The proof in is in the proofing

Most people are intimidated by baking for two reasons:

1) Kneading

2) Proofing

That’s part of the reason that the no-kneed bread techniques (which I’ve used extensively) have been so popular – they remove these two elements from the act of bread baking.

As you develop your own sense of baking you realize you must go back to these proven techniques to really develop great bread.

Today I’ll talk a bit about proofing. Wikipedia reliably defines proofing as:

Proofing (also called proving) is a step in creating yeast breads and baked goods where the yeast is allowed to leaven the dough. This step is not often explicitly named, and normally shows up in recipes as "Allow dough to rise".

To successfully proof bread you need to have a combination of these three elements:

1) Warm temperatures

2) Controlled humidity

3) Lack of air flow

This normally means bakers are instructed to clover their dough with a towel or plastic wrap and let it rest for a while. The humidly is usually naturally provided by the kitchen environment and the evaporation of the water from within the dough. The warm temperatures are usually provided by the location of where it’s stored.

Bill is a good friend of mine and he swears by proofing his loaves in an empty (but just run) dishwasher, which provides excellent warm temperatures and humidity and a nice enclosed space (for lack of airflow). A recent Cooks Illustrated tip talked about boiling 1/2 of a cup of water in a microwave oven, then popping the dough in to proof, allowing for all three necessary elements.

Recently I’ve been using a modified technique. I place my baguette pans on the top of my pre-heating oven and then cover them with a tent of plastic wrap. The warming oven and the humidity of the kitchen seem to do the trick.

Either way, proofing is an important step. Give it a try for yourself and bake some bread today!

-Matt the weekend baker

Bread Crumbs

Happy 4th of July!

The Declaration of Independence is a really elegantly crafted argument and document, if you haven't had the chance to read it recently I highly recommend it:

http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/



Ok - now back to bread baking. Bread Crumbs are an important aspect of any bakers life. There are a few ways of making bread crumbs:

1) Keeping old home-baked bread until it's stale and then chopping
2) Buying old bread from the supermarket (all supermarket bread is old bread, trust me - its not fresh and there are plenty of preservatives in there to fool you) and throwing into a food processor

The way to make option #1 successful is to keep the bread in a Ziplock bag. It will still go stale, but it won't loose all it's moisture and will be easier to dice with a knife (and not have it be as hard as a rock). After a few days just fire up the oven (preferably when baking a fresh loaf) and put the diced bread in a foil-lined pan and bake @ 425 degrees for 13 minutes.

Option #2 is great if you happen to eat all your home-baked bread before there is any to go stale. With this option just go to the store and buy a few baguettes and dice them into 1-inch blocks. Then toss them into a food processor and either simmer them in a skillet on the stove or throw them into the oven as described above.

My friend Gary says it takes a good 8 petite baguettes (4 normal) to make bread stuffing for 12 people.

Don't forget to bake!
-Matt the weekend baker