"I came into music just because I wanted the bread. It's true. I looked around and this seemed like the only way I was going to get the kind of bread I wanted." ~ Mick Jagger
How fun is it to imagine the 'bread' our beloved Mick was referring to was an elusive artisan sourdough rather than just boring old money!? There are few things I cherish more than a meal of freshly-baked bread, a variety of wonderful cheeses, endless slices of salami, and (of course) free-flowing champagne! I believe I could live on these things indefinitely (sadly, doing so would undoubtedly shorten 'indefinitely' for me).
Making bread is no small undertaking, but is a truly rewarding endeavor. While not an expert by any means, I've become fairly comfortable with a basic rustic white loaf, rye bread, and pizza dough (which believe it or not was the most difficult for me to get just right). Other than pizza dough, bread baking is not a frequent occurrence at Chez Sweetbittertart because I enjoy making it the long way. If you haven't tried it yet, gently punching down a bowl of cool, smooth, puffy bread dough is all kinds of tactile awesomeness. And the smell of bread baking is swoon-inducing. The whole process fills me with warmth and wonder. How is it possible to turn so few, seemingly incongruous, simple ingredients into the delightfully yummy miracle that is a freshly baked loaf of bread?
The first step is to begin with the highest quality ingredients you can find - the key of course being the perfect flour. Simple enough, since flour is flour, no? No! All it takes is a short stroll down the baking aisle of your local grocery store to become overwhelmed by a dizzying array of choices. There's all-purpose flour, bread flour, cake flour, and pastry flour - and those are just some of the varieties of wheat flours available. So however does one decide which one to use?
The difference between them lies primarily in their gluten content (the protein that helps yeast rise and stretch), which varies depending upon whether the flour was made from hard wheat or soft wheat. Bread flour typically has the highest protein content, and is best for making yeast breads. Cake flour is made primarily from soft wheat and has a low protein content, making it best for cakes and pastries that do not need to rise much. All-purpose flour is made with an average protein content that makes it suitable in most cases for either bread or cake making. To further complicate things, within each type of flour, there is often a difference in gluten content and quality among brands.
Enter The King Arthur Flour Company to save the day! Formerly named Sands, Taylor and Wood (ST&W), the company was founded in 1790; that's just shortly after George Washington was elected president! Headquartered in Norwich, Vermont (in a compound called 'Camelot' no less), The King Arthur Flour Company is 100% employee-owned and maintains the highest standards of quality. With an online resource center; mail-order baker's catalogue; award-winning cookbooks; on-site bakery, cafe, store, and baking education center, the company provides a veritable wealth of information, education, engagement and general yumminess to its community of loyal customers. The company is also dedicated to giving back to the community and protecting the environment so it's the perfect combination of good people, good works, and good food.
Highlighting its adherence to the highest standards of quality, King Arthur Flour's motto is "Never Bleached. Never Bromated." In an effort to increase production, some manufacturers mill the heart of the wheat berry, but also close to the bran - the berry's darker outer layer. This creates dark flecks in the flour, which requires the flour to be bleached to give it the appearance of pure white flour. While bleaching provides a pure white look, the performance of the flour is not the same. Bran's hard sharp edges cut through the gluten strands, making it more difficult to develop good structure in baked items. King Arthur Flour is only milled from the innermost heart of the wheat berry, which contains the lightest color and the richest, gluten-producing proteins. You can bake confidently with King Arthur Flour!
Before we part, dear readers, I must warn you to be wary...did you know that flour dust is explosive?! While not explosive in its inert state, flour and other carbohydrates become so when hanging in the air as dust (thankfully not very likely in the home kitchen). Flour grains are minuscule, so they burn instantly and can ignite the other grains around them, creating an explosive force within the dust cloud. The Great Mill Disaster occurred at the Washburn 'A' Mill in 1878, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from just such an explosion. Flour explosions are sometimes referred to as 'flour bombs.' I don't know about you, but the only 'flour bomb' I want to be anywhere near is this one. Happy (and safe) baking wishes to you!
