Bake bread yourself? Bread and flour varieties
Every year we eat about 60 kilograms of it. Some demonize it as a bad carbohydrate bomb, for others it is butter and salt heaven on earth: bread. The bakery product from ground grain, water and a leavening agent? comes especially in Germany in incredible variations. Bread is one of the most diverse foods, with more than 300 different varieties that can vary greatly in shape, color, taste and ingredients. But what is good bread, what can you and what should you pay attention to, how to store bread and: Can you bake your own bread?
What types of bread are there?
In principle, one first distinguishes between unleavened and leavened bread, The former is understood to mean breads made entirely without leavening agents such as flatbread, the Indian chapatis and pappadam, puri or the tortillas from Mexico. Acid is called bread as soon as a leavening agent such as yeast or sourdough comes into play. And then of course one differentiates between the ingredients.
- Wheat bread or white bread has a share of 90% wheat flour.
- Mixed wheat bread a share between 50 and 90%.
- Rye bread has 90% rye flour, Rye bread between 50 and 90%.
- Wholemeal breads must consist of at least 90% rye or whole wheat products.
An extra sausage is the pumpernickel: The Westphalian specialty consists exclusively of rye meal and whole rye grains, which are soaked overnight in hot water. The dough is then baked in steam baking chambers for at least 16 (!) Hours. The name probably comes from the effect that the dark bread triggers: "Pumpers? referred to earlier flatulence.
crispbread is usually made from whole grains, baked at high temperatures and then dried.
zwieback is? As the name indicates ? a twice baked bread. First of all, the "Einback" is created? a kind of sweet milk bread, which is sliced after baking and roasted again on low heat.
Which types of flour are suitable for baking bread?
Take wheat flour type 405, please? The type designations on the flours describe the mineral content in the flour: the higher the type, the more minerals. The lowest types are the flours, which are screened out after a short meal. Type 405 is the very fine white flour that contains very few shell components. But since the outer shell of the grain contains the most vitamins, minerals and fibers, higher-grade flour is naturally healthier, but it is also harder to bake. For pastries such as biscuits or cake you should take type 405 or (my recommendation) type 550. The medium type numbers like wheat flour 1050 are coarser, have a stronger flavor and are perfect for mixed breads. With type numbers of 1700 and 1800 we have no more flour, but shot, which is coarser and one finds also small pieces in it. Good for wholegrain breads. Whole wheat flour in turn have no type number, because they are made anyway from the whole grain and are not screened out. You contain? in contrast to the meal - even the seedling, which contains fat, can become rancid and that's why wholegrain flours usually do not last as long.
Ascorbic acid as an "adhesive"
Bread is usually made from a mixture of different flours: the healthy and tasty meal bakes badly and needs the baking qualities of light, fine flour as support. By the way, most commercially available flour contains ascorbic acid, which extends the shelf life and improves the adhesive structure. Because flour, which comes directly from the mill, usually has no good baking properties, because the grain protein is still fragile. In the past, the flour was allowed to ripen for 2 to 3 weeks, today there is hardly any time left. For all those who call a grain mill their own, it is recommended to bake either freshly ground food only after a few days or to always mix with matured ground material.
What else is in the bread?
Traditionally, bread consists of flour, water, yeast and / or sourdough, as well as salt and bread spices. To make tasty bread, you also need time, a bit of tact and experience? and yet the result is always dependent on external factors. Air pressure and humidity, the climate in the bakery, the exact temperature of the oven. So that the wheat mix bread that I buy today at the bakery or in the supermarket, tastes just like last week, in Germany around 200 additives are approved, making baking easier, safer and more predictable. Glycerides, for example, regulate how the water is distributed in the dough, thus ensuring better fermentation behavior and thus greater volume. Lactic acid esters increase pore formation and also contribute to volume. Acetates serve as acidulants and improve crust formation. And so it continues. Most of the funds are so-called? Processing aids? and do not have to be declared if they no longer have any "technological effectiveness" in the final product?If you want to eat bread according to ancient traditions, you should look for a craft-oriented or organic baker. And calmly ask critically about the ingredients used: Because often already in the flour mixtures that the baker buys ready, there are tons of additives in it!
Yeast or sourdough?
Quite simply, the darker the flour, the less yeast can align. Sourdough consists of yeast fungi and lactic acid bacteria. As a result of the acidity, bread becomes easier to digest and has a better flavor, aromas are made stronger and the crumb becomes finer pored. In any case, the sourdough must be produced with rye bread of all kinds. Yeast alone does not cause the bread to rise and it becomes inedible. There is? Wheat sour ?,? Rye sour? and? dry sour ?, a sourdough concentrate that you can get in the supermarket and use without hesitation. The former you can do yourself with some time and then always has a portion of sourdough in the house.
Prepare sourdough
Take one week, 500g of rye flour and 500ml of water. Mix to make a soft dough. Covered at room temperature. The dough starts (most likely) to ferment and form bubbles. After two to three days, you can do the smell test: it smells pleasantly sour, maybe even a little fruity: good. Smells like rotten eggs, the putrefactive bacteria have won and one should stop the attempt! In the first case: let the dough stand for another two to three days and then bake bread out of it. From the finished bread dough before salting (!) Take back a pound as sourdough for the next bread? just keep in the fridge. Some also use the rye sour with rye flour, water and a cube of yeast? for safety.
The classic bread spices
In addition to salt, these are mainly caraway, fennel, anise and coriander seeds. If you are a little familiar with herbs and spices, you will immediately realize that they all have digestive effects. Bread is not necessarily an easy one? Eat. The intestines are pretty busy, the carbohydrates (especially in wholegrain bread) split, as does a little external help quite well!
Bake white bread or wheat bread yourself
- 500g wheat flour type 405, 550 or 1050
- 20g of yeast
- 1 pinch of sugar
- 3/8 l of lukewarm water
- 1 tsp salt
Make a yeast dough from yeast, sugar, water and flour and leave for half an hour.
Then knead with the remaining flour and the salt to a solid dough. Depending on some flour or liquid, the dough should neither stick nor look like a small hard lump. Thoroughly knead. Cover for half an hour, then knead again. Form a loaf and place it in a greased tin box? the dough needs baking limits, it would diverge without form. Cover again for at least an hour. Then scrape the surface with a sharp knife and off for about three quarters of an hour in the pre-heated to 190 ° oven.
Variants: Replace part of the flour (100 to 200 g) with wheat bran, graham flour, cornmeal or wheat flakes. Then you may have to add a little more water. In addition, mix in a handful of grains. You can also mix the flour with each other.
Bake rye bread yourself
- 300g rye baking type 1800
- 300g rye flour type 997
- 300g wheat flour type 550
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 100g sourdough substitute
- 40g yeast
- 700ml of water
Mix flour, meal and spices. Mix the sourdough with the yeast and the water. To knead, knead, knead a firm dough from everything? Work vigorously for at least five minutes. Cover the dough for about two hours at room temperature and then overnight in the fridge. Knead again in the morning and form into two loaves. Cut the surface and let it go for 2 hours. Bake at 190 ° for a strong hour. The bread is ready when it sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom.
Variants: Replace the wheat flour with wheat bran. For a lighter bread knead the dough from 600g wheat flour and 300g rye flour.
Tip: Empty a glass of water on the bottom of the hot oven, then the bread does not dry out during baking.
