Baking Theory Notes: Mixing Geekdom 2

Popular Dough Styles Methods of mixing dough, in bakery settings. If you analyze your home recipes procedure, you may notice most of your home bread or pastry recipes might mirror:" sponge & dough" or " straight dough" methods.

*Sponge & Dough Method

Very widely made.

--->Basic Formulation / Procedure:

1. Mix half of the flour, yeast , malt , water @ <72°f> = sponge.
2. Let it rise 3½ hours --- shake it, if it is done it will drop away from the sides.
3. Remove sponge from your container, add to mixer with remaining flour, salt etc.
4. Mix until gluten is developed.
5. Bake

Advantages of Sponge & Dough method :

• Better Flavor
• Flexible --- In sponge stage you can leave sitting on the bench.
• Better (tighter) crumb

{ This equals to ( 2) mix s and (2 ) fermentations {one in bowl , one in oven}

*Straight Dough Method

1. 1 mix
2. 1 fermentation

Advantages of Straight Dough Method:

• Faster
• Uses less electricity
• Easier on equipment
• Less Labor

*No-time Straight Dough Method
No fermentation. Additives cause "rise" activating Enzymes that normally developed during fermentation.
Basic Formulation / Procedure:

1. Mix ingredients. Warm up the dough (i.e via mixing friction)
2. Add more yeast
3. Add Fructose (yeast can eat this faster)
4. No Rounding --- Scale & put into pans to bake

Disadvantages of No-time Straight Dough Method:

• Flavor IS compromised (from lack of fermentation)
• Bad shelf life (unless you add additives)
• No flexibility --- from mixer to oven (reminds me of "from zero to sixty")

For more info on dough related baking info go here.

Photog : Windows -The soul of Dough 0

There is no gluten structure in this dough --- lots of holes and the dough breaks away when pulled because it needs further mixing to develop the gluten.

Not ready yet -- needs more mixing (intensive), originally uploaded by Amber *.

The Window: A meshing of gluten strands!
Tight like a drum --- the gluten strands have become meshed and the dough is done mixing. If you tap this "window" --- it will hold up and bounce back without tearing.

Baking Theory: Dough Preparation & Fermentation 4

Steps as a Successful Baker :

- Have Balanced Formulas

--- A collection of formulas that work
--- Formulas you have tried out in your bakery & changed to suit your needs
--- Be a Control Freak
--- Have Consistency every time!
--- Know Functions of Ingredients in your formulas, so as to predict the outcome.

-Know Proper Mixing

[1st speed]

--- Remember your Goal is Consistency
--- know that To Control consistency, hold back water.
--- Know NEVER to control mix with flour!

--> Gluten Development

[2nd speed]

--- know Proper gluten development VERY important, if dough is mixed too long gluten will separate.


*know your 3 main types of mix:

[Short ] {uneven gluten, tears window}

Uneven Window

[Intensive] { not quite a window, small tears}

[Improved] {fully developed window, feels like skin}

Fully Developed Window

{To check for the development of your dough :

1. Stop mixer, tug on a piece of dough {always from the bottom, due to more consistent mix} You will feel an elastic feel the longer you mix.
   
2. Take out the piece of dough. Start pulling from the bottom of your dough piece Until it is very thin in the middle & forms a window. Let the dough get pliable in your hands -- do not force the stretch.
   
3. Hold on sides, & hold up the "window" to the light. You will see the gluten will form "strands" criss-crossing in your dough like a crude mesh , as it starts to develop.
   
4. Gently touch with a finger - if it is taught, the dough is ready for the next step}

- Know Fermentation

{note : artisan bread doughs have longer fermentation}

--- Longer fermentation means shorter mixing.
--- Gluten is modified {Acidity = Flavor}

[ Dough Temperature] [completion of mixing]
{ Best environment for fermentation is 50°F & 80% humidity. Dough doesn't ferment well under 40° F}

---78°F - 84°F [can be as low as 74°F]
---If you lower temp. fermentation slows
---If temp is raised fermentation speeds up.
---Remember cool doughs make for the best fermentation.

[ the process of Fermentation ] [alcoholic fermentation starts]

---Remember fermentation starts as soon as mixer stops.
---This is the MOST important part of bread making
---Gluten is biochemically modified
---improved stretchability
---improved elasticity
---Carbon dioxide gas is produced
---Acidity

-When Scaling out dough

{an efficient experienced baker can handle 8 gal at a time}

---You should never scale out more dough than you can handle in 15-20 minutes. Or dough will ferment further while sitting & product will be nonuniform[larger] .

-Tips for Rounding & Shaping

{ Additional Gluten development = mix + folding (bench work) }

---Pre-shaping
---Cover after pre-shape or "crust" will develop

- Intermediate Proof or Bench Time

---The time when dough has been rounded & now resting under plastic.

- Molding & Shaping

---Flatten dough rounds out to expel gas
---Shape into final loaf

- Panning

Mise en place :

---boards
---Strap pans
---Serrated sheet pans

{ seams must be bottom down to prevent splitting of loaf while baking}

-Proofing

---Put into a Proof Box, steamer.
---Almost the last fermentation.
---95°F -98°F , 80% humidity
---Proof according to product
---don't let dry out
---Touch

{Finger imprint test

1. Lightly tap the top of a loaf in the proofer-- Finger should stay imprinted in dough if proofed enough
2. If proofed too long/not enough you can't repair dough.
3. Over proofed dough can be put into a hotter oven to try & kill yeast immediately. To save product}

Baking Bread: Trouble shooting 0

Large holes in bread :

1. Dough was over kneaded
2. Dough was proofed too long*

*For Breads such as French or certain free form loafs , this can be an advantage.

Doughy or Small, hard lumps:

1. Original dough was not mixed enough*

* hold back flour so dough can thoroughly mixed, work in additional dough as you knead

Bread "Mushroomed" & there is a deep indentation around the bottom:

1. The entire loaf has broken away from the bottom crust
2. You tried packing too much dough into too small of a pan

++If a free form loaf:

1. Oven was too hot causing the bottom to cook too quickly
2. As the loaf rose it broke away and mushroomed [uneven & Denser]

Free form loaf "spread" too much as it proofed

1. Dough was too soft**

* free form loaves must be firm when shaped. Add extra flour as you knead.

When sliced - top crust "separates" from the rest

1. Loaf was not properly formed
2. Heat caused instant aeration when loaf was put in oven.*

* not serious, alter your methods

My first competency has come and gone... 0

Why was I so anxious? There is this thing I do when I really care about something. I become very nervous, So nervous you could freeze butter in my brain --- due to the frigid state I go to. My body screams "code red" & "all hands on deck".

I am so busy with the anxiety that I don't concentrate on what is happening around me in real time.

Ok.

- maybe that is a bit exaggerated (I luv the Seinfeld characters).

Well I had my competency. I had only been in class for 8 days, so I was thinking to myself that the whole thing would be interesting. It was.

We are assigned to groups, one of these members is a 2nd year management student. The others are 2nd quarter students and me. We rotate to different positions in the bakery. Mind you this is a real working production/retail bakery.

We all knew there was a test. And The head instructor , which is from Denmark & a 4th generation baker, is testing us.

Well we draw from scraps of paper what we will be tested on. We go to pull our doughs (we've made the day before) from the reach-in retarder. No danish dough! There are 4 croissant & 1 puff pastry dough.

We are not supposed to communicate with each other, only the instructor.

But with the dough missing we shoot perplexed glances at each other. Look in the walk-in retarder, the reach-in freezer....we find the danish dough, rock solid in the walk-in freezer.

I run to his office. HE comes in confirms this. Well now we must work with the croissant dough.

I draw "plain croissants" ,

Carl says:

"you know he's going to ream you if you don't do them perfectly --- croissants are his thing"

I didn't do too bad I just forgot to add flour to the top of the dough while sheeting...so we couldn't use all of the dough, because the flour is a lubricant. IF not used while sheeting, the sheeter will "eat" it. There were holes in places -- and you want croissant dough intact(for the layers)

I did make about 20 croissants. He said they weren't half bad. ( I am thanking god right then, because this was only my second time making them).

HE told me to help Suzie. She was scaling out ingredients for Danish dough with a starter. She had everything except the ice water. I got that. We put the fresh yeast and water, and the pieces of ascorbic acid into the 40qt mixing bowl and I hand whisked it, with a wire whisk. We added the dry ingredients. The Hobart was going at 1st speed. Oops , the mixer looked like cookie dough. Suzie forgot the starter, which had been fermenting in the walk-in retarder over night. We added the started but he mixer was too dry and it wasn't congealing, the first mixture was mixed into the starter in big chunks. There was no way to save the dough.We had to throw it out.

Turns out we all screwed up in some form or another. The Instructor even commented that :

"today when you woke up you guys should have went back to bed"

He was chuckling though.

When it was my turn to go into the office. He commented on my croissants. And they weren't that bad. He also said that right now I am along for the ride, by next quarter I will be in the groove of things.

SO after I walked out of there I realized I would do alright. I am no longer anxious, I just want to do well.