Bread Making
Modern bread making comprises the sponge method and the straight dough method. The sponge method is the older of the two, and is that which was used when little or nothing was known of yeast. After it was found that yeast was a living organism and could be developed by growing selected cultures in culture mediums such as water extract of barley and other grains, and filtering and compressing the yeast into a firm mass, the straight dough method was developed.
Sponge Method. The sponge method consists of making a batter or sponge with a portion of the flour, water and yeast, and in some cases with all of the yeast, and then putting this sponge into a suitable vessel where it is allowed to ferment. The fermentation period varies with the kind of dough which is desired, and with the climatic conditions, such as temperature and humidity. To get the best results with the sponge method, the sponge must not be made too warm and fermentation must not be carried on too long, as a sponge made under these conditions, will ferment too rapidly and will cause the gluten to be broken down and the result will be poor bread.
Some bakers prefer to make a sponge in which a portion of the yeast is used and then adding the balance of the yeast to the dough. After the sponge is properly matured, it is broken up by adding the balance of the water or milk with the salt, sugar, malt, milk solids if powdered milk is used, and in some cases, the shortening. The mixture is now agitated, after which the flour is added and the ingredients incorporated, after which the balance of the yeast is added if some of the yeast has been held back, and then the shortening is added if the shortening has not been previously added, when the sponge is broken up. The dough is then placed into troughs where it is further fermented. Usually this dough is allowed to come to one rising, after which it is cut over, allowed to lie about 10 minutes and then divided.
The Straight Dough Method. The straight dough is made by putting the water or milk, as the case may be, into the mixer, leaving enough water or milk in a suitable vessel in which the yeast and sometimes malt extract, or mineral yeast food, is dissolved. After this has been done, the salt, sugar, and in case sweetened condensed milk or powdered milk is used, these are put in and the machine is started to stir the water containing the ingredients. Now the flour is added and the mixing is started. After these ingredients have been partly incorporated, the yeast is added and the mixing continued. After incorporation, the shortening is added and the mixing continued until the dough is smooth and elastic. If high speed machines are used, very little time is required to mix the dough, usually 8 to 10 minutes. If slow speed machines are used, it generally requires about 20 minutes to mix the dough.
In mentioning dough mixtures, it might be well to mention that it is good practice to determine the number of revolutions that the arm or arms of a mixer make per minute, as under ordinary conditions, a dough will be mixed to about the same degree for a definite number of revolutions, which makes it possible to approximately determine when a dough is properly mixed, by considering the number of revolutions required to bring about a certain condition.
The baker should also determine the number of British thermal units of heat which the dough gains by friction. To simplify this, one is able to arrive at the heat gained approximately, by determining the number of degrees gained in temperature. This should then be deducted when heat calculations are made in making a dough. The simplest way for the baker to calculate the temperature at which the water should be taken for a dough is to add the temperature at which the shop, flour and water should be to make a dough which will have the proper temperature, and then add the actual temperature of the flour and the shop and subtract this same from the sum previously obtained and the difference will be that at which the water should be taken, If the dough gains 3 degrees during mixing, it then becomes necessary to subtract 3 degrees from the difference, which will then be the temperature at which the water should be taken. Example. Suppose it is desired to make a dough that will have a temperature of 80 degrees when mixed and that the temperature of our flour is 76 degrees and the temperature of the bakery 82 degrees. Disregard the specific heat of the flour and the other ingredients used in a dough batch to make an accurate calculation. We find that in order to make a dough that will have a temperature of 80 degrees under ideal conditions the flour should have a temperature of 80 degrees, the water should have a temperature of 80 degrees and the shop should have a temperature of 80 degrees F. 3×80=240 degrees. Add the actual temperature of our flour and the temperature of the shop. We get 76+82=158 degrees. 240- 158-82 degrees. Deducting the number of degrees which the dough gains by friction, we get 82-3=79 degrees. The water should be taken at 79 degrees F. This temperature is near enough in practice. To make a more accurate calculation, it is necessary to consider the weight of the different ingredients used, their temperature and specific heat and to solve the problem by algebraic means. This, as a rule, requires too much time in the bakery and for this reason the above simple method is generally used.