Shamrock1121
08-21-2008, 08:37 AM
Hints and tips from the HEAP of files I've accumulated over the years..... -Karen
1. The finer the grind of whole wheat flour, the better the gluten will develop - the better the flour for bread making. Fine flour is necessary for cake.
2. Low-sodium bread. Salt regulates yeast development. If you reduce salt in a yeast bread, the rule of thumb is to also reduce the yeast by the same percent. If you reduce the salt by 50% then reduce the yeast by 50%.
3. Lean dough. A dough low in fat and sugar. Hard crust breads and rolls such as French and Italian breads, and pizza crusts. These breads stale quickly.
4. Enriched dough. Dough containing higher levels of sugar and fat, and can also include dairy and eggs. These breads have a longer shelf life because of the sugar/fat and emulsifiers from eggs.
5. Sweet dough. Containing a high percentage of sweetener compared to enriched dough. These types of dough take much longer to rise. You can overcome some of this by adding 1/4 t. ascorbic acid or 3 t. lemon juice to assist in the rising. There is also another type of yeast available - Osmotolerant Instant Active Dry Yeast. This type of yeast is recommended for use in dough characterized as sweet, salty or low absorption. This type of yeast is beneficial because osmotic tolerance is called for because the amount of available water in these doughs is limited (from higher amounts of sweeteners).
6. Punching down. This is an important process that is often done incorrectly. It’s not a matter of hitting the dough with your fist.
How to punch dough down: Oil your hands. Take your fist and plunge it down through the center of the dough. Reach to the back of the bowl - under the dough - and pull the bottom of the dough up and over the center. Repeat this all the way around the dough. What you have accomplished is to move the outside dough to the inside - or you’ve turned the dough inside out - pulling the cooler outside dough to the inside and the warmer inside dough to the outside. This action redistributes the yeast and de-gassed the dough. When this is completed, dump the dough ball out on the counter upside down.
7. Rounding. After the dough has been punched down, if it needs to be divided, this is the time to do so. When the dough is divided, you have cut the gluten strands and they are rather shaggy and gasses in the dough can escape. Rounding is done by tucking the dough into a tight smooth round ball while it lays on the board. You’ll manipulate it with your two cupped hands around and around - pulling the dough gently from the sides to the bottom until the ball is nice and smooth. This helps to get the gluten strands stretched into the same direction. The rounded loaf will also help hold gasses.
8. Resting the rounded ball of dough. After all the punching down and rounding, you need to allow the gluten to relax. Cover the newly-formed rounds with plastic wrap and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before shaping.
9. Rest - when you knead the dough. After you’ve kneaded 3 or four minutes, let the dough rest for a few minutes. This allows the gluten to absorb the hydration, relaxes the gluten strands, and makes the remaining kneading easier.
10. Allow the bread to completely cool before cutting into it. The crumb (inside of the loaf) continues to cook and develop after it's removed from the pan and placed on a cooling rack. If you cut it while it’s warm, you’ll destroy the crumb and you’ll end up with a gummy crumb.
1. The finer the grind of whole wheat flour, the better the gluten will develop - the better the flour for bread making. Fine flour is necessary for cake.
2. Low-sodium bread. Salt regulates yeast development. If you reduce salt in a yeast bread, the rule of thumb is to also reduce the yeast by the same percent. If you reduce the salt by 50% then reduce the yeast by 50%.
3. Lean dough. A dough low in fat and sugar. Hard crust breads and rolls such as French and Italian breads, and pizza crusts. These breads stale quickly.
4. Enriched dough. Dough containing higher levels of sugar and fat, and can also include dairy and eggs. These breads have a longer shelf life because of the sugar/fat and emulsifiers from eggs.
5. Sweet dough. Containing a high percentage of sweetener compared to enriched dough. These types of dough take much longer to rise. You can overcome some of this by adding 1/4 t. ascorbic acid or 3 t. lemon juice to assist in the rising. There is also another type of yeast available - Osmotolerant Instant Active Dry Yeast. This type of yeast is recommended for use in dough characterized as sweet, salty or low absorption. This type of yeast is beneficial because osmotic tolerance is called for because the amount of available water in these doughs is limited (from higher amounts of sweeteners).
6. Punching down. This is an important process that is often done incorrectly. It’s not a matter of hitting the dough with your fist.
How to punch dough down: Oil your hands. Take your fist and plunge it down through the center of the dough. Reach to the back of the bowl - under the dough - and pull the bottom of the dough up and over the center. Repeat this all the way around the dough. What you have accomplished is to move the outside dough to the inside - or you’ve turned the dough inside out - pulling the cooler outside dough to the inside and the warmer inside dough to the outside. This action redistributes the yeast and de-gassed the dough. When this is completed, dump the dough ball out on the counter upside down.
7. Rounding. After the dough has been punched down, if it needs to be divided, this is the time to do so. When the dough is divided, you have cut the gluten strands and they are rather shaggy and gasses in the dough can escape. Rounding is done by tucking the dough into a tight smooth round ball while it lays on the board. You’ll manipulate it with your two cupped hands around and around - pulling the dough gently from the sides to the bottom until the ball is nice and smooth. This helps to get the gluten strands stretched into the same direction. The rounded loaf will also help hold gasses.
8. Resting the rounded ball of dough. After all the punching down and rounding, you need to allow the gluten to relax. Cover the newly-formed rounds with plastic wrap and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before shaping.
9. Rest - when you knead the dough. After you’ve kneaded 3 or four minutes, let the dough rest for a few minutes. This allows the gluten to absorb the hydration, relaxes the gluten strands, and makes the remaining kneading easier.
10. Allow the bread to completely cool before cutting into it. The crumb (inside of the loaf) continues to cook and develop after it's removed from the pan and placed on a cooling rack. If you cut it while it’s warm, you’ll destroy the crumb and you’ll end up with a gummy crumb.