Artisan Breads Day 1

We discussed in class what exactly "Artisan" means.  Several words were thrown around to describe artisan breads: Old techniques, great texture- crunchy,  rustic.  An artisan is defined as a skilled craftsmen. During this class i will learn to refine my skill and craftsman ship with "Natural" being the spirit.

There are four ingredients in bread: Wheat, Flour, Yeast, and Water.

Wheat-
There are two kinds of wheat- winter and spring. The names refer to the season in which they were planted. Winter being planted around now (oct) and harvested in the summer. Winter wheat is preferred by artisan  bakers. It has better extensibility and can stand a long fermentation time. Spring has a higher level of protein and better for bread machines.

There are two proteins in all flour: Glutenin and gliadin.Glutenin is responsible for extensibility and Gliadin for elasticity.  They combine (with water) to form gluten. Gluten is an elastic network of proteins. "The Gluten forms a web that traps Co2 given off by the yeast, causing the dough to rise".

 Red wheat vs White wheat- refers to color of kernel. Red wheat is considered better- it has a richer flavor profile

Additives in flour-
enrichment- riboflavin, frolic acid, niacin, iron
Oxidizers- oxygenates proteins in flour- this happens natural to flour after 3 weeks
Bleaching- weakens gluten- oxidizes flour, potassium bromate is added to all bleach flour to strengthen the gluten

Water-
hydrates flour
proteins absorbs water and forms gluten
hydrates starch- creates mass or bulk
less water, less activity
catalyst for protease and amylase
directly impacts texture

Intensive vs Improved vs Short mix
Intensive has a tight matrix, its fluffy- bleached with oxygen and has a lack of extensibility. its the general store bought "Jewel brand" bread.
Short Mix- has a short wet dough- it uses an autolyse, and has the uneven crumb and complex flavor
Improved is the medium in between intensive and short.

Autolyse
optional
mixing just the flour and water and letting it sit for 20 min (then adding yeast and salt)
it improves extensibility.


Starches in wheat flour- Amylose 25% and Amylopectin 75%
Amylose is faster for yeast to digest.
Amylase- enzyme - breaks up starches (amylopectin) into simple sugars. present in bran and diastatic malt powder.

Protease- enzyme- breaks up protein- affects strength of dough

Millers measure bran content in flour by burning a small amount of flour and measureing the left over ash
a high ash content can interfere with gluten development and have a darker coloration to the dough.
Millers measure amylase by dropping a probe in a water/ flour mixture and seeing how long it takes to reach the bottom.


Preferments
Commercial yeasts
poolish- 100% hydration .1%yeast
Pate Fermentre- 60% hydration
Biga- 50% hydration
(in very hot weather- salt can be added to avoid over fermentation)
Wild Cultures
Liquid Levain
Firm Levain

the culture is made simply by mixing flour and water- (and time) it needs to be fees everyday

Feeding vs Elborating
Feeding is simply adding nutritional elements (flour and water) to the starter/culture
Elaborating is using 10% of the culture to make a levain (needs to sit 8-12 hours)