Laurel Robertson - The Laurels Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking

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 changedexcept, of course, for the brand-new chapter on bread machines! We had wished so much for something that would enable people who just cant kneador who simply dont have time to be there to follow dough into loafto 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 neighborsand 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 isnt 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 isnt an empty boast. We have seen it work in our own families andreallyit 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 Buttermilkafter Flemish Desem, of course. On the topic of desem, some news: what we know now that we didnt 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 450F, 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, 325F, or whatever it is for the bread at hand. This works better in regular ovens, not just convection ovens, and we recommend it for everythingloaves, rolls, pizza. The high initial heat not only makes a nicer crust but promotes oven spring, that ever-welcome bonus.

Finally, I want to say a few words in praise of the machines. I have come to appreciate them very much. Machines have their own rules: dont expect them to follow the normal ones. But they do a great job. They are experts at kneading. They provide a splendid place protected from drafts for rising dough. Some are impressively good at shaping. None can preheat their little ovens. But if you give them the kind of dough they need, they will give you beautiful, flavorful whole wheat loavesnot to mention excellent dough-on-demand for rolls, pizza, bagels, pita, cinnamon swirls, chapathis, stollen, or any other kneaded fancy you might desire. And, best of all, you can wake up to That Wonderful Smell

THE GREAT IDEAS of the nineteen-seventies havent all stood the test of time. You dont hear a lot about geodesic domes today, or open marriage, or macrame vests. But certain innovations took hold and never went awaynot, typically, as mass movements, and not in a big public way, but quietly and steadily, moved along lovingly by individuals whose dedication seems to get a little deeper by the year.