American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Section Two Unit 3 The Basics: Grains, Water, Salt, and Yeast

2 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Objectives Evaluate the qualities of hard wheat flours Assess the quantity and quality of gluten in hard wheat flours Evaluate the qualities of flours milled from rye, corn, oat, and rice Discuss the effects on fermentation and flour absorption from hard or soft water Describe the purpose of salt in baked goods Describe how to convert between different types of yeast Define yeast type and functionalities

3 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Terms to Know Specific terms to know from this unit: Ash Baker’s pantry Bran Bromates Crumb Crust Enzyme Fermentation Gliadin Glutenin pH factor Slurry

4 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved The Basic Ingredients All breads are generally made with the same basic four ingredients: Grains Water Salt Yeast

5 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Grains Used for Bread Baking Wheat – Primary flour production grain, classified by: Growing season – winter or spring Bran color – red or white Kernel softness Corn – Used as meal or flour Oats – Used as bran or flour Rice – Used as flour Potatoes – Not a grain, but used as a carbohydrate source

6 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Types of Wheat Flour Wheat flours are classified as: Bread flour High-gluten flour Clear flour Cake flour Pastry flour Cookie flour Flours may be treated as: Enriched flour Bleached flour Malted flour Bromated flour

7 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Components and Grades of Wheat Flour Wheat flours are made up of: Starch Proteins – glutenin and gliadin Grades of flour Soft wheat flour Cake flour Pastry flour Cookie flour All-purpose flour

8 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Other Types of Flours Rye flour Grades – dark, medium and light Pumpernickel – dark/course from entire kernel Corn Meal/Corn flour Oat Bran/Oat flour Rice flour Potato

9 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Water – The Basics Needed by all living things to survive pH Factor Temperature affects: Absorption Fermentation activity Optimum conditions for bread baking are: pH factor between 6.5 – 7.5 Temperature = warm (not hot) Hard / Acidic Neutral Soft / Alkaline

10 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Salt – The Basics Part of life for centuries – including being used as money and food preservative Needed by all living organisms for digestion, respiration, transporting nutrients, and nerve impulses Many sources, crystal sizes, and flavors Important to control yeast activity Optimum conditions for bread baking are: Salt ratio = 2-4% of flour weight Changes with weather

11 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Yeast – The Basics Fungus, needing moisture, food, warmth, and air to survive Critical to the fermentation process – converting carbohydrates to alcohol and carbon dioxide Types: Wet yeast Active dry yeast Instant active dry yeast

12 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Summary Basic baking ingredients – grains/flour, water, salt, and yeast Not all flours are equal Flour is made up of starch and protein Proteins form glutens, which provide structure to breads Water contributes to the moistness, texture, and “mouth feel” to breads Salt is used to flavor and control the yeast activity Yeast is required for fermentation, which makes breads rise

13 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Exercises Perform a gluten test Comparison of types of wheat flours Comparison of other grains Absorption as a function of temperature Salt effects on dough Comparison of yeast types

14 American Culinary Federation: Baking Fundamentals © 2007 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved Equipment Needed Basic ingredients Pans and bowls (as necessary)