In which we learn that a mass of fermenting dough, tightly sealed in clingfilm, is liable to explode!

It's the start of a brand new course on how to make Artisan Breads, for which we are blessed with an Bulging-Cadillac double act!
They walked us through the process of creating our first rustic loaves, for which we mixed and kneaded the dough, wrapped it up tightly in plastic, and took it home for its overnight cold proving and subsequent baking.
My bread had issues though:

• My dough exploded!
• My dough was impossible to remove the (floured) baking paper.
• My loaves were impossible to remove from the (fresh) (floured) baking paper.
• The crust on my baked loaves was rather too thick and hard.

I must find out why 🤔

So what is this bread stuff anyway?
Gluten is what gives bread its chewiness and elasticity, and holds in the bubbles that develop when the yeast exhales carbon dioxide.
It is the network or matrix that forms when the proteins in flour hydrate, unfold and start to cross-link together.
These proteins are primarily Glutenin and Gliadin, which are both classes or aggregates of dozens of different individual types of protein. Found particularly in all kinds wheat flour, also barley, rye and some oats.
Strong flour contains a particularly large proportion of such proteins (12-14%) such as that produced from grinding hard wheat varieties, which is ideal for bread-making.
Durum wheat is not the general Italian phrase for hard wheat, as you might think, but is a specific hard wheat variety, and despite containing large quantities of glutens, they are of a particularly inelastic type unsuitable for baking high-volume soft loaves. Albeit perfect for making pasta and couscous.

It is my understanding based on this single cookery class that there are two approaches to developing this gluten matrix in bread dough:

• The no-knead method which requires little to no kneading, but a wetter, yeast-heavier dough than normal, and a long, slow proving in a cool or cold place.
  During this process the gluten proteins naturally relax and chain together by themselves.
  This is the method recommended by Teacher Aaron for producing artisan or rustic loaves with crisp crusts, open crumb and complex flavours.
• The traditional method which involves kneading and stretching the dough to encourage the necessary process of long protein chains unrolling and bonding together.
  This uses a slightly drier, less yeasty dough. A short, warm proving of only an hour or two is all that is then required to allow the dough to aerate and rise.
  Absolutely typical for producing commercial loaves or Wonder bread clones.

So what is this flour stuff anyway?
Wheat grains consist of a dark outer layer of bran - consisting of fibre, B vitamins and protein.
Inside this is the endosperm which constitutes 85% of the kernel. This is largely starch and some protein.
Finally the tiny germ is the part which, under the right conditions, will sprout and grow into a new wheat plant and is made of fatty acids, protein, minerals, and vitamins B and E.
The germ is kind of like the yolk of an egg, and the endosperm is the white. I suppose that would make the bran the eggshell - if you could eat eggshells.
When the grain is watered, germinates, and is then dried or roasted it becomes malt which is full of flavour, enzymes and sugars like maltose.
All of these can be ground up to produce flours, and depending on how much of which parts of the kernel and what variety of plant, the flour will have different qualities.
Pure white flour is made from only the endosperm, increasingly brown flours include some bran and germ, and wholemeal flour is made from grinding up the whole grain. (Duh!)

Just to make baking simple, every country has its own complicated way of classifying their wheat flours.
Well, except for Britain which has three flours: Strong, Plain, and Self-Raising.
Oh and whole-wheat, but that hardly counts.
You pays your money, you takes your choice.

The French use a T-system, which was originally designed as a way of classifying flour for taxation, and is increasingly useless for determining what the flour is actually good for.
It technically measures the amount of ash which is left when the flour is burnt, as a proportion of the original weight - giving an indication of the amount of bran or germ contained.
5g of the flour is heated to 900°C for 80 minutes, then the remaining ash is weighed and a grade range assigned.

• T45 means that less than 0.50% of the original flour remains as ash. This will be the finest, refined, endosperm-only white flour.
• T55 means 0.50-0.60% ash. Which is the standard all-purpose French flour.
• T65 means 0.62-0.65% ash. Good for rustic or artisan breads, and sourdough.
• T80 means 0.75-0.90% ash. For country-style breads.
• T110 means 1.00-1.20% ash. Getting pretty dark and chewy now.
• T150 means upwards of 1.50% ash - basically farine intégrale or wholemeal flour.

Since the T-Grade provides no information about the gluten content of the flour, you may find strong French flours labelled as gruau. Otherwise you will have to guess.

The Italians on the other hand grade the fineness of their flour with a Type designation, and the strength of the flour with a W-value.
Since you can't really grind fibre very finely the type also gives a good gauge of how much bran and germ is included in the flour.
I've always assumed they just grind up the whole grains, then sieve the result into the different types using different meshes. But I suspect that's just me.
Anyway, here is how their grades shake out:

• Typo '00': A super-fine grind, with the colour and texture of baby powder. Very popular for making smooth pastas, and also pizza when it comes in a strong version.
• Typo '0': Slightly less refined, more of a general purpose flour. Possibly steel-ground.
• Typo '1': Getting coarser. Probably stone-ground. Used for bread.
• Typo '2': Coarser still, a little darker now. Also for bread. Possibly rustic pizza shapes.
• Tipo Integrale: Basically coarse ground whole-wheat flour, for speciality breads or piadina flatbread.

Italian flour's gluten content is determined by machines which measure the elasticity and extensibility of a simple flour/water dough, giving:

• Low W (90-180): A weak flour with low gluten content of 8-9%.
• Medium W (200-300): Containing 9-12% gluten. So could include good pizza or focaccia flours.
• High W (300+): Strong flour with over 12% gluten, suitable for most bread baking.
• W 350 and over: Some kind of super-flour with 15-16% gluten. Who knows what you do with this? Build houses? Possibly bake panettone.

So what is this yeast stuff anyway?
Yeast is a uni-cellular fungus which typically reproduces by budding or fission. This is distinct from moulds which are multicellular fungi that grow in long stringy colonies and reproduce by emitting spores.
Bakers yeasts eat the sugars carbohydrates in dough and excretes alcohol and carbon dioxide. The small amount of alcohol evaporates during baking, and the carbon dioxide turns the dough into a bubbly foam giving bread its springy leavened qualities.

Because of its cellular simplicity it's possible to dry out yeast which then enters a dormant state without dying, ready to spring back into life when re-hydrated.
Dried yeast does come in different forms though; instant, active and fast-acting.

• Active yeast requires activating or blooming in warm water, possibly with added sugar, before using.
  • Active yeast has a definite shelf-life - so check it's still alive before using.
  • Substitute for fresh yeast in recipes with about half its weight of active dry yeast.
• Instant yeast can just be added directly to the dough or flour.
  • Instant yeast is a lot more stable, pretty much living forever.
  • Substitute for fresh yeast with about one third the weight of instant dry yeast.
• Fast-acting yeast is a sub-category of instant yeast, which acts quickly (Duh!) but is unsuitable for long or slow proving.

Some BreadPointers™ from this week's class:

• Do not seal in your fermenting dough! Better to put it in an open-topped bucket.
• Salt inhibits yeast growth, so make sure that it is well distributed through the flour before adding the yeast.
• Slow-prove for up to 72 hours, but no longer.
• Over-proved dough will dry out the surface. It should no longer be used for making bread, though it might still serve for pizza. Apparently.
• Don't be in too much of a hurry to slice into the bread when it comes out of the oven. It needs to cool and settle down on a wire rack for 30 minutes or an hour first.

Now all I need to do is to think of things to do with all this bread I'll be baking!