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\chapter{Baking}%
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\label{chapter:baking}
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\begin{quoting}
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Baking refers to the part of the process where you are loading
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your dough into the oven. This is typically done after your
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dough has gone through the bulk fermentation and proofing stage.
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Baking refers to the part of the process where you are loading your dough into
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the oven\footnote{While some breads like flatbreads could also be baked on the
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stove. This chapter focuses on the home oven.}. Baking is typically done after
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your dough has gone through the bulk fermentation and proofing stage. This
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chapter will review what happens to your dough during baking, as well as
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several techniques used to improve the final result.
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\end{quoting}
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\begin{flowchart}[!htb]
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\begin{center}
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\input{figures/fig-baking-process.tex}
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\caption[Different steaming methods]{A schematic visualization of the baking
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process using different sources of steam in a home oven.}%
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\label{fig:baking-process}
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\end{center}
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\end{flowchart}
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Some other breads like flatbreads
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could also be baked on the stove. This chapter focuses on the
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home oven.
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As the dough heats up, the water and acids
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in your dough start to evaporate. When baking
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a gluten based dough, the bubbles in your dough start to expand.
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Your dough starts to vertically rise. This is called oven spring.
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Your bread starts to build a crust of gel-like consistency. The crust is still
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extensible and can be stretched.
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\section{The process of baking}
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Once temperature starts to rise, the dough will go through several stages as
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summarized in Table~\ref{tab:baking-stages}. As the dough heats up, the water
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and acids in your dough start to evaporate. When baking a gluten based dough,
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the bubbles in your dough start to expand. The dough starts to vertically
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rise, this is called oven spring. Your bread starts to build a crust of
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gel-like consistency, the crust is still extensible and can be stretched.
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\begin{table}[htp!]
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\begin{center}
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\input{tables/table-baking-process-stages.tex}
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\caption[Stages of dough during baking]{The different stages that
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your dough undergoes during the baking process.}
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your dough undergoes during the baking process.}%
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\label{tab:baking-stages}
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\end{center}
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\end{table}
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@@ -41,28 +35,32 @@ More research should be done here to validate or invalidate this
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claim.
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At \qty{75}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{167}{\degF}) the surface of your dough turns into a gel. It
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holds together nicely and is still extensible. This gel is essential
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for oven spring as it retains the gas of your dough very well.
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holds together nicely but is still extensible. This gel is essential
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for oven spring as it retains the gas inside your dough.
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At around \qty{100}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{212}{\degF}) the water starts to evaporate out of your
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dough. If this weren't the case, your dough would taste soggy and
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doughy. The higher hydration your dough has, the more water your bread
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still contains after the bake. The crumb is going to taste a bit
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more moist. The consistency will be different.
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still contains after the bake, changing its consistency. As a result the
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crumb is going to taste a bit more moist.
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Another often undervalued step is the evaporation of acids. At
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\qty{118}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{244}{\degF}) the acetic acid in your dough starts to evaporate.
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Shortly after at \qty{122}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{252}{\degF}) the lactic acid begins evaporating.
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This is crucial to understand and opens a door to many interesting
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Another often undervalued step is the evaporation of acids.
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At~\qty{118}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{244}{\degF}) the acetic acid in your dough
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starts to evaporate.
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Shortly after at~\qty{122}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{252}{\degF}) the lactic acid begins evaporating.
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This is crucial to understand and it opens the door to many interesting
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ways to influence your final bread's taste. As more and more water
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begins to evaporate the acids in your dough become more concentrated.
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There is less water but in relation you have more acids. A shorter
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bake will therefore lead to a more tangy dough. The longer you bake the bread,
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There is less water but in relation you have more acids, therefore a shorter
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bake will lead to a more tangy dough. The longer you bake the bread,
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the more of the water evaporates, but also ultimately the acids will follow.
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They will be more concentrated. In absolute units, though, they
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will become less and less. The longer you bake, the less sour
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your bread is going to be. By baking you can
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influence which sourness level you would like to achieve.
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The longer you bake, the less sour your bread is going to be. By controlling
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baking time you can influence which sourness level you would like to achieve.
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It would be a very interesting experiment to bake a bread at different exact
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temperatures. How would a bread taste with only evaporated water but
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full acidity? What if you were to just completely get rid of the acetic
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acid? How would the taste change?
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\begin{figure}[!htb]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{baking-experiment-temperatures.png}
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@@ -74,18 +72,14 @@ influence which sourness level you would like to achieve.
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the surface temperature increases.}
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\end{figure}
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It would be a very interesting experiment to bake a bread at different exact
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temperatures. How would a bread taste with only evaporated water but
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full acidity? What if you were to just completely get rid of the acetic
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acid? How would the taste change?
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As the temperature increases further the crust thickens. The Maillard reaction
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kicks in, deforming proteins and starches. The outside of your dough starts to
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become browner and crisper, this process begins at
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around~\qty{140}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{284}{\degF})
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As the temperature increases
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the crust thickens. The Maillard reaction kicks in, further deforming
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proteins and starches. The outside of your dough starts to become
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browner and crisper. This process begins at around \qty{140}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{284}{\degF})
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Once the temperature increases even more to around \qty{170}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{338}{\degF}),
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the caramelization process begins. The remaining sugars the microbes
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Once the temperature increases even more to around~\qty{170}{\degreeCelsius}
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(\qty{338}{\degF}),
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the caramelization process begins, the remaining sugars and the microbes which
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did not convert yet start to brown and darken. You can keep baking
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for as long as you like to achieve the crust color that you
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like\footnote{This really depends a lot on your personal preference.
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@@ -95,66 +89,53 @@ heat your bread in the oven one more time to continue building a
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darker crust.}.
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The best method to know that your dough is done is to take
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the temperature of your dough. You can use a barbecue thermometer
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to measure it. Once the core temperature is at around \qty{92}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{197}{\degF}),
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the temperature of your dough, you can use a barbecue thermometer
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to measure it. Once the core temperature is at around~\qty{92}{\degreeCelsius}
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(\qty{197}{\degF}),
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you can stop the baking process. This is typically not done though
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as the crust hasn't been built yet\footnote{The thermometer is
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especially important when using a large loaf pan. It is sometimes
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very hard to judge from the outside if the dough is done. I~failed
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many times and ended up having a semi baked dough.}.
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Once your dough has finished baking, it is ready to eat. Your
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Once your dough has finished baking, it is ready to eat: your
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dough has turned into a bread. At this
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point, your bread is sterile as the temperature was too hot for
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for the microorganisms to survive\footnote{I~wonder though
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if a starter culture could be grown again from a slice of bread.
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Under heat stress the microorganisms begin sporulating. Maybe
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some of the spores survive the baking process and could be reactivated
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later? If this worked, you could use any store bought sourdough
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later? If this works, you could use any store bought sourdough
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bread as a source for a new starter.}.
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\section{The role of steam}
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\begin{figure}[!htb]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{oven-example}
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\caption[Home oven baking example to maximize steam]{My default home oven setup. The tray of rocks
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and tray on top of the rolls greatly improve the steaming capabilities. This way the bread can
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rise more during the initial stage of the baking process.}
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\end{figure}
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Steam is essential when baking as it helps to counter premature
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crust building. During the first stage of the bake, the dough
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increases in size. The water in your dough evaporates and pushes
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increases in size as the water in your dough evaporates and pushes
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the whole dough upwards.
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\begin{figure}[!htb]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{baking-process-steam.jpg}
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\caption[Steam building with inverted tray]{How steam builds in your oven
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using the later described inverted tray method.}%
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\label{flc:inverted-tray}
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\end{figure}
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Normally, under high heat a crust would form. Just like
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if you were to bake vegetables in your home oven, at some point
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they become darker and crisper. This is the same thing that
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happens with your dough. You want to delay this process
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happens with your dough, and you want to delay this process
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as long as possible until your dough no longer expands.
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Expansion stops when most of the microbes have died and
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the evaporating water no longer stays inside the alveoli.
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The stronger the gluten network, the more gas can be retained
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during the baking process. This gluten network at some point
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loses its ability to contain gas as the temperature heats
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up. The dough stops increasing in size. The steam plays
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an important role as it condenses and evaporates on top
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of your dough. The surface temperature is rapidly increasing
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to around \qty{75}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{160}{\degF}). At this temperature the gel starts
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to build. This gel is still extensible and allows expansion.
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to around~\qty{75}{\degreeCelsius} (\qty{160}{\degF}). At this temperature the
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gel starts to build, and is still extensible and allows expansion.
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Without the steam, the dough would never enter the gel stage,
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but instead directly go to the Maillard reaction zone. You
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want your dough to stay in this gel stage as long as possible
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to achieve maximum expansion\footnote{You can remove your
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dough from the oven after 5~minutes to see the gel. You will notice
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that it holds the dough's structure. It has a very interesting consistency.}.
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that it holds the dough's structure and it has a very interesting consistency.}.
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\begin{figure}[!htb]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{baking-process-stage-2.jpg}
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@@ -165,10 +146,9 @@ that it holds the dough's structure. It has a very interesting consistency.}.
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When not steaming enough, you will notice that the scoring
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incisions do not properly open up during the bake. They stay
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closed as the dough is unable to push through the crust.
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Another common sign is that you have larger pockets
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of air towards the crust of your dough. As the dough increases
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vertically, expansion is halted by the crust. The pockets
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Another common sign, as you can see in Figure~\ref{fig:too-little-steam} is
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that you have larger pockets of air towards the crust of your dough. As the
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dough increases vertically, expansion is halted by the crust. The pockets
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of air converge into larger pockets as the pressure increases.
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This can also happen when you are baking at too high a temperature.
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@@ -185,10 +165,35 @@ way.
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\caption[Bread baked too hot]{A submission by Karomizu showing a bread that
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has been baked at too high a temperature or with too little steam. Note
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the large pockets of air towards the crust. They are a typical
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indicator.}
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indicator.}%
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\label{fig:too-little-steam}
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\end{figure}
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\section{Dutch ovens}
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\section{Building up steam}
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\begin{flowchart}[!htb]
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\begin{center}
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\input{figures/fig-baking-process.tex}
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\caption[Different steaming methods]{A schematic visualization of the baking
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process using different sources of steam in a home oven.}%
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\label{fig:baking-process}
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\end{center}
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\end{flowchart}
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\begin{figure}[!htb]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{oven-example}
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\caption[Home oven baking example to maximize steam]{My default home oven setup. The tray of rocks
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and tray on top of the rolls greatly improve the steaming capabilities. This way the bread can
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rise more during the initial stage of the baking process.}
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\end{figure}
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\begin{figure}[!htb]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{baking-process-steam.jpg}
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\caption[Steam building with inverted tray]{How steam builds in your oven
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using the later described inverted tray method.}%
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\label{flc:inverted-tray}
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\end{figure}
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\subsection{Dutch ovens}
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\begin{figure}[!htb]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{dutch-oven-example}
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@@ -264,7 +269,7 @@ the simple flatbread recipe which is baked in a pan. Please
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refer to Section~\ref{section:flat-bread-recipe} for more details.
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\section{Inverted tray method}
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\subsection{Inverted tray method}
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The inverted tray method simulates a Dutch oven.
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By placing another tray on top of your dough, the steam
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