History of Baking

In 2600-2100 B.C, records show that the Egyptians regularly baked bread, a skill they learnt from the
Babylonians. An ancient Egyptian mural depicts the royal bakery of Ramses which featured breads and
cakes, some in the form of animals, which were used as sacrifices.
Initially, according to popular belief, the sweets were created to soften the gods anger and earn their
compassion. Later on, the sweets and desserts were created mostly for festivities and celebrations. Cakes
were seen as the rich mans food, as only the elite could afford such extravagant treats. The Greeks and
Romans then adopted these baking skills and developed them, resulting in an artisan trade which
flourished in the Roman Empire. In about 300 B.C., the Romans formally recognised the position of the
pastry baker (known as the pastillarium) as an occupation.

Baking
Baking is
a method of cooking food that uses prolonged dry heat, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes,
or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods are baked.
[1]
Heat is gradually transferred "from the surface of cakes, cookies, and breads to their centre. As
heat travels through it transforms batters and doughs into baked goods with a firm dry crust and a
softer centre".[2]Baking can be combined with grilling to produce a hybrid barbecue variant by using
both methods simultaneously, or one after the other. Baking is related to barbecuing because the
concept of the masonry oven is similar to that of a smoke pit.
Because of historical social and familial roles, baking has traditionally been performed at home by
women for domestic consumption and by men in bakeries and restaurants for local consumption.
When production was industrialized, baking was automated by machines in large factories. The art
of baking remains a fundamental skill and is important for nutrition, as baked goods, especially
breads, are a common but important food, both from an economic and cultural point of view. A
person who prepares baked goods as a profession is called a baker.

Baking Ingredients
Yeast
Yeast is the heart of the bread-making process. Its the essential ingredient that makes
the dough rise and gives home-baked bread its wonderful taste and aroma. Other
ingredients are added to complete the reactions that result in a perfectly baked loaf of
hot, crusty homemade bread. In each yeast packet, there are thousands of living plant-
like microorganisms. When activated by warm liquid, and fed by sugar or starch, the
yeast releases tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. This gas is what makes the dough
rise and achieve its light texture after baking.

Flour
Wheat is the most common type of flour used in bread baking. It includes all-purpose
flour, bread flour and whole wheat flour. Wheat is rich in gluten, a protein that gives
dough its elasticity and strength. When yeast and flour are mixed with liquid and then
kneaded or beaten, the gluten forms and stretches to create a network that traps the
carbon dioxide bubbles produced by the yeast.

Recipes with whole wheat flour have less gluten and make denser loaves. Thats why
these recipes generally require some all-purpose flour which increases the gluten and
makes lighter, taller loaves.

Liquids

Water
is the most important liquid because it does 2 critical things:

It dissolves and activates the yeast.

It blends with the flour to create a sticky and elastic dough.
Milk, buttermilk, cream or juice
may be added to enhance the flavor or texture. Only warm liquids should be added to
dry ingredients in a recipe because:

A too-cool liquid will slow or stop yeast action.

A too-hot liquid will destroy the yeast and prevent it from rising.
Ideal temperature ranges are 100F110F, when yeast is dissolved directly in water;
120F-130F when undissolved yeast is added to dry ingredients.
Sweetener
Sugar adds flavor and rich brown color to a breads crust. Brown sugar, honey, molasses
and jams may also be used.

Salt
Salt is an important ingredient in bread baking because it slows rising time allowing the
flavor of the dough to develop, and it adds to the flavor of the baked product. For best
results, we do not recommend omitting the salt in a yeast recipe.

Eggs
Eggs add food value, color and flavor to breads. They also help make the crumb fine
and the crust tender. Eggs add richness and protein. Some recipes call for eggs to be
used as a wash, which adds color.

Fat
Butter, margarine, shortening or oil add flavor and make bread tender and moist. Fat
slows moisture loss, helping bread stay fresh longer. Fat is heated with liquid when using
RapidRise Yeast. Do not substitute oil for margarine/shortening unless the recipe calls
for it.

Types of Flour

Winter and Spring Wheats

Winter wheat is sown in Autumn. After germination and early growth it lies
dormant over winter and resumes growth in the spring.
 Spring wheat is sown in the spring and usually matures two or three weeks
later with a lower yield.
The grains also have different characteristics. These are referred to as 'hard
and weak.'

Strong and Weak (Soft) Wheat

Determined by quality and quantity of protein.

The other difference is endosperm texture, between soft and hard.

This means it is possible to get a:

hard / hard (like Doves Farm Strong White Flour)

hard / soft
soft / hard
soft / soft
For example, French baguettes use flour milled from hard/soft grains. (T55)

Traditional British Bloomers and breads are made from Hard/Hard wheat,
pasta is made from Hard/Hard wheat, and cakes are made from Soft/Soft
wheat.

It is best to know what you want to bake, before choosing the flour. Then get
the flour you need to bake that.

Below are some different types of flour.

Strong Flour - Bread Flour

This type of flour should be made from hard wheat varieties and produces
elastic dough because it has a high gluten and protein content. Gluten is
rather like chewing gum and can hold the carbon dioxide gas produced
during dough fermentation to produce a good crumb structure in the finished
loaf.

Hard wheat varieties produce the best flour for bread making. However, the
weather in the UK sometimes makes it difficult for farmers to grow hard
wheat in quantity. Unlike many other flour millers, at Doves Farm we blend
home grown varieties with imported hard wheat for optimum bread making
performance. We do this rather than fortifying the flour by adding refined
gluten as in many other mills.

Organic rules do permit the addition of organic wheat gluten to strengthen

flour in place of using hard wheat, but at Doves Farm we wish to avoid
adding refined additives to our products.
Strong flour is increasingly called bread flour on packaging and is suitable for
all yeast cookery, for extensible doughs such as choux and filo pastry, and
also puff and flaky pastry.

Plain Flour
Milled from softer wheat varieties, there should be little gluten or protein in
plain flour. It is ideally suited to cooking where the flour must combine well
with other ingredients, where short, crumbly texture is required. Use plain
flour in biscuits, shortcrust pastry and for sauces. It is possible to use plain
flour to make bread but it is unlikely to rise well and will have a close,
crumbly texture but good flavour.

Self Raising Flour

This is a plain flour to which self-raising agents have been added. Raising of
the dough is caused by carbon dioxide which results from the raising agents,
one alkaline (Sodium Bicarbonate) and one acidic (Acid Calcium Phosphate),
reacting with water in the recipe. Self raising flour is used for most cakes,
scones, suet pastry and some biscuits.

Gluten Free Flour

Although the gluten can be removed from wheat in a special refining
process, gluten free flours are usually made from other cereals (millet, rice,
maize or corn) or seeds (buckwheat, chestnuts, chickpeas or grams), or roots
(potato, sago and tapioca). Gluten free flours have their own characteristics
and do not always react in the same way as wheat flour.

Wholemeal Flour
The 1984 Bread and Flour Regulations provide a definition of wholemeal flour
saying that 'wholemeal consists of the whole of the product obtained from
the milling of cleaned wheat'. The terms whole-wheat and 100% are not
actually mentioned although it would be normal to assume they referred to
wholemeal.

At Doves Farm, our technical expertise of specialist flour production has been
gained from milling wholemeal flours for over 25 years. We design specific
wholemeal flours for use in a wide variety of applications. Strong flour for
bread making, Fine Plain for easy incorporation into sauces biscuits and
pastry, and Self Raising flours for light wholemeal cakes.

White Flour
Taking the whole grain as 100%, white flour is made by sieving out about
25% of the coarser wheat particles. This would include the bran, wheat germ,
semolina, and other coarse particles.
The Bread and Flour Regulations require the addition of statutory nutrients to
our wheat bread flours other than wholemeal. At Doves Farm we do not add
any other improvers or enzymes ingredients, bleaches, to our strong flours.

Carefully blended from individual wheats before milling, our white flours are
unbleached, unchlorinated and will reward the home baker with an excellent
end product. Available in Strong, Plain and Self Raising.

Liquids
Liquids are an important ingredient in bread making. The type of liquid used and the
temperature it is used at will have a great impact on the overall quality of your yeast-
leavened bread.
Liquid hydrates and dissolves the yeast granules.
Liquid blends and binds ingredients together.
Liquid mixes with flour to form gluten.

Types of Liquids
Water and milk are the most commonly used liquids in breads.
Water
Water is recommended for rehydrating, or dissolving yeast.
You can use water directly from your tap. It is best to use water of medium hardness
(50-100ppm) for breadmaking. Too hard or too soft water, as well as water high in
fluoride or chlorine, will result in short, stubby loaves. If you suspect you have a water
problem, try substituting bottled or distilled water.
Breads made with water as the only liquid will have a more open texture, a more
wheaty flavor and a crisper crust.
Milk
Milk creates breads which are richer and have a more velvety texture.
Milk makes a softer crust that will brown more quickly due to the sugar and butterfat
in milk.
Milk also improves the keeping quality of breads and contributes nutrients.
It used to be that scalding milk was necessary to kill bacteria that might affect the
yeast activity and to alter a protein in the milk that played havoc with the gluten
structure in bread. However, pasteurization has protected us from harmful bacteria and
has altered the proteins, so scalding milk is no longer necessary.
If you are lactose intolerant you can substitute soymilk, or other milk substitutes, but
there will be a flavor and texture difference in your product.
Buttermilk, yogurt, cottage cheese and sour cream are also used as part of the
liquids in some breads.
Other liquids used in bread making:
Juice
Juices may be added for specific flavor enhancements to your bread.
Fruit and vegetable juices or purees can replace water. If you use vegetable juice, it
may contain salt, so you may need to reduce the amount of salt in a recipe. Likewise,
 fruit juice may contain a lot of sugar so you may need to reduce the amount
of sugar called for in your recipe.
Eggs
Sometimes eggs can be used as a part of the liquid.
Do not heat the eggs with the other liquids, since they may begin to cook. Warm to
room temperature before using.
Eggs add richness, tenderness and color, as well as nutrients.
Types Of Fats
Saturated fat contributes the most to elevating blood cholesterol
levels, especially LDL (the bad cholesterol). Typically saturated fat
is found in animal fats and tropical oils. They tend to be more solid
at room temperature.
Unsaturated fats (poly and mono) have less of an effect on
elevating blood cholesterol levels. This, however, does not mean
you can guzzle down the olive oil. Fat is still fat and you want a low total
fat intake as well. Unsaturated fats are typically from plant sources and
tend to be liquid at room temperature. Mono-unsaturated fats may help
increase HDL (the good cholesterol).
Trans-fatty acids occur during the chemical process called
hydrogenation. This is where a mostly unsaturated fat is "hydrogenated" to
make it more saturated and thus more solid at room temperature.
Margarine and shortening are examples. Trans-fats tend to have more of
an effect on elevating blood cholesterol levels, especially LDL, compared
to unsaturated fats, but they have less of an effect compared to saturated
fat.
Bottom line: eat an overall low fat diet. When you do
use fats try to use unsaturated fats, followed by trans-fats
and lastly saturated fats.
Recommendation for heart healthy eating is to get 25-
35% of your total Calories from fat: 7-10 % from
saturated and trans-fats, 10 % from poly-1.

 Types of sweetener
1. Sugars
2. Sugar Alcohols
3. Natural Caloric Sweeteners
4. Natural Zero Calorie Sweeteners

5. Modified Sugars Leavening agent

6. Artificial Sweeteners
A leaven /lvn/, often called a leavening agent /lvn/ (and also known as a raising agent),
is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming
action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens. An alternative or supplement to leavening
agents is a mechanical action by which air is incorporated. Leavening agents can be
biological or synthetic chemical compounds. The gas produced is often carbon dioxide, or
occasionally hydrogen.
When a dough or batter is mixed, the starch in the flour and the water in the dough form a matrix
(often supported further by proteins like gluten or polysaccharides, such as pentosans or xanthan
gum). Then the starch gelatinizes and sets, leaving gas bubbles that remain.