The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [1]
to Manuel Friedman, for sharing his experience as a professional whole-foods baker
to Robin Rolewicz and Charlotte Mayerson of Random House, wonderful editors in the very finest tradition
and to all the people who have taken Laurel’s Kitchen into their kitchens and let us know how much it has changed their lives.
From Laurel
To our delight, ever since it was first published, this book has been a steady favorite of people who bake. In the present “launch” not much has changed—except, of course, for the brand-new chapter on bread machines! We had wished so much for something that would enable people who just can’t knead—or who simply don’t have time to be there to follow dough into loaf—to have good, fresh, wholesome bread every day. Our wish has been granted twice over: bread machines were invented in the years after the book went to press. And, wonderfully, hundreds of small community bakeries have sprung up, providing nourishing bread to their neighbors—and nourishing their neighborhoods, too, in a special way that only a responsive local bakery really can. Our hats are off to all of you, three cheers, and bravo!
Not much has changed? Well, maybe not much about how delicious and nourishing whole wheat bread is, nor the basic ingredients, nor even very much about the art of baking. But we are seeing a very important development in the world of nutrition science: a tidal wave of new research showing the benefits of whole-grain foods over their refined counterparts. Diets based on “white” foods show significantly worse statistics for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and many cancers. It isn’t enough for a carbohydrate to be “complex”; it also needs to be whole. Learning to enjoy, yes, to prefer, such foods may seem impossible, but we are here to say it can be done! Tastes can change, and the artful creation of delicious whole-grain foods like those in this book can make the difference. Who, after all, can resist the smell of fragrant, fresh bread? To make such healthful, irresistible loaves in your own kitchen is a great gift to your family. It can reverse “white food” preferences of a lifetime. It can set your children on track for good habits on into adulthood. This isn’t an empty boast. We have seen it work in our own families and—really—it is the mission of this book.
So, as you might imagine, we have been baking happily all along, probably many more than 50,000 loaves since the book first hit the stands. Around here, the favorite bread is still Buttermilk—after Flemish Desem, of course. On the topic of desem, some news: what we know now that we didn’t know then is that you can (yes!) safely refrigerate your desem starter for many days and even weeks, and can freeze it even longer. Three consecutive feedings revive it and bring it back to full, marvelous vigor. (So now, at long last, you can take that trip…)
Second tip: a few years back, for the first time ever, an American team won the baking “Olympics” in France. From newspaper interviews with the bakers, we learned about the autolyse technique: after mixing your dough, let it rest for about 15 minutes before proceeding to knead. Try it and see what you think. We feel that that little rest makes a perceptible improvement in texture and rise.
And third: because our convection oven produced thick, dry, “flying” crusts, we got into the habit of preheating the oven to 450°F, putting in the bread, turning off the oven, and letting it bake on stored heat until the temperature falls to baking temperature. It usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes. At that point we turn the oven on again and set the dial to baking temperature, 325°F, or whatever it is for the bread at hand. This works better in regular ovens, not just convection ovens, and we recommend it for everything—loaves, rolls, pizza. The high initial heat not only makes a nicer crust but promotes oven spring,