ARTISAN BREADS.

Artisan bread has many definitions. Most of the possible definitions include
expressions like homemade, handmade, made in small quantities, lacking
in preservatives, and using traditional techniques. But for every definition, it
is possible to find exceptions. Clearly, those terms don’t completely define
what we understand to be artisan breads or separate them from conventional
breads. After all, every bread formula in this book can be made by hand in
small quantities, yet many of them would not be considered artisan. At the
same time, there are commercial bakeries that use machines to transform
thousands of pounds of flour a day into high-quality breads that nearly anyone
would call artisan, or that at least have all the eating qualities of artisan breads.
Furthermore, now that supermarket chains are selling mass-produced loaves
with artisan on the label, the word is harder than ever to define, if not
impossible.
The dictionary defines an artisan as a skilled manual worker, a
crafts person. An artisan bread, then, is one made by hand by a skilled baker.
This is a good start, but it is not very precise. Another definition sometimes
given is that artisan breads are made using traditional methods. This is also
important, but we still have to determine what is meant by traditional
methods.We may not be able to come up with a definition of artisan bread that
satisfies everyone, but we can list the characteristics that, according to many
bakers, should be present.
Handmade This is the characteristic most closely related to the
dictionary definition of artisan. Does this mean that machinery cannot be
used at all? A home baker can make bread from start to finish without
machinery,but clearly it would be difficult for a bakery to produce enough
bread to be commercially viable without even using a mixer.Some form of
machinery is used in virtually every baking operation. Nevertheless, hand
work plays an important role in artisan production, and the manual skill
and judgment of the artisan baker are essential. By necessity, then, artisan
bread production is usually small-scale, not high-volume. Making artisan
bread is not an automatic or purely mechanical process.
Use of preferments and sourdough starters A preferment is a
fermented dough or batter that is used to provide leavening for a larger
batch of dough. The discussion of the sponge mixing method in the
previous chapter introduced the subject of preferments. As we learned,
one advantage of using a sponge is that it creates more flavor by means of
a long, slow fermentation. A sourdough starter is similar to a yeast preferment,
except it uses wild yeast instead of commercial yeast. Preferment
and sourdough starters are discussed in more detail in this
chapter.
No chemical additives or preservatives The classic artisan bread is a
crisp-crusted bread that contains nothing but flour,water, and salt, and it is
leavened either by wild yeast (sourdough) or commercial yeast. Other
ingredients may be added for some specialty breads, including dough
ingredients such as milk,eggs,and butter,and add-ins such as herbs,spices,
nuts, dried fruit, and olives. But all ingredients should be recognizable by
the consumer as familiar food items.
Traditional production methods Bread has been made for centuries
without the use of any machinery except, of course, ovens, and until
recently those ovens were wood-fired. Today’s artisan bakers try to
duplicate as much as possible these traditional methods. As already noted,
at least part of the production should be by hand, even if mixers are used
to make the dough. Bakers also seek out flours similar to those used for
old-fashioned European breads, most notably flours with slightly lower
protein content and higher ash (see p. 34).Also, because the fermentation
process is so important for flavor, doughs are usually fermented for longer
times at lower temperatures, often without the use of proof boxes.Hearth
ovens or deck ovens are invariably used, and some bakeries have even
installed wood-fired hearth ovens for their breads.