After accidentally using hot water instead of warm water during the autolyse period of Preston Yancey's white bread, I was surprised to learn that intentionally scalding the flour is a technique used in Japan for super-soft bread. I wanted to learn more. Why does scalding the flour lead to soft bread? In this post, I will answer the following questions: 1. What is an autolyse? 2. Why would you add boiling hot water? Why can't you do this for regular bread recipes? 3. What is starch gelatinization? 4. What is tangzhong? 5. How can I use scalded flour in my bread baking? 1. First off, what is an autolyse? It's a technique used by some bakers to boost the gluten formation in their bread. By mixing water and flour before adding any other ingredients, you allow the protein to absorb all the water without having to share it with the starch and without being stressed by the carbon dioxide bubbles from the yeast pushing against the gluten net before it's had a chance to firm up. After an autolyse of just a few minutes, the gluten is very well formed and is ready to stretch with the expansion of yeast bubbles. Salt and yeast are added after the autolyse period is completed. 2. What makes scalded bread different from the autolyse? Why would you add boiling hot water to flour? With an autolyse, you add warm water. This is because protein can absorb more warm water than cold water. The autolyse is purely to develop the gluten. Scalding flour with boiling water, in contrast, activates another chemical reaction entirely-- starch gelatinization. Instead of being absorbed by the protein, the hot water is absorbed into the starch molecules. That leaves the gliadin and glutenin (the proteins in flour responsible for creating gluten) bereft of the water they need for strong gluten formation. Bread with high gluten formation tastes chewy. This is why you don't want to overmix doughs like muffins and cakes- they can become rubbery. By taking water away from the gluten and jump-starting starch gelatinization instead, you create a dough that is super soft. Why can't you do this for regular bread recipes? Simply put, you cannot substitute hot water for the usual warm water because it kills the yeast. That is why it really only works when you add hot water to the flour and let it cool before adding the yeast and salt. 3. What is starch gelatinization? As you may recall from my The Science Behind... series on the baking process, starch gelatinization occurs in the high heat of the oven. This graphic might clarify things: Here is what happens when dough is in the oven. First, the yeast go crazy and produce lots of bubbles before the heat is too high and they die off. Next, the gluten strands release water to solidify around the carbon dioxide bubbles created by the yeast. With all the free water suddenly available (released by the gluten), the starches absorb it until they can't absorb any more; they then burst, releasing the water and sugars in a process called gelatinization. So instead of waiting for starch gelatinization to occur in the oven, scalded flour introduces it much sooner in the bread baking process. But what exactly IS it? This article explains it best: This formation of gummy networks gives polysaccharides (heated starches) the ability to replace eggs in many baked goods with relative success. The tangled networks can entrap water and other molecules in the batter, locking in moisture and keeping ingredients evenly dispersed. Polysaccharides also interrupt the springy gluten networks formed by flour to create a more tender, delicate texture often desired in muffins and quick breads. And just as a network of egg proteins can hold things together, polysaccharide gels help keep baked goods from falling apart. Who would have thought that such different molecules could function so similarly in the kitchen! Here's a graphic. As you can see, the starch molecules absorb water under heat until they burst, forming a tight net of gel. https://scienceandfooducla.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/baking-without-eggs/ Here is the problem, one that I ran into and one that has been solved by the Japanese technique of tangzhong (more on that below): you don't want to scald the entire flour content of your dough. You do still want some gluten in your dough to help with structure. This is where tangzhong comes in. It can be understood as something of a roux. Like a roux you might use in a gumbo, adding just a little bit of scalded flour will help soften your dough, while maintaining the gluten structure. 4. What is tangzhong? Tangzhong is a technique I learned about recently. According to this post, The Tangzhong roux technique was developed in Asia around 2000. The technique was first mentioned by Yvonne Chen in her book, “Bread Doctor”, published in Taiwan in about 2003. Tangzhong means "soup" in Chinese. A Tangzhong Roux (also called a Tangzhong Water Roux or Water Roux) is a flour and water roux that is added to yeast bread recipes. This is done in order to make a loaf of bread that is lighter, has a more tender crumb and a longer shelf life. The flour and water are mixed and heated to 149-F (65C). This gelatinizes the flour and forms an unflavored translucent pudding-like roux. http://yireservation.com/recipes/soft-asian-milk-bread/ If you plan to use a water roux in a regular recipe such as my 2-3 white bread, use only about 5% of the total flour weight to calculate your roux flour weight. The flour in a water roux absorbs 5x the flour weight in water. So if you are planning on making a dough with 375g of flour, your roux should be about 19g of roux flour (375 * .05) and 95g of roux water (19 * 5). The post on Chowhound suggests just adding it to your recipe without doing any recalculations for hydration. Just add your paste to the amount of water you would regularly use (in the case of my 2-3 dough, 250g of water) and then, when it is lukewarm, adding it to the normal 375g of flour. 5. How can I use scalded flour in my bread? Besides the Japanese soft breads, I learned that scalded flour is a technique practiced in Scandinavia as well. Virtuous Bread has some tips for using scalded flour (in sources below). I learned through my research that scalded flour is most often used in non-wheat doughs like ryes, which have very little gluten content and do not hold their structure well. By scalding the flour, bakers can achieve a soft dough that has a cake-like consistency, less bitter flavor, and holds together without the help of gluten. For a rye bread recipe with scalded flour, check out this post: rye bread with scalded flour. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on scalded flour and starch gelatinization. It's something I was unfamiliar with, but I'm thinking it could be a great way to add softness to breads without fats like eggs or milk. Have you ever used scalded flour or a water roux in baking? Let me know in the comments! Sources: Sourdough Library Science and Food Virtuous Bread Chowhound Tangzhong Roux FAQ

After accidentally using hot water instead of warm water during the autolyse period of Preston Yancey's white bread, I was surprised to learn that intentionally scalding the flour is a technique used in Japan for super-soft bread. I wanted to learn more. Why does scalding the flour lead to soft bread? In this post, I will answer the following questions: 1. What is an autolyse? 2. Why would you add boiling hot water? Why can't you do this for regular bread recipes? 3. What is starch gelatinization? 4. What is tangzhong? 5. How can I use scalded flour in my bread baking? 1. First off, what is an autolyse? It's a technique used by some bakers to boost the gluten formation in their bread. By mixing water and flour before adding any other ingredients, you allow the protein to absorb all the water without having to share it with the starch and without being stressed by the carbon dioxide bubbles from the yeast pushing against the gluten net before it's had a chance to firm up. After an autolyse of just a few minutes, the gluten is very well formed and is ready to stretch with the expansion of yeast bubbles. Salt and yeast are added after the autolyse period is completed. 2. What makes scalded bread different from the autolyse? Why would you add boiling hot water to flour? With an autolyse, you add warm water. This is because protein can absorb more warm water than cold water. The autolyse is purely to develop the gluten. Scalding flour with boiling water, in contrast, activates another chemical reaction entirely-- starch gelatinization. Instead of being absorbed by the protein, the hot water is absorbed into the starch molecules. That leaves the gliadin and glutenin (the proteins in flour responsible for creating gluten) bereft of the water they need for strong gluten formation. Bread with high gluten formation tastes chewy. This is why you don't want to overmix doughs like muffins and cakes- they can become rubbery. By taking water away from the gluten and jump-starting starch gelatinization instead, you create a dough that is super soft. Why can't you do this for regular bread recipes? Simply put, you cannot substitute hot water for the usual warm water because it kills the yeast. That is why it really only works when you add hot water to the flour and let it cool before adding the yeast and salt. 3. What is starch gelatinization? As you may recall from my The Science Behind... series on the baking process, starch gelatinization occurs in the high heat of the oven. This graphic might clarify things: Here is what happens when dough is in the oven. First, the yeast go crazy and produce lots of bubbles before the heat is too high and they die off. Next, the gluten strands release water to solidify around the carbon dioxide bubbles created by the yeast. With all the free water suddenly available (released by the gluten), the starches absorb it until they can't absorb any more; they then burst, releasing the water and sugars in a process called gelatinization. So instead of waiting for starch gelatinization to occur in the oven, scalded flour introduces it much sooner in the bread baking process. But what exactly IS it? This article explains it best: This formation of gummy networks gives polysaccharides (heated starches) the ability to replace eggs in many baked goods with relative success. The tangled networks can entrap water and other molecules in the batter, locking in moisture and keeping ingredients evenly dispersed. Polysaccharides also interrupt the springy gluten networks formed by flour to create a more tender, delicate texture often desired in muffins and quick breads. And just as a network of egg proteins can hold things together, polysaccharide gels help keep baked goods from falling apart. Who would have thought that such different molecules could function so similarly in the kitchen! Here's a graphic. As you can see, the starch molecules absorb water under heat until they burst, forming a tight net of gel. https://scienceandfooducla.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/baking-without-eggs/ Here is the problem, one that I ran into and one that has been solved by the Japanese technique of tangzhong (more on that below): you don't want to scald the entire flour content of your dough. You do still want some gluten in your dough to help with structure. This is where tangzhong comes in. It can be understood as something of a roux. Like a roux you might use in a gumbo, adding just a little bit of scalded flour will help soften your dough, while maintaining the gluten structure. 4. What is tangzhong? Tangzhong is a technique I learned about recently. According to this post, The Tangzhong roux technique was developed in Asia around 2000. The technique was first mentioned by Yvonne Chen in her book, “Bread Doctor”, published in Taiwan in about 2003. Tangzhong means "soup" in Chinese. A Tangzhong Roux (also called a Tangzhong Water Roux or Water Roux) is a flour and water roux that is added to yeast bread recipes. This is done in order to make a loaf of bread that is lighter, has a more tender crumb and a longer shelf life. The flour and water are mixed and heated to 149-F (65C). This gelatinizes the flour and forms an unflavored translucent pudding-like roux. http://yireservation.com/recipes/soft-asian-milk-bread/ If you plan to use a water roux in a regular recipe such as my 2-3 white bread, use only about 5% of the total flour weight to calculate your roux flour weight. The flour in a water roux absorbs 5x the flour weight in water. So if you are planning on making a dough with 375g of flour, your roux should be about 19g of roux flour (375 * .05) and 95g of roux water (19 * 5). The post on Chowhound suggests just adding it to your recipe without doing any recalculations for hydration. Just add your paste to the amount of water you would regularly use (in the case of my 2-3 dough, 250g of water) and then, when it is lukewarm, adding it to the normal 375g of flour. 5. How can I use scalded flour in my bread? Besides the Japanese soft breads, I learned that scalded flour is a technique practiced in Scandinavia as well. Virtuous Bread has some tips for using scalded flour (in sources below). I learned through my research that scalded flour is most often used in non-wheat doughs like ryes, which have very little gluten content and do not hold their structure well. By scalding the flour, bakers can achieve a soft dough that has a cake-like consistency, less bitter flavor, and holds together without the help of gluten. For a rye bread recipe with scalded flour, check out this post: rye bread with scalded flour. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on scalded flour and starch gelatinization. It's something I was unfamiliar with, but I'm thinking it could be a great way to add softness to breads without fats like eggs or milk. Have you ever used scalded flour or a water roux in baking? Let me know in the comments! Sources: Sourdough Library Science and Food Virtuous Bread Chowhound Tangzhong Roux FAQ

Here's Breadtopia's take on pain de mie with 50% fresh-milled whole grain flour, a scald for extra softness and resistance to staling, and sourdough leavening. This Pullman pan bread works great for sandwiches and toast. The recipe is for a 13x4x4 inch Pullman pan. See the Notes section below for information on scaling the recipe to a different size pan.

It’s an old-timey technique, but it’s still crucial to some baking recipes.

making several Shokupan Breads using the Yudane method, I tried the same recipe with some modification to make this super soft Spelt Bread. I used 25% spelt flour and 75% strong bread flour.

Here's Breadtopia's take on pain de mie with 50% fresh-milled whole grain flour, a scald for extra softness and resistance to staling, and sourdough leavening. This Pullman pan bread works great for sandwiches and toast. The recipe is for a 13x4x4 inch Pullman pan. See the Notes section below for information on scaling the recipe to a different size pan.

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A very soft and puffed up Indian flat bread, Chapathi. Serve with Indian curry, main dishes or even use it to make sandwich wraps. I have been getting quite a lot of requests to give a step by step tutorial on how to make soft and perfect chapathis. So here goes..hope you findRead more

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After accidentally using hot water instead of warm water during the autolyse period of Preston Yancey's white bread, I was surprised to l...

While coming back from work, my hubby asked me “Again you are making bread today?” I replied yes I am. I am addicted to bread baking, and want to try as many different bread types of bread possible. I have a very long list of breads to try and I have done only a tiny...Read More

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Classic Indian Roti

After doing a bit of research, I found that many rye breads use scalded rye flour to improve the taste and texture of the loaves, relying on starch gelatinization to provide some structure, a hint of sweetness, and a creamy texture to a dough with very little gluten formation. I picked a recipe that uses a scalded rye paste that gets mixed into a whole wheat dough, since I'm not a huge fan of 100% rye breads. The recipe from All You Knead Is Bread. You can also find it here. You will need: For the scalded rye paste 150g rye flour 300g boiling water For the dough 600g whole wheat flour 300g warm water 7g active dry or instant yeast 20g salt 1 tablespoon of honey 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1. Mix together the rye flour and boiling water. The consistency and taste reminds me of cream of wheat. When the paste has cooled a bit, cover and let sit for several hours or overnight. 2. Add the other ingredients to your rye paste. Knead for 15 minutes. The dough will be very gummy and sticky, since there is virtually no gluten being formed by the rye and whole wheat flours. 3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours. 4. Prepare two couches with floured tea towels (I totally forgot to divide my dough and ended up with one large boule). Divide your dough in two pieces, and use your hands to roughly shape your dough(s) into a boule, and place each into its couche with the smoother side down and let rise another hour. Make sure your couche is well floured, since this dough is sticky. I rolled the dough in the couche a few times until it was completely coated in flour. 5. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Preheat with the dutch oven inside. When the oven is ready, turn out your dough into the dutch oven and slash it quickly on top. Return the lid to the dutch oven and bake for 15 minutes, then bump the temperature down to 400 and bake another 15 minutes covered, then remove the lid and bake a final 10-15 minutes uncovered. Looking good right out of the oven! Low-gluten doughs score very well since you don't have to cut through much gluten. It's a little flatter than an all-purpose or bread flour dough would be, but still has a nice shape. I'm very happy with the interior. It's nice and dry, not gummy. The rye flour is 20% of the total flour in the recipe, giving it a nice rye flavor. By scalding the flour and adding some honey, the dough is not bitter. Pardon all the shots of the crumb; I'm just a little smitten. I'm used to making rye breads that look like this: I was nervous about how gummy and sticky and not smooth the dough was after the first and second rise. But the starch gelatinization that occurred by scalding the rye flour did its job perfectly, absorbing a lot of water but making a loaf of bread that has a nice and soft interior that is not gummy at all. I will totally be making this recipe again. If you want more information about scalded flour, check out my The Science Behind... scalded flour here. Have you ever made rye bread successfully? What are your tricks? Do you think you'll try scalding the rye flour next time? Please let me know in the comments!

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After accidentally using hot water instead of warm water during the autolyse period of Preston Yancey's white bread, I was surprised to learn that intentionally scalding the flour is a technique used in Japan for super-soft bread. I wanted to learn more. Why does scalding the flour lead to soft bread? In this post, I will answer the following questions: 1. What is an autolyse? 2. Why would you add boiling hot water? Why can't you do this for regular bread recipes? 3. What is starch gelatinization? 4. What is tangzhong? 5. How can I use scalded flour in my bread baking? 1. First off, what is an autolyse? It's a technique used by some bakers to boost the gluten formation in their bread. By mixing water and flour before adding any other ingredients, you allow the protein to absorb all the water without having to share it with the starch and without being stressed by the carbon dioxide bubbles from the yeast pushing against the gluten net before it's had a chance to firm up. After an autolyse of just a few minutes, the gluten is very well formed and is ready to stretch with the expansion of yeast bubbles. Salt and yeast are added after the autolyse period is completed. 2. What makes scalded bread different from the autolyse? Why would you add boiling hot water to flour? With an autolyse, you add warm water. This is because protein can absorb more warm water than cold water. The autolyse is purely to develop the gluten. Scalding flour with boiling water, in contrast, activates another chemical reaction entirely-- starch gelatinization. Instead of being absorbed by the protein, the hot water is absorbed into the starch molecules. That leaves the gliadin and glutenin (the proteins in flour responsible for creating gluten) bereft of the water they need for strong gluten formation. Bread with high gluten formation tastes chewy. This is why you don't want to overmix doughs like muffins and cakes- they can become rubbery. By taking water away from the gluten and jump-starting starch gelatinization instead, you create a dough that is super soft. Why can't you do this for regular bread recipes? Simply put, you cannot substitute hot water for the usual warm water because it kills the yeast. That is why it really only works when you add hot water to the flour and let it cool before adding the yeast and salt. 3. What is starch gelatinization? As you may recall from my The Science Behind... series on the baking process, starch gelatinization occurs in the high heat of the oven. This graphic might clarify things: Here is what happens when dough is in the oven. First, the yeast go crazy and produce lots of bubbles before the heat is too high and they die off. Next, the gluten strands release water to solidify around the carbon dioxide bubbles created by the yeast. With all the free water suddenly available (released by the gluten), the starches absorb it until they can't absorb any more; they then burst, releasing the water and sugars in a process called gelatinization. So instead of waiting for starch gelatinization to occur in the oven, scalded flour introduces it much sooner in the bread baking process. But what exactly IS it? This article explains it best: This formation of gummy networks gives polysaccharides (heated starches) the ability to replace eggs in many baked goods with relative success. The tangled networks can entrap water and other molecules in the batter, locking in moisture and keeping ingredients evenly dispersed. Polysaccharides also interrupt the springy gluten networks formed by flour to create a more tender, delicate texture often desired in muffins and quick breads. And just as a network of egg proteins can hold things together, polysaccharide gels help keep baked goods from falling apart. Who would have thought that such different molecules could function so similarly in the kitchen! Here's a graphic. As you can see, the starch molecules absorb water under heat until they burst, forming a tight net of gel. https://scienceandfooducla.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/baking-without-eggs/ Here is the problem, one that I ran into and one that has been solved by the Japanese technique of tangzhong (more on that below): you don't want to scald the entire flour content of your dough. You do still want some gluten in your dough to help with structure. This is where tangzhong comes in. It can be understood as something of a roux. Like a roux you might use in a gumbo, adding just a little bit of scalded flour will help soften your dough, while maintaining the gluten structure. 4. What is tangzhong? Tangzhong is a technique I learned about recently. According to this post, The Tangzhong roux technique was developed in Asia around 2000. The technique was first mentioned by Yvonne Chen in her book, “Bread Doctor”, published in Taiwan in about 2003. Tangzhong means "soup" in Chinese. A Tangzhong Roux (also called a Tangzhong Water Roux or Water Roux) is a flour and water roux that is added to yeast bread recipes. This is done in order to make a loaf of bread that is lighter, has a more tender crumb and a longer shelf life. The flour and water are mixed and heated to 149-F (65C). This gelatinizes the flour and forms an unflavored translucent pudding-like roux. http://yireservation.com/recipes/soft-asian-milk-bread/ If you plan to use a water roux in a regular recipe such as my 2-3 white bread, use only about 5% of the total flour weight to calculate your roux flour weight. The flour in a water roux absorbs 5x the flour weight in water. So if you are planning on making a dough with 375g of flour, your roux should be about 19g of roux flour (375 * .05) and 95g of roux water (19 * 5). The post on Chowhound suggests just adding it to your recipe without doing any recalculations for hydration. Just add your paste to the amount of water you would regularly use (in the case of my 2-3 dough, 250g of water) and then, when it is lukewarm, adding it to the normal 375g of flour. 5. How can I use scalded flour in my bread? Besides the Japanese soft breads, I learned that scalded flour is a technique practiced in Scandinavia as well. Virtuous Bread has some tips for using scalded flour (in sources below). I learned through my research that scalded flour is most often used in non-wheat doughs like ryes, which have very little gluten content and do not hold their structure well. By scalding the flour, bakers can achieve a soft dough that has a cake-like consistency, less bitter flavor, and holds together without the help of gluten. For a rye bread recipe with scalded flour, check out this post: rye bread with scalded flour. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on scalded flour and starch gelatinization. It's something I was unfamiliar with, but I'm thinking it could be a great way to add softness to breads without fats like eggs or milk. Have you ever used scalded flour or a water roux in baking? Let me know in the comments! Sources: Sourdough Library Science and Food Virtuous Bread Chowhound Tangzhong Roux FAQ

Dinkel war bisher bei mir nicht so der Backfavorit. Für mich backte Dinkel immer etwas trockener, und das Brot wurde schnell altbacken. Ein Fachmann für Mehle machte mich darauf aufmerksam, dass Kochstücke erheblich mehr Feuchtigkeit ins Brot bringen können, und die Gefahr, durch eine zu hohe Teigausbeute einen Fladen zu produzieren, dadurch kaum noch besteht. Also musste ein neues Rezept mit einem Kochstück her. Ich ging noch sehr vorsichtig zu Werke und kochte 50 g Mehl in 150 g Wasser (TA 300) auf. Der Fachmann meinte, ich könnte ruhig bis 250 g Wasser gehen. Das Wasser-Mehl-Gemisch wurde zu einem Pudding, und den ließ ich über Nacht - ebenso wie den Sauerteig und das Brühstück - stehen.Der Hauptteig zeigt sich in der Schüssel mit einer TA von 170 sehr moderat, und nach der ersten Gare ließ sich der Teig hervorragend bearbeiten.Nachdem das Brot gebacken war und ich den ersten Anschnitt probiert hatte, musste ich meine Meinung erheblich revidieren. Ab jetzt werde ich Dinkelbrote nur noch mit einem Kochstück machen.Viel Spaß beim Nachbacken!

Spelt and rye grains are each uniquely flavorful and they perform quite differently in bread baking compared with conventional (modern) wheat. The scalding process and the combination of spelt and rye flours make a soft, aromatic bread that is so delicious, resists staling, and is a perfect vehicle for drippy toppings.

Maybe the depression doesn't strike you as the best time for cuisine, but these 9 depression-era recipes will surprise you with their tastiness.

A soft and fluffy 100% whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread that can even be made with freshly-milled flour! This recipe is listed in grams for consistency and is simple to knead in a mixer for a hands-off bulk fermentation.

Unlike most Danish ryes, which are sweet, this one surprises with the intensity of its sour, the result of a two-stage sponge that ferments for 24 hours.

These yeast rolls are so light and fluffy, hence the name feather rolls, they are light as a feather.

L'autre jour, en feuilletant quelques livres au rayon librairie culinaire, l'envie d'acheter un, deux ou même trois livres était présente, mais je n'arrivais pas à trouver mon plaisir. Y'en a partout, de tout et sur tout ! Je ne sais pas où me donner...

This loaf has a great balance of wheat and rye flours. It has a bit of rye flour and scalded rye to add flavor and tenderness, but not so much that the dough is difficult to handle or the flavor of the rye is overwhelming. It makes a perfect sliced bread for ham, roast beef, or leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches.

Whether you've opted for a gluten-free soda bread recipe or a traditional one, baking can be such a fun family activity! Just be prepared to deal with a huge mess, afterward.