Tools
There was once a famous violinist fortunate enough to play a Stradivarius on a long concert tour of the United States. Critical reviews layered praise upon praise of the multimillion-dollar instrument’s glorious tone. The violinist received little mention and, in time, miffed, elected to play a trick on his unsuspecting public. Rather than bring the Stradivarius to a much-anticipated Carnegie Hall concert, he acquired and played an instrument of poor construction and mediocre tone. At the end of the concert, he took his final bow as peals of applause ripped through the hall, peppered with comments, over the din of clapping, “What an instrument!” Slowly and gracefully, tenderly cradling the instrument at his side, he bowed deeply. Then in a flash and an explosion of thin wood and taut strings he smashed it over his knee, sending bits and pieces into the close rows of seats.
I don’t play a Stradivarius. Its tone, action, design, and playability would be of little use (even if I could acquire one), for my skills are low. A great instrument would not make me a great player. But in the hands of a skilled player, even a poor tool can be of use. The skills, the artist, the craftsperson is at the center of what is necessary. Michelangelo with a felt-tip marker, me with exquisite oil paints—who will create great art?
As a home baker, I chased tools and flour types, searching for magic skills. In the end, success came from simple, useful tools and experience. Here are some things I use.
SCALE: A digital scale that measures in 1-gram increments up to 5 kilos. Such scales are relatively easily acquired. I have one that I have taken around the world, keeping it in its original little cardboard sleeve; and another that measures in one-tenth of a gram increments up to 100 grams, and is very useful for small amounts of yeast, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. These two scales are almost as essential to my baking as flour, water, salt, yeast, and my hands.
DIGITAL OR INFRARED THERMOMETER: For years I used only the digital probe thermometer—but I have switched to the infrared. Its versatility—whether I’m measuring the temperature of the top of the woodstove, coffee beans I’m roasting, dough, or water—is unbeatable and fast.
MIXING BOWL: I like a large one, 12 to 14 inches in diameter, for mixing and proofing dough. I scale ingredients directly into the bowl, which is set on the scale. I tare the bowl, then add items, using the “tare” function before the addition of each subsequent ingredient. I find that the large bowl is nice, as it is big enough to get my hands in during mixing and folding. It scrapes down and cleans up quite easily. A large metal bowl is also quite useful in baking. See Steaming Methods.
TIMER: It seems as though every handheld electronic device has a timer on it these days. If you don’t mind gumming up yours with doughy hands, it will work. I prefer an inexpensive battery or wind-up variety—even an egg timer will do
PLASTIC SCRAPER: This versatile, cheap tool is very useful for bending against the curved sides of the mixing bowl during mixing, folding, and cleaning.
MEASURING SPOONS: Measuring spoons are useful for small amounts of important ingredients. I have an old set of nesting spoons, which are bound by a metal ring. I like them, as I don’t have to search the utensil drawer all day looking for a disappearing eighth-teaspoon measure.
BENCH KNIFE: A bench knife is a flat metal blade, about 4 by 6 inches, affixed to a wooden or plastic handle. Somehow bakers have come to be drawn with rolling pins in hand. I seldom use a pin, but I can regularly be found with a bench knife, a peel, or a razor. The metal blade is best for cleanly dividing dough as well as moving dough around on the bench, scraping surfaces and boards during cleaning, and even cutting cinnamon rolls, if it has a beveled edge.
BAKER’S LINEN (COUCHE): After dividing and shaping elongated loaves, such as baguettes or bâtards, which will be baked directly on a stone, we place them on floured baker’s linen to proof. The linen is made from woven flax; its weave naturally resists adhering to sticky doughs. Tea towels may also be used; the ones with a flat weave or limited pile can work relatively well if dusted generously with flour. Baker’s linen can be purchased in short lengths (about 24 inches) in a standard width of 26 inches. A single piece will be enough to get you started. Some people also successfully use painter’s cloth or tablecloths, cut to size.
BANNETON: A banneton, or brotform, is a proofing basket: it is traditionally made from coiled willow, but can also be made of pressed paper pulp or a plastic weave (essentially a tortilla chip basket). The baskets, which are available in a myriad of sizes and shapes, some lined with flax linen, some unlined, are used to support loaves during proofing. If shaped round loaves are set to proof on a flat surface, they will spread out, rather than rise vertically. The round form helps keep them contained.
TRANSFER PEEL OR FLIPPING BOARD: A transfer peel is used for moving fragile proofed loaves that are elongated (such as bâtards and baguettes) from the linen to the oven peel or baking stone. If you like, precut a sheet of parchment paper that can be slid onto your heated baking stone directly from the peel for less risky loading. At home, rather than use the full-length ones we have in the bakery, I prefer a piece of stiff cardboard cut to roughly 16 by 4 inches. My baking stone is only about 16 inches wide, so I limit my loaves to roughly 13 to 14 inches and generally proof them on a half-sheet pan, lengthwise. Knowing the dimensions of your shaped loaves as well as the dimensions of your stone will help keep things from hanging over.
“LAME” [PRONOUNCED LAHM] OR BAKER’S RAZOR: For scoring loaves right before they enter the oven, I recommend a double-edge razor. To hold the razor, I have a small, thin piece of metal that is called a lame, onto which one can thread the razor. This is the way that I cut the first ten thousand loaves that I sent into the oven and I am likely do the same for the next ten thousand. I like the lame, as it allows me to adjust the angle of bend in the blade, and because it is metal, I can attach the blade in a curved or straight fashion (see Scoring).
CAST-IRON SKILLET: Depending on how you decide to steam your oven for the loaves that require it, you may want to begin with a cast-iron skillet or large stainless sauté pan. Preheating it with the baking stone will ensure that it has plenty of heat.
METAL BAKING PAN: I have a metal baking pan, the cheapest that I could find (I purchased mine new, but I frequently see these pans at thrift stores for about a buck), which I use for steaming (see Steaming Methods). I fill it with lava rocks and preheat it for 45 to 60 minutes before dumping hot or boiling water on it, producing a large quantity of steam.
LAVA ROCKS: The metal pan will require some lava rocks, which can be found in the grilling section of many hardware stores. A bag of them should set you back only about $10. Rinse them before using. Then cover the metal pan almost entirely with aluminum foil, leaving a hole on one side into which you may pour water. When the water hits the stones, it will vaporize, releasing significant steam.
DUTCH OVEN, CLOCHE: Baking in a Dutch oven, or cloche, can be a very successful technique for making bread at home. This method lowers the difficulty level of shaping, steaming, and, to a certain degree, loading. The bread produced can be quite delicious; if I am traveling and don’t have my normal tools or a good bakery, I will often use this method to make a loaf I can live off.
4-INCH CHAFING DISH: If you should decide to go for the most complicated (best results) steaming method, which I describe in Steaming Methods you will need a chafing dish. They are available from many sources online—I bought the cheapest one I could find. They do not need to be heavy steel, as they are only holding moisture like a lid.
STENCILS: You may see pictures of my work that show stenciled loaves. In a few cases I have purchased stencils that were the right size for the loaves that I wanted to decorate. More often, I have found or sketched an image that I liked and then drawn it on a sheet called “Quilter’s Plastic,” which is available at craft stores. I have also carved them from plastic milk jugs and the tops of plastic food containers. Usually I draw the image on paper, trace it with a marker onto the plastic then, put some music on, and get out a very sharp knife (X-Acto brand or similar) and carefully, slowly, cut the stencil against a piece of scrap wood. If the design is intricate and I want it very crisp, I will sometimes pay to have it laser-cut. Etsy has numerous stores offering cutting services. I have had great luck using this method.
BAKING STONE: When I began making artisan loaves, I started with quarry tiles. They are better than a metal baking pan, but they are thin, with little mass; they don’t conduct heat very well, and they are fragile. I eventually graduated to a thick baking stone and then improved things further by adding masonry sides and a top, essentially building a masonry box inside my oven. Using this setup, I was able to bake loaves for a portfolio, which helped me to land my job with King Arthur Flour. When I bake at home now, I use the same baking stone that I’ve had all these years, but with much better steaming methods (see Steaming Methods), which have made a tremendous difference.
BAKING STEEL: The baking steel is essentially a thick piece of plate steel that can be used in the oven or on top of the stove. Steel conducts heat better than stone; I like it as much for pancakes on top of the stove as I do for pizza under the broiler. If you are using it in the oven in place of the baking stone, be sure to check the bottom of your loaves during baking, as they will bake more quickly on steel than stone.
SHEET PAN: Heavy-gauge half-sheet pans (18 by 13 inches) are indispensable. They won’t buckle when you are roasting vegetables, and they transfer heat evenly to cookies, scones, croissants, and crackers. I have a couple of quarter-sheet pans as well; they make great seed trays.
ROLLING PIN: I prefer the straight pins with no handles. I have a few different diameters including some small ones, which I cut from dowels purchased for a couple of bucks at the hardware store. They work, as did the discarded broom handles I used in the early days.
Ovens
Round, burning forms shape the center of our oldest community hubs. Evidence of hominids’ use of fire extends back well over a million years. Fire could even be considered a metaphorical womb by modern humans: it brings sustenance, it gathers, and it protects. Perhaps we have evolved more as a direct result of tended combustion than from any other human activity. Our language loves this history. Focus, meaning “fireplace” or “home” in Latin, speaks to the centering nature of the space where heart and hearth combine. Home was born here, near the oven, at the source.
Whether we are using a fireplace, fire ring, deck oven, cob oven, or home range, a learning curve exists, a getting-to-know-you, which takes time. First dates and late nights, fumbling, burning, frustration, comfort, success. Heat is not a passive tool; it will let you know when you are doing it right, or wrong. In the world of baking we have many ways to interact with heat. In broad terms, ovens can be divided into categories. Here are a few examples.
Oven Types
COMMERCIAL OVEN: The oven at King Arthur Flour is a five-deck, three-phase, multiton behemoth three times the size of an industrial Dumpster. It has a propane burner that blows more than 450,000 BTUs of superheated air through masonry channels screaming to 250 or more baguettes. It is touch-screen, computer-controlled, and multilingual, and starts on a programmed timer before bakers arrive. It chimes when a baking program is initiated, counting down the seconds and minutes until the breads are ready. If I press the steam button, measured quantities of filtered water hit rippling plates and vaporize immediately in the bake chamber, moistening surfaces, condensing and gelatinizing crusts.
HOME OVEN: A home oven is a hot box that doesn’t seal very well. If it is gas, a small gas burner in the bottom heats air and thin metal walls, but much of the hot air pours up the vent as fast as it can be added, or dumps into the room at every opening of the oven door. There is no steam and no ability to retain steam should we add it during baking. My home gas oven is new and yet wildly uneven—anything baked on its lower rungs burns on the bottom. Obsessive rotating can help, but continually opening the door has its own poor outcome. In the steaming section (see Steaming Methods), I discuss particulars of gas versus electric. The best option for a home oven is electric. One note: An oven thermometer can be very useful for determining if the oven is properly calibrated. Through experience and regular checks I know that my oven runs 25 degrees cool and that I should adjust accordingly.
MASONRY OVEN: A retained-heat wood-fired masonry oven has no knobs, dials, thermostats, or steaming apparatus. Heat is applied by burning wood, slowly firing over the course of a day, giving unquantifiable heat to the masonry mass in order to draw it back out during baking. Temperature may be roughly judged by how long an arm extended fully into the bake chamber can be held there, or by the length of time it takes for a handful of flour to smoke, then burn, if cast onto the hot baking surface. Before baking, the oven is swept clean of ash and coals and briefly swabbed. There are many great references written on wood-fired oven baking and construction, including Richard Miscovich’s comprehensive From the Wood-Fired Oven; The Bread Builders, by Dan Wing and Alan Scott; and Kiko Denzer’s approachable Build Your Own Earth Oven. Wood-fired ovens did not originally have a steaming function. When fully loaded they will self-steam during baking. As moisture in the loaves exits (bread loses more than 10 percent of its weight while baking) it enters the bake chamber, moistening the surface of the loaves and eventually billowing out.
I will admit that when I returned to home baking after years of working with professional tools, there was some frustration. And I will say (from the other side of this experience) that over time I have developed a relationship with what tools and means I have. The results are not always what I get with professional tools but I am proud of what I make. I sincerely hope that, using the recipes, tips, and guidance offered here, you might find yourself in this satisfied place, proud of your wares, encouraged to proceed.
A Note on Volume and Metric Measurements
Some of the more experienced bakers and mathematicians using this book may notice that the grams and volume measurements do not always correspond perfectly. The recipes began with grams, ensuring great accuracy. Then we converted the recipes to volume measurements, using weights that have been established, or that we determined by having several people measure and remeasure, keeping track of the weights to determine an average weight per cup.
The gram weights were divided by the yield per cup; this led to a decimal format, which was rounded to the nearest measurement in cups and tablespoons. In some cases, the volume amount is slightly more, or slightly less, than the actual gram weight. Based on the author’s best judgment, a few recipes may have more water or less water in the preferment or soaker to ensure a convenient amount to measure by volume. Finally, the recipes were tested at home with only volume used, and readjusted only if the results were significantly different or discouraging. The ultimate difficulty arose in using liquid measuring cups. We tested several brands, with huge discrepancies. Use a graduated beaker for the closest results. If you’re making a particular loaf by volume and the dough doesn’t feel quite moist enough after a fold or two, use a French technique called bassinage (doppio impasto in Italian). Add a few teaspoons or tablespoons of water over the top of the dough, and fold it in. As you perform the folds, the dough will absorb the water, correcting the hydration.
Overall, the recipes work using volume, so please feel free to use this method if that is all you have, but a scale will make your life much easier, your time will be used more wisely, and the baked goods will be consistently delicious.
—LAURIE FURCH