Bread - Amazon Web Servicesinterested.s3.amazonaws.com/bread/bread_edition3.pdf · Bread - Issue 3: Fermentation 2 IN HIS 2008 NON-FICTION HIT, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell presented

BreadFermentation

Issue 3:

Contents

Bread - Issue 3: Fermentation 1

2 — WelcomeAn introduction by the editor.

4 — Bread FermentationCulinary scientist David Mason explainsfermentation from bread making's point of view.

8 — A dough's lifeA look at what happens in a dough's life cyclebefore it goes into the oven.

14 — Ying ShiYing Shi is a talented home baker and a greatexample of how far deliberate practice will takeyou.

19 — PrefermentsThese traditional techniques will give moreflavor and better structure to your bread.

23 — Creating a sourdough starterStep by step instructions for growing yeastfrom nothing but flour and water.

27 — the recipeHow to bake a loaf of sourdough bread usingthe starter we just created.

32 — SÉBASTIEN BOUDETThis friendly french baker is building a smallrevolution in the Nordic country of Sweden.

41 — FERMENTATION Q&ATroubleshooting a dough that is not rising ordoesn't produce the bread you had in mind.

44 — STARTER USES BEYOND BREADIdeas for what to do with all the sourdoughstarter you can't use for bread making.

47 — Cultivating yeast (water)Sourdough isn't the only way to cultivate freshyeast. Here's another idea.

51 —MIKE "The Bejkr" ZAKOWSKIMeet the bread making world championshipsilver medalist and exceptional baker from theslow city of Sonoma Valley, California.

Welcome


IN HIS 2008 NON-FICTION HIT, Outliers,Malcolm Gladwell presented the idea of 10,000hours. Drawing from statistical studies andanecdotes from The Beatles to Bill Gates, heexplained how talent isn't something you areborn with but something you aquire throughlong hours of practice.

What the actual number of hours is variesdepending on the task, but in average, runsaround 10,000 hours.

Gladwell didn't inclue bakers as example inthe book, but baking is a craft and the samerule applies: You need to practice hard, andwhen you do, you will get great results.

LOOKING AT ALL THE BEAUTIFUL LOAVES inthis magazine, whether by Ying Shi who hasbeen baking for four years or Mike "[the bejkr]"Zakowski who was part of Team USA in theCoupe du Monde de la Boulangerie earlier thisyear, you can see where deliberate practicewill lead you.

To get there, you and I need to put in the

hours: calculate yet another recipe, mix yetanother dough, bake, taste and start over.

Luckily for us, the whole process isrewarding and enjoyable.

ABOUT THE MAGAZINEPRACTICE IS IMPORTANT, but to get toplaces, you need a specific type of practice:practice that forces you to explore new thingsand learn.

This is why this magazine is not a collectionof recipes. My goal is to give you tools tounderstand what happens inside the doughand then let you put those ideas into practiceby yourself.

There is nothing wrong with following arecipe, but just like children playing withLegos, when you know what you are doing wellenough to throw away the instructions and startworking on your own creations, that’s wheremagic happens.

ABOUT THIS EDITIONIN HIS BOOK, Tartine Bread, Chad Robertsonwrites about fermetation, saying "A baker's trueskill lies in the way he or she managesfermentation. This is the soul of bread making."

As you read the magazine, you will find a lotof information on the different methods toferment flour and turn it into bread, first withregular store-bought yeast, and then with wildyeasts such as sourdough and yeast water.

This issue is a bit heavier on theinstructional aspects of bread making than theprevious two, but people making great breadare still in the center of the magazine.Sébastien Boudet, Ying Shi, and MikeZakowski all have inspiring experiences toshare with you.

FOR THE FIRST TIME in the history of BREAD,in this issue, you will find a guest article, writtenby someone other than me:

David Mason from Culinary Science kindlyoffered and contributed an article on the

Welcome to the third edition of Bread, the magazine for loversand makers of great bread! In this edition, we will explore one ofthe most important aspects in the craft of making bread:fermentation.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316017930/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316017930&linkCode=as2&tag=sharingthew04-20


science of fermentation. The article begins themagazine on page 4.

I HOPE YOU WILL find the journey exciting andfind bits of new information and ideas to use onthe journey to mastering the art of making greatbread!

SHARE AND TALK BACKIF YOU HAVE ANY FEEDBACK or questions,don't hesitate to get in touch! I try to answer allof the email I receive.

Also, if you enjoy reading the magazine, Iwould be more than happy to see you share itto your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or email.

And as always, big thanks for reading!

—Jarkko Laine, editor and publisher


mailto:[email protected]

fer·men·ta·tionn.1.a. The anaerobic conversion of sugar to carbon dioxideand alcohol by yeast.b. Any of a group of chemical reactions induced byliving or nonliving ferments that split complex organiccompounds into relatively simple substances.

2. Unrest; agitation.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Editioncopyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published byHoughton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

BREAD FERMENTATION


BY THE TIME OF READING THIS, you probablyhave been kneading your dough. You did thiseither with your hands similar to how theEgyptians did it over 3 millennia ago ormechanically with a food mixer like myself.

Either way you produced a ball of doughwith flour, yeast and water at the basic level.

This is where things get interesting

FERMENTATION IS BETTER KNOWN for beingresponsible for producing fine wines, beersand vinegars with time and atmosphere as theimportant factors. The fermentation of bread isoften overlooked in both importance and inpractice.

I offer two examples, firstly from a domesticview, many bread recipes are quick to makeand bake, leaving the baker with a fresh loafbut one with little flavour. Secondly, from anindustrial point of view, fermentation increasesthe time to make bread and therefore increasesthe costs.

In the UK the Chorleywood Process (similar

to a giant food processor) has beenimplemented in many commercial brands ofbread. This process allows bread to be formedwith a fast turnaround and to also use lowerquality flour (Edwards, 2007)

BREAD FERMENTATION is the result of single-cell yeast funghi that break down sugarmolecules into various chemicals.

It all starts with enzymes present in the flourthat once in an aqueous solution can begin tobreak down the large starch molecules intosmaller sugar molecules. Storing the flour in amoist environment will activate the enzymesand thus not be as useful when you come tomake bread (This, 2008)

Once the enzymes begin to break down thestarch, the yeast can feed on the sugarsproducing waste products carbon dioxide andethyl alcohol. The reaction is shown below:

C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2(C₂H₅OH) + 2(CO₂)

IN TRADITIONAL BAKING, CO₂ is the mostimportant element as it expands the dough intoa light foam held together with the stronggluten strands.

During fermentation, gluten is stillundergoing reordering that began in thekneading process. This helps to give the finaldough its firmer feel (McGee, 2004). It hasoften been common practice to put thefermenting dough in a warm environment suchas the laundry cupboard to improve the rising.

Unfortunately, at high temperatures thedough will rise well but the yeast will produceunpleasant notes (McGee, 2004). A lowerenvironment temperature will improve thedough flavour and aroma, but will increase thefermentation time.

AS COOKS, we need to control the expansionof the dough, so we add salt that inhibits thefermentation process (although too muchwould kill the dough). A second proofing isoften thought to be used to ‘knock out’ the air

In this introduction, David Mason of Culinary Science shedssome ligth on the art and science of bread fermentation and howit affects the taste of the final product.

by David Mason

This article: Copyright © 2012 David Mason.

bubbles, but this technique is actually toredistribute the yeast in the dough so that thereis an even supply (McGee, 2004).

Simply adding all the ingredients togetherand allowing to proof is called the straightdough method. It produces nice results butcan lack maturity in terms of flavours.

MANY COUNTRIES HAVE their version of apreferment which increases the time that theflour is in contact with the water thus allowingthe enzymes present in the flour to start tobreak down the large starch molecules (This isknown as autolysis, a similar process toMarmite), then allowing the yeast to feed.

Yeast will produce plenty of CO₂ at roomtemperature but at lower temperatures theyeast (although retarded due to coldtemperatures) and bacteria produces verydesirable yeast flavours (McGee, 2004).

In a Poolish and Biga, some of the flour andall the water are mixed with a small amount ofyeast and allowed to ferment overnight toproduce those desirable yeast qualities, andalso some of the CO₂ that is produced isreabsorbed back into the dough producing aneasier dough to work with later on (McGee,2004).

THE PREFERMENT FLAVOUR s animprovement on the straight dough method butcan we get better?

Before yeast was available as a bakingingredient, bakers would rely on wild yeasts toinvade the dough to release CO₂ but most

importantly to provide great flavours.

IN A SOURDOUGH, flour and water are mixedtogether (usually with another ingredient suchas raisins or rhubarb that harbour wild yeasts)and allowed to ferment.

Over a week, this is constantly fed withmore flour and water to feed the sourdoughwhilst discarding half the mix that has beenexhausted from the yeast feeding on thesugars and to prevent the dough becoming tooacidic.

This ‘mother’ is then ready to be used forsourdough.

ALTHOUGH THE WILD yeasts are a welcomedaddition, it is the acid-making bacteria thattravel with the yeasts (and outnumber theyeasts by a factor of 100 to 1) that we areinterested in as they produce a distinctiveflavour (McGee, 2004).

The most famous bacteria known for itsunique taste is Lactobacillus Sanfranciscensis,which originated in San Francisco but hassince been found all over the world (QuellenField, 2012). The wild yeast can handle theacidic environment that the bacteria producebut other bacteria find the environmentuninhabitable so a sourdough tends not toresemble a chemistry student’s petri dish!

ANOTHER ADVANTAGE in sourdough is thatthe acidic environment delays starchretrogradation, so it keeps for longer.

Unfortunately, the acidic environment of


sourdough does have some negative sideeffects as the lower pH reduces the browningand therefore the maillard reaction sosourdough breads are often less coloured thanother breads.

Also as the yeast is vastly outnumbered bythe bacteria, the dough is very slow to rise andcan be dense (McGee, 2004).

Nevertheless sourdough creates a breadthat is unbeatable in taste. Sourdough is sold insupermarkets throughout the UK but I have yetto find any product requirements that state howthe sourdough must be produced (likechocolate or beer). If anyone can shed somelight on this I would welcome it!

ReferencesMcGee, H. (2004) Harold McGee on Food andCooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science,History and Culture, Hodder and Stoughton

This, H. (2010) Kitchen Mysteries; Revealingthe Science of Flavour, Columbia UniversityPress

W. P. Edwards, 2007. Science of BakeryProducts (Royal Society of ChemistryPaperbacks). 1 Edition. Royal Society ofChemistry.

Simon Quellen Field, 2011. Culinary Reactions:The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking. Edition.Chicago Review Press.


DAVID MASON runs Culinary Science, abusiness that teaches the science behindcooking through practical experiments.

For more information, visit the CulinaryScience web site, or follow David onTwitter.

http://twitter.com/culinaryscience

http://www.culinaryscience.co.uk/

http://www.culinaryscience.co.uk/

A Dough's LIFE


THE LIFE OF A DOUGH begins as a collectionof seemingly lifeless ingredients: flour, water,salt, and maybe some yeast bought from thestore. Had you never seen the ingredients turninto bread before, it would be hard for you toimagine the potential they have waiting insidethem.

Fermentation begins when you mix theingredients. The yeast cells wake up, andusing the water, the air you knead into thedough, and the starch from the flour, multiply,slowly invading the entire dough and filling itwith life!

The proteins in the flour react with the waterand form gluten, which your kneading thenshapes into stronger forms that can hold thedough together all the way until it gets baked.

You will see bubbles appear as the yeastseat the sugars and release carbon dioxide intothe small gluten pouches in your dough. Thedough rises.

IF YOU LET YOUR DOUGH sit on the kitchen

counter and the yeast cells get to do the thingthey do, you will notice that at first, the doughrises rapidly, then reaches its top in about anhour (depending on many things, such as theyeast you use and the temperature of yourkitchen and ingredients) and then slowly startsto fall.

To see this process in action, look at theseries of photos on the next page.

If you are unsure of how long each steptakes in your regular dough, do the experimentyourself. Make a small amount of dough and letit rest in a see-through container, checking thedough every now and then.

THIS METHOD of rising dough once and thenshaping, without any extra steps is known asthe straight-dough method. It is quick way toconsistent results, but unless you enrich thedough with for example butter and sugar, theresulting bread won't have very much flavor.

To get more interesting loaves, bakers usedifferent methods of slowing down the activity

of the yeast, such as refrigerating the doughafter it has been kneaded or using less yeast inthe first place.

TO GET THE DOUGH just right, with holes ofthe correct size and just the right amount ofrising potential in the oven, bakers divide thefermentation process into separate risingsteps, each followed by some action done tothe dough from folding to shaping and finallybaking it.

You have been doing most of this already,but let’s take a look at how and why we dowhat we do.

1. AutolyseTHE FIRST STEP in the process isn't yetfermentation but preparation to get the doughready to make the most out of fermentation.

The step can be skipped, but as it is nothard and leads to great results while makingyour kneading easier, it's worth adding to your

Before flour and water become bread and are served at thedinner table, they go through a short but eventful life as dough.From mixing the ingredients to the final proof, here's what the lifecycle looks like.

baking routine.

AS A TERM, AUTOLYSE was coined by the lateFrench bread professor Raymond Calvel whowas largely responsible for the revival ofFrench bread in France in the mid 20thcentury.

Despite its fancy name (which means "self-destruction" in Latin) and background, thetechnique is surprisingly simple: mix flour andwater until there are no dry lumps left, then letthe dough rest from 20 minutes up to a coupleof hours before adding the leaven and salt andworking the dough.

By doing this, you give the water time toproperly hydrate the dough and form glutenbefore you add other ingredients and startkneading. It also activates the enzymes aheadof time, leading to a dough that doesn't requireas much kneading and is easier to shape.

In other words, a better dough.

AFTER THE AUTOLYSE, put in the leaven,whether yeast or a sourdough starter, and workthe dough until it feels right.

As you work oxygen into the dough, you aregiving the yeast cells more power formultiplication, but at the same time lesseningthe actual fermentation that produces most ofthe flavor in bread. So, while kneading thedough for a long time makes a strong glutenstructure, it does this at the expense of taste.What kind of kneading is needed depends onthe bread you are making, but for a good rusticsourdough loaf, ten minutes or a little less is a

very good estimate.Combined with an autolyse step, this is

enought to create a dough strong enough forgreat bread.

2. FIRST RISEONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED working yourdough, the actual fermentation starts. Somefermentation has been happening alreadywhile you worked the dough, but now is thetime for the real thing.

As you place the ball of dough back in yourdough bowl or into a greased container andcover it lightly, many things start happeninginside your dough.

Yeasts consume the carbohydrates in thenow well hydrated flour and produce carbondioxide which rises the dough. Water and flourcontinue their chemical reactions and glutengrows stronger.

For the rising period, it's important to keepthe dough from drying. To do this, cover thedough lightly, either with a cloth or—if the air isvery dry—with a tighter cover.

THE LONGER THE DOUGH gets to rise, themore flavor it gains. But if you just let the doughsit on the table for a long time, after reachingits peak (as shown on the previous page), it willstart to fall and get an unpleasantly yeastyflavor.

So, to get the benefits of a longerfermentation, you need to make a couple ofchanges to your process. The first is to useless yeast. The second, and more important


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Calvel


one is to control the temperature of the dough:In a warm environment, yeast rises the doughfaster. Similarly, cooling the dough by putting itin the refrigerator or outdoors if the weatherpermits slows down the process.

For now, let's assume you are keeping thedough at room temperature.

There is one more easy way to prolong thefermentation and improve the strength of thedough.

3. Stretch and FoldWHEN THE DOUGH has been resting for abouthalf an hour, it has almost doubled in size andcould soon be shaped into breads. But unlessyou are in a rush, don't do that just yet. Instead,take the dough out of the bowl and gently butfirmly press most of the air (or carbon dioxide)out of the dough.

Grab one corner of the dough and stretch itover itself and press tigthly. Repeat a couple oftimes. Then roll the dough back into a ball andplace in the bowl for another rise.

This process reorganizes the gluten intostronger bonds once more, creating strength tothe dough, and divides the air bubbles insidethe dough into smaller bubbles so that the gascreated by the yeasts has more places to go.

This is useful because according to studiesyeast cannot create new air bubbles into thedough as it releases carbon dioxide, just enterones that have been created by working thedough.

4. ShapingWHEN IS A DOUGH READY to be shaped?This is the big question that many people areuncertain of.

Many recipes give a vague instructionsaying "when the dough has doubled in size..."but it's often hard to judge the size of thedough visually. Also, the volume of the doughcan vary depending on various things.

In general, experimentation and practicewill give you a good understanding of the righttime to proceed: as you make your bread andlook at the results, you will notice the differencethe fermentation time makes. This takes time,so don't be discouraged if at first you eitherproceed too early or too late.

BUT THERE ARE SOME tips that can be usefulin understanding the dough. The moststraightforward of them is the poke test:

When you think your dough might be readyto be shaped (and the same applies to bakingthe final loaves), press gently but firmly on thedough. If the dough bounces back quickly, ithasn't been fermenting long enough. But if youcan see a clear dent remain in the dough for awhile, that's your sign: you can now startshaping the dough.

THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHANCE to buildstrength into your dough, so unless you aresure your dough is strong and will keep itsshape during the final rest, it's a good idea todo the shaping in two steps.

First, divide to dough into pieces of the size

that you want to bake, then shape the pieces,stretching them into shape.

Let the preshaped loaves rest for about halfan hour before doing the final shaping.

Then, finish the shaping and leave thedough to rest one last time, on a floured clothor table, in proving baskets, or in greasedbread tins. Which ever way suits you best.

5. PROOFINGTHE FINAL REST, called proofing or proving,gives the yeasts one more chance to rise thebread and bring flavor into the dough.

Again, just like in the first rest period, youhave the choice of slowing down thefermentation by keeping the dough in a coolspot or of simply letting the bread rise at roomtemperature.

Keep an eye on the breads so you noticewhen they look well risen and pass the poketest. That means it's time to bake the loaves.

When considering the right time to bake thebread, it's better to err on the side of bakingthe bread too early than too late. This leavessome rising power for the oven so you get abeautiful "oven spring"—the rise that happenswhen the dough gets in contact with the oven'sheat.

FERMENTATION IS NOW DONE and it's timeto bake the bread. And soon, it is ready to beshared and enjoyed.

"as you make yourbread and look atthe results, youwill notice thedifference thefermentationtime makes. Thistakes time, sodon't bediscouraged if atfirst you eitherproceed too earlyor too late."

GET BACK ISSUESTHE FIRST EDITION OF BREAD came out in March2012, followed by a second edition in the beginning ofJuly. Both issues contain heaps of valuable informationand inspiration to help you make the most out of yourflour, water and leaven.

If you have just joined us on the journey to greatbread, you can still download the previous issues for$2.99 each at the magazine's web site (or both issuesbundled for a total price of just $4.99).

Issue 1: The Art of BreadTHE FIRST ISSUE OF BREAD acts as an introduction tothe art of making great bread.

Interviews with amazing bakers (Richard Bertinet,Larry Lowary, and Phil Agnew) give an idea on whatmakes bread making special. The Real BreadCampaign coordinator Chris Young talks about theimportance of making and eating "real bread".

But it's not just theory: the practical instructions inthe magazine will get you started with bread making.

Issue 2: FlourTHE SECOND ISSUE OF BREAD is all about flour, andwhy and how it matters in making great bread.

Interviews with people involved with flour fromfarmers to millers to bakers lead you through thejourney of flour from field to the dinner table. And thenwe use this information to dig deeper into the ways toincorporate different flours into your doughs.

TO GET YOUR COPIES, visit the magazine's web site.

SUBSCRIBE TO BREADIF YOU ARE NEW TO BREAD and came to thismagazine through a friend or a link on the Internet,without subscribing just yet, here's why you shouldconsider a (FREE!) subscription.

SUBSCRIBERS GET NEW ISSUES for free.By subscribing to Bread, you will get a new issue

filled with bread making information and inspiration fourtimes a year for absolutely no cost, the moment theyare pubished.

The subscription is FREE. All we need from you isthe email address you want the magazine to bedelivered to and you are set.

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INTERVIEW: YING SHI


YING SHI, OR TXFARMER, as she is knownonline, is an active bread blogger at The FreshLoaf. I have been admiring her beautiful breadphotography for a long time, but this summer,as I was trying to create the perfect sandwichloaf for my family, I found my way to tryingsome of Ying's recipes.

With four years of active baking, and almostno baking experience before that, Ying is agood example of where you can get in a rathershort time when you put your mind to it andpractice a lot.

—jarkko: First, can you tell a bit about yourself,your background, how you got started withbread, and what keeps you baking?

YING:ORIGINALLY BORN AND RAISED inChina, I had no baking experience until 4 yearsago.

At one point, I decided to start making

Asian style breads and cakes because theones on US market are way too sweet for mytaste. I started browsing China baking blogsand making soft breads and light cakes. Soonafter that, I was introduced to a new bookcalled "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day".

Looks easy enough, so I bought a bakingstone and got started making hearth breads.While the results were fair, I felt it could beimproved a lot, so I started reading "BreadBaker's Apprentice" and "Bread". That's when Igot into sourdough, the rest is history.

I AM A FULL TIME SOFTWARE ENGINEER witha bread loving husband and an always hungrydog. I am also a serious long distance runnerwith 5 marathons under my belt.

All that means that we, as a household,consumes a lot of carbs, which is the mostimportant reason why I keep baking. I alsokeep a Chinese baking blog, which has a lot ofreaders.

The love for writing, photographing, and

sharing is another reason I can't stop baking.

jarkko: For a long time, I thought of sourdoughas mainly a way to make big, chewy, rusticloaves. Your blog proved this assumptionwrong: you bake all kinds of bread fromcroissant to sandwich loaves to panettoneusing a sourdough starter. What do you needto take into account when baking enricheddoughs with sourdough compared to theregular ”plain” loaf?

YING: THE MAIN DIFFERENCE between plainhearth loaves and enriched soft loaves is"dough strength". If you compare the two style,the rise (in volume) for Asian style softsandwich loaves are much more than hearthloaves, which leads to different mouth feel andtexture, in addition to different flavor.

To achieve that extra strength, the softenriched loaves needs to be kneaded muchmore.

However, the intensive kneading does

Ying Shi—better known in the online world as txfarmer—is asoftware engineer and passionate home baker always looking forways to improve her craft. Her skills are a great example of wheredeliberate practice will get you.





http://blog.sina.com.cn/txfarmerying

destroy some natural flavor of the flour, whichis compensated by a lot more enrichingingredients such as sugar, milk, butter etc inthe enriched dough.

CROISSANTS ARE A WHOLE DIFFERENT ballgame. They are different from everything elsein most ways.

jarkko: Is there anything that can’t be done withsourdough and where you’d have to go toregular, store-bought yeast instead?

YING: YES. ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES a veryfast rise is not suitable for sourdough. Forinstance, donuts need to expand a lot in hot oil,very quickly.

Another example is actually croissants. Yes,I do use sourdough starter for croissants, butonly as a flavoring ingredient. I still add yeastto the dough. Croissants need to expand a lotand very quickly in the oven to create thosehoneycomb crumb structures, I haven't seen apure sourdough version that performs as well.

jarkko: Another thing I have noticed about yourbaking is that you are very creative incombining different flavors and ingredients.Your macha tea croissants was a greatexample of this! How do you come up with yourrecipes and how do you proceed from idea toimplementation?

YING: I think there are two things that help me tocreate such unusal combinations:

1. MY CHINESE BACKGROUND addsdimensions to my flavor profile, which is why alot of my breads have eastern elements. It alsomakes me less restricted to the usual flavorcombos of "western cooking" because I amsimply less familiar with them.

2. I AM AN ENGINEER through and through. Ilove experiments and belive in trying out all thepossible combos.

BEFORE I START TRYING OUT SOMETHING, Iusually do a lot research online and in books tosee what others have done that's similar.

After that, I devise an inital plan, which oftenfails miserably. Then the experimenting begins:I vary one element at a time until I eithersucceed or understand why it's a bad idea tobegin with.

Of course as my baking experienceincreases, the success rate goes up as well.

jarkko: You are originally from China. Can youtell a bit about the bread culture in China? Howdo you think it has affected your baking?

YING: FOR THE LONGEST TIME, there was nobread culture in China. Most people didn'tgrow up baking or eating breads.

That has changed a lot in the past 15 years.There are a lot of bakeries in China now.However, those bakeries usually only sell"Asian style" breads and cakes heavilyinfluenced by Japanese and Taiwanese


bakeries. Texture tends to be soft, taste tendsto be less sweet, etc.

Hard crusted hearth loaves are rarely seen,but that also is starting to change as more andmore European and American businesses areopening up in China.

DUE TO SERIOUS CONCERNS about foodsafety, a lot of home cooks are starting to baketheir own breads and cakes, which is themotivation of my Chinese baking blog.

Just like the commercial bakeries,homemade breads/cakes are often limited toAsian style due to two reasons: people aremore used to such taste, and the lack ofequipment and education for other styles ofbaking.

Usually Chinese homes don’t come with bigovens we are familiar with. In order to bake,people have to buy ovens that's often the samesize of our toaster oven, which don't get hotenough to bake hearth breads. Baking stonesare hard to get, until very recently. Sourdoughis a novelty.

TO THAT END, I am very happy to say that Ihave had an opportunity to do my part tointroduce western style baking to the Chinesebaking community. I have translated "ArtisanBread in 5" into Chinese and it's currently onthe bestselling list (coming full circle). My blogsabout baguettes and sourdough starters havehad many followers. A few of my fellow Chinesebakers started online business selling bakingstones.

jarkko: If you were to name one aspect ofbaking that is the most important to master toget great results, what would that be and why?

YING: FERMENTATION. I am a firm believer thatbread baking is essentially an art of managingfermentation.

jarkko: Is there something you are practicingyourself at the moment, or would like to trynext?

YING:BAGUETTES, CROISSANTS, and EnrichedSandwich loaves are three things I alway workon. The fact that I can never get them perfect isprobably the main attraction.

In additional to that, I really would like tomake a good pie crust. Mine is OK, but couldbe much improved.

Oh yeah, cheese making and grainsprouting are both on my list to work on.

jarkko: And finally, is there something you’d liketo add?

YING: THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY tointroduce myself. As a Chinese born UScitizen, I think I am in the unique position ofstraddling eastern and western baking worlds,which is definitely an advantage to my bakingexperience, and hopefully I can give back byacting as the bridge and communicationchannel for the two very difference bakingstyles.

LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST, baking is fun andtasty, so let's not forget that whilst elbow deepin flour dealing with inactive starters and flatloaves!

—

To learn more about Ying Shi and her breadmaking, visit her blog over at The Fresh Loafand try out some of her recipes, such as thisrye and cream sandwich loaf, or one of herbeautiful baguette recipes.

"baking is fun andtasty, so let's notforget thatwhilst elbowdeep in flourdealing withinactive startersand flat loaves!"


http://www.thefreshloaf.com/blog/txfarmer

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/29443/30-rye-sourdough-cream-loaf-effect-cream-and-egg

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/29989/even-more-36-hour-sourdough-baguettes-never-gets-old

PREFERMENTS


BREAD CAN VERY WELL BE made in astraightforward one hour of bulk rise andanother hour of bench rest. This kind of breadmaking process is quick and handy, but it willlead to bread lacking in flavor and personality.

By slowing down fermentation you can buildup more flavor to your dough by giving theyeast and enzymes more time to act on thestarch and proteins in the flour. This alsomakes the resulting bread last longer andgives its crust a deeper color. All desirableoutcomes.

This is why, throughout the years, bakersaround the world have been working ondifferent methods of fermenting dough in stepsand replacing some of their doughs with thispre-fermented dough.

Pâte fermentéeTHE EASIEST WAY to get started with slowerbreads is to take a small batch of your doughand leave it to ferment in the fridge.

For example, if you make 1 kg of dough,you can simply snap 100 grams of it, place it ina jar and refrigerate. Then, when you are readyto make your next bread, make the bread asyou normally do but mix this lump of dough inwith the rest of the ingredients.

You will be surprised how much personalitythis simple step adds to your bread.

If you get excited about this old doughmethod, you can perfect it into an essentialpart of your bread making process, as they doin many French bakeries where fresh bread isbaked every day and there is always somedough left over for the next day's dough.

But as a home baker myself, I mostly seethis as the first step from straight yeasteddoughs towards the more interestingpreferments.

OLD DOUGH ISN'T ONLY good as apreferment, though:

One of my favorite breads is nothing morethan a piece of old dough baked in a cast iron

pan on the stove with a table spoon of olive oil.So, if you have some dough in the fridge

and no bread in the house, this is an incrediblyfast way to make a delicious snack. Juststretch the dough into a round shape carefullywithout losing too much of the air inside (asthere won’t be a second rise, this is important).

Then place the dough in the pan and bake,turning the dough around often to prevent itfrom burning.

PoolishNO ONE KNOWS FOR sure but the story goessomewhat like this:

Around 1840, when commercial baker'syeast started gaining ground, Polish bakersdeveloped the method, which they thenbrought to France some decades later. Frenchbakers quickly adopted the method, which isnowadays an important part of the Frenchnational bread, the baguette.

As such, Poolish is probably the best known

So far, in the magazine, we have mostly been talking aboutquick fermentation using yeast. In this article, we move towardsslower bread and more flavor with the help of the traditionaltechniques such as Biga and Poolish.


of all preferments.

POOLISH IS A WET, batter-like preferment thatgives the dough better extensibility and makesit easier to shape into baguettes (or othershapes).

The wet environment is good for the lacticacid bacteria, so it leads to development ofsome lactic acids—not nearly as much as insourdough but some—which give poolish itspersonal taste.

To make poolish, the night before you aregoing to mix your dough, take one third of thetotal flour needed for your recipe and mix itwith an equal weight of water and a pinch ofyeast. Then stir until there is no dry flour left.Cover with plastic and leave to rest.

Depending on how soon you want to bakeyour bread, either leave the poolish at coolroom temperature or put it in the fridge (formaking the dough 12 hours or longer aftermixing the poolish).

The poolish is ready when it’s full ofbubbles but hasn’t started collapsing on itselfyet.

HERE IS A MORE DETAILED poolish recipe fora dough with 500 grams of flour. One third of500 is 166 grams, so to make the poolish you'llneed:

166 g Bread flour166 g WaterA pinch of yeast

THEN, TO MAKE YOUR BREAD, calculate therest of the ingredients using our basic recipe(see page 27), taking into account the amountof flour and water already present in thepoolish. For example, of the 500 grams of flour,you have used 166 in your poolish, so only add334 to your final dough.

For yeast, use only 2/3 of the amount ofyeast in the recipe as the poolish alreadycontains yeast.

BigaBIGA IS THE OTHER of the two most famouspreferments, sort of the Italian version ofPoolish.

While biga and poolish can be pretty muchused in place of each other, they have theirown traditional uses and properties. Whereaspoolish is a high hydration dough, biga is stiff.And whereas baguette is the typical bread forpoolish, for biga it's the Ciabatta.

TO ADD A BIGA to our basic recipe, take againabout one third of the total flour to use for yourbiga. This time, instead of the 100% hydrationin the poolish, go for a lower hydration of 60%.

To create a biga for a final dough with 500grams of flour, you'll need:

166 g Bread flour100 g WaterA pinch of YEAST

KNEAD THE BIGA to make sure the flour is wellhydrated, then leave it to ferment overnight onthe kitchen counter, or up to 24 hours in therefrigerator.

Continue making the bread dough using thestandard formula, but remember to take intoaccount the flour and water already present inthe biga—just as we did with the poolishabove.

THE LINE BETWEEN biga and poolish—andother types of preferments is not quite as clearcut as it seems.

Some Italian bakers make biga with ahydration as high as that in poolish, and somepreferments can be even soupier than 100%hydration, going as far as mixing all of thewater used in the dough with a small amount offlour.

This is good news as it means there is roomfor experimentation: try making bread withdifferent kinds of preferments, maybe evencombining two kinds of preferments in onebread. For example, Chad Robertson fromTartine fame uses poolish together with somesourdough starter to create his ideal baguette.

In the same way, by experimenting with thepreferments, you will find new flavors and gaina better understanding of how the prefermentsaffect the dough.

"by experimentingwith thepreferments, youwill find newflavors and gain abetterunderstanding ofhow theprefermentsaffect thedough."

http://www.tartinebakery.com/

CREATING YOUR FIRST SOURDOUGH STARTER


STARTING MY OWN SOURDOUGH CULTUREhas been one of the most exciting experiencesin my life. That sounds nerdy, I know. Butwatching a sourdough culture grow and fall asthe result of the life inside the jar is a bit likemagic—you create life out of thin air.

Except that it’s not magic, but science thathas been practiced by our ancestors forhundreds if not thousands of years.

IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS who bake withsourdough, they will be happy to give you alittle of their own culture. After all—as you willsoon notice—keeping the starter alive meansthrowing out big parts of sourdough at everyrefresh.

Some people also buy sourdough culturesfrom other people who have been growingthem for sale. So, if you like, it's well possible toskip this step and start baking with sourdoughwithout first creating your own starter.

But if you are curious, read on. Creatingyour own starter is not hard, and growing your

own culture from scratch is a lot of fun!

Tools neededcontainer (e.g. a bowl or a jar.)Spoon

IngredientsFull grain flour (wheat)Bread flourWater

FOR A SOURDOUGH STARTER, this really isall you need. As you read more about starters,you will find that some people start with raisinsor other fruit. Some add sugar to the mix. Ihave even heard of people starting sourdoughstarters with the help of some commercialyeast.

But as the point with a sourdough starter is

to create an environment suitable for thegrowth of the right kind of bacteria and yeasts,I believe it's best to start right away with thekind of diet you will be feeding the starter in theend.

And to get a good, strong starter going, youreally don’t need more than this! (We’ll look atusing fruit for a different kind of starter soonenough, when we experiment with yeast water)

Step 1MIX ALL INGREDIENTS in your clean bowl orjar. With cleanliness I follow Sandor Katz's leadand go for clean instead of sterile.

If you like, there is nothing wrong withcooking the bowl to sterilize it before the firsttime you mix the starter. I have never done this,and my starters have always worked out justfine.

Just wash the container as you normallywash your dishes and rinse thoroughly to makesure there is no dish washing soap left.

Creating a sourdough starter is not hard, and with somepatience and good care, you will create a pet colony for life. Thisarticle will lead you through the steps of creating your first starterfor sourdough bread making.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/160358286X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=160358286X&linkCode=as2&tag=sharingthew04-20

AT THIS POINT, the amounts don’t matter thatmuch. You just need to get a thick batter with a50/50 ratio of both flours. But it's often easier towork with exact numbers instead of vaguedefinitions, so for the sake of clarity, take 50grams of full grain wheat flour and 50 grams ofbread (or all purpose) flour and mix well with100 grams of water.

To make it easier to get the right amount ofboth flours, you can do what Chad Robertsonrecommends and create your own mix of floursin a separate container by combining1 kg offull grain flour with 1 kg of bread flour andmixing well.

This way, you can just measure 100 gramsof flour straight from that mixture instead ofmeasuring 50 grams of bread and full grainflour separately.

FOR WATER, I am lucky to live in a country withvery high quality tap water, so I always go fortap water.

If the tap water where you live is highlychlorinated, you will need to dechlorinate it byletting the water stand in an open vessel on thekitchen counter for at least 4 to 8 hours so thatthe chlorine evaporates.

Using bottled water is naturally also anoption, if that's the water you normally use fordrinking.

The main rule here is to use water thattastes good and doesn't have too muchchlorine so that it would inhibit the growth ofyeasts and lactic acid bacteria in the starter.


"Take 50 grams offull grain wheatflour and 50grams of bread(or all purpose)flour and mixwith 100 grams ofwater."

Step 2COVER THE MIXTURE LIGHTLY. If you areusing a jar, don’t put the lid on. Yeast requiresoygen to multiply, so it's important to give it agood supply of air to feed on.

Also—although bakers disagree on this—some bakers say that you can catch yeastsand bacteria for your starter from the air.

I usually cover the bowl with a kitchen toweldedicated to bread making. Only when thestarter is all ready, I put the lid on.

PLACE THE STARTER in a warm, draft-freeplace. Especially in summer time, the kitchensink works very well. I have found that asourdough starter is not very picky. Thosebacteria are strong beasts.

For a couple of days, as the starter is slowlycoming to life, watch and enjoy the process.Stir the batter vigorously at least once a day toget air inside and encourage the growth ofyeast cells. Then wait.

Step 3WHEN THE STARTER is full of bubbles andstarts to smell distinctly sour, it's time to startteaching it a consistent feeding cycle.

Take one big table spoon of your activestarter, place it in a bowl and mix in 200 gramsof your flour mixture (or 100 grams of wholewheat and 100 grams of bread flour) and 200grams of water. Stir well. Again, the amount offlour you use is not very important. Whatmatters is the ratio between water and flour. I

like to maintain a starter at 100% hydration asit's easy to stir, and having equal amounts offlour and water in the starter makes recipecalculations easier.

Discard the remaining starter and place thisnew starter in the container in its place. Ifthrowing starter away feels bad, check page44 for some ideas on how to use your extrastarter.

For the next couple of days (or longer,depending on the activity of your starter), keeprepeating this process at the same time everyday. I like to do it first thing in the morning, butpick a schedule that fits you best, and stickwith it.

Step 4AFTER A FEW DAYS OF feeding, you will startto notice that your starter has a clear routine offirst growing throughout the day, and thenfalling down by the time you feed it again. It'sprobably not exactly a 24 hours cycle, butclose enough.

When this happens, the starter is ready tobe used for your first loaf. But the feedingcontinues. The longer you use and feed thestarter, the stronger and more full with flavor itbecomes.

Treat your sourdough culture well and it willoutlive you and provide food for generations tocome.


100% wheatflour

(bread/ all-p

urpose)

THE RECIPE

70% water

2% salt

2% FRESHyeasT

Baking bread with sourdough


ONCE YOUR SOURDOUGH STARTER risesand collapses consistently in a more or less 24hour cycle, it's time to put it to the test. If youare not quite sure of your starter's readiness,don't worry too much about it—give it a try andyou'll know. The worst that can happen is thatyou'll end up making a dense bread.

As you make your first loaf using the starter,you'll quickly see if the starter is ready or not. Ifit's not, refresh the starter again and keeptrying (see page 42 for troubleshooting adviceif after a couple of tries the starter still fails toraise the dough).

IN THE FIRST ISSUE of BREAD, I presentedthe basic dough formula that you saw on theprevious page. In the second issue wetweaked the recipe a bit by using differentflours and then adjusting the amount of wateraccordingly. Now is the time to tweak theferment and switch to "wild yeast."

As for the list of ingredients, much doesn'tchange; most changes are in slowing down the

bread making process to give the starter timeto do its work.

IN THE BASIC FORMULA we used 2% (bakers'percentage) fresh yeast.

When using sourdough, the number needsto be bigger as with the yeasts also comesome flour and water (as well as lactic acidbacteria—but we are not going to count them).

The precise amount of this "fermented flour,"as it's often called, depends on the processyou use and the hydration level of your starter.

For a starter at 100% hydration such as theone created in the previous article and thesimplest possible recipe, 20% of starter is agood place to start.

It leads to a total hydration of 72% in thefinal dough, which is close enough to the 70%in the original recipe.

SO, LET'S CONVERT the recipe into actualweights and get to work.

1000 grams of flour is easy for thecalculations and leads to two loaves:

AS YOU NOTICE, the change to the recipe'singredients wasn't big. But don't rush to your

Growing or otherwise acquiring your sourdough starter is justthe first step on a long journey that can span decades or even pastan entire lifetime. It's time to put your yeast and bacteria to workand bake some bread.

2% FRESH yeasT

20% STARTER (at 100% hydration)

100% flour

70% water

2% salt

20% Sourdough

starter

1000 grams

1000 x 0.70 =

700 GRAMS1000 x 0.02 =

20 GRAMS

1000 x 0.20 =

200 GRAMs


kitchen just yet. There is more to say about howwe make the dough.

Instead of mixing the dough now andmaking a loaf of bread two hours later, whenworking with sourdough, you have to do a littlemore planning—starting the night before youbake.

Step 1: Refresh the starterFRENCH BAKERS use a process known asPain au Levain in which they build a smallpiece of sourdough starter into the final doughin three successive feeding steps.

It's a good way to make a nice dough withonly a hint of sourness, but you don't need tofollow that approach to the letter to make greatbread. What we do here is a simpler version ofthe process.

THE NIGHT BEFORE you plan to make thedough, using your ripe starter (If you feed tostarter every morning, it is now at about itspeak), create your levain:

1 table spoon ripe starter100 g bread flour100 g whole grain flour200 g water

STIR WELL, cover lightly, and leave to rest atroom temperature.

Step 2: Mix the doughIN THE MORNING, or about 12 hours after thefirst step, your levain is ready. If you were usinga three step levain process, you wouldcontinue feeding it with more water and flour togrow it into the actual dough step by step.

In this recipe, however, you will now mix thedough.

FOR THE BEST RESULTS, start with anautolyse step by mixing just the flour and waterfrom the recipe (see previous page) and lettingthem rest from 20 minutes up to two hours.

After you are done with the autolyse, add200 grams of the levain from step 1.

Store the remaining 200 grams as yoursourdough starter for the next time you bakebread.

Step 3: strengthEN the doughTHE GOAL OF KNEADING a dough is to buildstrength into the dough so that it will be keepthe shape you want until the bread has beenbaked.

When working with yeast, this has to beachieved quickly as the yeast completes itswork fast and then starts losing its raisingpower. In sourdough breads, yeasts work moreslowly so we don't have to hurry up, whichgives us more freedom in choosing the way weknead the dough.

ONE OPTION—good if you don't have the timeto focus on the dough as it rises—is to knead


for about 10 minutes, then add salt and kneadagain until it is completely dissolved into thedough.

ANOTHER GOOD OPTION that reduces thekneading time to almost zero is to buildstrength through stretching and folding thedough every 30 minutes as it rises.

Every 30 minutes, as the dough sits in itsbowl, without taking the dough out, grab onecorner of the dough, stretch it out of the bowl,and then place back on top of the dough.Press tightly at first and as the dough getsmore gassy after a couple of hours, starthandling the dough in a more gentle manner.

When using this approach, incorporate thesalt into your dough after the first 30 minuterest period has passed.

FINALLY, you can go for a mix of the twoapproaches, kneading only briefly, maybe fiveminutes or less, and then following the processwith a series of stretch and fold sequences.

Also, even if you go with a longer kneading,at the beginning, adding a couple strech andfolds at about every hour or so can helpdistribute the carbon dioxide inside the doughmore evenly.

STEP 4: Shaping breadsWHICHEVER WAY you choose for kneadingthe dough, you will need to let the dough riseuntil it's "ready". Deciding when a dough isready is an art form in itself, and withsourdough, as every sourdough culture is

different, it's hard to give exact time estimatesof how long to wait.

As you make more bread with your starter,marking down the time it took to get to theready state, you will learn the approximate timeit takes for your starter to process your dough.

ONCE YOU DECIDE your dough is ready to beshaped, proceed with the shaping just as youwould with a regular yeasted dough.

Just remember that the dough will gothrough one more long rest period, so it needsto have good strength or some support, suchas the Banneton baskets commonly used byartisan bakers around the world.

Depending on the temperature and theactivity of your starter, by the time you haveshaped your breads, it's probably lateafternoon or evening and you now have thechoice to either slow down the fermentation abit more by cooling the loaves down in therefrigerator (or outdoors) or baking the breadthe same night.

Step 5: Final RiseLET THE SHAPED BREADS proof, either in acool environment to bake in the morning or in awarmer location to bake the same night.

If you retard the rise by cooling the dough,take the loaves out of the refrigerator an hourbefore you plan to bake it so that it can warm alittle and maybe get one last good rise beforegoing to the oven.

THEN, BAKE THE BREAD and enjoy!


INSANELY INTERESTED IS APUBLISHER OF MICROMAGAZINES FOR THE CURIOUS.

MICRO MAGAZINES ARE magazines thatfocus on a very specific topic, publishedonline by a very small team—in the caseof Insanely Interested, just one man: me.

I am Jarkko Laine, a stay-at-home dad,online writer and publisher, beginnercigar box guitar player, and an all-roundcreative guy from Finland.

I believe as humans, we are borncurious and need to keep learning aboutmany different things to enjoy our lives tothe fullest and to get the most of ourminds. Insanely Interested is here todeliver a part of that healthy diet for acurious brain.

MY LOVE FOR A DARK CURST ON A softwhite crumb combined with a need to findout how things are made lead me to

create the magazine you are now reading.

IN ADDITION TO BREAD, InsanelyInterested publishes an email newsletterfor those of us hoping to turn their mindsinsanely interested in everything into ameaningful change in the world—bycreating important work and sharing itwith the world.

The newsletter is calledCurious&Creative and you can subscribeto it for free at the Insanely Interested website.

SLOWLY, AS I KEEP LEARNING howpublishing online works, I'm buildingInsanely Interested into a sustainable,long-lasting business that can serve theworld by presenting new ideas andstories by people doing things theybelieve in.

http://insanelyinterested.com




interview: Sebastien Boudet

"SOURDOUGH IS THE ONLY WAY FOR ME,"Sébastien Boudet told me in the beginning ofthe interview.

For the past two years, he has been leadinga grassroots revolution which he hopes willchange the face of bread making in Sweden.Working on three fronts at the same time, like aGillette Mach 3 razor blade, as he says—withprivate people, with schools and education,and with professionals—he believes he willreach his goal faster.

The approach seems to be working: today,the revolution is spreading fast, and Boudet,who came to Sweden twelve years ago isreaching the heart of Sweden. This summer, heappeared on Swedish radio as the first baker tohave hosted Sweden's traditional summerprogram, Sommarprat which still reaches over3 million listeners every time it airs.

Boudet's book, Den Franska Bagaren (TheFrench Baker) was published earlier this year,and his blog, Brödpassion, which he started in2008 is updated many times a week and

collects an enthusiastic following.

IF ONE THING, Boudet is passionate.Passionate about using the best ingredients

(he is not afraid to call bad flour shit, or to voicehis opinion when he sees famous bakerspromote bad flour just for the money) and thecraft of bread making.

But he is not angry.Actually, he is a friendly man who says he

likes everyone. A friendly man orchestrating arevolution:

"When you are French you think alwaysabout revolution. And revolution is aboutpeople. It’s not the state or the power who sayswe should do that because it’s better foreveryone. It’s the people who go and say that itshouldn’t be like this anymore."

But let's go back to the beginning.

Arriving in SwedenSÉBASTIEN BOUDET was born to a family of

bakers from which he inherited the passion forbread making—and despite his mother'sefforts to guide him to some less consumingprofession—became a baker just like hisfather.

Boudet arrived in Sweden (because of awoman he met in Spain) in 2000 and after ayear of traveling back and forth betweenStockholm and New York where he was livingat the time, settled in the country.

"In the beginning, I had some troublefinding a job because nobody was interested inmy skills. The bread I was baking, nobody likedit. Everybody thought it was too hard, too thick,and too sour and too heavy. They wanted air,"Boudet says.

BUT IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG for theentrepreneurial frenchman to start movingtowards his goals.

After a short period of skinning salmon andthen baking bread and cakes for a small hotel,he landed a job as pastry chef in the famous

In Sweden, French sourdough baker Sébastien Boudet leads afriendly grass-roots revolution for the better appreciation ofslowly prepared bread and ingredients of the highest quality.Sweden is listening and the message spreads.

http://www.bonnierforlagen.se/Katalog/BonnierFakta/Varen-2012/Den-franske-bagaren/

http://brodpassion.se


Stockholm restaurant, Berns Salongen."I was 26 years old and it was a very good

job. Very interesting." Boudet recalls.

TWO YEARS LATER, he started his ownbusiness making breads and pastries for localrestaurants and hotels.

Just as he had expected based on his ownexperience as pastry chef, there was hugedemand for this kind of a bakery:

"After three years, I was baking 1.5 tons ofsourdough bread every night, and the day was24 hours working with 11 persons."

Business was good but Boudet felt it wasnot leading to the the big change he was tryingto achieve:

"In the end I had 320 different products—Iwas making special bread for everyone. It gota bit heavy in the end. I thought: I want tochange the face of bakeries in Sweden, andI’m never going to make it this way. Nobodyknows who I am and everybody uses my breadto get the credit for it."

Working against orders, Boudet didn't havethe time to experiment with the breads hewanted to make so it was time for a newbusiness.

Petite FranceFOUR YEARS AFTER starting his previousbusiness, in 2007, Boudet started his Frenchbakery and café, Petite France.

"The concept was to have the bakery at theheart of the whole place. In the middle, youhave the bakery with a huge stone oven, a

Bongard—a French stone oven—working dayand night, where we bake the bread, dry thestrawberries, confit the duck, grill the chicken,do the Créme Brulée, and do the Tartelettes.Everything was going through this oven."

And as you can expect for someone aspassionate as Sébastien Boudet, his passionfor using only the best ingredients and takingno shortcuts was at the heart of the businesssince the beginning, whether for food, coffee,pastry or bread.

"I was one of the first ones who started toreconnect to the mill where we make the flour. Iwould go to the field, choose what kind ofwheat or rye I want to have, mill it the way Iwant it, and then make the bread from it. Tostart to work with real flour, with natural flour,with flour which is nothing else, just flour itself."Boudet says, and continues to explain theimportance of good ingredients in his work:

"I would never put something on the shelfunless I believed it was the best I can do. Andunfortunately there are a lot of bakers andpastry chefs who do that."

"I think that’s part of my personality andthat’s why it’s been working so well in myplace."

"When people come to my place, they canrelax. They don’t have to think 'Is it good? Is itwell done?' Because they know that I’m notscared. People have tried to shut me up andmake me be quiet and stop talking about allthis because it’s very sensitive. It’s a verysensitive subject when you start to talk aboutflour and additives in the industry."

http://www.petitefrance.se/


building a revolutionWHEN YOU TALK WITH Sébastien Boudet, youcan't help but get inspired. A natural agitator,his passion for baking with great ingredients iscontagious. And he is not one to save hiswords.

"In Sweden, home bakers bake just as theydo in big factories. People bake at home withindustrial flour, with yeast, with bad ingredients.They whip the dough with big machines andthen they think they have baked somethinggood at home. When they really haven’t. Then,industry can just make the same shit and do asgood as the people at home!"

AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS of unsuccessfulattempts at trying to convince the bigcompanies and bakers to start using betteringredients and methods of making bread,Boudet went to home bakers and smallerbakeries who were not too afraid of change:

"I tried to convince the syndicate of bakersto do something. They did nothing. I tried toconvince bakers to do something. They didnothing. And I am French, you know. When youare French, you always think about revolution."

So, we are back at the revolution."Today, every single person is connected to

300-400 other people and with just two clickscan reach thousands of people. So, I believethe best way to make this revolution spreadand to make this revolution be a real revolutionis to spend some time with people who want tobake bread at home." Boudet says.

BOUDET SOLD his very successful company1.5 years ago and focused all of his attention toeducating Sweden on great bread.

"I wanted to be independent, so that I don’thave any need for sponsors. It’s very hard togo to your colleagues who see you as thecompetitor, another baker which has a shop.By selling my place I got independent: now I’mjust some guy, and I can come and help you."Boudet explains.

"My place was up in the sky when I sold it, Itwas crowded and so I got very well paid. Now,I don’t rely on anyone. I can just live and I don’tneed to work for money."

THROUGH HIS BLOG, Boudet has beengrowing his following steadily, leading to morechances to meet with people, teach thembread making, and make them a part of therevolution to change the way bakers thinkabout bread.

"I like the fact that when I make courses—Imake two-day courses, 15 hours—people getout of there totally brainwashed. They alsoknow that the money they pay on the course, Iuse it to do free courses for schools." Boudetsays.

Offering the bread courses for schools forfree makes them easier to sell. When theteachers interested in Boudet's type of breadmaking don't have to go through school boardsor look for outside sponsorships in order toafford the courses, more schools are invitinghim.

"My only solution was to be free. I’m free, I

"In Sweden, homebakers bake justas they do in bigfactories. Peoplebake at home withindustrial flour,with yeast, withbad ingredients.They whip thedough with bigmachines.

then theythink they havebaked somethinggood at home.When they reallyhaven’t!"


don’t cost anything. So, when I go there, theteachers won’t have to ask for permission, Ican make a course."

"I buy flour, chocolate, and eggs and butter,and I go there with my truck and make acourse for two to three days. We bakeeverything and I brainwash the students. Theyget another view of the business of workingwith bread and cakes." Boudet says.

"The fantastic thing is that when I meet thebakers, and I show them how I make bread,they realize that it’s such a different thing towork with good flour: You feel like you areneeded. You are not just the worker, you arethe baker. You are someone who turns flour,water, and salt into bread, and you can makesomething fantastic out of just water, flour andsalt."

A Proof of LoveTEACHING HOME BAKERS, Boudet has seenthat they have very pure, even noblemotivations for making bread:

"Most of the home bakers I have beenmeeting and have been teaching how to makebread, when they bake a great bread, whenthey put it on the table, it’s their way to say totheir family that they love them. It’s a proof oflove you put in the middle of the table."

"That’s why it is very inspiring to teach thosehome bakers because they are so grateful.They learn more, they get better, and they bakeand bake and bake."

He is also convinced that anyone can bake:"When I meet someone they always say 'I

don’t know how to bake.' And I say 'Okay, wellyou know, I don’t know how to ride a bicycle.'"

"They look at me and say 'No…' But yes, Idon’t know how to ride a bicycle.”

"They say, 'No… it’s not true…', that I’mjoking. But I’m not."

Boudet asks: "If it’s not possible not to beable to ride a bicycle, why would it be possiblenot to be able to bake bread?"

Both are just the same. You fall, you learn,you try again, and then you practice as muchas you can to learn.

"Nobody can say 'I can’t bake.' You justdon’t want to bake. You don’t think it’s fun, youdon’t think it’s interesting. But don’t say youcan’t bake. Everyone can bake." Boudet says.

BUT WHAT THEN IS GOOD BREAD? And howdo you make it?

Sébastien Boudet names three imporantaspects. The first one, ingredients, comeswithout a second of hesitation.

"You have to take the time to search for theingredients and find good flour and good salt."Boudet says.

"Without good ingredients you can’t makenice bread. If you make good bread with badingredients, then there’s something wrong."

He then goes on to tell that many peoplecome to his courses saying that they havetrouble getting their sourdough starters aliveand bubbling.

"It’s because the flour is totally sterile. Theflour is dead. I mean industrial flour is dead,there is no life in it. That’s why many bakers


give advice that you use raisins or apricots tofeed the sourdough. Because the bacteria youshould find in the flour, they are not there."

One of Boudet's current projects is to puton a map the 22 still functional traditioal mills inSweden, "to preserve their knowledge, topreserve their culture, everything around whatthey have been doing for years, and fighting tobe left so that their mill doesn’t turn into amuseum," as he says.

"My goal is to make sure those mills get alot to do and start to sell flour more and more."

AS THE SECOND ASPECT of great breadmaking, Boudet mentions understandingkneading—and not doing too much of it.

He is a big proponent of a long autolysestep, as long as up to two hours.

"That’s what bakers were using in the17th,18th centuries." Boudet says. "Because itwas so hard to knead the dough so they whenyou let the dough rest that way, you don’t needto knead it so much."

He tells people to bake with their handsinstead of machines and connect with thedough to really learn to understand how thedough works:

"I’m going to be on a show on sunday onthe TV, and I’m going to tell them ”sell yourKitchenAid, take the money you get out of itand try to buy better flour."

"And use your hands because they are yourbest tools”

"The machine is an illusion, it’s to sell themsomething, to make money."

THIRD, there is sourdough, and the slowfermentation that comes along with it. Partlythanks to the recent trends in food, such as rawfood diets and LCHF, we have gained newinsight into nutrition, and some of the findingsmake a solid case for slowly fermented bread.

One such finding is phytic acid, an acid thatis present in every kind of flour and fixesminerals, such as iron, copper, and zinc, aswell as the vitamin D, making them mostlyunavailable for the person consuming the flour.What has been noticed however, through theraw food diets, is that phytic acid breaks downwhen the flour and water are allowed to stay incontact for 12 to 15 hours.

"When [people subscribing to raw fooddiets] make a pudding, when they use flour,they always put it in water for twelve hours atfirst, to break down the phytic acid." Boudetexplains.

And the same applies to bread fermentedwith the sourdough method, he says:

"That’s why sourdough is so much better,because under this proofing time, long contactbetween the water and flour breaks down thephytic acid, and when you break down thephytic acid it lets free all the vitamins and theminerals and everything gets so much better.So, you don’t need to put more vitamins in theflour, it’s already there. It’s just that if you yeasttoo quickly, you don’t get those vitamins. Theyjust go through you."

Another health aspect that comes from slowfermentation is the change in GI or glycemicindex. White, industrial bread has a very bad

reputation for rising the glycemic index, butaccording to Boudet, the same is not true forslowly fermented bread:

"When you have a bread which has beenproofing over 24 hours—my bread goes from24 up to 48 hours—then you get a very goodblood sugar. You stay full for a long time."

And finally, there is gluten.In the industrial bread making process,

extra gluten is added to flour to make itstronger. Then the dough is whipped in ablender for 15 minutes, followed by a quickproof and baking.

"This combination makes the gluten in thebread transform to be much more aggressive,and your self-defense will create aninflammation in your body, which raises the riskfor cancer and for chronic diseases, such asdiabetes. And it rises the risk to becomingallergic to gluten. So, like they say in Swedish:you sit on the branch you are cutting. Youmake bread that makes people allergic tobread. Think about it, this is totally crazy!"Boudet says, and continues:

"I don’t make bread for people allergic togluten. But I make bread which is very good,which will not create a gluten allergy tosomeone. I know people who are sensitive togluten and they can eat my bread one slice ofmy bread every day and feel good anyway."

BUT BOUDET WANTS to make clear that it'snot the sourdough starter itself that doesmiracles, but the whole change of thinking thatcomes with moving from yeasted doughs to

"you don’t need toput more vitaminsin the flour, it’salready there.It’s just that ifyou yeast tooquickly, you don’tget thosevitamins. Theyjust go throughyou."


sourdough:"And it’s not just the sourdough—sourdough

is just the proofing method—but everythingaround it. When you make sourdough bread,you knead much softer, you choose youringredients better, and have long proofingtimes, everything together makes that thebread is much more healthy."

The revolution continuesWITH THE REVOLUTION moving ahead withfull speed, Sébastien Boudet is now ready tomove on to new challenges.

Or more specifically, to go back to his truepassion of being a sourdough baker. He saysthat in these 1.5 years since selling hisprevious business, Petite France, he haslearned a lot while working with millers andbakers all around the country, and now has astrong itch to bake.

"I need to bake, I need to have my ownplace. I need to have my own oven. I need tohave a home, somewhere I can go to bake inthe night time. I miss it." he says.

"And now I feel I have started the revolutionand I don’t need to take it to the end. There is alot of people involved now, so I think now otherpeople can continue. I will continue too but inthe mean time, I’m a baker. I’m not abusinessman, I’m not a journalist, I’m a baker, Ineed to bake."

It's time to talk a different language:"I think now I want to spend more time

baking and telling things through my breadthan through my words."

WHEN THE NEW BAKERY OPENS, it will be aplace where the customer can feel the passionthe bakers have for what they do. The work willbe done by hand, at the center of the bakery,so that everything will be open and visible:

"It’s going to be hand kneaded, everything.No blender. We are going to make like 30 kiloat a time. 30 kilo of dough will be handkneaded in front of the customers. It’s going tobe just open, everything open, everythinghere." Boudet explains his vision.

And then there is the big idea, which he istaking from the world of fine wine: connectingthe bread to the field where it comes from.

" I’m going to reintroduce the notion of'cépage.' I’m going to connect the field to thebread. I’m going to try to connect all the millsaround Sweden and have special flour andhave this cépage word around every bread."

THE JOURNEY TO starting the new bakery hasjust begun, and Boudet is taking his time tochoose the right place for it carefully. He is notin a hurry, and this time, the situation is verydifferent from when he started Petite France.

"For Petite France, it took six months toconvince them to let me buy the place andmake a bakery out of it. They were scared andsaid 'we don’t want a bakery, we want arestaurant,' because bakeries are trouble forpeople. They smell bread, in the night time theymake noise..."

This time around, people are inviting thenew bakery and making great offers for helpingit get started!

"I think now Iwant to spendmore time bakingand telling thingsthrough my breadthan through mywords."


BUT WHILE THE leader of the revolution plansto go back to basics and making the bestbread he has ever made, it's easy to feelconfident that the revolution continues.

The big Swedish yeast companyresponsible for all of the yeast sold in Swedenrecently launched a product claiming to besourdough—a product that doesn't have anyrising power but requires adding yeast!

On his blog, Boudet told readers to turn theboxes upside down whenever they see them inthe store. Now, he says he gets 10 to 15 SMSmessages a day with photos of these boxesturned upside down:

"I told people to put them upside downwhen they see them. It’s the revolution. Andeverywhere I go to buy food, most of the timethe sourdough, they are upside down."

"When everybody all around Sweden see[the boxes] upside down in those windows,they understand and they feel like wow. It’s notforbidden, I checked with my lawyer, it’snothing bad, it’s just a protest. Sourdoughshould be sourdough. You can’t makesourdough that requires 50 grams yeast for700 grams of flour."

"I think it’s bugging them very much at theyeast company. But at the same time it’s a littlebit sweet. A sweet way to be a little bit nasty."

The revolution is alive and well, and realbread is back.

"THIS WAY OF MAKING bread is the real way.It’s not a trend, it’s just that we forgot about it.And now we get back to it." Boudet says.

Fermentation q&a


My starter DIDN't COME TO LIFEIF YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING for over a week,stirring the dough at least once a day and nolife is appearing in your starter, you can try oneor all of these ideas:

1. SWITCH TO DIFFERENT FLOUR. Organicflour is said to be better for sourdough startersthan regular flour. Also, full grain flour,especially rye makes the starter grow morevigorously.

2. MAKE SURE YOUR WATER is notchlorinated. Chlorine can kill the yeasts andbacteria in the starter. If your tap water is highin chlorine, you can either try to dechlorinate itby letting the water sit in an open vessel atroom temperature for at least 24 hours or buybottled water to see if it helps.

3. DON'T COVER THE STARTER too tightly.The yeasts and bacteria come from many

sources, including the air, so you don't want toblock their way to the dough.

4. STIR THE STARTER vigorously and often fora while. Oxygen will cause the yeasts to doaerobic fermentation, or respiration, whichmultiplies them in the starter.

5. MOVE THE STARTER to a warmer location.Some people use the oven with only the lampturned. A cupboard above the refrigerator canalso work well.

I forgot to feed my starterSOURDOUGH STARTERS are very strongbeasts and against all the instructions for theirproper use can handle tough environmentsonce they have been properly established.

If you forget to feed your starter, you canvery well recover it even after a week or two atroom temperature and much longer if stored inthe refrigerator.

Just scrap the dry and thick crust that hasformed on top of the starter and you'll findsome light dough. Take a table spoon (or evenless) of it and feed with water and flour. In myexperience, after a few refreshes, the starter isas good as new again.

Once, I was even able to rescue acompletely dried out starter by soaking it first inwater to soften it and then adding flour into thesoup.

YOUR RESULTS might vary as every starter isdifferent, but before you throw your cultureaway, it's a good idea to give rescuing it atleast a try.

Is my dough ready?ONE OF THE THINGS THAT make masteringfermentation tricky is judging when a dough isready to be baked. With practice, you will learnto read your dough, but some advice can behelpful.

How do I know when my bread is ready to be baked? Whyisn't my sourdough starter getting started? These questions canbe frustrating at times, but don't let them stop you frompracticing.

IN HER BOOK, Bread Science, Emily Buehlergives the following advice:

"To know when your dough is ready to befolded or shaped, touch it. Consider howspringy the dough is—does it bounce backwhen you push it? If it is very springy, then it isnot ready. [...] Also consider how gassy thedough is—it will be full of gas when ready."

The same considerations apply fordetermining whether the breads are ready tobe baked. Buehler continues:

"To examine the dough's strength, poke itgently with your finger—does it bounce back ordid you leave a dent? Compare the strength tohow it felt when it was first shaped. With time,the dough relaxes. [...] A dent indicates that itis ready to be baked."

This way, by touching your dough atdifferent steps in the fermentation process, youwill improve your skills at reading the dough'sstate and learn to bake the bread when it isready instead of a specific amount of time.

"To know whenyour dough isready to befolded or shaped,touch it."


http://www.twobluebooks.com/book.php

starter uses beyond bread


Idea 1: Sourdough PancakesYOU CAN'T EAT PANCAKES every day butwhen you do, a sourdough starter is a beautifulthing to have in the house. Just a table spoonor two of ripe starter is a great way to give bothflavor and texture for your regular pancakerecipe.

If you have time and like the sour taste ofsourdough, let the starter ferment the batter abit before baking the pancakes. When doingthis, I like to add a bit of sugar just beforeheating the pan and baking the pancakes, toreplace the sugar consumed by the activeyeasts in the sourdough starter.

The taste might take some getting used to,but in a while, regular pancakes will feel as ifthey are missing an important ingredient. Oryou can add a little baking soda to take awaysome of the stinginess of the taste.

Idea 2: Sourdough WafflesMOST PANCAKE RECIPES can be baked into

waffles just by using a waffle iron instead of afrying pan. So, once you have had enough ofsourdough pancakes, the next variation iswaiting right behind the corner.

Here's a recipe you can use for bothpancakes and waffles—a quick web search willlead you to many more recipes.

Idea 3: Friendship CakeYEARS AGO, when I knew nothing about breadmaking or sourdough cultures, I received asmall batch of cake dough called Herman anda printed recipe with instructions on how totake care of this "friendship cake."

I didn't realize it back then but this cake isactually a form of sourdough. Check out therecipe on this page, and get the ”chain letter”going.

SOURDOUGH CAKE MAKING doesn't stopwith Herman though. On the internet, you willfind many cake recipes using sourdough for

added flavor, such as this carrot and pineapplecake from the Sourdough Home web site.

Idea 4: DEEP Fried StarterTHIS IS A RECIPE FOR the more adventuroussourdough lovers. Drops of sourdough batterfried in oil:

Mix 1000 grams of water with 600 grams ofcoarse rye flour and 90 grams of sourdoughstarter. Leave the batter to rest at roomtemperature for about 6 hours and fry mediumstrands of dough using a pastry bag untilgolden brown and crispy.

Toss with salt and enjoy as snack.

IDEA 5: KVASSSOURDOUGH STARTER can be used to startall kinds of new ferments based on yeasts andlactic acid bacteria. One such ferment is adrink called Kvass, popular in Russia andmany Eastern European countries.

Kvass is made by fermenting stale rye

Discarding unused dough when refreshing your starter is astep in sourdough bread making that makes many home bakersfeel a bit guilty. While you can't use all of your starter, here are afew ideas to rescue at least some of it.

http://www.breadtopia.com/sourdough-waffles-and-pancakes/

http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com/

http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com/

http://www.sourdoughhome.com/carrotpineapplecake.html

http://www.sourdoughhome.com/carrotpineapplecake.html


bread with the help of some sourdough starter.I haven't tried or tasted Kvass myself, but

the recipe in Sandor Katz's book The Art ofFermentation seems straightforward enough.

IDEA 6: Fermented porridgeYOU CAN CREATE A FERMENTED breakfastporridge by mixing oats and water with ateaspon of sourdough starter and leaving torest overnight. Then, in the morning, as youcook your porridge, you will get to enjoy apleasantly sour taste—and probably a moreeasily digestible porridge as well.

If you want to go further, you can grow aporridge starter and use it for years to come.

IDEA 7: Share or SellWHILE NOT REALLY a way to use excesssourdough, this is a great way to help peoplewho are interested in giving sourdough bakinga try but feel that growing their own starter istoo complicated or time consuming.

Give your friends and neighbors smallbatches of sourdough with instructions on howto care for the starter. And while at it, if you arebusiness oriented, selling small, refrigeratedjars of fresh sourdough starter might not besuch a bad idea.

WITH A LITTLE BIT OF EXPERIMENTATION,you will find even more uses for your yeast andbacteria. When you do, why not share some ofyour best inventions with the rest of us at themagazine's Facebook page?

http://www.nourishingdays.com/2012/01/fermented-grains-the-perpetual-soured-porridge-pot/

http://www.nourishingdays.com/2012/01/fermented-grains-the-perpetual-soured-porridge-pot/

http://www.facebook.com/interested.bread

http://www.facebook.com/interested.bread



cultivating yeast: Yeast Water


THE COMMERCIAL YEAST that we think of asthe default option for bread making todaywasn't invented until the last quarter of the 19thcentury. So, for the centuries before that, breadwas made using wild fermentation: sourdoughcultures but also yeast oollected from variousother ferments as side product, most notablybeer.

While sourdough baking has been seeing arevival in the recent years, other methods ofcollecting yeast are not quite as well known.

One of them is the topic of this article, aferment called "Wild Yeast Water" by the onlinebread making community and mead or honeywine by the rest of the world.

I JUMPED IN TO experiment with yeast waterout of sheer curiosity, but it turns out themethod has some advantages (as well asdisadvantages) compared to a traditionalsourdough starter.

After couple of months with experimentingwith yeast water, I still return to sourdough

when I want to make my favorite breads, but forsofter, enriched breads such as sandwichloaves, yeast water is a great method to use asit makes a moist bread with none of the sourtaste that lactic acid bacteria bring tosourdough bread.

YEAST WATER IS LIGHTLY fermented wildyeast mead. If you let the fermentation continuefor a long time, the liquid becomes strongerwith alcohol, eventually stoping the growth ofyeast, but before that happens, under the rightconditions, you can grow a good amount ofyeast using water, honey and fresh fruit.

I created my first yeast water using blacktea, which contains tannins that make theenvironment even more suitable for yeastgrowth, but I have seen great results with allkinds of fruit as well.

Following these instructions, you should beable to build an actively fermenting yeastsolution in a matter of days.

Cultivating Yeast WaterTO MAKE YEAST WATER, take a clean glassjar, fill half of it with fresh water, then dilute acouple of table spoons of organic honey intothe water. If the honey hasn't been processed,it will contain natural yeasts in it, but to makesure the liquid has good amounts of yeast tostart with, it's good to add some fruit which isknown to attract yeast such as grapes,peaches, or apricots—as well as some blacktea for tannins.

Don't peel the fruit as the peel is wheremost of the yeast is. Just wash the fruit lightly(so you don't remove too much of the yeast)and cut to pieces. The smaller the pieces themore surface area is exposed for thefermentation, leading to more activity.

Leave the jar to ferment at roomtemperature, uncovered—except for a cloth tokeep flies away. This is important because fclosed tightly, the jar will build up pressure,which can lead to dangerous accidents. Plus,

Creating a sourdough starter is not the only way to grow wildyeasts. This summer, I discovered a whole new world offermentation as I stumbled on to yeast water, also known as meador honey wine.

to encourage yeast growth, you want as muchoxygen in the jar as you can get.

To get even more air in the mix, stir itvigorously several times a day.

Add more honey to feed the yeasts aboutonce every day or every second daydepending on how active your culture seems tobe.

MAKing Bread with yeast waterWHEN THE YEAST CULTURE has beenbubbling for a few days and smells like alcholand maybe a bit yeasty, it's time to give it a goat bread making.

The day before you want to mix your finaldough, take a small amount of the liquid andcombine with an equal weight of bread flour.

Using more specific numbers, let's startwith:

50 g Yeast Water50 g Bread Flour

COVER THIS MIXTURE with a cloth and leavefor about 8 to 10 hours at room temperature. Ifyou started in the evening, you can do thesecond build the next morning, or if you startedin the morning, you will continue in the evening.

All of the starter from first build100 g Yeast water100 g Bread flour


LET THE STARTER REST for another eighthours. Then, if you like, you can still continuebuilding the starter with more flour and yeastwater (or just plain water if you feel your doughalready has enough yeast). Or you can mix thefinal dough.

FOR THE FINAL DOUGH, you can againconsult our basic formula, replacing some ofthe flour and water with your yeast waterstarter.

For example, if you have built a starter intwo phases as above, your starter nowcontains 150 grams of both water and flour.This means that you can subtract theseamounts from the total water and flour requiredfor the formula.

In a 70% hydration bread with 500 grams oftotal flour, this would mean that you need toadd 350 grams of flour and 95 grams of waterto your dough in addition to all of the starter.

As the starter already contains the yeastneeded for your bread, you don't need to addany.

VariationsMANY PEOPLE WHO BAKE with yeast waterlike to combine some sourdough starter withtheir yeast water starter when making bread.This gives them some of the sour taste fromsourdough while keeping it less pronounced.

Again, experimentation is the best way tofind out what yeast water is all about and how itfits your baking routine. Take a shot and enjoya new adventure in the art of fermentation.

interview: MIKE "The Bejkr" ZAKOWSKI


MIKE ZAKOWSKI runs a very small one-manbakery called [the bejkr] in California's "slowcity" or "Cittaslow", Sonoma Valley. But it's notjust any bakery. Zakowski bakes his handmadeloaves in a food wired oven built inside ashipping container in his back yard.

The baker, often described with words suchas "renegade" or "anti-corporate" then driveshis van and mobile wood fired pizza oven tothe local famers' market to sell fresh bread tohis loyal customers.

This year, Zakowski found himself in atotally different world, when he participated inthe "Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie"—anevent that could be described as as theOlympic Games of bread making—as one ofthree members in Team USA. The teamfinished close second, right after Japan.

I ASKED MIKE A FEW questions about his workand projects as well as his thoughts on bread.

—

jarkko: How did you go about starting yourbakery? Was it a clear and well-plannedprocess or were there bumps and surprisesalong the way?

Mike: I JUST DECIDED to build a wood firedoven in my back yard and build my bakeshopout of a shipping container and connect thetwo for functionality.

I live on a mixed use property and mylandlord was all for what I had planned to do soI moved forward with the project.

It was definitely clear and well planned butyou always run into bumps along the way inany project I believe.

jarkko: Could you describe your typical day at[the bejkr] — or is there such a thing?

Mike: WELL I BAKE FRESH bread for the twofarmers markets here in Sonoma. One of themis open only six months out of the year and theother all year.

So those days are pretty set as for thetiming and making of the product as I want thefreshest possible product for the market.

AS AN EXAMPLE, my work for a Friday marketstarts on Thursday morning at about 7 A.M.with the shaping of the whole wheat pretzels,then going right into mixing a couple of doughsto be cold fermented, and then right into mypreferments for that evening's mix.

I finish the morning session by noon andthen have some lunch, take care of someemails and computer stuff before going off tobed from about 2 to 7 P.M.

My first mix starts at about 8 P.M.I finish up with the bake by 6 A.M., load my

van, start fire on trailer oven and leave for themarket by 8 A.M.

I set up and start selling by 9 A.M.

jarkko: Your current work as [the bejkr] is quitedifferent from most bakeries I know of. Whatdrives you to keep the bakery small, do

Mike Zakowski has done a very successful career in breadmaking, owning and managing bakeries and making award-winning breads. Today, he runs a bakery in Sonoma, Californiawhere he hopes to keep things small and stay close to his dough.

everything by hand, and not sell outside thefarmer’s markets you work with?

Mike: I AM IN A VERY UNIQUE situation as Iusually sell out at both of my farmers' markets—which by the way is a bit over 50 hours ofwork per week as I do everything by myself,including the cleaning.

I also do private stuff on the weekends withmy wood-fired trailer oven and teach at mylocal community center and else where aboutonce a month.

I am very fortunate as I only have to travelone mile down the road to those farmers'markets and that is all the business I need rightnow. And I hope to only need that in the futureas well.

jarkko: What is the thing about bread thatkeeps you passionate? What do you enjoymost in making bread?

Mike: THE SATISFACTION of the finishedproduct and going to the farmers' markets andselling out.

Every part of the process is fun for me: I justlove getting my hands in it, mixing it by hand,shaping it by hand and then baking it.

Every time I make bread, it just amazes methat it’s a relative simple process that yieldssuch beauty.

jarkko: I see bakers as craftsmen, and I thinkyou’d agree. What do you consider the mostimportant part of a baker’s craft?

"Every time I makebread, it justamazes me thatit’s a relativesimple processthat yields suchbeauty"



Mike: I DEFINITELY THINK baking is a craft.I don’t believe there is any way to shortcut

the process: you have to do it repeatedly to getbetter at it. The most important part of thebakers craft is having patience and being ableto observe what is going on in the process anddo what the dough is telling you to do—timeand temperature being the key elements toobserve.

jarkko: As this edition of Bread will be aboutfermentation and sourdough, can you tell a bitabout your own sourdough starter and the wayyou maintain and use it?

Mike: FERMENTATION IS WHAT it's all about,and properly fermented even more so.

The key to fermentation is finding balance,whether it's just a sourdough or by addingother preferments such as a biga or poolish.

MY OWN SOURDOUGH starter is unique to meand what I do as is everybody else’ssourdough to them and their environment.

What I mean by that is I feed it specific flourfor specific flavors that I am looking for in thefinal product. I feed my sourdough 100% stonemilled California wheat which yields a muchmore pronounced flavor than white flour does.

I don’t believe there are any secrets tobread making—again its just practice,practice, and more practice. Tips and lessonsabout sourdough come from observation of thedough and seeing what is happening in theprocess.

World Championshipsjarkko: You participated in the Coupe duMonde de la Boulangerie earlier this year(Congratulations for your second place!). Whatinspired you to take part in the competition?

Mike: I WAS INSPIRED TO COMPETE to elevatemy skill set and to bake against the best in theworld.

The seed to compete was probably plantedback in 2001 and then visiting France toobserve the US team compete in the Coupe duMonde de la Boulangerie in 2002.

From there, it was competing to get on theteam—and I finally made it. So it was a longprocess to make it back to France in March of2012 and compete on the US team, but wellworth the time and effort.

jarkko: What was the competition like? I guessthe environment was quite different from yournormal work in Sonoma Valley… Is theresomething to take home from the competitionand use back home in your own bakery?

Mike: THE PRACTICE for the competition wasintense: very long days with very little sleep.

As a team we traveled around the countryto meet up once a month. Further out and astime got closer to the actual competition, wewould meet up twice a month for a four dayweekend.

When we went back home, we each wouldcontinue to practice on our own as there was alot of product to make in what seems like a

The Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie is an invitationalartisan baking competition that takes place in Paris,France every three to four years together with the hugebread baking exhibition, Europain.

Every team consists of three members, each with hisor her own specialty: baguettes and specialty breads,artistic design, and viennoiserie.

For more information, visit the competition's web site.

http://www.coupelouislesaffre.com/

short amount of time.

THE COMPETITION and practice is verydifferent from what I do in my home shop backin Sonoma. A lot of the disciplines andattention to detail roll into my home shop but Ido everything by hand and in the competitionthe mixing is done by spiral mixers.

My breads are very rustic as they are bakedin a wood fired oven and the competition theyare baked in modern deck ovens.

A movie About breadTOGETHER WITH his friend, film-maker ColinBlackshear, Mike Zakowski is making a movieon bread, [the bejkr], as well as participating inthe Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie.

Back in February, the team was trying tocollect money for the movie through Kickstarterbut didn't quite reach their goals, so they setup a fundraiser of their own atwww.thebejkr.com.

I love seeing bakers at work, so I was eagerto know more about the movie and how it isdoing.

jarkko: Why did you and Colin Blacksheardecide to make this movie? It’s about bread,but is there some special twist that makes thestory even more important to share?

Mike: THE MOVIE PROJECT has been an ideafor years now as there is not much out there onthe process of making bread, shown in acreative way.


http://www.thebejkr.com/

It's about bread but also about the wholeprocess starting with the soil, then the seed, tograin, to milling, to flour, to loaf, to the breakingof the bread with friends—but shown in a verycreative and artistic way that will be visuallystimulating.

jarkko: What stage is the movie project at rightnow? How did the failure to reach yourKickstarter campaign’s goal affect the project?

Mike: WE ARE STILL CONTINUING to film as wewant to get the whole cycle of the season.

We just filmed some wheat harvest about amonth ago. We filmed at a really old stone millthat is powered by water. Then, once we aredone filming, the editing will continue to put ittogether in a visually artistic piece for many toenjoy.

The Kickstarter campaign did not affect themaking of the film at all, but we are about to doa local fUN-rAISING party here in Sonoma onthe 11th of November 2012 at our localcommunity center to raise some funds to helpwith the production of the film.

jarkko: At your web site, you collect donationsfor the movie. Is this still active, and if someonedonates today, is the support still needed?

Mike: WE STILL CONTINUE TO collectdonations for the movie at my website becausethe more money we can raise, the moreattention and time we can put towards the film—so yes, support is still needed monetarily.

jarkko: And finally, if someone is around yourneighborhood and wants to try your bread,what’s the best way to find you?

Mike: IF SOMEONE IS IN SONOMA and wantsto try my bread, they can find me at the twoSonoma Valley farmers' markets here inSonoma on Tuesday evenings from 5:30 P.M tilldusk from May through the end of October andthen Friday mornings from 9 to 1 all year.


"It's about breadbut also aboutthe wholeprocess startingwith the soil,then the seed, tograin, to milling,to flour, to loaf,to the breaking ofthe bread withfriendS"

next issue

The next issue of BREAD, titled "Heat" will beout just before Christmas, on December 20th.

THE MAGAZINE will be filled with informationon baking your loaves, whether in your homeoven or in an oven fired with wood. Just asusual, accompanied with interviews withbakers from around the world.

UNTIL THEN, happy baking—and thanks forreading!

IF YOU ENJOYED THE MAGAZINE,SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

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Photo CreditsCover: Colin Gordon (CC BY-ND 2.0)Page 1: Ying Shi (Used with permission)Page 3: Jetro Laine (Used with permission)Page 4: Jim Champion (CC BY-SA 2.0)Page 6: Frédéric Bisson (CC BY 2.0)Page 7: Dedree Drees (CC BY 2.0)Page 8: Leigh Ann Kopans (CC BY 2.0)Page 10: Jarkko LainePage 11: Rebecca Siegel (CC BY 2.0)Page 13: Alvarolg (CC BY-SA 2.0)Pages 14-17: Ying Shi (Used with permission)Page 19: Rachel Hathaway (CC BY 2.0)Page 21 (left): Kochtopf (CC BY 2.0)Page 21 (right): Rebecca Siegel (CC BY 2.0)Page 23: Pauline Mak (CC BY 2.0)Pages 25, 26: Jarkko LainePage 27 (background): redspotted (CC BY 2.0)Page 29: jules:stonesoup (CC BY 2.0)Page 30: Pauline Mak (CC BY 2.0)Page 31: Michele Ursino (CC BY 2.0)Page 32: Paulo Sebastião (Used with permission)Pages 34-40: Sébastien Boudet (Used with permission)Page 41: Kevin Dooley (CC BY 2.0)Page 44: Amanda Kelso (CC BY-ND 2.0)Page 46: Francis Storr (CC BY-SA 2.0)Page 47: Puddin n Tang (CC BY 2.0)Pages 49, 50: Jarkko LainePage 51: Barbara Hall (Used with permission)Pages 53-56: Mike Zakowski (Used with permission)Page 58: Howard Dickins (CC BY 2.0)

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Documents

Bread - Amazon Web Servicesinterested.s3.amazonaws.com/bread/bread_edition3.pdf · Bread - Issue 3: Fermentation 2 IN HIS 2008 NON-FICTION HIT, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell presented