The ICC Handbook Of Cereals, Flour, Dough
Argimiro Krishnamoorthy
The milling process is when grain berries are ground between burrs, stones (for stone-milled flour), or rollers into a powder, and the result is flour. A grain berry is composed of a protective outer layer called the bran; starches, gluten proteins, and arabinoxylans contained in the endosperm; and the germ, which is what would sprout into a new plant (given the right environment). During milling, a portion of the starch granules are damaged, allowing for better water absorption, increased fermentation activity, and ultimately facilitates the creation of a viscoelastic dough for bread making.
Milling fresh flour at home is very different from professional large milling operations. At home, flour is typically milled in a single pass. Depending on their milling method, a large miller might successively crack (or crush) the berry in a long process of increasing fineness to ensure optimal bran, germ, and endosperm separation. They want such separation so that they can produce types of flours by holding back or including bran and germ for whiter or darker flour, respectively.
Many different sifting screens can be purchased online, and these particular screens come in 40-mesh and 60-mesh varieties. The 60-mesh is finer than the 40 and will result in more bran and germ sifted away, resulting in whiter flour. Korin also has a high-quality sifting screen with various inserts.
Place your sifting screen over (or inside) a large metal bowl. Then, pour the freshly milled flour on top and shake both the bowl and screen to encourage the finer bits to fall through the screen. Continue doing this until it looks like only the large bran and germ are left on top of the screen.
Some grains, such as Khorasan (Kamut) or even durum, are harder (as in, the berry is a tougher consistency) than others. When milling these berries, it may be beneficial to set the electric mill to a fine grind level, but not the finest, and mill the grain. Then, set the mill to the finest level, and pass the coarsely milled grain through the mill a second time. This two-pass milling will help reduce the heat generated by the mill (believed by some to decrease nutritional content) and should result in finer flour. I also find it helpful to be sure to store hard grain in the freezer since the cold temperature will help offset any heat generated by the mill.
Some recipes at The Perfect Loaf, like my soft honey buckwheat sandwich bread, call for grain (or cereal) to be cracked and soaked or cracked and cooked into a porridge. A home flour mill can crack grain by simply setting it to the coarsest, or near-coarsest, setting and giving your grain a pass through the mill. Chances are, your mill will also produce a lot of middlings and fines along with the larger cracked bits, and if desired, you can sift the larger pieces out, though I typically use everything that comes out of the mill.
There are many great grain mills available to the home bread baker. The choice of which mill is best depends on your situation: how much flour do you want to mill at a time? Do you want an electric mill for convenience and speed, or do you prefer to hand-mill your flour for the finest flour possible?
Note that you can also purchase freshly milled flour from these companies. While it can sometimes be hard to determine just how fresh flour is unless you mill it yourself, the flour I purchase from the following places is always high quality. If you want to give working with fresh flour a try before you invest in a mill, these are good places to start.
Since we mill the entire berry, the flour contains all of the bran and germ, both of which absorb significant amounts of water. So you need to adjust the hydration to accommodate for that increased absorption. In addition, I typically find that fresh ground whole grain flour tends to need more water than aged whole grain flour.
The first are large, chunkier bits that are meant to stick to the dough and result in a rustic, highly textured crust. Such toppings are often seen on free-form (hearth style) loaves, pan loaves, or other specialty shapes (like my fougasse).
Topping bread dough with larger toppings like seeds, cereals, and grains is an endless playground for exploration. And you can either use a single topping for a loaf of bread, or you can mix and match complementary ones to suit your bread recipe. For instance, using white sesame as you see above in my sunflower and sesame sourdough bread is visually striking, while pumpkin seed and sunflower seed have complementary flavors and taste delicious together.
First, I like to spread out the toppings in a thin layer on a quarter baking sheet placed next to my work surface. You could also use a clean kitchen towel or basket/bowl, and if you find yourself using the same toppings over and over, dedicating a round or oblong basket/banneton to hold the toppings can be convenient.
One challenge when topping bread dough, especially if the toppings are chunky and large (like pumpkin seeds or even rolled oats), is that the blade (or lame) used when scoring can snag, making it difficult to sufficiently cut into the dough. In such a case, I prefer to use scissors instead: you simply snip into the dough without having to worry about a sharp knife snagging on any large toppings.
Hold the scissors at a shallow angle and snip into the dough from one side to the other. Each cut starts where the last one left off, forming a zig-zag pattern across the top of the dough, allowing the loaf to rise and open in a controlled way during baking.
When baking rolls, pan loaves, or buns, a typical approach is to use an egg or dairy wash to encourage increased browning and give the top crust a shine. Additionally, rolls can be topped after baking with melted butter for shine and added richness. Finally, sweet products can call for a brush of simple sugar to give it a sweet crust with shine.
An egg wash is a mixture of egg (either whole, just the yolk, or just the white) and liquid, usually milk or cream. Egg washes are a staple in baking and are often used when baking pastry, rolls, enriched pan loaves, or buns. Egg and dairy promote increased coloring through the Maillard reaction: the proteins in egg and dairy encourage browning, while the fat gives it shine.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture bubbles and the sugar fully dissolves, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely. Use a pastry brush to apply the glaze after the baked good is removed from the oven and cooled slightly. The simple syrup will keep indefinitely in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Be sure to use raw seeds as a topping. Toasting seeds amplifies their flavor, but because the seeds will be on the exterior of your dough, they will toast as the loaf is baking in the oven. Toasting them before topping your dough will likely cause them to burn in the oven.
To try your hand at topping your bread dough, check out my sunflower and sesame sourdough recipe, oat porridge sourdough bread, or my green olive and herb sourdough recipe (which uses raw wheat bran as a topping).
Dear all ;
I need a help on wheat flour production .
Is there anyone knows the wheat flour type can be used for biscuit and wafer production ?
The type of wheat used in bread bakery is being quite tough/rough for biscuit production and biscuit makers complaint on this .
Can anyone advice me the right type of wheat to make a flour for biscuit&wafer producers ?
thanks beforehand :)
Hello Aegean!
You`re looking for a wheat with low protein. In the US, this would be Soft Red (or White) Winter wheat, that has 8 - 10% protein. Absorption for this type of flour is usually around 54 -56%, while a flour made from higher protein wheat usually has 58-60% absorption. Since you actually want a dry product when you make wafers and biscuits, the less water you put into the dough, the less you have to evaporate during baking. Also, when you look at an alveograph of soft flour, P/L values will be around 0.50, W
This recipe makes four doughballs, each of which will make a pizza that's about 12" in diameter. They freeze well, and will keep for at least a month. To use a frozen doughball, just transfer it to the fridge the night before you want to bake. Then follow the baking instructions as written.
The night before, dissolve the starter into the water, and then add the salt and the oil. Finally, mix in the flours, until everything is nicely mixed. Then, let it rest for about an hour, and then do three stretch and folds with about 20-30 minutes between each. Cover the dough, and let it rise all night.
The next morning, see whether the dough has risen enough (8 - 10 hours is usually enough) and then divide it into 4 doughballs of about 340 grams a piece. Two dough balls go into the plastic baggies in the fridge, while the others go in plastic baggies in the freezer.
Other toppings are, of course, up to you. I like chicken sausage, black olives and mushrooms, myself. Roasted red bell peppers are awesome. Fresh tomatoes are great (under the cheese), when available, as are fresh basil leaves, added just after the pie comes out of the oven.
Shaping the pie
First, an hour before I'm ready to bake, insert a stone and set the oven as high as it will go. When you're finally ready to shape, generously dust a peel with semolina flour or cornmeal. Then, make a small pile of AP flour next to where you'll shape. Coat your hands in flour, take a dough ball, coat it in flour on both sides, and then place it on your knuckles. Bounce the dough on your knuckles in a circle, gently stretching the dough with each bounce. When it's halfway there, place it on the peel, and stretch it all the way out. Mmake sure you stretch the edges apart -- don't stretch across the dough, because the center will be fairly thin and will tear.
Before adding the toppings, make sure that the pie will move on the peel. Then add sauce, cheese and toppings, and bake on the stone for 9-11 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes on a rack before cutting into slices.
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