I have been learning things about bread!

If you are an experienced bread baker, most of these things will probably not be news to you. Some of them are not /recent/ news to me but I still find them interesting.

What I have been learning recently is about tenderness, crispness, and longevity.

My normal go-to loaf is Oatmeal Toasting and Sandwich Bread. It’s got milk and honey in it, it’s got whole wheat flour in it, it’s tender, it’s got a small, fine crust, and it’s great for toasting.

But I was making baked brie, and that needs a bread that can hold up to dipping.

(this, which I ended up using, is not really quite french bread. But it works).

Take away most of the sugar and all of the fat, and you end up with a crisper loaf. Increase hydration and reduce kneading in the proofing stage, and you end up with bubbles in the bread. These things I knew, but it was neat to see them in process.

What I didn’t know but learned fast was that if you take away all that fat, the bread goes stale much, much faster. That was a learning experience!

And it did, by the way, work great dipped in a drippy baked brie with fig spread. And just as great with fancy butter, toasted on top the wood stove.

Next up? Brioche!

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