OIL or NO OIL in bread
I have been making what I think is some very flavorful bread recently. A few years ago I discovered a local mill and have been playing with their organic wheat and rye flours. The other week my mother-in-law, a great baker herself was enjoying the bread and she asked what oil I used. When she learned that this bread was only flour, water and salt she was puzzled. Why would I make a bread without any fat? She learned to bake in the 40's and used pork fat.
That raised a good discussion, why would I use oil. I had always thought the fat was used to add some flavour to breads made from processed flours where the taste of the wheat was processed out of it. The bread i have made is moist, flavourful but does tend to dry out a bit faster than bread made with oil/fat.
Having learned the great flavour of wheat are not possible in the grocery store, bleached flours I wondered if that is the primary reason for its inclusion in recipes. Fat is flavour?
I love this site and the shared knowledge of the community of bakers.
Comments welcomed.
JL - Gatineau, Quebec
One function of the fat, as you have discovered, is to keep the bread from drying out too quickly. When I visited France a number of years ago, I fell in love with the baguettes. I would buy one each day. But my husband wasn't interested in sharing it with me, and I couldn't get through the whole thing in one day. It was too dry the next day, because, as you know, French baguettes have no fat.
Fat is not essential for flavor (you mother-in-law enjoyed the bread anyway). But it does help to keep the bread soft longer.
Rosalie
Last night I added a tsp of oil to my favorite bread and what you conveyed happened to me. A friend told me that oil is used for baking cakes where you want a moist and easy chew texture. Butter is used for pie crusts style products as well as some pastries. Last night proved him correct. I LOVE a very hard crust where it sometimes is painful to chew into the slice along with a good chew center; the oil allowed the hard crust but for me the center/crumb was horrible, just like store bought bread and I only used 1 teaspoon with 4 cups of flour. Never again will I use oil.
To make sure they are not expired, rancid or give bad aftertastes. Oil flavours vary.
Taste especially oil, or oily seeds, butter, nut flours, etc. if it doesn't taste good don't use it.
My bread keeps for a long time and stays soft a long time. A few tablespoons of oil per loaf is a great tradeoff, in my book.
The vast majority of breads, throughout the world, contain only four ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, and water. So I'm surprised that your MIL thought they had to contain fat.
More than likely she learned one method, back in the day, and just got "sot in her ways," as we say down here.
Amendments and enrichments serve all sorts of purposes. But it's rare that fat is used for additional flavor. Mostly, as other have said, it's used to retain moisture and softness in a bread that's likely to sit around for more than a day or two.
Having learned the great flavour of wheat are not possible in the grocery store, bleached flours.....
Just curious how and where you learned that? It's not quite the case. Many a great tasting loaf has been baked using bleached flour from the grocery store.
In general, the bleaching process causes a loss of nutrient value, not necessarily flavor. The one possible exception is the effect bleaching has on beta-carotene. B-C does contribute to aroma and flavor, it's true. But the difference in taste is subtle at best, and it's doubtful most people could tell the difference unless they were taste-testing two loaves side by side.
There's no question, though, that if you're interested in drawing out the maximum flavor the wheat is capable of (and if you're not, why bother with artisan techniques at all?) that unbleached flour is the way to go. But your comment overstates the case.
and when I do it is on the bowl or my hands. I recently made a bread that included oil and it didn't stick at all to the bowl. So one could say that adding oil to the bread sometimes helps it not stick to the bowl. :)
Adding fat makes the bread softer/more tender (see Hamelman's discussion of the affects of ingrediants). The difference in the softness of the crumb between a normal baguette and sandwich bread is due to the fat in the sandwich bread.
Thanks for the responses. I think there is some truth to the "that is what I have always done" arguement. Interestingly, my mother in law comes from a time when supplies had to last the winter etc and I wondered why she felt bread had to have oil in it when perfectly flavorfull bread could be had without any. Her mother made bread every other day and any dry bread found its way into other recipes.
The flavour discussion comes into play when you decide which Fat/Oil to use. Butter versus Lard. Vegitable vs Olive oil etc. Everyone has their preference. I do find it noticable but perhaps because I am looking more closely. Not everyone pays as much attention to the bread as the bakers do.
The not sticking to the bowl is very noticable and sure makes for easy clean up. I do know that in the mechanized bakeries, oil is essential to the dough not sticking the the rollers and other machine parts. Wonder what that food safe oil spray is that the machines are lubricated with. Time lost cleaning up the sticky doughed up machine is of importance.
I will stick to my no oil for now but not because oil/fat is bad but because I have been loving the bread as is. I thank you all.
What am i doing this weekend? Likely just loafing around again!
using fat or any type of shortening in a wheat bread will soften the crumb. It actually "shortens" the gluten strands and makes it less chewy and softer. That is why it is called shortening. As far as the moistness aspect. The oil will make the bread seem to be moister longer because oil is liquid at room temperature and does not evaporate. If you were to use butter it will have a much better mouth feel and not feel greasy, butter is solid at room temp and melts when you eat it. However, I believe that bread is best when it is just flour water and salt. If you can get into sour doughs, you will find that they will stay moist for days. I just place my sourdoughs cut side down on the cutting board and they stay nice for a while.
on the type of bread you bake, Larginski.
European breads, like baguette, German farmers' bread etc. are often "lean" doughs, made without any addition of fat (or sweetener). They have a crisper crust than sandwich loaves or other breads made with oil or butter. Those "enriched" breads have a semi-soft crust and, also, a denser crumb.
In some breads a neutral tasting fat, like canola oil, is added only for its properties (softening the dough), in other breads specialty oils, like butter, extra virgin olive, pumpkin seed or walnut oil, contribute to the taste much more.
For my little bakery I bake lean and enriched breads and they all taste good - fat or no fat.
Karin
I first tried baking my own bread some 30 years ago, and the results were not very encouraging - house bricks anyone? However all the recipes I had in those days included fat of some kind (butter / lard / marg) so I got into the habit of adding some to most of my subsequent loaves unless I was following a specific recipe that didn't call for it.
Currently I'm using a "glug" of sunflower oil, which is pretty tasteless.
I believe it has two functions. It helps the bread to release from the pan and the loaves seem to stay fresh for quite a while - they are still good for toast at 5-6 days old.
However, when I omit the oil, it doesn't seem to have too much of a deleterious effect, so maybe it is unnecessary. I think it's mostly a matter of preference and habit.
In "Whole Grain Breads" Peter Reinhart (p129) claims that "The function of fats and oil is mainly to soften and slow down staling. ... it also may help trap carbon dioxide by strengthening the walls of gas cells in the crumb and thus make a taller, airier loaf."
I have to say some of the tastiest breads I made always have no fat, seems the simple always reins supreme.
It is a good thought though I always think should I or shouldn't I put some fat, always feel more "clean " when I don't
Also, I find the addition of pre ferments tenderize dough and keep bread a little longer. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong
Ghazi
i have a thing with bread where I feel butter or oil added to the baked dough just feels right.
I guess you could link it to the chefs use of "rock" salt just at the end to give a fuller flavor because heat hasn't been involved
Hey Folks,
Very interesting discussion,,,,, but my question is how could Focaccia possibly be made without olive oil in the dough and a liberal drizzle in the dimpled dough topped with minced Rosemary prior to baking? Then dipped into a saucer of, again, olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.
My guess is that it is up to the "type" of dough and the use it is destined for...... Hamburger / hot dog buns, cafeteria gooey rolls, Wonder bread.... All not my favorite, but I have to have some.....
I've been baking breads recently not only to save some money, but because I like to add flavorings that are unavailable in commercially baked breads. I've also been attempting to replicate the delicate soft texture of commercially baked white bread at home. I've additionally been trying to increase the shelf life of bread without resorting to freezing it.
Butter and Oil
In my efforts, I quickly found that butter yields the fastest way to what seems to be a stale loaf when sitting at room temperature (when wrapped in a bag) within 24 hours. In that 24 hours, I find that a loaf made with butter to be hard, dry and stale. For these kinds of loaves, you're required to use a warmer to soften the bread... which I don't have. Because butter hardens at room temps, it's not the best oil choice for replicating commercial white bread. Even if I warm the bread, I find the bread crumb to suck all the moisture from my mouth. It's an odd texture and I'm not a fan. I quickly ruled out the use of butter.
I then decided to try oils that remain liquid at room temps rationalizing that it should retain moisture better. This rules out butter and coconut oil. Still, I found that loaves made with peanut, corn or olive oil seem to harden and stale rapidly. They also seem to offer a similarly dry crumb and have a rough chewy crust. While the crumb is not as dry as butter, it's still dry enough.
Oil Free Loaf
About 2 days ago, I made a loaf and unintentionally forgot to include oil at all. I was originally intending the dough for hamburger buns. After realizing I had forgotten the oil, I decided to make a loaf of bread instead. If I had to throw it away, no big deal. I also realized that without oil in the dough, I would need to oil the pan because there was no oil to release the dough after baking. I oiled the pan, but the baked loaf still stuck in places. I'll have to oil the pan much better next time. I fully expected the bread loaf to be even dryer without the oil and I might even have to toss it.
To my surprise, the dough ended up rising faster and taller. When I removed the baked loaf from the oven, the crust seemed much drier than a loaf made with oil and it didn't appear fully baked. It didn't seem to have its signature golden brown hue right from the oven. I let the loaf cool and then packaged it into bread bag with a twist tie. It steamed a bit in the bag which softened the texture of the crust. After an hour cooling in the bag, I noticed the moisture had changed the color of the crust from what looked dry and unbaked, to the golden color and crust of commercial loaf of bread. I thought, "Hmm..."
Texture, Crust and Crumb
I sliced the loaf to make a sandwich. I always find eating bread made the same day to be the freshest. I confirmed that the crust was soft, smooth and delicate, like commercial white bread. The crumb, while a little more course than Wonder bread, was soft and chewy also like commercial breads. It's a texture that I've never been able to achieve when using oil. In fact the crust was almost identical to crust in commercially baked white bread... with no chewiness at all.
Freshness
I waited 24 hours to determine freshness. I fully expected the same hardness and dryness I had come to expect with all of my oil loaves. In fact, it was just the opposite. The crumb was still moist and delicate, the same as it had been the day I baked it. On the third day, the bread was still moist and chewy. This is the most surprising part. I was fully expecting a dry loaf of bread and got the exact opposite in this loaf without oil. Keep in mind that I didn't slice the bread fully. I only sliced as I needed. That left the rest of the loaf intact.
I'm not sure why people think that oil helps retain freshness in bread when I've found the opposite of that statement to be true. I not certain why this oil free loaf retained freshness and moisture longer than a loaf with oil, but there it is.
Thoughts
My thought as to why the oil loaf crust texture is chewy is that the oil likes to "fry" just a little and makes the crust rougher and crispier than without any oil. The oil also seems to repel moisture and prevents the crust from becoming soft and delicate when it "steams" in a bag. I like that soft smooth delicate "commercial" white bread crust texture in sandwich bread. With oil, my crusts remain rough and uneven. Without oil, this crust was silky smooth to the touch, soft and not at all chewy.
I won't go so far as to say it's a perfect match to commercial white bread, but it's as close as I've ever gotten with simple basic ingredients.
I'll need to try this a few more times to get a feel for how to tweak this oil free loaf to get exactly what I want. But, it seems that oil doesn't always do what you think it does in bread recipes... particularly, when you're trying to replicate that delicate crumb and crust of commercial white bread and retain day-to-day freshness. I'm sure that were I to slow rise the bread in the fridge, the crumb would likely replicate the smaller crumb of commercial bread when compared to the relatively fast rise I gave this bread loaf.
Anyway, that's my experience... Live and learn...
--Brian