November 2, 2010

Warm, Crusty, Toasty, Fluffy Bread + Tea Winner!

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

Muffins + Breads Bake
31 comments

Gooooooooooooood morning! Brrrrr, it’s a cold one here in NC today. Might be time to bust out a coat!

Last night in food science lab was all about BREAD!

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We made both quick breads (muffins) and yeast (aka regular) bread:

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Some of the recipes were normal, and some were altered (no salt, too much salt, no stirring, too much stirring, no kneading, too much kneading) to show us differences in the final product.

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Regarding the muffins, too little mixing gave them a denser, heavier texture. As the mixing increased, they became fluffier (to a point).

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My group was assigned two types of yeast bread — one with no salt, and one with too much (3 teaspoons) salt.

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Basically, both were gross! The no salt bread didn’t have any flavor, and the too much salt bread was too salty (obviously), as well as denser/flatter since too much salt will kill yeast.

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(One of my partners kneading the dough.)

I’ve actually never made my own yeast bread before. I’m a huge fan of quick breads (muffins, sweet breads) as you know, but yeast scares me, and it just seems really time consuming and annoying to make normal bread when I can just buy it, to be honest. Can anyone convince me why I should try to make my own yeast bread? 🙂

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My team was also assigned some fun science experiments — basically, seeing if gas production was faster when baking powder was mixed with cold water vs. hot water.

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Can you guess which was faster? (Hint: Hot water! 🙂 )

The lab ended with pizza. Thank goodness we had some normal food to eat instead of just tasting gross messed up bread and muffins all night, ha!

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Pizza is so good. That is all I have to say about that 🙂

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And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for — the winner of my Mighty Leaf Tea giveaway!

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Drumroll, please!

The winner is…

Commenter #203, Carolyn!

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Here’s why Carolyn loves tea:

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Aw. My grandparents used to always have a tea time date, too. 🙂 I wish more people still did that nowadays!

Carolyn — Congratulations! Please email me your full name and mailing address at [email protected] and I’ll have Mighty Leaf send your package right out. And thank you to everyone who entered — I’m sorry I can’t send all of you tea!

I’m off to class — have a wonderful day, friends 🙂

- anne

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31 comments
  • Looks like a class I would enjoy. You should try and make yeast bread because the smell is so good it will drive you nuts. There is nothing better than fresh hot bread and a little butter on it straight from the oven. Yummy , nothing like it. Congratulations to Carolyn
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  • I make my own bread as often as I can because I know what's in it: flour, yeast, salt, and water. Compare that to your store-bought bread ingredient list! Plus homemade bread is much tastier, and unbelievable right out of the oven. And if you use the no-knead method, its super easy: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html
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    • I'm confused by the fact that there's no kneading involved. Why?
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      • It's a wetter dough that you let it sit forever, which accomplishes the same goal as kneading. Here's a scientific explanation: "The long, slow rise does over hours what intensive kneading does in minutes: it brings the gluten molecules into side-by-side alignment to maximize their opportunity to bind to each other and produce a strong, elastic network. The wetness of the dough is an important piece of this because the gluten molecules are more mobile in a high proportion of water, and so can move into alignment easier and faster than if the dough were stiff.”
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        • That's fascinating! I'll have to try it at some point... although kneading might be fun :)
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  • I love making bread! I haven't made too many of my own breads, but I always make my own pizza dough!
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  • Cooking meets chemistry, I like it.
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  • I feel the same way. It seems time consuming. I wish I had more time, though, because homemade bread is the best.
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  • The best reason to make your own bread is the way the fragrance wafts through the house while it's baking! And then you can slice off the crust as soon as it's done and slather it (or not) in butter and munch it down while it's still hot. Delicious : )
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  • I am the EXACT same way about making bread with yeast...so time consuming and scary! I kind of want to try it though. I think I'll stick to Pizza Dough as my Macaroon Monday entry though
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  • You should make your own yeast bread because it tastes sooooo good fresh out of the oven!!
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  • Make your own bread, it's amazing. Some friends of mine make their own bread several times a week- it's so delicious to eat fresh bread out of the oven!! One night we had dinner at their place and they made an amazing lentil soup with fresh bread and it was PERFECTION. The husband also cures his own meats and they have a mean veggie garden so summer dinners at their place are always simple, delicious, and made more enjoyable by the bread! Having a boss who's father ran a bakerie in Munich has also taught me the beauty of fresh bread- sometimes we have it for our weekly lab meeting (includes breakfast) baked in our sweet viking oven in the lab!! (yes, spoiled, I know). Sorry for the long comment but I am a BIG fan of fresh baked bread :)
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    • Hehe I heart your comments :) So jealous of your fresh lab bread - and of your friends with their own garden, etc.! That sounds amazing!!
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  • Why should you make your own bread? If for no other reason: the intoxicating scent of yeasty deliciousness will permeate your entire apartment.
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  • It may be because I appreciate the extra work I put into it but my Rosemary Garlic Focaccia bread tastes better than any store bought kind I've ever tried!
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  • My bread-food-lab class was the first time I realized that 1) you don't need a bread-maker machine to Make bread (Shocker, no? Embarrassing to admit) and 2) Beer bread might be my favorite, AND the easiest to make! :) It was definitely one of my favorite labs, and we didn't even get to make pizza (jealous....).
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  • You HAVE to try your own yeast bread! Start with No-Knead Bread (google it and you'll find TONS of resources). After that, try this recipe: http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2010/2/26/amazing-artisan-bread-for-40-cents-a-loaf-no-kneading-no-fus.html Original source: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ Helpful video: http://www.startribune.com/video/11967361.html I tried it this weekend, and let's just say that it may have been a bad idea! Fresh-baked bread made so quickly may just be a bad thing... :-) Read the comments of the first link for extra-helpful hints!
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    • Ha! Just saw the comment above about no-knead bread! My bad :-) Seriously, though, it's wonderful, and the long fermentation makes it have a slightly sourdough-like taste without all the hassle of the starter!
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  • If you get a bread machine you won't have to do any work...the bread practically makes itself. Also, if you like yeast bread for sandwiches or whatever, it's cheaper to make it! But if you're not into it, stick with your quick breads :)
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  • I want to take your class!!!!
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  • Congrats to Carolyn! Grandparents are supposed to have tea time dates!
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  • I would really enjoy this bread experiment. I makes me sad how little we focus on nutrition in culinary school. ;-)
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  • I've found that homemade yeast bread can get moldy really quickly too... no good.
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  • One reason that as soon as we move into our new house I will be picking up my bread maker from my parents (lack of storage at our current place) is becuase all the whole wheat breads that I have seen use soy in them. I eat soy but would like to limit it where I can. I also like having control of all the ingredients and it just tastes better to boot.
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  • REAL bread is so much better than store-bought: 1) control of ingredients (including organic flours with no processing and striping away nutrients just to put them back in manufactured 2) we digest the fresh real ingredients so much easier 3) it's therapeutic, and I recognize that one may be personal, but it works for me 4) once you do it and get to know yeast and breads, it is very fast and not a lot of trouble. I've been known to throw down some flour, yeast and warm milk, and little olive oil and make a Torta al Testo (on my blog) for sandwiches while people are drinking in the living room and eating appetizers. Obviously I love bread making and thanks for letting me ramble/preach on. :D I'll go now.
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  • Ah! Love to see what you're doing in your foods lab! I'm studying to be an RD as well, and we did quick and yeast breads the last couple of weeks. So far, I like cakes lab best! : ) Annnnd cheese lab.
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