

Baking

The dry heat of baking changes the structures of starches in the food and causes its outer surfaces to brown, giving it an attractive appearance and taste, while partially sealing in the food's moisture. The browning is caused by caramelization of sugars and the Maillard reaction. Moisture is never really entirely "sealed in," however; over time, an item being baked will become more and more dry. This is often an advantage, especially in situations where drying is the desired outcome, for example in drying herbs or in roasting certain types of vegetables. The most common baked item is bread. Variations in the ovens, ingredients and recipes used in the baking of bread result in the wide variety of breads produced around the world.

Cooling

Over time baked goods become hard in a process known as going stale. This is not primarily due to moisture being lost from the baked products, but more a reorganization of the way in which the water and starch are associated over time, a process similar to recrystallization.

Bread baking equipment

A banneton basket viewed from below.

To ensure consistent results, specialized tools are used to manipulate the speed and qualities of fermentation.

A dough proofer is a chamber used in baking that encourages fermentation of dough by yeast through warm temperatures and controlled humidity. The warm temperatures increase the activity of the yeast, resulting in increased carbon dioxide production and a higher, faster rise. Dough is typically allowed to rise in the proofer before baking.

A dough retarder is a refrigerator used to control the fermentation of yeast when proofing dough. Lowering the temperature of the dough produces a slower, longer rise with more varied fermentation products, resulting in more complex flavors. In particular, cold reduces the activity of the yeast relative to the lactobacilli, which produce flavoring products such as lactic acid and acetic acid.

A banneton is a type of basket used to provide structure for the sourdough breads during proofing. Proofing baskets are distinct from loaf pans in that the bread is normally removed from these baskets before baking. Traditionally these baskets are made out of wicker, but many modern proofing baskets are made out of silicone. Frequently a banneton will have a cloth liner to prevent dough from sticking to the sides of the basket. These baskets are used both to provide the loaf with shape and to wick moisture from the crust. Banneton baskets are also known as Brotform or proofing baskets. Alternatively, a couche or proofing cloth can be used to proof dough on or under. Couche are generally made of linen or other coarse material which the dough will not stick to and are left unwashed so as to let yeast and flour collect in them, aiding the proofing process.

A lamé with plastic handle.

A lamé is a double-sided blade used to slash the tops of bread loaves in artisan baking. A lamé is used to score (also called or slash or dock) bread just before the bread is placed in the oven. Often a lamé will have a slight curve to it which allows users to cut flaps (called shag) considerably thinner than would be possible with a traditional straight razor. This step allows bread to expand in the oven without tearing the skin or crust and also allows moisture to escape from the loaf. It also releases some of the gas, mainly carbon dioxide, trapped inside the dough. Proper scoring also allows the baker to control exactly where his or her breads will open or bloom. This significantly improves the appearance of baked breads. Scoring, finally create varieties in forms and appearance. It brings out the bread baker's artistic talent and marks his or her own signature.

Scored loaves of bread.

References

^ Harold McGee (1984). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Collier Books. ISBN 0-02-034621-2 (USA) page 306

Harold McGee (1984). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Collier Books. ISBN 0-02-034621-2 (USA)
Nancy Silverton (1996). Breads from the La Brea Bakery. Villard Books. ISBN 0-679-40907-6 (USA)
Cook's Illustrated (2004). The New Best Recipe. America's Test Kitchen. ISBN 0-936184-74-4 (USA)