By Sarah Dunn

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How To Bake French Bread

• By Sarah Dunn

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How To Bake French Bread
Navigational Section Welcome To How To Make
French Bread. There are some things that we
must review before you start.
First Unfortunately you will not be able to
smell the aroma of fresh baked bread. Please
help me by using your imagination. Next -- On
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work or phrase.
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How To Bake French Bread
Table Of Content Section Slides Navigational
Section 2 Introduction 4 5 Ingredients 6 Pro
ofing the Yeast 7 8 Mixing the Dough
9 Kneading 10 Rising 11 12 Shaping and
Final Rising 13 Baking and Cooling 14 The
Bread 15 Review Questions 16 Summary 24 Referen
ces 25
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How To Bake French Bread
The smell of bread brings wonderful thoughts
and emotions to all of us. Just passing a bakery
can get me into a frenzy. I must have a piece.
Ohhh, to savor the rich chewy taste and the
creamy melted butter can be like a little piece
of heaven to me. And, why not, mankind has been
baking bread in one form or another for a long
time. Throughout history, bread has been a
staple food source for mankind. Wheat was one of
the first grains cultivated. And, although no one
really knows when bread was created,
archaeologists confirm that yeast was used as a
leavening agent in Egypt as early as 4000 B.C.
Bread has played an important roll in the
history of civilization. Not only was it
considered the main stable of the diet at one
time a persons social status could be confirmed
by the type of bread that the or she ate. White
bread was more costly, so it was considered for
the upper class, where darker bread was for the
lower classes.
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How To Bake French Bread
In the middle ages bread was the substance that
kept the poor of Europe alive through the dark
ages. Every country has its favorite type of
bread. Pitta naan are middle-eastern flat
bread, Focaccia is a flat bread that is enjoyed
by the Greeks and Italians. Bagels are a Jewish
bread that is loved in Poland, Israel, and the
United States. The French baguette is known
around the world and it is said to have started
the French revolution. Let them eat cake was
the phrase that Marie Antoinette used to express
her feelings about French peasants. But the
baguette is not French bread we are going to
bake. We are going to bake the batard. The
batard is the short oblong cousin of the
baguette. Like a baguette, it is made from what
the French call regular bread dough. This bread
is made for eating and should be eaten within
hours of baking it. There is very little sugar
and fat in this bread. Although our home ovens
cannot duplicate the crispy crust of a
pressurized steam injected oven we can get
close. If you use bricks in your oven to bake
the bread you can get the close to that crispy
crust. Well enough about talk about this
bread. Let make some!!!
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How To Bake French Bread
Ingredients What we need now are the
ingredients 2 ½ cups warm water(105o to 115o
F) 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (1 package plus 1
teaspoon) active dry yeast Pinch of granulated
sugar 1 tablespoon granulated sugar honey, barley
malt syrup, or maple syrup 1 tablespoon salt 1
cups semolina flour 5 to 5 cups unbleached
high-gluten bread flour Semolina flour, for
dusting 1 egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon
water for glazing Ill wait while you get these
ingredients out of your cupboard.
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How To Bake French Bread
Proofing The Yeast Well now that you have the
ingredients lets start with the yeast. In a
small bowl pour in ½ cup of the warm water and
sprinkle in the yeast and the pinch of sugar.
Stir to dissolve and let stand at room
temperature until it is foamy. This will take
about 10 minutes. So, while we wait lets
talk about proofing the yeast. Proofing the yeast
is a way of telling if the yeast is still alive.
You did know that yeast was a living organism
that we use to make beer and bread. In fact you
can make beer from bread. Yes that is right, I
read it. In the 19th century Pasteur wrote about
yeast and discovered that yeast was a
single-celled fungus. There are many varieties of
yeast. We use the Saccharomyces cerevisiae for
making both bread and beer. Has your is your
yeast proofed yet? No, well let continue.
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How To Bake French Bread
Proofing The Yeast
Yeast can come in two forms. Granulated or in a
Brick Which ever you choose you must proof the
yeast. It takes a little more work to proof the
brick.
Once your yeast is proofed it should look
something like the picture below. Is your yeast
proofed yet? It is good, lets move on.
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How To Bake French Bread
Mixing The Dough Now that the yeast is proofed,
we need mix the dough. Place in a large bowl the
remaining water, sugar, semolina flour and 1 cup
of the unbleached flower into the dough. Using a
wooden spoon, a whisk or a heavy-duty electric
mixer beat the ingredients until they blend and
become creamy. This will take about 1 minute.
This is called mixing the dough. (May I suggest
the electric mixer unless you are trying to build
up your arm muscles because as we put in more
flour the mixing will get harder. )
Now, add the proofed yeast and mix it in. (I
know that you are saying well I could have mixed
this by hand. Well just wait.) Add the remaining
flour, ½ cup at a time until a soft, dough is
formed. When the dough clears the sides of the
bowl it is formed. (If you did the mixing by hand
you understand why I said to use a electric
mixer.)
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How To Bake French Bread
Kneading This is the fun part. Turn the dough
out onto a lightly floured surface. Now, lightly
flour your hands, you are going to use them.
Press the heal of your hands, in the dough. (Use
all of your weight, it isnt any fun if you
dont.) Now grab the dough at the top and folded
it into itself. Repeat this process for 4 to 7
minutes or until your dough feels like play-doh,
dusting the surface with flour as you go.
Ok. If you dont want to do this, use a
machine-mixer and let it mix the dough. Be sure
to scrape the sides of the bowl periodically.
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How To Bake French Bread
Rising Did you have fun with the kneading? Does
your dough feel like play-doh? Well now it is
time for the dough to rise. Rising allows gas to
be released from the yeast. This makes the dough
rise. The more gas that get into the dough the
fluffier or lighter the bread will be. However,
like everything else there is a price. To much
gas and the dough may collapse. The trick is to
get just the right amount of gas into your dough.
This is done by letting the dough rise.
For the first rising, place the dough in a deep
greased container, like a bowl. Either sprinkle
the top with flour, or rub some olive oil on the
top. Cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl were
it will not get to hot or to cold, and let rise
for 3 hours.
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How To Bake French Bread
Rising Times up. The first rising is finish
and now we must prepare the dough for the second
rising. Gently, deflate the dough by pushing
your hand into it. Transfer the dough to a work
surface and knead the dough for about 6 to 8
times to release the gases. Return the dough to
the bowl and let rise again for 2 hours. Now
you dont have to do this second rising, but the
bread will taste better if you do.
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How To Bake French Bread
Shaping and Final Rising Ok, lets stop reading
our books and shape this dough. After 2 hours it
is time to mold the dough into the shapes that we
want. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured
work area and deflate it. Let it rest while we
prep the baking sheets. Take 2 baking sheets
and grease them or cut 2 sheets parchment paper
to the size of the baking sheets and place one
sheet of parchment paper in each baking sheet.
You could use bread pans for this as well.
Now that the baking sheets are ready lets turn
to the dough. Divide the dough into 4 even
portions. (This is best done with a knife or
pastry scraper.) With the palm of your hand
flatten each portion into a thin rectangle about
14 by 5 inches. Now roll the dough up into a long
oblong shape. Pinch to seal the dough and fold
it over place the edge side down. Lift the dough
and place it on the baking sheet. Cover with
plastic and let rise again until it doubles in
size, about 1 hour.
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How To Bake French Bread
Baking and Cooling We are all most at the point
were we will be smelling that delicious bread.
But first, 20 minutes before the end of the last
rising pre-heat your oven to 425o F (You should
check your oven with a thermometer to make sure
it is at this temperature. ) and line it with
your baking stones if you are using them.
Remember the egg mixed with water, well that is
our glaze and it is time to use it. So create an
egg glaze out of an egg and a little water and
brush it on the top of the dough. With a serrated
knife, slash the top of the dough on the
diagonal. Just before placing the dough in the
oven sprinkle it with some water. Now place it in
the oven on the lowest rack. Wait 5 minutes and
open the door and spray the dough with water. Do
this 3 times then let the dough bake.
Sorry, I cant show you a picture of baking
bread, because the oven needs to be keep closed.
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How To Bake French Bread
The Bread We have gathered our ingredients,
proofed our yeast, mix the dough, kneaded the
dough, let the dough rise for 6 hours and baked
the dough into bread. Can you smell it? I can.
I love French bread. The crust should be crispy
with a a dark caramel color. The inside or the
mie should have a creamy color with irregular
air holes. The bread should task slightly chewy
and nutty. Remember you should eat this bread at
once, so while you are eating take some time to
answer the review questions.
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How To Bake French Bread
Review Questions Lets review some facts about
baking French Bread. Click the answer that you
think is the correct one for each question.
When you are finish answering the questions
click the Next button.

• What temperature should the oven be pre-heat to ?
• a. 450o
• b. 400o
• c. 425o
• d. 375o
• How long is the first rising.
• a. 4 hrs
• b. 3 hrs
• c. 2 1/2 hrs
• d. 3 1/2 hrs
• At one time in history you could tell the social
  class of a person by the type of bread they
  could buy. Which of the following statements are
  true.
• a. If you could afford a rich dark wheat bread
  you were in the upper class.
• b. White bread cost more so only the upper class
  could afford it.
• c. The upper class only ate wheat bread.
• d. Wheat was considered the bread for all
  classes.

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How To Bake French Bread
Review Questions Dont forget . Click the
answer that you think is the correct one for each
question. When you are finish answering the
questions click the Next button.

• Yeast comes in a brick form only.
• a. True
• b. False
• Batard bread is the cousin to the Focaccia.
• a. True
• b. False
• Proofing is what you do to tell if the yeast is
  alive.
• a. True
• b. False
• You can skip the 2nd and 3rd rising and go
  straight to baking the bread after the 1st
  rising.
• a. True
• b. False

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How To Bake French Bread
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19
How To Bake French Bread
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How To Bake French Bread
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How To Bake French Bread
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22
How To Bake French Bread
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How To Bake French Bread
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How To Bake French Bread
Summary Well, well learned some interesting
facts about bread in history. Like White bread
was once only for the upper class and Bread keep
the poor fed in the middle ages. We looked a how
to proof yeast, knead dough and how many times
the dough must raised. I hope you have had some
fun, learned something new and baked some French
bread. .
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How To Bake French Bread
References Curtis, Stephanie, 2002. As parisian
as french baguette. Sallys Place, Retrieved
9/22/2005, from http//sallys-place.com/food/singl
e-articles/french_baq.htm. Hensperger, Beth ,
1996. Beths basic bread book. San Francisco, CL.
Chronicle Books. Oliver, Lynne, 2000. Food
timeline history notes bread. Food Timeline,
retrieved 9/22/05, from http//foodtimeline.org/fo
odbreads.html. Weaver, Dennis, 2005. How to bake
how long should my bread rise? Nancys Kitchen,
Retrieved 9/22/2005, from http//www.nancyskitchen
.com/how-long-should-my-bread-rise.html
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