All about Bread
When bread is made from whole and natural ingredients, it is a staple food providing integral protein, carbohydrates and fibre. Mass-produced white bread does not. So real bread classical authenticity results from organically-grown wheat and fresh stone-ground flour, baked in a wood-fired brick oven.
History
Not every society in the world grew wheat and its relatives. More people depend upon rice then wheat even today. The whole of North and Central America ran on maize before Europeans arrived in the 17th century. However, for those who lived in the Middle East, Northern Asia and Europe bread was the staple food. It was from these regions that some of the great migrations - of peoples, economic influence the politial power - originated. Thus bread spread throughout much of the world.
For centuries, the working man envied the white bread of the privileged. Extracting all the bran and germ from wheat was a time-consuming and expensive business, until mechanised high speed roller mills came along in the 1870's. Roller -milled flours have everything but the starch removed, which is then crushed and bleached with chlorine, becoming our modern white flour.
What is bread made with?
Most people agree that factory bread is bland. The quality of bread has been sacrified for speed, money and shelf-life. The flour is stripped of its cumbersome bran and germ coatings; then bleach, vitamins, proteins, bran (!) additives and preservatives are added in during the factory process.
Most so-called 'wholemeal' breads on sale are no better than white loaves. They are usually made from bleached white dough, dyed brown with caramel, bran added for 'authenticity' and then are artificially inflated by the use of gluten flour. There are many flours used in bread making such as rye, maize, buckwheat and rice. However, wheat is the most common and the most easily available.
Flour that is stone-milled (marketed as stone-ground flour) is crushed and ground between rotating stones. Stone-ground flour contains all of the wheat grain: nothing added and nothing removed. Thus the protein, the fibre and the flavour are retained. White stone-ground flour has the bran and semolina sieved out of it.
The flour most suitable for bread is stone-ground from high protein or hard, wheat. This is often called strong flour. Strength is related to the gluten content of the flour, which varies according to the wheat variety and the growing conditions. The stronger the flour, the higher the gluten content and the mroe the bread dough will rise evenly and consistently.
Salt is an essential ingredient; bread is insipid without the addition of salt. It also conditions the dough, amking it firmer and more resilient and it tempers the yeast, thus making the bread more digestible. On a simple level, the more salt there is, the longer the dough takes to rise. Talbe salt and free-running salts available in the supermarket have magnesium carbonate and other chemical s added to keep them dry and free-running. If the aim is to make and eat 'real' bread pure salt should be used. Fortunatel, sea salt and rock salt are both easily sourced these days.
Water is the primary liquid for making bread and it's quality can vastly affect the finished product. It needs to be used at the temperature of bathwater, a little higher than body temperature. It then activates the yeast, which in turn produces gas and stretches the dough. Cooler water slows down the rise of the dough. The quantity of water to be used can never be given exactly, as different flours absorb different amounts of water.
Milk produces a soft, flavoursome loaf when used as part of the liquid ingredient. Small breads, such as rolls and muffins, that should have soft crusts are made from half water half milk mixture.
Olive Oil added as part of the liquid results in dough that never forms a skin and doesn't develop a sour teaste even if it is over-proved. It is usual to add a little olive oil to pizza dough
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| Bread ready for proving | Bread after proving | Bread after cooked |
Why do we knead bread?
Kneading improves the integrity of a loaf and just a few minutes is sufficient. However, kneading is not essential; bread that is not kneaded can taste good and can be light and airy. The trick is to make a wetter-than-usual dough, which is mixed well in the bowl before being turned out onto a well-floured surface, coated in flour, shaped and placed into a baking tin.
A good loaf results from a single rise (prove). Simply put the dough in the tin and leave it in a warm spot and allow it to prove.