Baking Bread

Page 1

Further experiments

The Baking Bread Experiment

Never pay hideous amounts of money for bread again. Just bake it yourself. Here is my first
experiment in bread baking. The goal is to bake a loaf of six grain bread. The average cost for such
a bread in Ann Arbor is around $5 to $6 per loaf. It should be possible to reduce the cost below one
dollar.

Ingredients for Six Grai

n Bread
250g Rye whole grain
flour
750g wheat whole
grain flour
1/2 - 3/4l warm water
60g sour dough
1 teaspoonful dry
yeast
50g wheat berries
50g dinkel (spelt)
berries
50g barley berries
50g millet berries
50g buckwheat
berries
2 teaspoonful of salt
50g rolled oats

You can buy all the ingredients in Ann Arbor at the People's Food
Co-Op besides the spelt berries which you can buy at
Wholefoods. The flour turns out to be more expensive than I
thought it would be. It is around one dollar per pound of organic
flour. The grains tend to be cheaper about $0.90 per pound. The
total cost of a 1.5kg loaf including all ingredients is about $2.40.
The cost in relation to a commercial bread is $1.20 per loaf.

Making Sour Dough Starter

The bread is based on sour dough. Sometimes it is possible to order sour dour from a bakery, or
you might find it in the refrigerated section of a grocery store. However, in this case, I was not able to
find any sour dough and proceed with starting the sour dough from scratch. [Later, I learned that Carl's
friends send starter to those who need it.]

I found the following recipes on the net and used them to get some idea what other people are using
for sour dough starters. The main problem seems to be to leave the sour dough starter at a warm
place in constant temperatures without exposing it to any cold drafts.
The Encyclopedia Britannica has the following to add:
Lactobacilli have an important role in the manufacture of fermented
vegetables (pickles and sauerkraut), beverages (beer, wine, and juices),
sour dough breads, and some sausages. [...] Rye bread, closer-grained and
heavier than wheat bread, is aerated by the use of a leaven (sourdough)
rather than yeast. [...] The sourdough method, used for rye breads, employs
a small portion of dough, or sponge , in which sugar-fermenting bacteria have
been allowed to develop. When added to a fresh dough mixture, the sponge
produces fermentation.

http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/bread/

09/13/2006 10:29:05 PM

Baking Bread

Sour Dough Starter

2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 package dry yeast
Make this starter only when you have
forgotten to save a start, or when you are
making if for the first time. Combine
ingredients and mix well. Place in a warm
place or closed cupboard overnight. In the
morning put 1/2 cup of the starter in a scalded
pint jar with a tight lid and store in the
refrigerator or a cool place for future use. This
is sour dough starter. The remaining batter
can be used immediately for pancakes,
waffles,muffins, bread or cake. To use the
starter again, (from now on this next step is
called setting the sponge)place remaining
batter in a medium-size mixing bowl. Add 2c .
milk and 2cups flour. Beat well and set in a
warm place to develop overnight. In the
morning the batter will have gained 1/2 again
its bulk and be covered with air bubbles. It will
have a pleasant yeasty odor. Now, set aside
1/2 cup of sponge in the refrigerator jar for
your sour dough starter for next time. Source

Page 2

Sour Dough Starter

1 package active dry yeast
3 cups warm water (105 to 115 deg)
3 1/2 cups unbleached or all-purpose
flour*
Dissolve yeast in warm water in large glass
mixing bowl. Gradually stir in flour. Beat until
smooth . Cover with towel or cheesecloth; let
stand in warm, draft-free place (80 to 85 deg)
until starter begins to ferment, about 24hrs
(bubbles will appear on surface of starter). If
starter has not begun fermentation after 24
hrs, discard and begin again. If fermentation
has begun, stir well; cover tightly with plastic
wrap and return to warm place. Let stand until
foamy, 2 to 3 days. When starter has become
foamy, stir well; pour into 2 quart crock or
glass jar with tight-fitting cover. Store in
refrigerator. When a clear liquid has risen to
top, starter is ready to use. Stir before using.
Starter can be stored for several weeks. If it is
not used regularly every week, add 1 teaspoon
sugar and stir well. If used regularly starter will
be active indefinitely. Source

I ended up using the following recipe for my first attempt at creating a sour dough starter. I have a
feeling that adding sugar might be considered cheating by some people, but I thought that I might
need the additional advantage.

Sour Dough Starter

1 package active dry
yeast
2 cups warm water
2 cups whole rye
flour
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoonful sugar
Add milk to the warm
water, dissolve sugar and
yeast, and slowly stir in the
flour until the result looks
very smooth. Place the
bowl on the top of a shelf
covered with a towel. The
temperature needs to be
above 22 oC.
During the evening I had to deal with a little sour dough explosion. Even though I had left double
space in the container, the sour dough was raising too fast. I hope that is not a bad sign. As a result,
however, it had to be moved into a large bowl.

http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/bread/

09/13/2006 10:29:05 PM

Baking Bread

Page 3

Sour Dough Starter: Af

ter one day
After the night, the sour
dough has nicely risen.
There are many bubbles on
top of it. My original plan
was to use spring water
when I was going to feed it.
However, after heating up
the spring water I noticed
that it was carbonated.
Now, I just hope that the
Ann Arbor tap water does
not contain too much
chlorine. On the other hand,
I used tap water yesterday
and it seemed to be fine.

On the left, you see the bubbles on the top of the starter. They
appear after a night of raising. The right image shows the sour
dough starter after it has been fed.

I feed the sour dough

starter with one cup of
warm water and one cup of
whole rye flour. I stir
everything until the sour
dough starter is smooth
again. Look at the pictures
on the right.
You should stir the starter
two or three times a day so
that it does not dry out on
top.

Sour Dough Starter:

Third day

I let the sour dough ferment on the top of my bookshelves. The

thermometer shows a temperature close to 23 oC. The image on
the right shows the sour dough after the second feeding on the
third day. I hope to use to for baking bread tomorrow.

I add another cup of warm

water and gently stir in
another cup of whole rye
flour. Stir until the sour
dough is smooth.

Sour Dough Starter:

Fourth day
Liquid has formed on top of
the sour dough. I add half a
cup of warm water and
gently stir in another cup of
whole rye flour.

http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/bread/

09/13/2006 10:29:05 PM

Baking Bread

Page 4

The sour dough is ready for

the bread in the evening.

Preparing the Bread

The grain berries need to soak for a long time before they can be boiled. I should probably boil all of
them, but for now I will only boil as much as I need for the first bread. Optimization can wait until
experience accompanies it.

Preparation
The wheat, barley
and spelt berries
need to soak for six
hours covered with
water. The millet and
the buckwheat
require only three
hours of soaking. Boil
the wheat, barley and
spelt at low heat for
about an hour. The
millet and buckwheat
need to boil only for
30 minutes on low
heat. Drain them
through a sieve, let
them dry and cool
down.

The millet and buckwheat look a bit strange and smell not as I would
expect. I hope that I got the right stuff. You can see all the grain boiling
in the right image.

To speed the drying

and prevent mold
from building on the
grain, you can
spread the boiled
grain on the bottom
of a large container.
The drippping was not too difficult, but it just would not dry in the sieve.
After a while I decided to be pro-active about the situation and spread
the boiled grain out in large oven form. To speed the drying, I
employed the help of a blow dryer.

http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/bread/

09/13/2006 10:29:05 PM

Baking Bread

http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/bread/

Page 5

09/13/2006 10:29:05 PM

Baking Bread

Page 6

PreDough
Mix the rye and the
wheat flour in a big
bowl. Then form a
hole in the middle of
the flour.
Take 1/4l of warm
water, mix it with the
sour dough and the
yeast. Then pour it
in the hole that you
made in the flour.
Mix it with half of the
flour and let it stand
for twelve hours in a
warm place.

After everything has been mixed together, I wonder if I used enough

water, and why I destroyed the large version of the images with a broken
shell script. The image on the right shows the risten pre-dough.

Research seems to
indicate that the
temperature might
have to be 24o C
and above for this
process.

There are so many things that need to be considered in order to create a good crust. I hope that I
have a brush to apply some water to the bread. The traditional check for testing the doneness of the
bread is to thumb it on the bottom - wrap it towel. If it sounds hollow the bread is done, otherwise put
back into the oven immediately.

Makeing the Doug

h
Mix the pre-dough with
the salt, the rest of the
water and all the flour.

Knead the dough in and out, from the left to the right, on the top

http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/bread/

09/13/2006 10:29:05 PM

Baking Bread

Page 7

Knead it until the

dough is firm.
Set aside one
tablespoon of rolled
oats; take the
remaining oats and all
boiled grains and
knead them into the
dough.
Cover the bottom of a
baking form with
baking paper, and let
the dough raise in a
warm place for two
hours.

Baking the Dough

Preheat the oven to
220 oC (428oF). Slash
diamond like shapes
into the surface of the
dough. Apply water to
its surface with a
brush, and sprinkle
the remaining oats on
top of it.
Place a small bowl of
water on the floor of
the oven. In German,
this is called
"Schwaben geben."
Then place the dough
covered with baking
paper on the lowest
rung of the oven.

The dough still looks nice. Unfourtunately, I live in an apartment with a

broken oven. It will not hold any temperature even though I place a
thermometer in it. I think the bread is dying.

The image on the left shows the dough after two hours of raising. On
the right, you see it after I slashed it and sprinkled rolled oats on it.

Bake for fourty

minutes, then remove
the paper and bake
for fourty more
minutes.

http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/bread/

09/13/2006 10:29:05 PM

Baking Bread

Page 8

After Baking
Take the bread out
of the form with a
towel and thumb its
back, if it sounds
hollow, the bread is
done. Otherwise put
the bread back into
the oven
immediately and
check again after a
while.
To the keep the crust
from getting too hard,
apply a bit of cold
water to it with a
brush. Then let the
bread rest for eight
more hours on a
rack.

The water filled glas bowl helps with getting the crust right. It turned out
that even though the oven was changing temperatures like crazy that
the bread did quite fine anyway.

The bread still needs to rest for a few hours to completely finish the
baking process. So, don't cut it too early.

Now you should

have very nice bread
for breakfast next
morning.
This concludes my first bread baking experiment. The final test of course is its taste in the morning.
But I am very optimistic about it.
The bread tastes great. I am baking the next one now.
If you live in Ann Arbor, and would like to conduct your own bread experiment, you can certainly get
sour dough from me. Just send an email.
If you are a bread baking expert, and have closed your eyes already anticipating impending doom,
feel free to send me your comments.

Links
Christiane's Sourdough Page - contains information how sourdough helps in bread baking.
Breaking Bread - more professional than what you can expect here
Breadman
Grains
Niels Provos
Last modified: Sat Apr 12 13:07:06 EDT 2003

http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/bread/

09/13/2006 10:29:05 PM