Pandemic Bread Baking

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Admit it – you’ve made bread in the last 11-12 months, true? Haven’t we all?

I’ll confess right up front – I have not made sourdough. When the pandemic bread craze started, I read at least a dozen different sources about how to create my own starter, but ultimately I decided that I just didn’t want to have a long term relationship with yeast. What I have done is explore low yeast starters, particularly breads that begin with biga. My go-to sources have been Ken Forkish’s “Flour Water Salt Yeast,” and Carol Field’s “The Italian Baker.”

The White Bread with 80% Biga and the 50% Wheat Bread with Biga from “Flour Water Salt Yeast” are both excellent, and the recipes are easy to follow. I’ve been so happy with this cookbook that I have sent copies to several people. The 80% Biga white bread has been a particular favorite.

But considering that this blog is focusing on travel through food, “The Italian Baker” lets us travel through Italy with regional breads. This book has been on my shelf for at least 20 years, and I have repeatedly turned to it. Cooking from Umbria this evening, perhaps the Pane di Terni?

Thinking of a day in Puglia? Maybe some Pane Tipo Altamura to go with some fresh burrata ?

Perhaps something simpler? Some olive oil bread sprinkled with sea salt flakes – note, use less than in the picture, that was too much salt.

One thing that I noticed with all the bread baking was that we were eating a lot more white flour than we normally would, so I started trying to re-introduce whole grains. The King Arthur blends work really well for this – just substituting 50% of the white flour in any recipe with one of the multigrain blends has worked well.

Going in the absolute opposite direction, I have also been making what we have been calling “bacon bread.” The first attempt was with speck, and the flavor was outstanding. A later attempt with prosciutto was also very good, but it did not have quite the same impact as the speck. The appearance obviously still needs some work.

As you’ll see from the recipe, I still measure my ingredients rather than weighing them (as is recommended in pretty much every recent bread cookbook). I’m sure that if you put the breads next to each other week-to-week, there is probably some difference, but no one has complained. The amounts for the biga and dough are generally from Flour Water Salt Yeast.

"Bacon Bread"
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“Bacon Bread”

Course: Bread

Ingredients

  • For the biga – needs to be made 12-14 hours before you mix the bread

  • 6-1/4 cups flour – all purpose or bread

  • 2-1/3 cups water – about 80 degrees F

  • 3/16 tsp instant dried yeast

  • For the bread dough – requires about 3 hours for first rise

  • 1-1/2 cups bread flour

  • 7/8 cup water – lukewarm

  • 1 tablespoon fine sea salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon yeast

  • the biga

  • The filling

  • 1/4 pound very thinly sliced prosciutto or speck – per loaf

  • 1/4 pound sliced provolone or mozzarella cheese – per loaf

Directions

  • Biga
  • Put the flour in a large bowl or 6 quart tub. Dissolve the yeast in a bit of the water. Pour into the flour. Swish some more of the water around in the container in which you dissolved the yeast to get it all. Pour it and the rest of the water into the flour. Mix with your hands until thoroughly blended (excellent instructions on technique are in Flour Water Salt Yeast if you are not familiar). Cover and set aside overnight, for about 12-14 hours, until about tripled and with air bubbles.
  • Bread dough
  • Mix the additional 1-1/2 cups flour with the salt and 1/2 teaspoon yeast in a large bowl or 12 quart tub. Add the 7/8 cup lukewarm water, and mix by hand until blended. Add the biga, and mix by hand until thoroughly blended. Cover.
  • Fold the dough 3 times, about every 20 minutes for the first hour. Then let the dough continue to rise until about triple. Depending on temperature in the room, this will be between 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 hours.
  • Shaping and Proofing
  • Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and cut in half. If you don’t want two loaves of the “Bacon Bread,” the other half can be made into a boule, or used for pizza or focaccia.
  • For each half, if making both into the filled bread, stretch and fold gently to remove the large air bubbles. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes. Then roll out into a rectangle of about 14 x 20 inches, with the longer side facing you.
  • Place the speck or prosciutto in an even layer over the dough, leaving about 1/2 inch uncovered all the way around the edges. Place a layer of the sliced cheese over the meat.
  • Starting with the longer side that is facing you, roll dough into a relatively tight roll and pinch the seam closed. Cut the dough roll in half down the entire length and lay flat so that the filling is facing up from both halves.
  • Pinch the top edges together, then gently fold sides over each other, keeping filling facing up the whole time, until you get to the end. Pinch the bottom edges together.
  • Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the tray into a roomy plastic bag (be careful, you have sticky dough at the top, and anything you let touch it will likely stick as it rises) and tie closed. Let rise until double, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
  • Baking
  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  • Place baking sheet into hot oven and cook for about 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown.
  • Let cool on rack before slicing.