New Adventures in Bread Making

In January 1988, Dom and I were snowed into our little apartment on Lindbergh Drive in Atlanta, Georgia for four days. In an attempt to fend of complete boredom, we walked to the grocery store and bought 5 bags of flour and yeast in addition to some basic supplies. The apartment (built circa 1930) had two very small and inefficient radiant heaters, so our plan was to keep the oven going while we perfected our bread making skills. We have made a lot of bread since then!


Who doesn`t love the smell of hot bread, fresh from the oven? The second those crusty, golden loaves appear on the counter to cool, your first thought is "Ahhhh   chemistry." Well maybe not, but it should be. Because what turns a lump of what looks like a child`s modeling clay into heaven on Earth is a series of carefully controlled chemical reactions.

All bread, from the earliest flatbreads cooked on hot stones to the lightest croissant, start with two things: milled grains and water. With only those two things, you can make an enticing array of delicious breads ranging from chewy tortillas to light, crisp matzoh.

Raised breads, like the kind you slice for sandwiches, require some sort of leavening ingredient. There are two basic types of leaveners. There are those that work quickly and those that take more time. Baking powder and baking soda are both quick acting leaveners. The chemicals they contain interact with chemicals in the milled grains to produce carbon dioxide. This creates bubbles in the dough that force it to rise. Cornbread, biscuits and other quick breads rely on baking soda and baking powder for their light and delicate texture.

Yeast is the other kind of leavening agent and it`s the kind that takes its time. The type of yeast commonly used for bread is a live fungus that lies dormant until it is put into warm water. When the yeast and warm water are added to flour, the yeast feeds on the sugars in the flour. The yeast releases carbon dioxide, which makes the bread rise in much the same way that baking powder and baking soda do, though much more slowly.

The other difference between quick-rising and slow-rising breads is the amount of gluten. Gluten is formed when glutenins and gliadin, which are proteins, mix together with water. Gluten is gluey and stretchy and it holds the bread together while allowing it to rise. Many bakers allow their bread dough to rise, punch it down and rise again, often several times. This allows the yeast to add its particular, earthy flavor to the bread. It also makes for denser bread as the gluten is allowed to develop more fully.

Recently, Dom bought sourdough yeast culture that originated in Naples, Italy. Thus we are embarking on a new adventure in bread making. The first step in using our culture is to convert the dormant Camaldoli yeast into active dough starter by adding flour and water and proofing for several days. Sounds easy, right?

First, we had to build a proofing box made from a Styrofoam cooler, light socket, and a dimmer switch, and monitor the temperature under the box to get the temperature to 90°F. Then we mixed the dried yeast culture with 1 cup of flour and about 3/4 cup of warm water in a quart canning jar and placed the jar in the proofing box for 24 hours. The warmer temperature is supposed to keep bad bacteria from spoiling the culture.

After 1st 24-hours

After the first 24 hours, we noticed quite a few bubbles and knew this was a good sign that the yeast culture was healthy and viable. We fed the culture one cup flour and 3/4 cup water and let it proof again this time at room temperature (about 70°F) overnight. This morning, we fed it one cup of flour and water and divided the culture into two jars. And, we will continue feeding both jars one cup flour and enough water to maintain the consistency at about 12 hour intervals. So far the sourdough starter is bubbly and has a good color. I can’t wait for the proofing phase to be over so we can make some good old fashioned Italian Bread. Can’t you just smell the ciabatta!