Lessons in Bread Baking: Oops! I forgot the salt

Have you ever baked something and realized after you took it out of the oven, sliced it, and tasted it, that you left out an important ingredient?  That happened to me with this Quick White Bread, one of the breads for the Mellow Bakers’ new bread bake.

We’re baking through Dan Lepard’s The Handmade Loaf or The Art of Handmade Bread, depending on which version you have. I have both versions because I’m trying to learn the appropriate conversions for both North America and Europe. However, leaving out an ingredient was not supposed to be part of the process.

This was supposed to be an easy and quick loaf. So I decided to experiment with it. I adapted the recipe to include Heirloom 18th Century French Mediterranean Bread Flour from Anson Mills and puffed millet and even baked it in a Pullman pan. However, because I omitted the salt, the dough rose too quickly and collapsed during baking. You can see how it sunk in the photo below. 

 

Instead of deeming this bread a failure, I decided to use it as a teachable moment. This is a perfect example of why you should always follow the first basic step of bread-baking: Mise en Place which means “everything in it’s place”. 

I wrote these very words on my how to make bread page: “Begin by getting all of your tools and ingredients ready and within arms length. The success of your bread-baking experience depends on how organized you are so don't skip this step.”  I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t have my “Mise en Place” and somewhere along the way, I forgot the salt.

Salt serves a number of purposes in bread.  It stabilizes the gluten structure which creates a better dough and adds flavor. It also slows down the fermentation process by dehydrating the yeast and bacteria. Technically, salt is an optional ingredient; however, if you’re going to omit it, you should use cold temperatures to slow down the fermentation process or reduce the rising times. I did neither for this bread so that’s why it fell.

Instead of baking the bread freeform, or in a regular loaf pan, I baked it in a Pullman pan. Here are photos of the process I used to shape and bake the loaf.

 

Although the flavor was a bit bland, all is not lost.  This is a great toast bread which is what I was shooting for. I happen to like saltless breads such as Tuscan Bread so this isn’t a problem for me. I just toasted it, spread it with butter and it tasted yummy. I also made a grilled cheese sandwich with it using extra-sharp natural cheese.  Delish!

I was going to make the bread again with the salt to show you the difference, but I used all of my heirloom flour so I’ll have to show you those results another day.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Rich Sandwich Bread made with Heirloom Flour

Last month, I made a Simple Milk Loaf and a Light Wheat Pullman Bread.  Both of those loaves are sandwich breads that can be made in a Pullman pan. One was made with white bread flour and the other was made with white bread flour and whole wheat flour, sifted. I’m continuing my theme of sandwich breads with this Rich Sandwich Bread made in the Pullman pan.  The difference with this one is that it is made with heirloom bread flour.

I’ve been doing a good bit of research lately about different types of wheat and other grains and how they’re harvested and milled into flour; the benefits of sprouting versus not sprouting the grains before milling; and heirloom and ancient grains versus modern wheat and how the milling process compromises the quality and flavor of the flour, etc.  Sounds like I’m studying for my thesis doesn’t it.

The information is fascinating, but it made my head spin. I decided the only way to really know the difference is to actually try some of these flours and grains for myself. So I ordered some heirloom flour and some ancient grains and I’ll be testing them over the next few weeks or so.

This Rich Sandwich Bread is made with Anson Mills French Mediterranean White Bread Flour and it’s from Charleston, South Carolina.  Flour grown and milled in the South. How cool is that! 

The flour is milled from 18th century white heirloom wheat emanating from Provence, in France.  As the story goes, Colonial Carolinians made their sandwich and toasting breads with flour milled from white wheat brought by French Huguenots. What makes this white bread flour so special is that it doesn’t have any trace of bitter white tannins in the bran.  All I know it that this flour makes a delicious toast bread. ‘Nuff said! I was totally impressed.

I used the Rich Sandwich Bread recipe from the Anson Mills site because they said their flours were fussy and wouldn’t work with just any recipe.  This is a good recipe. I totally had fun making this bread. It reminds me of Brioche.  It’s not as rich as Rich Man’s Brioche so it would probably be considered Poor Man’s Brioche, but that’s not a bad thing. I happen to like Poor Man’s Brioche. 

The dough can be mixed by hand or in a stand mixer. The dough felt so good as I was kneading it.  Just look at that luscious dough. It feels like butter in your hands.

 

I baked the loaf in my Pullman pan.  The recipe states that you don’t need to use the lid.  I used the lid but I might tend to agree with them. I’m not sure if was necessary.  I’ll have to test it without the lid and see how it turns out.

 

I was pleased with the results. The smell was heavenly and it produced a beautiful golden loaf of bread.

This bread makes great cinnamon toast and toast with jam or any toast for that matter, but it’s especially good as a grilled cheese sandwich. 

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the roundup.

 

Thanks for joining me for my first heirloom bread-baking experience.

Happy Baking!

Cathy