September "Taste-and-Tell" with Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers

Our next "Taste-and-Tell" event will be Friday, September 2, at 5:30 pm Wednesday, September 28, at 6:30 pm. To join the group and RSVP to the event, please visit us at http://www.meetup.com/Chicago-Amateur-Bread-Bakers/

The "Taste-and-Tell" is a monthly event, to which each baker is required to bring his/her own freshly baked, yeasted bread. "Bread" in this context includes baguettes, boules, batards, pizza, focaccia, rolls, challah--in short, anything made by fermenting grain with yeast.

As always, for bread we suggest that you bring, for example, a new creation on which you would like feedback or something delicious you enjoy baking. We will sample each bread, ask questions, and learn. Bread "failures" are encouraged: they are often the best teachers.

Each month we introduce a topic related to baking bread with yeast. By "yeast" we refer to both wild yeast (present on the surface of grain and often cultivated as sourdough) and commercial yeast (e.g., the active dry yeast available at supermarkets, and the instant yeast often used by professional bakers).

Our Focus for September--Using as Little Yeast as Necessary:

Over the summer, you may have observed your dough rising more quickly in hot weather. This is because the growth rate of yeast steadily increases between 46-86 F (8-30 C), and then peaks. Our focus topic for September challenges us to experiment with giving dough as little yeast as it needs to rise, and no more. The warm summer weather provides us an opportunity to practice this skill. 

Why is this skill valuable? Because the less yeast one uses, the more flavorful one's bread may be. As a technique, using as little yeast as possible is akin to cold fermentation (May's focus topic): both techniques slow down the fermentation of grain. The slower fermentation progresses, the longer it takes dough to rise. Slower fermentation may allow more flavor molecules to develop in the dough, which may result in tastier bread.

Some additional information from Master Baker Peter Reinhart:

Why is using less yeast good? Remember that our mission is to evoke from the wheat the fullness of its flavor. The flavor of bread comes from the grain, not from the yeast. Leaven should not draw attention to itself but to the grain. Therefore, a baker's maxim is to use only as much yeast is necessary to get the job done. This minimizes the flavor of the yeast and maximizes the flavor of the grain. . . .

. . . Here is the most basic piece of information to know about yeast fermentation: the yeast feeds on sugars, converting the sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol (ethanol) as a digestive by-product. The ethanol evaporates during baking while the carbon dioxide leavens, or raises, the dough.

Among the axioms of bread making is this: use only as much yeast as it takes to get the job done. Too much yeast will leaven dough quickly, but it will also exhaust the available sugars and create an alcohol aftertaste.

  -- Peter Reinhart, The Bread Baker's Apprentice

Experience varying the amount of yeast added to dough can make one a more versatile bread baker. We encourage you to experiment, with the goal of getting a feel for how  much yeast is required to achieve the desired result.

For examples of previous "Taste-and-Tell" events and focus topics, please peruse these pages:

July 2011 Taste-and-Tell: Breads That Don't Need Slicing

June 2011 Taste-and-Tell: Something Sweet + Yeast Swap

May 2011 Taste-and-Tell: Cold Fermentation

April 2011 Taste-and-Tell: Basic Shaping 

March 2011 Taste-and-Tell: Basic Scoring

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Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers is a not-for-profit group of avid home bakers of yeasted, artisanal breads. We get together in-person to share our experiences and learn from one another. We strive to support and inspire those actively baking bread at home.