Bakers Glossary

Amylase is an enzyme that exists in grains. It breaks down starches into sugars.

It’s another word for Vitamin C. In Some countries this is added to the flour. If you add this to your dough, it improves elasticity and volume.

Is a compound produced in sourdough together with lactic acid during fermentation. It gives the bread its flavor.

The Arkady rule is used during a 3-step sourdough development. The rule defines that the amount of flour in the sourdough stage is divided by the maturing time of the respective sourdough stage to obtain the amount of flour in the preliminary stage. To do this, count backwards from the amount of flour in the final sourdough amount. The amount of water is determined with the help of the corresponding dough yield (DY). The difference between the amount of flour and water in the preliminary stage and that in the current stage results in the amounts to be added. Here is the formula:
Flour content of the previous stage = amount of flour / standing time

Acrylamide is a compound formed from the reaction of reducing sugar with the amino acid asparagine together with moisture and heat at temperatures above 120^oC. It is considered part of the Maillard reaction. Low levels of acrylamide are found in heat-treated foods including, bakery products, roast potatoes, potato chips and roasted coffee beans.

There are many different types of flours and each one of them has a different capability of absorbing water. Absorption is usually expressed in percentage. It’s the rate of which the flour can absorb the water. a Farinograph can be used to determine the absorption rate.
For example, 60% water absorption means 60 gram of water is used to hydrate 100 gram of flour.
Not to be confused with hydration.

Naturally Aged flour is unbleached and aged for several months.
Oxidation has restructured the proteins within the flour and the influence of gluten becomes more pronounced giving stronger bonds. That in turn leads to a more elastic dough. In other words, avoid bleached flour and get aged flour if you can – you get better bread.

Bulk fermentation is the fermentation after mixing the dough ingredients with the leaven and a short bench rest period.

This is the standard method that baker’s use to describe the recipe (or formula) for a particular bread. The total flour is always considered 100%, and every other ingredient is a percentage based on its weight versus the weight of the total flour.

Scoring of a proofed piece of dough is the last step before baking. Scoring makes a cut on the skin of the dough which after baking shows up as distinctive pattern. It is often used to beautify the loaf, making it attractive to look at.

Biga is a preferment used mostly in Italian baking. Usually made with flour, water, and a small amount of yeast. It’s often found in recipes for Italian breads. It’s normally a low hydration / stiff dough.

Once a dough has been pre-shaped and before it is brought in it’s final shape, it is often set aside for around 15 minutes to let it relax. This period is called Bench Rest. The dough is then covered to prevent a skin from forming.

A brioche is a yeast or sourdough raised product enriched with butter and eggs and sometimes sweetened with sugar. Historically, two types of brioche were produced with different flour to butter ratios. The ratios were:

Rich man’s brioche 3:2
Pain brioche 4:1

Both bread types were perfected in France with the addition of butter in order to mask the smell and flavour of the yeast or sourdough starter that is commonly used.

This is a container used for the final proof and giving the loaf a shape. It is often made from wicker but can also be made from other materials like Silicon and Wood.

Bleaching is a chemical treatment that removes flour pigments from milled grains to produce whiter, finer-grain flour. It is also used to age flour, because aged flour is more suitable for the yeast to produce good bread. If you can avoid bleached flour, do so. Unbleached, aged flour is healthier and makes better bread.

It’s an immune disorder that causes reactions to gluten. Since the most gluten is found in Wheat varieties, people with CD stay clear of wheat bread. Though sourdough will reduce the gluten content of bread, it will not eliminate gluten completely.
However, rye does not have much gluten and a rye sourdough bread is more often than not tolerated by CD sufferers.

A couche (pronounced “koosh”) is a proofing cloth used to proof longer style loafs or rolls. Made of linen it is dusted with flour and folds are being used to hold the loaves. By the way – DO NOT WASH them, because the flour and dough residues prevent the dough from sticking.

Coil folding your dough gives strength and structure to it during bulk fermentation. It is often used to bring structure to bread types like Ciabatta and Seelen. Below is a video that shows you how it’s done:

A clean label bread (clean label, organic, etc.) is a bread baked with simple, trusted, wholesome ingredients that are familiar to the home cook and natural. It also means that the ingredients do not rely on conventional agriculture methods such as genetic modification and harmful pesticides and does not include any chemical or artificial products to either enhance the product.

The soft interior of a loaf of bread is referred to as crumb.
The holes in it can be anything from small to very big in size. These holes are called alveoli and if there are many of them, the crumb is called airy – the opposite is a dense crumb. Which one is right? All of them – it depends on the type of bread, the baker and the consumer. It’s a choice …

All ingredients for the dough are added to the kneading machine and directly mixed and kneaded. After kneading, a short period for the dough to rest is given before the dough is divided and formed. see also Indirect Method.

A diving arm mixer is sometimes also called Twin Arm mixer. It recreates the dough kneading process of two human hands and has two arms that go up and down into the dough, at the same time moving in a cross wise direction perpendicular to each other. The drum is also rotating – in the end, the dough may even be suspended by the arm movements and never touch the drum.
Dough can be mixed this way for long periods of time without harm to the dough. They add no further warmth through the kneading process to the dough. Pizza doughs are often made with this mixer and mixing times of 30 minutes or more are commonly used.

Temperature is very important when making bread. The desired dough temperature refers to the temperature the finished, mixed dough has to have before the bulk fermentation.

Dough rounding means shaping the dough after dividing into a ball. It gives shape to the dough and also builds up strength to the outer layer as it stretches the gluten to form a “skin” that is retaining the gases inside the dough and reduces stickiness.

Diastatic malt is from a grain which has been sprouted, dried and ground into a powder. It is full of active amylase enzymes. These are needed to help the starches being broken down into sugars that are then eaten by the yeast. Diastatic Malt is not dried at high temperatures to preserve its enzymatic activity. It promotes a strong rise, great texture, and brown crusts.
If you wonder where you can get some good diastatic malt from, check out the home brewers shops. They have a good variety made from wheat and barley.

Dough Yield is a term that describes the relationship between the amount of flour and the amount of water in the dough.
The dough yield is always based on 100% of the ground ingredients (i.e. flour). If we have a DY of 160, we have 100 parts of flour and 60 parts of liquid which could be either water or other liquid ingredients (i.e. Milk). The higher the DY, the more soft the dough is. DY also depends on the flour itself. Good flour binds more liquid than bad flour. Soft doughs (doughs with a high DY) are usually made into bread, while firmer doughs with a lower DY are for instance turned into Pretzels or rolls.

A dough where enriched ingredients have been added. These could be things like eggs, butter and sugars.

It’s on ancient, twin grain with high protein but a very delicate gluten structure difficult to work with. It gives bread a rich and nutty flavor.

It’s a term used by bread bakers to describe the ability of the dough to extend and stretch without breaking the gluten strands. It is measured by using an Extensograph. Extensibility has a direct effect on the texture of the crumb and the loaf volume

It’s a machine generating an extensogram that shows how good a dough can stretch without breaking.

Carl Brabender of Germany wanted a means to measure the baking quality of bread flour and invented the farinograph. The farinograph is a tool that assesses the baking qualities and performance of wheat flour doughs.
The resistance to deformation of the dough is recorded, or the consistency of dough mixed from flour and water.

The final proof takes place after the dough has been molded into shape. Not only it is a continuation of fermentation but also relaxes the dough and the formed loaf can expand into its final shape. Final proofing usually takes place in a controlled environment where temperature and humidity are adjusted for the dough to reach its desired shape and complexity.

First proof is also called bulk fermentation. We are letting the entire batch of dough start to ferment right after the final mixing process finished and before dividing and shaping the dough. It is an important step because it also lets the dough relax and is thus easier to handle.

(Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols) are short-chain carbohydrates and sugar alcohols that are poorly absorbed by the body and cause abdominal pain and bloating. They are found in certain foods, including wheat and beans.
Fodmaps can be dramatically reduced by proper fermentation and proofing. More about them in our Story “FODMaPs – What’s behind them“

Fermentation is a biological process where sugars and starches are converted into simpler substances. When we are preparing dough, yeast and bacteria convert sugars into carbon dioxide, among other things. This is what causes the dough to rise.

It’s a protein found in wheat flours and also, albeit in tiny concentration in barley and rye. It gives strength and elasticity to the dough and when it is combined with gliadin, it develops gluten.

It means to add more water to flower until there is no more dry four visible.

Hammer mills, as opposed to roller mills use high speed rotors to smash the individual grains against each other. This causes less friction and thus less heat.

When applying the indirect method, a pre-dough, soaker or the likes is prepared beforehand and added later to the remaining ingredients in the kneading machine and then kneaded. After kneading, a short period for the dough to rest is given before the dough is divided and formed. see also Direct Method.

The short rest period between dividing the dough and shaping it is called intermediate proofing. How long this period is depends on how much time the dough needs to relax. This ensures that the dough will not be tight and rubbery. This period of time is also referred to as bench time.

Kneading is the process of working your dough mixture either mechanically or manually to form a smooth and cohesive mass. Kneading is actually one of five important points that make bread:

• Mixing the ingredients
• Hydrating the dry ingredients
• Kneading to form the protein structure
• Aerating the dough
• Dough temperature monitoring

Is not a type of grain but it simply refers to a registered trademark of the American company Kamut International which is selling Khorasan Wheat under this trademark.

An ancient grain type (Triticum turanicum) – a wheat variety that is twice the size of modern wheat and is recognized for its smooth texture and nutty, buttery flavor.

Levain is a type of preferment that is slowly matured and then added to bread dough. It is started by using natural yeast, flour and water. Often, dried fruit is used to “harvest” the natural yeast by soaking them with sugar or honey in water until fermentation sets in. You could also classify it as a type of more hydrated sourdough.

In Bakers terminology it is a cutting blade used to score a formed dough just prior to baking in order to produce a decorative, intended tearing point. Mostly used for scoring french baguettes.

Is a compound produced in sourdough together with acetic acid during fermentation. It gives the bread its flavor.

The Maillard reaction is a browning reaction that produces colors and flavors in baked products and other thermally-processed foods.

also called simple sugars; they are the simplest form of sugar and the most basic units of carbohydrates

This is an enzyme that is found in plants, bacteria and yeast. It converts maltose into simple glucose sugars.

Also called malt sugar which is broken down by the enzyme maltase to get simple glucose sugars.

Non-diastatic malt is similar to diastatic malt in that it is also from a grain which has been sprouted, dried and ground into a powder. However, because it has been dried in a kiln at high temperature, it does not have enzymes. This kind of malt is high in maltose which aids in the Maillard reaction. When added to the dough it mainly functions as a flavoring and crust coloring aid.

Oven spring occurs when the dough is placed into the oven and the rapid rise of yeast activity together with the expansion of the air bubbles in the dough make the dough expand rapidly.

Oven humidity in an important factor when baking bread. It assists in getting decent oven spring, crust development, coloring and condition of the final product.

are carbohydrate molecules made up from sugars joined in a chain

A poolish is a yeast-cultured dough at 100% hydration (equal amount of flour and water in weight). The amount added yeast depends on how long you want the fermentation to be. Fermentation happens at room temperature and takes until it has risen fully and starts receding. It will then have a wrinkled surface and is ready to use. It’s a type of pre-ferment used in the production of french bakery products (i.e. Baguettes). It has NO salt added to it.

Also known as sugar alcohols, they are small-chain carbohydrates that occur naturally in certain fruits and vegetables or as additives in packaged foods

A preferment is simply a mixture of dough components that is fermented before it is added to a bread mix. There are a number of different types of pre-ferments:

• Sourdough,
• Poolish (Pȃte fermentée)
• Biga
• Levain
• Sponge
• Flour Brew
• Water Brew

Literally meaning old dough. Usually a piece of fermented dough is used to start fermentation of a new dough.

Quinoa is a tiny pseudo-cereal grown in the South American Andes. The seeds can be used either raw or roasted. It is normally blended with other flours for baking.

The seed is gluten-free and is considered a healthy food of the future (classified as superfood)

Rice flour is made by grinding whole kernels or broken rice kernels into a powder. White Rice flour or brown rice flour is often used in gluten-free baking. It can be digested easily and is considered hypoallergenic. Gluten-free dough made with rice flour will look more like a batter than a dough.

French for sourdough

Semolina is a coarse flour made from high protein durum wheat. It is mainly used in making pasta, baguettes, pizza, bread or gnocchi

Tapioca flour is the starchy powder made from the roots of the cassava plants.
This flour is often used for:

• Producing gels while cooking
• Thickening batter and dough for higher gas bubble stability
• Achieving a binding effect for gluten-free baking
• Moisture-retention of bread and buns
• Texturizing and stabilizing icing formulations

A method of pre-cooking a small portion of dough in preparation for bread making. When cooking flour with water or milk, it causes the starch to gelatinize. Adding this “cooked” dough makes the texture of bread soft, chewy and fluffy. The Tangzhong method is similar to the Yudane (or Yukone) method, however it uses less flour and the resulting bread will be more soft.

For the Tangzhong method to be applied, you will need to do the following:

1. Flour to liquid ration is 1 part flour : 5 parts water
2. Cooking temperature is around 65^oC
3. Cook the mixture and stir until it becomes thick and sticky like glue
4. Use 7% of the total flour in the recipe

The mix can be used once cooled down and may be kept in the fridge for a couple of days.

A mass is whipped to a larger volume with the supply of heat (water bath), and then continued to beat without supplying heat until it has cooled down again.

A method of pre-cooking a small portion of dough in preparation for bread making. When adding hot water or milk to flour, it causes the starch to gelatinize. Adding this dough makes the texture of bread soft, chewy and fluffy.
For the Yudane (or Yukone) method to be applied, you will need to do the following:

1. Flour to liquid ration is 1 part flour : 0.8 parts water (80% hydration)
2. Cooking temperature is around 60^oC
3. Knead the mixture until the liquid is absorbed and form it into a ball
4. Make the dough the night before you use it or at least 4 hours before.
5. Use 20% of the total flour in the recipe

The Yudane can be used once cooled down and should be used within 24 hours.