Wendy Jo Peterson - Bread Making For Dummies

Steaming: A crispy bread crust is often the result of moisture inside the oven while baking. To achieve this effect, some recipes have you place a cast-iron or oven-safe pan at the bottom of your oven or on the bottom rack while the oven is heating up. Then, to create steam, after the oven has completely heated, you place your bread pan on the middle rack of the oven and pour 1 to 2 cups of water into the empty pan you heated at the bottom of the oven or on the bottom rack. When you close the oven door, the water will create a steam bath for the bread as it begins to bake.Another steaming method is to mist the bread loaf with water before placing the pan into the oven and then misting again several times during baking. However, this approach isn’t without risk: The temperature may drop every time the oven door is opened, which could negatively impact your bake.

Skillet cooking: English muffins aren’t actually baked in an oven. Instead, they’re cooked in a skillet. Another yeast bread that can be cooked on the stovetop is flatbread.

Boiling: Bagels are the only breads in this book that get a prebake dip in boiling water. This boiling technique gives the bagel its signature chewy crust, and because you add honey to the mix, it helps give bagels their golden crust, too. Yum!

To take the temperature, wait until the bread is near its baking time. Then pull the bread out of the oven with potholders and shut the oven door to keep the heat inside in case you need to continue baking. Insert the thermometer in the center of the dough, making sure not to touch the thermometer to the sides of the pan. If the temperature is lower than the desired doneness, place the bread back into the oven for a couple minutes, approximately 5 minutes for every 5 to 10 degrees the temperature is off.

Before you place another loaf of bread in the refrigerator, hear me out. The quickest way to stale bread is through the refrigerator. The breads you bake at home won’t have preservatives, so the bread will turn stale more quickly. Most freshly baked breads only last one to five days at room temperature; the higher the fat content, the longer the shelf life.

Don’t slice bread before it has cooled completely. Yes, you may be tempted to slice bread fresh from the oven, but that can result in a gummy bread. Some loaves, like a rye sourdough bread, actually need up to two days to form a crust! But for most breads, one to three hours of cooling is best before slicing.

When the bread is cooled, place it in a brown paper bag or wrap it in a tea towel. A bread with a softer crust should be stored in an airtight, sealed container. (Every recipe this book provides instructions for storing.)

If you know you won’t be able to enjoy the bread before it becomes stale, wrap the bread tightly in plastic wrap or bee’s wax paper and place it in a freezer-friendly resealable bag. You can store it in the freezer this way for up to a month. You can even freeze sliced bread for quicker toast in the morning — just grab a slice and place it in your toaster. The heat from your toaster will be ample to defrost and toast your bread. You may need to toast it twice to get the perfect crust. If you’re reheating a frozen loaf of bread, spritz or rub the surface with water and then bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Chapter 4

IN THIS CHAPTER

Growing your very own sourdough starter

Taking good care of your starter

Making your dough

Sourdough bread baking has recently grown in popularity in the United States — partly due to a pandemic creating a shortage of yeast and partly due to interest in the health benefits of fermented bread. This chapter helps you grow your own starter and walks you through the steps of making your first great loaf of sourdough bread.

If your dear Aunt May gave you a starter with different directions than the ones I offer here, don’t fret! There are many different approaches to growing, feeding, and baking sourdough. The techniques I share in this book are ones that have worked for me (and my friends, family, and clients all around the globe), but my way isn’t the only way!

Sourdough starters are living, breathing globs of vinegar-smelling goo. In that gooey mix are thriving bacteria and yeasts that create some of the most delicious breads you’ve ever tasted. But, are there really healthy benefits to sourdough? Many people believe the answer to be a resounding “Yes!”

I’m an avid sourdough baker, and my love of sourdough may make me look more positively at the science. But my background in nutrition also keeps my beliefs in check. The science supports many health claims around sourdough, but not all that you read on the Internet is true. (I know, shocker!) In this section, I take a closer look at some of the science-supported claims.

Digestibility, the process of sourdough, and the longer fermentation done in the dough allows for the bacteria Lactobacillus to do its work on breaking down the gluten and sugars in the bread. With that said, some studies show that white bread is white bread, and it will still affect your blood sugar the same, sourdough or not. The bacteria are killed in baking, so sourdough bread doesn’t contribute to improved gut flora (the bacteria in the intestines). But the bacteria do their work before the bread is baked, breaking apart chemical compounds during the long and slow fermenting process, leading to a bread that is easier to digest and exposing beneficial vitamins, minerals, and compounds that improve the overall bread quality.

But white bread — sourdough included — is still void of fiber and lacking essential vitamins and minerals found in whole grains. The greatest benefits seen in sourdough are when the bread is made from whole grains, such as rye, whole wheat, or spelt. Compounds inside the breads are broken down with beneficial compounds becoming more readily available.

If your curiosity is getting the best of you, head over to the website of the National Library of Medicine ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ). Here, you can search for “sourdough” and read all about the current research being done on the subject.

To grow your own fermented goo, you need the following:

Two 16-ounce glass jars (like Mason jars)

Unbleached all-purpose flour

Water

A scale that measures in grams