So what does it mean when a baker says a bread’s “hydration” is 80%? Of course it has to do with how much water is in the dough, but what exactly does “80% hydration” mean? It doesn’t mean the recipe is 80% water, since that would make soup. In fact it has to do with […]
READ ONVery wet bread doughs (up to about 80% hydration, or in other words, quite sticky) are very, very popular these days. Why? Well there are two reasons for that. The first is that wet bread doughs create big holes — or “open crumb”, a thing that is very much desired in bread baking circles, since […]
READ ONMake that a cheeseburger, since I like mine with a little extra-sharp cheddar… some lettuce, tomato, mustard and a little raw vidalia onion. The bun: toasted (over the coals, but of course). It’s unfortunate that when most people set out to improve their hamburger experience, the first thing they do is plop their patty onto […]
READ ONIt’s true I do cast a somewhat jaundiced eye at claims of gluten sensitivity, since just about every other child I meet is on a wheat or gluten-free diet as a result of some vague symptom. Of course for some people the symptoms are not so vague. Celiac disease, something akin to an allergy to […]
READ ONWe Americans are hung up on gluten. And not just because gluten sensitivity, along with pseudo-disorders like fibromyalgia and dysautonomia, is one of the more popular maladies du jour. Bakers obsess over it: is this flour high gluten or low gluten? As if the answer to that question will tell us everything we need to […]
READ ONTrans fats are so dangerous we need a law to keep people from ingesting even a gram. But a little thujone, well now that never hurt anybody. I tell you…New York.
READ ONI could spend quite a long time expounding on the microbiology of yeast breads (and in fact I often do that, as long-time readers of joepastry.com know). But if the Straight Dough Method had to be reduced to any one thing, that thing would be gluten. For bread making is all about gluten. And why […]
READ ONThe last stop on our tour of the Big Five Mixing Methods is what is known as the Straight Dough Method. It is the method by which nearly all bread in the world is made. And if you’ve ever tried making your own bread before, you’ll be familiar with it. It goes like this: a) […]
READ ONAll I can say is: thank the Lord for frozen puff pastry dough, which makes so many things possible. And if you make it yourself, so much the better. I freeze mine in whatever size slabs come off the work table. It can be inconvenient, since virtually every printed recipe that calls for puff pastry […]
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