Bread A basic food worldwide

What is bread? Bread is a staple food prepared by baking a dough of flour and water. It is popular around the world and is one of the world's oldest foods. The virtually infinite combinations of different flours, and differing proportions of ingredients, has resulted in the wide variety of types, shapes, sizes, and textures available around the world.

What is bread? Bread may be served in different forms at any meal of the day, eaten as a snack, and is even used as an ingredient in other culinary preparations. Bread is not only part of the meal, but on occasion the vessel or carrier for food (burritos, gyros, pizza).

The meaning of bread As a basic food worldwide, bread has come to take on significance beyond mere nutrition, evolving into a fixture in – religious rituals: communion, Passover – secular cultural life: panem et circenses (bread and games), bread and salt as welcome to guests, bread riots – language: “breadwinner”, “breadbasket of Europe.”

Unleavened or Leavened?

Unleavened Bread Unleavened bread can refer to a wide variety of breads which are not prepared with leavening agents. Unleavened breads are generally flatbreads, however not all flatbreads are unleavened. Examples are: Matzo, roti, and tortillas.

Leavened Bread Leavening is the process of adding gas to a dough before or during baking to produce a lighter, more easily chewed bread. Most bread consumed in the West is leavened. Most common leavening agents are: – Yeast – Sourdough – Baking powder/soda

Yeast The most commonly used yeast is a species used for fermenting alcoholic beverages. Yeast ferments some of the carbohydrates in the flour, including any sugar, producing carbon dioxide (gas), which creates bubbles in the dough. Commercially available yeasts are bakers yeasts (from a pure culture) for even fermentation.

Yeast Dough before Dough after Dough after proofing first rising. first rising. in tin, ready to bake.

Which yeast can I buy? Active Dry yeast is dried yeast in a semi dormant state. It needs to be activated/hydrated. Fresh yeast is ready, but has a short shelf life. Rapid Rise yeast/Perfect Rise yeast, ready to use with dry ingredients, no hydration necessary.

Sourdough Sourdough is a type of bread produced by a long fermentation of dough using naturally occurring yeasts and lactobacilli. Compared to yeast breads, it usually has a mildly sour taste because of the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli. Sourdough breads are made with a sourdough starter. The starter cultivates yeast and lactobacilli in a mixture of flour and water, making use of the microorganisms already present on flour/air.

Sourdough A starter may be maintained indefinitely by regular additions of flour and water. Some bakers have starters several generations old, which are said to have a special taste or texture. It is possible to obtain existing starter cultures or to begin a new one.

Chemical Leavenings Chemically leavened breads are called quick breads and soda breads. A simple technique for leavening bread is the use of gas-producing chemicals. This method has been around since the 1850s. Before that all breads were leavened with yeast or sourdough.

Quick Breads – Soda Breads There are two common methods. – The first is to use baking powder or a self-rising flour that includes baking powder. – The second is to include an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk and add baking soda; the reaction of the acid with the soda produces gas.

Flour Flour is a product made from grain that has been ground to a powdery consistency. Flour provides the primary structure to the final baked bread. While wheat flour is most commonly used for breads, flours made from rye, barley, maize, and other grains are also commonly available.

Wheat Almost all breads contain some amount of wheat. Wheat flour, in addition to its starch, contains several protein groups. When flour is mixed with water, the water-soluble proteins dissolve, leaving the water unsolvable proteins (glutenin and gliadin) to form the structure of the resulting bread. Through kneading networks of protein are produced known as gluten.

Which Wheat is which? White bread is made from flour containing only the central core of the grain (endosperm). Brown bread is made with endosperm and 10% bran; this is commonly labeled in America as wheat bread (careful, coloring). Whole-wheat bread contains the whole of the wheat grain (endosperm, bran, and germ). It is also referred to as "whole- grain" or "whole-meal bread."

Other ingredients Liquids: usually water, but for specialty bread milk, cream, or beer are used Salt Sweetener: sugar, molasses, honey etc. Eggs: many sweet breads contain eggs for extra richness Herbs and Spices