What's wrong with normal bread (besides putting yoga mats in it)

What is wrong with normal bread?
Let's take a look:
 








Left: a sourdough from my oven, cooked in a cast iron pot.





Normal bread gets a bad rap. And rightly so. Apart from putting chemicals in there that are found in yoga mats (azodicarbonamide anyone? Yes, Subway, I'm talking to you), there are a lot of other unsavoury specimens to make it spongy and tender. 

Such supermarket breads take a lot of chewing... you'll notice the feeling of glue as you chew a peice of bread and try to swallow it. Properly fermented bread - with no shortcuts - may be crusty, but it melts in your mouth in a couple of chews. 

Here are some tips on how sourdough becomes SUPERdough:

ACTIVATION: Super soak

The proper preparation of grains, beans and nuts is vital if we are to get the most value out of eating them, as these food groups all contain antinutrients potentially harmful to our health. Antinutrients are antioxidants that bind to minerals, making them unabsorbable. Large amounts of poorly prepared whole grains, beans and nuts may result in serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss.

Phytic acid, found in the outer hulls of seeds and the bran in whole grains, can combine with I calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. Whole grains contain other antinutrients: tannins that irritate the gut, complex sugars which we can’t break down, and some contain gluten and other proteins that are difficult to digest, which can lead to allergies, a range of digestive disorders and possibly even mental illness.

Most of the antinutrients these foods contain are there to preserve the seed until conditions allow them to sprout. We can emulate these conditions and neutralise the antinutrient effect in grains and beans by soaking them at least overnight in acidulated water (tepid water combined with whey, naturally fermented vinegar or lemon juice) in the way rolled oats have traditionally been prepared for porridge. Another method is to carry out a period of slow fermentation; in the way ground grain has been made into naturally leavened sourdough breads. By employing the beneficial ‘friendly’ bacteria (lactobacilli) created in these processes, those substances hard for us to digest begin to break down, making them easier to absorb. These processes can also enhance the vitamin content, particularly of B vitamins.

By fermenting a grain we do the following

- neutralise the phytic acid in the grain, allowing us to absorb its minerals and avoid allergic reactions; (in yeasted bread over 90% of the phytin remains)

- pre-digest the gluten in the grain, which is good news for gluten intolerants

- neutralise anti-nutrients as complex carbohydrates are broken down into more digestible simple sugars and protein is broken down into amino acids. Enzymes develop during proofing which are not lost in baking since the center of the loaf remains at a lower temperature than the crust.

- Fermentation, particularly lactobacillus, helps restore the functioning of the digestive tract, resulting in proper assimilation and elimination. These beneficial bacteria help control candida albicans, whereas baker’s yeast is a pro-candida organism. This is a brown bread that truly is "the staff of life" as it enhances the whole immune system.

- Reduces Allergic reations: People with allergies to commercially yeasted breads may not have the same sensitivities to naturally leavened whole grain sourdough bread. The cause may be either the wheat and/or the yeast. Often, people who are sensitive to yeasted white bread do not react to whole wheat bread. Others, who are sensitive to whole wheat bread, do not react when the leavening used is natural sourdough starter, and especially when the flour is freshly ground. Another approach is spelt flour instead of wheat flour. Spelt is the original strain of bread wheat from Europe, and it has not been hybridized. Rye flour is another choice that is nice used in small amounts.

What is Sourdough, exactly?
Here it is summarized well by Brisbane's Sol Bread's website:

You would be amazed at the number of people who don't know what Sourdough bread actually is. REAL Sourdough bread is synonymous with Natural Leaven breads. And what does that mean?

To explain it in a very down to earth/folksy fashion! All "yeasts" exist in a wild/natural state; in the air we breathe and living on the grains that we process and eat. The "yeasts" that are used in a true sourdough system mainly (about 90%) come from the grain. However about 10% are airborne. At some time it was discovered that a certain species of wild yeast was very powerful in its action, and worked more quickly to rise the bread and prepare it for baking. As with so many good discoveries, mankind isolated and selectively cultured this good thing; and carried on until they'd created a monster!

Commercial bakers yeast (Sacchorimices Ceriviceae) works FAST! And that means it doesn't do the job as Nature intended. Now what about the other yeasts? Let's call them, the "wild yeasty critters": The organisms that God (or selective evolutionary processes if you are a Darwinist) placed on the grains we eat. Grains from different regions of the world have different yeasts, that produce slightly different flavours, but more importantly live on that particular grain because that is where nature intended them to be. There are also other micro-organisms that partner the yeasts on the grain. They are able to completely break down the grain (pre-digest it) - and they're NOT in a hurry!

"Fake" Sourdough Bread
Any sourdough bread will contain "flour, water and salt" No yeast is present. here are a number of chemical and natural flavour additives that will give a bread, baked with commercial Baker's Yeast, a "Sourdough" flavour. There is also a process whereby you can use very small quantities of commercial yeast, and still allow the time for natural fermentation … but this takes a real Master Baker to insure that enough time is allowed for the 'pre-digestion' - which is so valuable in Sourdough - to occur.

Real sourdough uses 'wild yeasty critters' - the natural yeasts present in the grain and in the air. My sourdough is made from the wild yeasts present in my organic flour that i feed it and created it from (about 90%) and about 10% come from the surrounding flora in the air at my flat in Bondi.

Celiac and Gluten Intolerance
Although it's true that many folks in the Western World have developed intolerance to wheat through non-traditional diets, it's also true that a certain percentage can tolerate a 'genuine' sourdough.

One recent study has uncovered that Celaic patients fed wheat sourdough had little or no reaction to the bread:

Thirteen of the 17 patients showed a marked alteration of intestinal permeability after ingestion of baker's yeast bread. When fed the sourdough bread, the same 13 patients had values for excreted rhamnose and lactulose that did not differ significantly from the baseline values. The other 4 of the 17 CS patients did not respond to gluten after ingesting the baker's yeast or sourdough bread. These results showed that a bread biotechnology that uses selected lactobacilli, nontoxic flours, and a long fermentation time is a novel tool for decreasing the level of gluten intolerance in humans. (Sourdough Bread Made from Wheat and Nontoxic Flours and Started with Selected Lactobacilli Is Tolerated in Celiac Sprue Patients, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Laboratorio di Metabolismo e Biochimica Patologica, I-00161 Rome, Italy,5 Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland)

So celiacs, gluten intolerants and IBS sufferers - a solution awaits you but remember, go slow!!

Let's Bake Bread # 4 - To the Ovens!!

Above: Crusty Rye Loaves using the pizza stone method
To the Ovens!!

Stage 4 -: Baking the dough

There are a few methods which I use regularly: loaf tin, cast iron pot or pizza stone. All taste great, and are quite easy methods. With the pot you get a classic round loaf and deep golden colour and are ensured even cooking – great for beginners. With the stone you get a nice ‘earthy’ taste and can make shapes – baguettes or even flatbreads but you do have to check the underside to make sure it cooks properly and place a pan of water in the oven to ensure a humid environment. With the tin you get a very easy to cut loaf, great for toast or sandwiches.

Method

1. Unwrap the dough and set aside at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours, until it reaches room temperature in the middle and is fully risen and doesn’t spring back when you press it with your finger.
   
2. At the same time, pre-heat your oven to 230C for around 50 minutes to an hour.

Cast Iron Pot Method

1. Place the cast iron pot in the oven to heat for about an hour. Wearing oven mits, invert dough into heated pot that has been dusted with flour.
   
2. Sprinkle a light veil of flour over the dough. Slash the dough with a sharp knife or razor to create that classic sourdough pattern but more importantly to help the dough cook. Bake, covered, for exactly 30 minutes.
   
3. Remove lid and bake for a further 10 minutes till dark golden and bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
   
4. Remove immediately from pot and set aside in a wooden bowl or plate to cool for AT LEAST one hour. The bread is still ‘cooking’ at this stage and should not be cut for at least an hour after being in the oven or it will become tough.
   
5. When you can’t wait a moment longer after the hour is up, brew a nice pot of tea and cut off a thick slice, enjoyed with fresh cultured butter.

Pizza Stone Method

1. Place a baking pan filled with water on the floor of the oven. This will provide the necessary humidity for the bread to colour, which you don’t need when you use a cast iron covered pot.
   
2. Invert dough onto heated pizza stone that has been dusted with flour. Sprinkle a light veil of flour over the dough.
   
3. Slash the dough with a sharp knife or razor to create a pattern and to help the dough cook. Bake, for exactly 20 minutes.
   
4. At this stage you may need to turn bread over and bake the underside for a further 10 to 15 minutes so it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. As above, remove immediately from pot and set aside in a wooden bowl or plate to cool for at least an hour before eating half the loaf in one sitting!

Left: My Country-style white loaf cooked on the pizza stone, flavoured with salt and blackstrap molasses for extra colour and nutrition.















Loaf Tin Method

1. Proceed as for pizza stone method, above, ensuring oven has a water bath in it.
   
2. Make sure loaf has proofed IN THE TIN after it has come out of the fridge. When the loaf has come to room temperature and had its final rise in the loaf tin, slash and sprinkle with flour and bake as per pizza stone method.

Note: No more dry, floury-tasting bread! When friends and family taste this bread, you may have to start making two loaves at a time, like I do. Or even more……once you’ve had real bread, there’s no going back.
Next week: Let's make a plaited Brioche.

Let's Bake Bread # 3 - The D'oh!

We are getting ever closer to putting our loaf in the oven. Onto the next stage.

Stage 2 -: Making the dough
Ingredients:
-Your ‘sponge’ mixture (which will be foamy by this stage)
-3 to 5 cups of organic rye bread mix (or half white flour, half rye flour) -½ cup gluten flour (particularly important if your flour is not ‘strong’. Don’t worry about the gluten – the sourdough process itself , known as ‘pre-digestion’ will digest all of the gluten so your bread will be yeast- and gluten-free but without the gluten it may not rise enough)
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses, or golden syrup or brown sugar (optional, but particularly tasty in rye bread)
-2T olive oil (optional)

Method:

1. Take your bowl of ‘sponge’. It should be at its foamiest stage for maximum bread-rising power. What you are about to do is ‘feed’ your starter by adding more flour, but you are making it into a dough, so it will be solid, not runny like when you normally ‘feed’ your starter. What will happen next is that your starter will spend the next few hours ‘eating’ the flour in the dough. It will eat the phytic acid surrounding the grain and the gluten in the flour. It will leave little holes in the bread where it has eaten the flour (this is why bread has that ‘holey’ look ) and will give off carbon dioxide (that yeasty smell).
   
2. To your bowl of starter add the salt, oil and molasses. Stir
   
3. Add 1 cup of rye/wheat flour and the gluten flour. Mix.
   
4. Keep adding flour in half cupfuls and stir. When it’s too stiff to stir, turn out onto floured board and pull together as a dough, adding more flour as needed.
   
5. Keep kneading the dough for about 10 minutes, making sure to add more flour whenever the dough becomes sticky. You will probably be adding more and more flour right up to the end of the kneading time. Unlike regular bread, sourdough bread is very wet and ‘thirsty’. Just when you think you’ve added enough flour and it’s dry and pliable, it suddenly becomes all wet again and you find you need to add more flour to knead it! DON’T WORRY – just keep on adding flour as long as it’s thirsty. Sourdough yeasts, unlike commercial yeasts, are alive and need their food!
   
6. After 10 to 15 minutes of hand kneading, you may be tired but you’ll have a smooth, not sticky ball of dough.
   
7. Place in a greased bowl, cover LOOSELY with cling film (this speeds up the rising process by keeping warmth in as long as you leave air gaps), and cover with a tea towel. Leave in a warm place to rise for 2 to 5 hours, until it has doubled – or tripled if it’s a warm day – in volume.
   

Stage 3 -: Proofing the dough
Proofing is the most important stage: This allows the ‘pre-digestion’ process to take place and for the healthful yeasts to digest all the bad parts of the flour. Very important stage! The longer it ages, the more the slight sour flavour is accentuated. You need around 15 hours ageing to deactivate the phytic acid.

1. You can tell the dough has not fully risen if you poke it gently and it springs back. When it has risen all it can, there will be a small indent left behind when you poke it with your finger.
   
2. When the dough has fully risen, punch the dough down gently. Flatten down into a big circle and let it rest 5 minutes.
   
3. The only tricky part – fold the edges of the dough into the centre and press with your fingertips to seal into a ball. Do not overwork dough. Shape by cupping our palms over the top of the ball and apply firm but gentle downward pressure. Stretch the surface of the dough down under to form a neat ball. Keep pulling and stretching downwards like this around 6 to 8 times, being careful not to tear the surface of the dough.
   
4. Turn dough over and pinch the seam to form a very tight seal.
   
5. Place in bowl and cover with several layers of plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to age fro 8 to 24 hours, even up to 36 hours.

Next..... Putting the loaf in the oven!

Let's Bake Bread # 2 - The Sponge (No, not the Seinfeld Episode)

Now the moment you've all been waiting for, baking our first Sourdough loaf. This is beyond exciting, and can I say 'good on ya mate' to everyone who's stuck with me so far. You've done a beaut' job to get this far.

Aussie jingoisms aside, thanks for coming on this ride and here's to the success of your first loaf. Let's get started!

Part B
Baking Bread
This is such a satisfying process: you won’t believe what you can do with your own two hands!

Stage 1 -: Making the ‘sponge”
What on earth is a sponge? It’s basically a great big bowl of foamy starter and it’s the basis of a good loaf. It’s the first step in baking:

Ingredients:
-Your jar of starter from the fridge
-1 cup filtered warm water
-1 cup plain white organic flour
- Clean bowl (sterilise with boiling water at this early stage) and wooden spoon.

Above: Look closely, this fully active starter is really foamy and ready to bake bread!

Method

1. Remove your starter from the fridge and pour into clean bowl.
   
2. Add water and stir with wooden spoon till dissolved.
   
3. Add flour and mix. You want the consistency of very thick pancake batter. Add more flour or water to reach this consistency.
   
4. Cover LOOSELY with plastic wrap, leaving a bit of space on the sides for air and cover with a tea towel. I use the plastic wrap because in winter or cooler climates you want to keep the heat in and this really speeds up the process.
   
5. Leave in a warm place (sunroom, windowsill) for between 4 and 12 hours. It will begin to get a few bubbles in the first two hours, then more and more bubbles will form until it’s foamy. At this point it’s ready for the next stage…..

Note: sometimes I’ll age my sponge by leaving it out overnight, especially if it’s slow to bubble, like in winter. By morning it may have a layer of hooch so I’ll mix in half a cup of flour and leave it for another 3 or so hours till it bubbles a second time. This makes a stronger sponge, but it’s not really necessary unless your sponge is having trouble getting going.