 How to Make Perfect French Bread
Perhaps no other nation's people are as serious about bread as the French, and French Bread is a triumph of art over circumstance. Even today in France, the law says that daily bread must contain only French flour, plus yeast, water, salt--no additives or adulterants, no imports. French flour is not a very high in gluten, but it has excellent flavour. North Amercian bakers make their "French Bread" from high-gluten flours, producing quite a different, but also outstanding, bread. In France the daily bread is baked in small shops rather than in the home; it is seldom made in large factories. Bakers in different parts of the country have developed breads with distinct individuality. For example, in some areas, wheat and rye were traditionally grown and harvested together: in a good year there was plenty of wheat, in a bad year, plenty of rye, always in combination--so the bread is hearty and moist with the flavour and heft of rye. In this first of our short series on French Breads we will present a few recipes The recipes for the bread we make have a great flavour and texture and are close to real French bread, with a very light, velvety crumb and a crispy-crunchy-chewy crust. The bright flavour comes from the wheat itelf: the combination of bread flour and a little pastry flour makes a reduced- gluten flour with extra sweetness. If, on the other hand, you want your loaf to resemble North Amercian French bread--chewy and airy, with the clear ivory flavour of gluten--don't blend the flours, but use only bread flour or hard wheat flour, finely ground. Be sure to knead the dough thoroughly. A toothsome version of the recipe is achieved by using rough stone-ground or coarsely ground flour in place of finely ground flour. When it is made with freshly home-milled flour, we use our Nutrimill, the bread has to be one of the best in the world. We call it Country French Bread. Last, for Peasant French, use rye flour in place of the pastry flour. This bread is a good keeper with remarkable flavour. Getting down to business, there are a few things to remember when you are making this bread: technique, one might say, has to replace the fat and sugar. Most important of all is the one cardinal rule most often ignored (maybe it isjust hard to believe): the dough must be kept cool throughout the whole rising period until it goes into the hot oven. If the temperature of the rising dough goes over 70 °F. the fermentation changes , and the loaves will simply not have the character, the rise, or the flavour they should have.  To keep the dough cool, the water used to mix it--except for the yeast dissolving water--Should be quite cold. For hand-kneading, cold tap water is usually fine--providing that it is cold. If you are using the Bosch Kitchen Machine to knead it, you can refrigerate the water beforehand or ice it. The machine friction created in the kneading heast the dough 20 to 50 degrees F. The dough should be kneaded until it is exceptionally silky and elastic. If you use all bread flour, allow longer than usual for the kneading. Because of the cold water and the resulting cold dough, this bread will take about 2 to 3 hours to rise at room temperature. This slow rising will improve both the lightness and the taste of the finished bread.
The recipes are at the bottom of this page. We are going to discuss Shaping, Slashing and finally the baking which produces the nice crusty crust, in our next posts. Whole Wheat French Bread- hand kneaded Bosch Whole Wheat French Bread |
How to Make Perfect French Bread
the dough thoroughly.
To keep the dough cool, the water used to mix it--except for the yeast dissolving water--Should be quite cold. For hand-kneading, cold tap water is usually fine--providing that it is cold. If you are using the 
