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Bread

Also searched as: bread baking, sourdough bread, braided loaf, baguette, pizza

In short: Bread is flour, water, salt and a raising agent. Three processes turn it into a loaf: a network, gas from fermentation and a crust from the oven.

Picture it

Like a balloon in a net: the yeast blows, the gluten holds, the oven sets the shape.

What happens

Kneading or resting forms a stretchy gluten network. Yeast or sourdough makes gas that forms bubbles in the network. In the oven the bubbles expand one last time, the starch and sets, and the crust browns on the outside.

Why it matters

Every bread problem belongs to one of the three processes: network too weak, fermentation off, or oven unfavourable.

Rules of thumb

  1. Time is the most important ingredient: a long, cool prove gives flavour and structure.
  2. Weigh flour, water and salt; do not measure by volume.
  3. Steam first, then dry heat.
Related entries
Gluten developmentYeast fermentationStarch gelatinisationMaillard reactionLarge holes in breadBread is too denseBread spreads out flatBread crust goes softAmylase: starch turns into sugarPretzels: baked baking soda instead of lyeStarting a sourdoughBaked baking soda for pretzelsPizza
Sources
  • Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking (2004), Kapitel Brot, Getreide
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