15
VITAL INGREDIENTS FOR
BREAD MAKING
Flour is the most important ingredient used
for bread making. It provides food for the
yeast and gives structure to the loaf. When
mixed with liquid, the protein in the flour
starts to form gluten. Gluten is a network
of elastic strands that interlock to trap
the gases produced by yeast. This process
increases as the dough continues
kneading and provides the structure
required to produce the weight and shape
of the baked bread.
White wheat flour sold as baker’s, bread or
plain flour may be used. Plain flour is most
readily available, however, best results are
obtained with flour at least 11% protein
content. For this reason, the recipes in this
book requiring bread flour have been made
using flour with 11% protein content. This
is normally indicated on the packaging.
Do not sift the flour or use self-raising flour
for bread making unless indicated in the recipe.
When using a low-protein, plain, stone
ground or wholemeal flour the quality
of the bread can be improved by adding
gluten flour.
There are several brands of bread or
bakers flour available nationally at larger
supermarkets. It is a high protein,
white bread flour, with 11% protein.
Wholemeal wheat flour
contains the bran,
germ and flour of the wheat grain. Although
breads baked with this type of flour will
be higher in fibre, the loaf may be heavier
in texture. Lighter textured bread can be
achieved by replacing 160g of wholemeal
flour with white bread flour.
Rye flour
popular for bread making, is low
in protein so it is essential to combine rye
flour with bread flour to make the bread rise
successfully. Rye flour is traditionally used
to make the heavy, dense Pumpernickel
and Black Breads.
Gluten flour
is made by extracting the
gluten portion from the wheat grain. Adding
gluten flour can improve the structure and
quality of bread when using low-protein,
plain, stone ground and wholemeal flour.
Bread mixes
contain flour, sugar, milk, salt,
oil and other ingredients such as bread
improver. Usually only the addition
of water and yeast is required.
Bread improvers
are available nationally
in supermarkets and health food stores.
The ingredients in a bread improver are
usually a food acid such as ascorbic acid
(Vitamin C) and other enzymes (amylases)
extracted from wheat flours. Adding
a bread improver will help strengthen
the dough resulting in a loaf that is higher
in volume, softer in texture, more stable
and has improved shelf life qualities.
A simple bread improver can be a crushed
unflavoured vitamin C tablet added to the
dry ingredients.
Sugar
provides sweetness and flavour,
browns the crust and produces food for
the yeast. White sugar, brown sugar, honey
and golden syrup are all suitable to use.
When using honey or golden syrup it must
be counted as additional liquid. We have
successfully tested granular ‘Splenda’ brand
low calorie sweetener as a sugar substitute.
