A sponge is used more by housewives than professional bakers, but a sponge is still a good yeasted technique. In the early days of commercial bakers yeast it was just not very reliable, so bakers would “prove” the yeast, or make the yeast prove that it was still active. This is done by putting the […]
Old dough is just what it sounds like. This is one of the quirkier pre-ferments. Usually this is dough that has matured to the point where it could have been baked but wasn’t. Sometimes it’s a day or two old. The old dough will have developed complex, rich and often funky flavors. The old dough
Oil is important enough that it should perhaps have its own page instead of just a post! Oil is a loose term used to refer to a wide variety of fats. More correctly, they are referred to as lipids. These terms can include solid fats (such as butter, lard or shortening) or liquid oils (such
Mother is is a batter like starter of flour and water that is unrefreshed. A note – as with many sourdough terms, you are more than likely to meet someone who tells you that this definition is incorrect. If this happens, please smile, write down their definition and send it to us through the Contact
Milk has many uses in making bread. It provides liquid to the dough, just as water would. It adds flavor to the bread. If you are using any milk but skimmed milk, it adds fat to the dough, which extends the bread’s shelf life. It also adds lactose, a milk sugar, to the dough. Lactose
Sourdough Kaiser Rolls Kaiser rolls are marvelous rolls. A crisp crust, a nice depth of flavor, and a nice crumb make this a killer roll for great sandwiches, and a great bun for hamburgers. Far too many so-called Kaiser Rolls miss the mark – no crust, no flavor, and no real crumb. So, let’s make something
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Sourdough Bagels This recipe is the one we used at the Colorado High Attitude Bakery. I can’t count how often expatriate New Yorkers would stop me on the street with tears in their eyes, telling me that mine were the best bagels they’d had since they left “The City,” and that they were better than most
Malted Barley Extract – We wouldn’t dream of making bagels or Kaiser rolls without barley malt extract, and neither should you! Barley malt extract, improves the taste and texture of the breads it is used in. It goes by a number of names, barley malt extract and malt extract among them. If a malt extract
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Extraction is a miller’s term that refers to how much of the original grain winds up in the final flour. If all the grain winds up in the flour, the flour is said to be 100% extraction. Most American white flours are around 70 to 75% extraction flours.
Bakers have found that dough develops best around 78F(25C). If the dough is too cold, it will rise too slowly. If the dough is too hot, it will rise too quickly which can result in not enough flavor development, and sometime off-tastes being created by yeast that are out of their preferred temperature range. Bakers
Extensibility is the ability of dough to be stretched, or extended. Dough has to be extensible to rise at all. Hand pulled noodles are at the extreme of extensibility – the dough has no elasticity and can be extended incredibly far. If your dough is too extensible, you might consider using fresher sourdough, making your
Elasticity is the ability of the dough to spring back and have tension. If dough has too much elasticity it is called bucky. Bucky dough springs back into it’s former shape as soon as you stop working it. If you roll a bread braid or Challah strip, it springs back. For dough to rise it
