How to prepare brew for rye bread at home

(the first section of this part of the post will be easy to read even for those new to baking)

When flour is brewed, the starch contained in it is saccharified, that is, a complex molecular compound of starch under the influence Enzymes break down flour into simple sugars.

It is believed that these transformations best occur at a temperature of 65 degrees C. You should not overheat the brew, because at temperatures above 70 degrees C the enzymes of flour and malt are destroyed and saccharification will not occur.

Mix flour, red malt and spices in a bowl as directed in the recipe. Fill the mixture with water at a temperature of 95-97 degrees C. It's practically boiling water.

Of course, some of the enzymes will die at this moment, but most of them will remain.
That is, after boiling water in a kettle, after half a minute you can start brewing. When mixing flour at room temperature with water 95-97 degrees C, our mixture will have a temperature of about 65 degrees C - this is exactly what we need. For accuracy, you can use a food thermometer. Mix thoroughly and rub the tea leaves so that there are no lumps. It will work out thick dark brown pulp with a pleasant smell. Proportion of flour and water 1:2 or 1:2,5 . Preheat the bowl with boiled water; it is better if it is thick-walled ceramic or glass.

Cover the bowl with the tea leaves tightly with a lid or baking foil so that the surface of the tea leaves does not dry out and to retain heat, wrap it in a terry towel. You can use a thermos pan with a tight-fitting lid.

Please note that red malt is brewed with boiling water together with flour, and white - added later, at a lower temperature of the mixture (about 40-50 degrees C). Take the amount of malt as indicated in the recipe.

For saccharification, the brew must be kept at a temperature of 65-67 degrees C. within 2 hours. In home baking, this issue is solved in different ways. There are special home devices (such as Thermomix) that can maintain a temperature of this value, but they are quite expensive, so you can limit yourself to a thermos or a wrapped bowl.

These are the conditions that are ideal for brewing - maintaining the tempo. 65 degrees C for 2-3 hours, at home (in a saucepan or in a bowl without additional heating), obviously, the temperature will drop, but this method of brewing does not significantly deteriorate the properties of the brew.

The sugared finished brew will be more liquid, homogeneous and shiny,sweetish in taste (compared to the original state). After 2 hours of brewing, open the lid and leave the tea to cool at room temperature.

The bread tea can be made the day before; in this case, there is no need to cool it, but only open it in the morning. The cooled brew can be stored in the refrigerator in a closed container for up to 3 days in the coldest part of your refrigerator. Before use, it must be placed at room temperature for two hours to warm up.

There are two ways to prepare rye custard bread:

In three stages (leavening, brewing, dough),

At four (sourdough, brew, dough = fermented brew, dough).

The second method is somewhat more labor-intensive, but it gives a more stable result.

When kneading and shaping, dough for rye custard bread behaves in the same way as regular rye bread. Fermentation of the dough and proofing of bread occurs faster due to the fact that fermentation processes begin at the stages of brewing and dough, and the microorganisms of the starter have a sufficient amount of nutrients in the form of free sugars, as well as other nutritional minerals.

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The use of barley malt instead of unfermented rye malt in baking

Research was carried out on the possibility of using barley malt, used in brewing, in baking instead of unfermented rye malt.

In accordance with GOST requirements, barley malt for baking can be light, dark and Zhiguli. The process of producing active barley malt consists of grain preparation, soaking, germination, drying and grinding. During the germination of barley, amylolytic enzymes, proteinases (enzymes that act on proteins), peptides (partially cleaved proteins) accumulate, and water-soluble compounds are formed.

When producing light malt, the grain is germinated for 7 days, and for the first 5 days, enzymes accumulate, and then enzymatic hydrolysis of starch, protein and peptides begins.

During the studies, we used white barley malt, which, in comparison with rye, had higher amylolytic activity (44.8% versus 35.9%), similar maltose content (7.4% versus 7.8%) and slightly less water-soluble nitrogenous substances (3.2% vs. 4.5%).

Research was carried out on the quality of brews made from peeled rye flour at the ratio of flour and water 1:2,5 , unsaccharified, self-saccharified and saccharified with unfermented rye and unfermented barley malt (5% by weight of flour).

The quality of the brews was controlled by the dynamics of accumulation maltose, water-soluble nitrogenous substances (see table) and dynamic viscosity (see figure).

In all variants, the initial temperature of the brews was 63-65 degrees C, after 3 hours - 45-49 degrees C. In the unsugarified brew (without the addition of carriers of hydrolytic enzymes), the accumulation of maltose and water-soluble nitrogenous substances still occurred, but to a much lesser extent than in the self-saccharified brew (with the addition of native flour) and, especially, in the brew saccharified with malt.

Amylase activity processes were observed in the first hour of saccharification of tea leaves, and then this process slowed down (pay attention to this statement, it directly relates to the question asked at the beginning of the article).

In the first 2 hours, in the brew with barley malt, more maltose and water-soluble nitrogenous substances accumulated than in the brew with rye malt. After 3 hours, the content of these substances was almost equalized.

The hydrolytic processes of flour biopolymers had a significant impact on the change in the viscosity of the brew (see figure). AtA comparison of the various options shows that the brew with barley malt had the lowest dynamic viscosity. The most active liquefaction of brews of all variants occurs through 2 hours saccharification, which coincides with the maximum proteolytic and amylolytic activity of flour biopolymers. Unsugared tea leaves had the highest viscosity.

DRAWING

Dynamic viscosity of brew made from unsugared peeled rye flour (1), self-saccharified (2), saccharified with unfermented rye malt (3), saccharified with barley malt (4):

Experiments were conducted on baking different types of bread using brews with the addition of barley malt. This bread had fairly good physical and chemical properties, a sweetish taste, a fairly light crumb, it was only slightly more fuzzy than bread prepared using rye malt (for example, Riga).

Research results have proven that white barley malt can be used for saccharification of tea leaves and the preparation of custard types of bread.

In industrial production, in addition to malt brews, special substances are used.

In accordance with the “Instructions for recipes for bakery products on the interchangeability of raw materials,” it is allowed to replace unfermented rye malt (1 kg) with 5-10 grams of an enzyme preparation Amylorizin P1 OX ,
or 10-15 grams of enzyme preparation Purified glucoamylase G 20X, or another drug with active amylase with recalculation of the amount depending on the activity of the enzyme for bakery products with liquid yeast or sourdough with infusions, custard types of bread (here we are talking about the industrial production of bread).

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STRUCTURE OF STARCH GRAIN

From my point of view, this section is one of the most interesting in this article, as it describes the latest knowledge of mankind about the structure of starches.

Starch grains have a layered structure.

The layers consist of particles - starch polysaccharides, radially arranged and forming the rudiments of a crystalline structure.

Due to this, the starch grain has anisotropy (birefringence occurs when a beam of light is passed through the starch grain).

The layers that form the grain are heterogeneous: those that are resistant to heating alternate with those that are less stable, and those that are more dense alternate with those that are less dense.

The outer layer of the starch grain is denser than the inner layers and it forms the shell of the starch grain. All grains are permeated with pores and, thanks to this, they are able to absorb moisture.

Most natural starches from various starch-containing plants contain 15—20% amylose

and 80-85% amylopectin

However, starch waxy varieties of corn, rice, barley consists almost entirely of amylopectin, and the starch of some other non-waxy varieties of corn and peas contains 50-75% amylose (that is, it consists mainly of amylose).

Starch polysaccharide molecules consist of glucose molecules connected to each other in long chains. Amylose molecules contain on average about 1000 such glucose molecules.

The longer the amylose chain, the less soluble it is in liquids. Amylopectin molecules contain even more glucose molecules.

In addition, in amylose molecules the chains are straight, while in amylopectin they are branched.

In the starch grain, the polysaccharide molecules are curved and arranged in layers.

The widespread use of starch in culinary practice is due to a complex of technological properties characteristic of it: swelling and gelatinization, hydrolysis, dextrinization(thermal decomposition).

Starch grains or grains(combining several grains):

1. From the seed of cockle (Agrostemma Githago). -2. From wheat grain. -3. From milkweed (Euphorbia). -4. From bean seed. -5. From maize grain. -6. From the rhizome of Canna. -7. From potato tubers (enclosed in cages). -8. From a potato tuber (isolated, at very high magnification). -9. From oat grain. -10. From the seed of Lolium temulentum. -eleven. From the bulbous tuber of winter grass (Colchicum autumnale). -12. From a grain of rice. -13. From millet grain. - All at high magnification.

Starch grains have a well-organized shape and structure.

There is a core in the central part of the grains (embryo, growth point), around which there are rows of concentric layers, “growth rings,” about 0.1 microns thick.

The molecular helices of polysaccharides in the “growth rings” are arranged in folds with close to crystalline order.

It should be noted radial orientation of molecules and availability hydrogen bonds between them. The order of individual grain zones is close to crystalline, as well as amorphous(organization not based on the principle of crystallinity) the nature of others is confirmed when examining grains through a polarizing microscope.

Anisotropy - unequal all or only some properties of a substance in different directions.

Starch grains are birefringent - a beam of light splits into two components when transmitted, these rays of light propagate at different speeds and they are polarized in two mutually perpendicular planes.

In crystalline areas, starch polysaccharides are arranged more orderly and tightly bound to each other, while in amorphous areas, the arrangement is less ordered and the polysaccharides are packed less tightly.

It is currently believed that the crystallinity of the starch grain is formed mainly by the ordered arrangement of the side branches of amylopectin, i.e. It is this substance that stabilizes the crystallinity of the starch structure.

The orientation of individual starch polysaccharides in the starch grain, their connection with each other is carried out using hydrogen bonds.

The latter are formed both by the direct interaction of hydroxyls of polysaccharides with each other, and by the interaction of hydroxyls of polysaccharides through a water molecule.

Thus, water participates in the creation of the crystal lattice of starch grains.

In general, the polysaccharide molecules in the grain are arranged folded-radially, i.e. The polysaccharide chains themselves are in folded form.

In this case, amylose concentrates closer to central part of the grain.

The structure of a starch grain is shown below:

In the outer layer of the starch grain, polysaccharides form a kind of durable shell that does not have semi-permeable properties, but has the property of expansion or stretching.

The degree of swelling of starch grains in water (due to expansion of the shell) largely depends on the temperature and properties of the particular type of natural starch.

Tuberous starch swells best, cereal starch swells less, and starch grains containing a large amount of amylopectin (the so-called amylopectin starches).

The use of starch in the food industry is mainly due to its ability gelatinize.

One of signs of gelatinization of a starch suspension are a significant increase in its viscosity , i.e. the formation of a starch paste, the viscosity of which when heated is explained by the properties of the water-soluble fraction extracted from starch grains, consisting of P olisaccharide filaments with a diameter of 0.05-2 microns , forming in solution 3D mesh , retaining more moisture than the swollen starch grains themselves.

Substance consisting of swollen starch grains and water-soluble polysaccharides in the form of a network is called starch paste, and the process of its formation is gelatinization.

Gelatinization occurs in a certain temperature range characteristic of a given type of starch, usually from 55 to 80°C.

Starch pastes have relatively liquid consistency, serve as the basis for many culinary products (jelly, sauces, puree soups) containing 2-5% starch.

Pastes of a denser consistency are formed in the cells of boiled potatoes, cereals and other products where the ratio of starch and water is approximately 1:2—1:5 .

Approximate amylose content in starch of various origins, degree of starch swelling in hot water (90°C) and gelatinization temperature

P.S.(this comment partly applies to the last section of the previous post, it did not “fit” there)

There are three types of amylases:

1. Alpha amylase, contained in sprouted grains of rye, barley, wheat, as well as in unsprouted grains of sorghum and rye. Alpha amylase acts erratically. “Cuts” plisaccharide molecules into pieces.

2. P-amylase sequentially cleaves off pieces of maltose in polysaccharides and acts from the ends of polysaccharide chains. The enzyme is found in grains of wheat, rye, barley, and soybean seeds.

How Alpha- and P-amylases (beta-amylases) work can be read in more detail , highlighted in yellow font.

3. Glucoamylase. When this enzyme acts on starch, mainly glucose is formed. Glucoamylase is found in molds.

With the combined action of Alpha- and P-amylases, starch is hydrolyzed by 95%. The products of hydrolysis are maltose, dextrins and glucose.

For amylases, the optimal pH value is different, so Alpha-amylase acts at pH 6.0, and P-amylase at pH 4.8. In addition, the optimal temperature for P-amylase is 51 degrees C (another source indicated that the maximum activity of this enzyme occurs at 35-40 degrees C), and for Alpha-amylase the optimal temperature is temp. 65 degrees C.

Alpha amylase is more resistant to high temperatures.

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To date, it has been established that the amount of both carbohydrate-decomposing amylases and protein-dissolving enzymes (proteases) increases with the duration of the grain germination period. The action of these enzymes is manifested in the formation of soluble substances in the grain during the germination stage.

Starch is broken down into dextrins and malt sugar, the so-called grape sugar, while protein substances pass into various, even less characteristic intermediate stages, into albumoses, peptones(peptides) and amides.

Associated with these changes is the partial breakdown of minerals, especially phosphates, into inorganic chemical elements.
These processes can be traced both by an increase in the amount of soluble constituent elements and by the increased strength of enzymes that the grain possesses.

How simple these growth processes are in interaction, so complex are they each individually - their mechanism still unknown.

However, it is known that the decomposition of starch is divided into 2 phases: the liquefaction of swollen and gelatinized starch and its subsequent saccharification. Both processes occur in parallel, but the optimal conditions for their passage are completely different. While the ideal saccharification temperature is 45-50 degrees C, starch liquefaction most likely occurs at 60-70 degrees C.

At low temperatures, the starch paste has a thicker consistency; at higher temperatures, it is more liquid.

It has been established that liquefaction of tea leaves occursdue to the appearance, along with the action of amylase, of another enzyme - cytase, and that both processes (liquefaction and saccharification) depend on the action of these two enzymes.

Different scientists have different opinions about whether the effects of grain amylase are the same in the dormant state and in the malted state (when the grain is sprouted).

Scientists Brown and Maurice see the difference in the fact that grain amylase at rest dissolves starch grains without “pre-cleavage”, that it has little or no effect on the starch paste and only transfers soluble starch atthe optimal temperature is 45-50 degrees C in sugar.

In contrast, malt amylase (in the germination stage) breaks down and liquefies starch grains before saccharification, the optimal temperature is 50-55 degrees C, i.e. 5 degrees C and higher.

The latest research by Chrzaszcz indicates that in both cases we are talking about the action of the same enzyme, only in its different form of action depending on the conditions.

When making bread, it is also interesting that in grain that is at rest, the ability to liquefy is very insignificant.

Alcohol-soluble malt protein is part of the undecomposed endosperm of the grain. Subsequently, a natural increase in acid content is observed in the malt, which is caused by the formation of acid phosphates, as well as the formation organic acids(amino acids).

The process is even less known protein breakdown. The grain contains only a small amount of enzymes that break down protein. Their effect is very insignificant. In malt, the proteolytic activity of enzymes rapidly increases during grain germination.

Tea leaves are a water-flour mixture in which the flour starch is largely gelatinized. Leaves are used in bread baking as a nutrient medium for the proliferation of yeast and lactic acid bacteria in the preparation of liquid yeast or wheat starters, and also as an improver in the processing of flour with reduced gas-forming ability. Some improved varieties of bread require the addition of tea leaves.

Infusions can be simple (candied and unsugared), salted, fermented, or fermented.

Simple tea leaves are prepared from flour and water in a ratio of 1:3 or 1:2 by heating the water-flour mixture to the temperature of starch gelatinization. In practice, this is carried out in the KhZ-2M-300 machines by supplying hot steam and constantly stirring the mixture.

Sugared tea leaves are obtained as a result of amylolysis of gelatinized flour starch. Sugared infusions can be self-saccharified, in which amylolysis is caused by the action of the brewed flour’s own amylolytic enzymes, and saccharified under the action of enzyme preparations introduced from outside. For saccharification in these cases, white malt or enzyme preparations are used: Amylorizin P10X, Amylosubtilin G10X. The optimal temperature for saccharified brews is 62-65° C, the duration of saccharification is 2-4 hours.

Unsugared tea leaves are usually used as an improver. They are prepared from 3-10% flour of the total amount in the dough. The brewing temperature should be 63-65° C when brewing wheat flour, 70-73° C when brewing wheat wallpaper. The brewed and thoroughly mixed mass of tea leaves is cooled to 35° C immediately after brewing, after which it can be used to prepare dough or dough.

Salted tea leaves differ from others in that when preparing them, the flour is brewed not with water, but with a salt solution heated to a boil, which is prepared from all the salt required by the recipe.

Fermented and fermented tea leaves differ from each other in that in the first case the tea leaves, after cooling, are fermented with pressed or liquid yeast, and in the second case they are fermented with lactic acid bacteria.

The use of welding in dough making processes allows you to obtain the following results:

• increase the sugar content in the dough;
• increase fermentation activity;
• increase the baking properties of flour;
• increase bread yield;
• improve the quality of bread;
• slow down the staling of the finished product.

It should be borne in mind that the amount of tea leaves added to the dough must be adjusted depending on the enzyme activity of the flour. The enzyme activity of flour is expressed by the “falling number” indicator. The higher the enzyme activity of the flour (lower the falling number), the less tea leaves should be used.

The use of tea leaves has a certain effect on the fermentation microflora. Increasing the brew content and lowering the dough temperature to 28-30 o C leads to increased yeast activity and inhibition of lactic acid bacteria, and gas formation in the dough increases.

Typically, 5-12% of the recipe amount of flour is used for brewing. When brewing, add 2-4 parts of water to 1 part flour.

Depending on the technology adopted, flour can be brewed with boiling water (100 o C) or a flour suspension can be prepared in warm water (50-60 o C) and boiling water can be added to the suspension with thorough mixing. Approximately 30% of the total amount of water is consumed to prepare the suspension.

When flour is brewed, starch turns into a paste. Gelatinized starch is saccharified by amylolytic enzymes. The saccharification process occurs most actively in brewing at a temperature of 63 o C.

Saccharification of the brew can be carried out without malt or with the addition of malt.

Obtaining self-saccharifying tea leaves

1. Divide all the flour intended for preparing the tea leaves into 2 equal parts.
2. Add hot water (95-100 o C) to the first half of the brewed flour. Approximately 2.5 liters of hot water are added per 1 kg of flour. Hot water inactivates the flour's own enzymes. If the flour has increased enzymatic activity, then for brewing with boiling water you can use not 50, but 75% of the flour intended for making tea leaves.
3. Cool the resulting paste to a temperature of 68-70 o C and add the remaining flour containing active enzymes to it.
4. As you add flour, the temperature of the mixture should drop. The temperature should be brought to 63 o C and the resulting mixture should be left for 3 hours to saccharify the starch.
5. After saccharification, the resulting saccharified tea must be quickly cooled.

Obtaining self-saccharifying fermented tea leaves

(Plotnikov P.M., Kolesnikov M.F.)

1. Prepare the saccharified tea leaves and cool it to a temperature of 30-32 o C.
2. Add 0.8-1.0% of the recipe amount of pressed yeast to the cooled, saccharified brew. Yeast is added in the form of an aqueous suspension. To prepare the suspension, 10% of the water intended for brewing is used.
3. Ferment the brew with yeast at a temperature of 30-32 o C for 3.5 hours.

Receiving salty tea leaves

(Plotnikov P.M., Kolesnikov M.F.)

1. Dissolve all the salt specified in the recipe in the water intended for preparing the tea leaves. For example, according to the product recipe, 1.5 kg of salt is provided for 100 kg of flour. To prepare the tea leaves, 10 kg of flour (10% of the total recipe amount of flour) and 25 kg of water are consumed. 1.5 kg of salt is dissolved in 25 kg of water, resulting in a 6% solution.
2. Bring the salt solution to a boil and use it to brew the flour intended for brewing. The initial temperature of the resulting paste will be 70 o C.
3. Leave the tea leaves for 2 hours. The final temperature of the finished brew should be 28 o C.

In a salt solution, flour proteins have increased swelling properties. Compared to simple tea leaves, salted tea leaves have a higher water-binding capacity.

Making brew with malt

(Plotnikov P.M., Kolesnikov M.F.)

1. Brew the amount of flour intended for brewing with boiling water. For 1 part flour take 2.5 parts water.
2. Cool the resulting brew to 63 o C and add malt to the brew. The amount of malt is usually 1% of the total amount of flour intended for kneading dough.
3. Maintain the brew at 63 o C for 50-60 minutes and quickly cool it.

I . Brews:

On the one hand, they are an excellent breeding ground for the proliferation of yeast and acid-forming bacteria;

On the other hand, it is a bread quality improver, especially if you have to deal with flour with reduced sugar-forming ability, the so-called “heat-resistant”;

They can be (and this is already “from the third side”) an integral part of the bread grade and thus be included in a certain set of characteristics;

They will be useful when processing flour of small yields sincecThe sugar content in such flour is small, and in tea leaves the starch of the flour is largely gelatinized and in this state it is easily and quickly saccharified.

Types of brews

There are a significant number of brewing methods and options. In distant Soviet times, this issue was dealt with a lot.Tonly atProfessora L. Ya.Ayuhrman, I found this “short” list of works devoted to this topic:

Personally for meNya tea leaves they are like this:
- simple unsugared(quickly cooled and not subjected to saccharification), as a rule, andxused as an improver. The brewing temperature for high-quality wheat flour should be +63...65ºС, for wheat wallpaper +70º...73ºС, since the starch of wheat wallpaper flour has a higher gelatinization temperature.TThe thoroughly mixed mass is cooled to +35ºС immediately after brewing, after which it is used. HUnsweetened wheat tea is prepared from 5-10% of flour from the total amount specified in the recipe. The water used to prepare the brew is usually 2-3 times more than the amount of flour to be brewed. When working with flour that has a sharply reduced sugar and gas-forming ability, it will be quite effective to use simple non-sugared infusions with brewing no more than 5-10% of the flour;

Simple candied obtained as a result of the breakdown of gelatinized starch in flour. They can be self-saccharified (in them the process occurs under the influence of the brewed flour’s own enzymes) and saccharified under the influence of drugs introduced from outside (accelerator enzymes such as white malt, “terrible” amylorosin or “terrible” amylosubilin). The optimal temperature for saccharified brews is +62...65ºС, saccharification duration is 2-4 hours;

Oddly enough, for some reason GOST lists self-sugared tea leaves in a separate “chapter”.

The purpose of saccharification of the tea leaves was considered to be the accumulation of the maximum amount of sugars in it, in order to, as a result, correspondingly increase their content in the bread. However, in both cases, the tea leaves had to be kept for a considerable time at the optimal temperature for saccharification, +62...65ºС, which, naturally, lengthened and complicated the whole matter.

It is no coincidence, therefore, that the desire to find out the need for saccharification of tea leaves. Back in 1933 (N. Zhuravlev, N. Proskuryakov and Z. Dreval, “Changes in carbohydrates in tea leaves made from commercial wheat flour and the influence of tea leaves on the quality of bread”) established that the amount of sugar in bread prepared using tea leaves practically does not depend on the amount of sugar in the brew.OThis was explained by the fact that the gelatinized starch of the brewed flour, without its saccharification in the brew, will quite easily be saccharified in the dough during fermentation and baking. Later work, especially carried out in the technological laboratory of VNIIHP, made it possible to consider saccharification of tea leaves completely unnecessary.AMrs. Comrade N.I. Smolina ("Studyebrewing methods for preparing wheat bread, VNIIHP-MTIPP. 1946) convincingly testified that the amount of sugar in bread prepared with unsugared and saccharified tea leaves is almost unchanged.

- fermented (after passingestage of fermentation under the influence of thermophilic or mesophilic lactic acid bacteria). The use of tea leaves fermented with lactic acid bacteria can be useful if the gluten of the flour is very weak;

- diluted fermented (divorced s water in a certain ratio) serve as a nutrient medium for the preparation of liquid yeast;

- c fermented (after coolingefermentation stage for several hours under the influence of pure cultures, pressed or liquidxyeast, lactic acidxbacteria or just sungoGotesta) are the same dough, but placed on the tea leaves. In general, between us, sourdough starters, the fermentation of fermented tea could no longer be considered as the last phase of preparing the tea leaves, but as the first phase of preparing sourdough (well, something like sourdough or lactic sourdough). The use of brews fermented with yeast improves the quality of bread, but also increases the loss of dry matter due to fermentation;

- c reindeer When preparing them, the flour is brewed not just with water, but with a salt solution heated to a boil, which is prepared from all the salt required by the recipe.

II . Tea leaves and wheat e test o

They write that the use of tea leaves was practiced in Ancient Egypt and Greece. In Russia in the 19th century, many bakers brewed up to 30% wheat flour with strong gluten. In the period from 1928 to 1930, a number of Moscow bakers published their methods of using tea leaves for preparing dough, straight dough and liquid yeast from wheat flour. These are the methods of Zinchenko, Sushkov, Kamysgev, Shibanov, Moiseev-Shkurenkov, Klimov, Friedlander, known in their time.

Wheat flour brews contain well-gelatinized starch. Such starch is not only easily saccharified, but also undergoes syneresis relatively slowly, i.e. spontaneous decrease in volume. Adding tea leaves to the dough improves the taste properties of wheat bread, giving it a sweetish taste and a special aroma, accelerates fermentation, slows down staling, although at the same time it increases the moisture, density and stickiness of the crumb.

Due to the high binding of water by starch during welding, the physical properties of the dough are significantly improved. So, for example, Saratov bakers, baking bread with tea leaves, obtained a very good volume, porosity and elasticity with a large yield (we note, however, that in this case the bread turned out to be less light and with high humidity).

The ratio of water and flour in wheat brew is 1:3, less often 1:2. For its preparation, part of the flour intended for the recipe is taken - usually 5-10% of the total amount. The dose, of course, can be increased to 20%, but no more, because neither you (and nor we) simply have enough water in the recipe to brew a larger amount of flour. In the case of using tea leaves as a bread quality improver, take 3-5%, maximum 10% of flour.

To avoid the formation ofelumps, the flour is first mixed with one third of all water intended for these purposes and heated to +50...60ºС. Then add, with continuous stirring, the remaining two-thirds of water at a temperature of +98...99ºС. Thus, the “heat” of brewing reaches approximately +70ºС and the starch is successfully gelatinized.

Most often, tea leaves are brewed with hot water, although the best method is considered to be the electric contact method - on t a With this type of brewing, the quality of bread is noticeably higher than with regular brewing. Experiments were conducted on brewing dry flour by passing steam through it. But at the same time, an undesirable polysaccharide was formed - dextrin, which was registered a as a dietary supplement E 1400, tea leaves a it was getting dark a and the product in appearance resembled bread prepared with red rye malt.

After brewing, the mixture is either saccharified while cooling slowly over several hours, or quickly cooled to +35ºC. Under production conditions, especially in summer, the brew cooled very slowly - 8..12 hours or more. To speed up saccharification, flour or, even better, active white malt can be added to the brew at temperatures below +70ºС.

Place the dough on the cooled tea leaves, less ofteneeadded when kneading the dough.

I note that, if desired, during the saccharification process, most of the starch can be converted into sugar. On this, By the way, it is based on the production of sweet fillings from flour (such as artificial jam, for example).

From a technological point of view, the preparation of tea leaves can be considered as an intermediate phase in the preparation of wheat dough.

Comparative assessment of various methods of preparing tea leaves

I found this interesting information in the book by L.Ya. Auerman “ Baking technology.” Data were provided only for simple unsugared, salted, and fermented with pressed yeast or Delbrück's thermophilic lactic bacteria. Sugared tea leaves were not considered here. The amount of second-grade flour brewed in all cases was equal to 10%. The dough was prepared on a steamer in a “non-steamed” way. The total amount of water in the dough is the same in all experiments.

So, the professor’s confessions:

1. The use of tea leaves improves the physical properties of wheat dough. The greatest effect in this regard is achieved by using salty tea leaves The reason for the improvement in the physical properties of dough with tea leaves is probably the increased ability of the dough to bind water and the thermal effect of brewing on the proteins of the flour.

2. The specific volume of bread as a result of the use of most types of brews is slightly reduced. The exception is bread prepared with tea leaves fermented with yeast - its volume is noticeably higher than the volume of bread without tea leaves.

Do you know what kind of device this is that is used to determine the volume of bread? It was invented back in Soviet times, it is used today and not only in Russia, a looks like that:

It should be noted that the experiments were carried out with flour that has normal sugar and gas-forming ability. If the flour had a reduced sugar-forming ability, the use of all types of brewing increased the volumetric yield of bread, unless, of course, the amount of brewed flour did not exceed 5-10%.

3. The amount of sugars in bread with plain and salty tea leaves is almost twice as high as in the control bread without tea leaves. The sugar content in bread made with fermented tea leaves is higher than in the control bread, but noticeably lower than in bread made with plain or salted leaves, due to the fermentation of some of the sugars while still brewing.

4. The color of bread crusts is much more rosy than that of bread made with tea leaves.

5. In terms of the condition of the crumb, first place should be given to bread made with tea leaves fermented with yeast - it is better loosened, more elastic and not rough to the touch. The crumb of plain-bread is denseand more stickyasalty tea leaves are drier, but at the same time rougher.

6. The taste and aroma are most pleasant in bread made with tea leaves fermented with lactic acid bacteria and with leaves fermented with yeast. Plain and salty bread has a specific, sweetish taste associated with a sharply increased amount of sugars.

As an addition:

Bread prepared with all types of tea leaves became stale noticeably slower than the control;

The loss of dry matter due to fermentation did not decrease when using tea leaves, and when fermenting and fermenting the tea leaves with yeast it even increased slightly.

The influence of brewing on the yield of wheat bread

At one time it was believed that if tea leaves increase the ability of flour to colloidally (from the Greek word “colloid” - “glue”) to bind water, then it will help reduce upek And shrinkage bread and, as a result, will increase its weight yield. In this regard, the use of tea leaves was sometimes considered not only as a step towards improving the quality of bread when working with flour with a sharply reduced sugar-forming ability, but also as an action that primarily increased the yield of bread. It turned out that baking and shrinkage do not decrease from the use of tea leaves, except in cases where this leads to a decrease in the specific volume of bread, i.e. to a decrease in its quality. In other cases, their value in bread with and without tea leaves remains almost the same.

And the assumption is that with the same amount of water in the dough, the moisture content of the crumb of bread with tea leaves should be lower than the moisture content of the crumb of bread prepared without tea leaves due to high hydrophilicity, i.e. the ability to swell and absorb water due to compaction of the protein structure has not been confirmed.

Brief conclusion - an increase in the yield of bread prepared using tea leaves can only occur with a corresponding increase in the moisture content of the bread. In other words, if someone knows how to make money out of thin air, then a baker should make it out of water!

I forgot to mention one more case when the use of tea leaves is more than desirable. I mean the preparation of wheat bread with an admixture corn flour. The fact is that the proteins of corn flour swell slightly and do not form gluten. In addition, it has a specific taste that is transferred to the finished product. Therefore, before adding it to the dough, it is recommended to moisten it (soaka) and heat treatment (infusion) to increase the same water absorption capacity, activate enzymes and increase the sugar content. The brew is made at a temperature of +45...50 °C for 2 hours at a ratio of flour and water of 1: 2. The brew is prepared at a ratio of flour and water of 1: 2 or 1: 3 and, when cooled, is added to the dougho. If the dough is prepared with dry yeast or liquid starter, then part of the corn flourIt is advisable to add when preparing tea leaves or to starters. About dosagee:

10% corn flour of 70...75% yield leads to a deterioration in the quality of bread;

5% corn flour in the form of tea leaves does not impair the quality of products.

Digestibility of wheat bread with tea leaves

Bit has been suggested that the use of brewoIt is also advisable because they increase the digestibility of bread by increasing the content of soluble carbohydrates in the bread. The final results of studies conducted by the Institute of Nutrition of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences together with the All-Russian Research Institute of Chemical Chemistry indicate that tea leaves do not significantly change the digestibility of bread. More precisely, the digestibility of dry substances in bread in percentage terms looks almost the same, and the digestibility of protein even shows a tendency towards a slight decrease.

Read this information, I think it will be useful.
If flour is stored in a place that is too warm, it will go rancid.

When stored in damp rooms, flour acquires a rotten smell and flour pests can grow in it.

When stocks of fly are significant (for example, in rural areas), it can be stored not in wooden chests, as before, but in bags, but they are not placed directly on the floor, but on wooden grates and not close to the wall.

Fresh flour can be distinguished from stale flour by moistening a teaspoon filled with flour with water: if the flour hardly changes Color when kneading, it is considered fresh, if it darkens, it is stale.

If, touching dry flour with the tip of your tongue, you feel an almost fresh or slightly sweet taste, and after sniffing the flour, determine that the smell is barely noticeable, the flour is good quality. .

When pouring flour from a paper bag into a storage jar, it is better to open the bag not from the top, but from the bottom, bending the corner and cutting off the tip with scissors. Then fold back the other corner and pour out the remaining flour in it.

To prevent lumps in the flour sauce, the flour is diluted in salted water.

When making milk sauce, flour is poured into boiling oil.

Sift the flour before kneading the dough. This will enrich it with oxygen and loosen it - the dough will be more fluffy.

If you need to dissolve flour in water or milk, do not put it in the liquid, but rather gradually pour the liquid into the flour as you knead.

Unleavened dough is kneaded thicker than yeast dough. If you put more eggs in it and add less liquid, then the dumplings or dumplings formed from it will not fall apart during cooking. The thinner the unleavened dough is rolled out, the better the products made from it.

After kneading, puff pastry must be kept in the cold for at least 1 hour. Chilled dough rolls out easier, does not stick to the table and does not stretch out when molding products. The prepared products are placed on a baking sheet moistened with water (do not grease it with oil). Puff pastry is rolled out in one direction only; the layer of dough should not be too thin.

There is no need to brush the edges of puff pastry products with beaten egg before baking. Sticky edges will prevent the dough from rising

Baking trays for puff pastry are not greased; you can moisten them with water.

Yeast dough will not stick to your hands if you grease them with vegetable oil. You cannot add salt to the dough.

The liquid and fats on which the yeast dough is kneaded should under no circumstances be either cold or hot, otherwise fermentation may stop.

You cannot place the dough for fermentation on a working electric stove burner, but you can place it nearby.

Thinly rolled dough is difficult to transfer onto a sheet. Sprinkle it with flour, roll it onto a rolling pin and unfold it over a baking sheet - the dough will not tear.

Cover the wet, sticky dough with a sheet of parchment and roll it straight through. You can roll out this dough with a bottle filled with cold water.

If there is too much fat in the dough, the products will turn out vague, with a dense crumb.

If there is an excess of sugar in yeast dough, fermentation slows down, the products turn out less fluffy and burn. And, conversely, with a lack of sugar, the products turn out pale.

Pour salt dissolved in a small amount of water or milk into the unsalted dough and knead thoroughly.

Only add cold milk to dough prepared with soda. If the milk is warm, the yeast begins to exhibit gas-forming ability even before baking. Once you add baking soda to the dough, the cake will turn out dark in color and have an unpleasant odor.

It is better not to add soda and vanillin than to add it.

When kneading dough for pies, buns, rolls, pour flour into the liquid. For pancakes, pancakes, biscuits, brushwood - pour the liquid into the flour.

Shortbread dough cannot be kneaded for a long time - it will become dense and tough. It's better to knead it by hand. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking.

The biscuit dough is kneaded quickly and baked immediately, otherwise the air bubbles will evaporate and the products will lose their tenderness and taste.

When preparing butter dough, do not replace milk with water - the dough will darken during baking and the product will lose its taste.

If you want to add raisins to the dough, rinse them in hot water, dry them, and then sprinkle with flour so that they are evenly distributed in the dough.

Cocoa powder, cinnamon or cardamom, ground into powder, will be better distributed in the dough if they are sifted into it with a small portion of flour or granulated sugar.

The dough will bake better if you leave empty spaces around the pie on the baking sheet.

To find out if the dough is baked, stick a wooden pin (match) into it: if it remains dry, the product is ready.

The dishes containing the dough are washed first with cold and then with hot water.