SC - manual ? #4, #5

[Serian]

> I just finished reading Ed Wood's book, and I'm very excited about the
> Russian culture myself, as well as the Austrian one. However, I think he
> tends to exaggerate the documentablity of his cultures just a bit.
> 
Good observation.  Outside of the Egyptian bakery re-creation which was done
under archeological scrutiny, I tend to take his historical comments with a
grain of salt.  One of his claims is that sourdough is 10,000 years old.
Unfortunately it is documentable only to about 3,500 BCE with inscription
and archeological evidence in Egypt and archeological evidence from the
Neolithic Swiss lake villages.  Sourdough appears roughly coincident with
the arrival of emmer wheat whose grain separates from the husk far easier
than einlkorn.  Since toasting the grain helped to separate the husk and
coincidentally coagulated the gluten, a wheat which can be easily separated
without toasting increases the probability of accidentally discovering
leavened bread. 

> > This 50/50 maslin mix produces a common rye.  For trenchers, I would
> have
> > expected something closer to 75/25 rye to wheat.  The fact the mix was
> very
> > sticky suggests that there was too much liquor to the volume of wheat,
> as
> > does the fact that you made it kneadable by adding more flour. 
> 
> Hm. Well, actually, I'm confused again. Wouldn't maslin be regular wheat
> mixed with rye, rather than spelt? (Also, I thought maslin specifically
> referred to greain harvested from fields where wheat and rye were planted
> intermixed-- was it also used to refer to mixing the grain together
> afterward, or are you just using the term generically?)
> 
Maslin is any mixed grain, but especially a mix of wheat and rye, the two
most commonly used grains in Europe.  While maslin is produced by mixing
grain in the fields (by carelessness or by design), brown bakers commonly
produced maslin flour by mixing wheat and rye flours.  Mixing the flours
allows better control of the end product and better control of the costs,
important considerations considering the regulations controlling the
commercial baking of bread.

> I would love to get a copy in English of the Wroclaw bread regulations
> referred to in the text of this recipe, since supposedly they specify how
> much of each grain went into each type of bread. *grumble grumble*
> 
I don't have the Wroclaw regulations, but I might be able to provide you
information of the English Assize of Bread and Ale.
>  
> One thing I've noticed and meant to ask the list about: every time I'm
> baking bread (here in the Lehigh Valley, PA), I'm adding more flour than
> the recipes call for in order to make a kneadable bread. With breads made
> from a starter, I have to add a LOT more flour. The bread rises fine,
> though a little slow in the wintertime, and is good, but i get a very
> tough crust unless I bag the bread when it is still warm or paint it with
> butter.
> 
> By the time I finished with that bread, it would have been 2/3 rye, 1/3
> spelt and barley flour.
> 
Bread baking is far more accurate when the ingredients are mixed by weight.
This compensates for the amount of water retained by the flour and gets away
from the problem of a cup of flour weighing anywhere from 4 to 7 ounces.

When working with starters, you need to remember that every cup of starter
began as approximately 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup water, but has become more
liquid by producing alcohol as a byproduct of the fermentation. 

In any baking humidity and altitude also add variables to the mix.  

To compensate for the variables, I tend to weigh the base ingredients to get
the right ratios then work the dough to the proper consistency by feel.

If you want to soften the crusts, increase the amount of fat in the dough,
bake at a lower temperature and avoid a moist oven.  Bagging the bread and
buttering or oiling the crust work nicely.  Try painting the bread with
butter or oil before you slide it into the oven.   BTW, bagging works at
almost any stage of the game because the internal moisture of the bread
works to the surface as it dries out.  Bagging traps the moisture and allows
the crust to retain more of it, but increases the possibility of mold
production.

> > The yeast is added to insure a rise.  This is a modern trick used by
> bakers
> > who must have rise (usually in commercial kitchens) or by people who
> know
> > very little about sourdough baking.  This further suggests the "thick
> beer"
> > is a modern approximation.
> 
> It's definitely a modern approximation. I decided to try his way to see
> what happened, and when I do it again, I will use all starter and no
> yeast. I am just concerned about the additional liquor.
>  
> > Okay.  I think you will find your 3 to 1 flour to liquor mix by volume
> is
> > about 2 to 1 by weight, which is a fairly common ration for bread
> making.
> 
> *nod*
> 
> > > +I don't know if tops of the loaves were slashed in medieval Poland,
> but I
> > > recall pictures of medieval breads with slashed tops. Weaver says that
> > > bread stamps or signs of the cross were used (Dembinska, p182)
> > Probably not for a trencher.  Table loaves are a different matter.
> 
> That makes sense. (One of my books suggested slashing bread dough inorder
> to direct the rise, so that the bread would spread out one way and not
> another?)
> 
> FYI: I hope I'm not coming across as a gadfly. I've tried my first
> experiments on my own, and I'm trying to make sense of the advise I'm
> getting, which I'm sure is very good.
>  -- 
> Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise
> jenne at tulgey.browser.net
> 
Bread expands where it has been slashed because you've weakened the surface
at that point.  Normally the slashes are made just before putting it in the
oven, but making them after the shaping can affect the rise.  One of the
problems with slashing the bread too early is you may damage the structural
integrity of the gluten strands and the bread may slump faster.  

Slashing permits greater oven spring (such as cutting a manchet around the
middle allows the center to expand) and it provides channeling for glazes
such as butter (panettone for example has a cross cut in the top of the loaf
and a pat of butter place in the center of the cross, brown crust, light
colored and soft slashes).  Slashing is one of the techniques for sculpting
bread and I would suggest looking at Bernard Clayton's book on French breads
for some ideas about what can be done artistically with bread.

Gadfly?  Gadzooks!!  I don't particularly mind questions.  I started baking
at age 14 as a staff cook for a Boy Scout camp and I've been  at it for the
past 37 years.  I'm still learning.  Recently, I've started lecturing and
teaching occasionally and I have found that because I know something doesn't
meaning I know how to transfer the knowledge.  Answering questions forces me
to think about what I am saying and certainly sharpens my skills.  If I am
unclear or you are uncertain, don't hesitate to ask.

Bear