Bread
Bread is a staple food made from baked dough, primarily consisting of flour, water, a leavening agent, and various additional ingredients. The process of bread-making has ancient roots, with evidence suggesting that humans have been crafting bread for at least 14,400 years. Initially, early grains were ground and mixed with water to create a paste that was dried in the sun, eventually leading to the development of flatbreads. Over time, the introduction of leavening agents, such as yeast, revolutionized the process, allowing dough to rise and become more complex in texture and flavor.
The art of bread-making evolved significantly through history, particularly with the Egyptians discovering methods to leverage leftover dough to leaven new batches. Various cultures adopted and adapted bread-making techniques, leading to different types and styles of bread worldwide. The industrial revolution brought about commercial bread production, culminating in the innovation of pre-sliced bread in 1928, which has since been celebrated as an important advancement in food convenience. The fundamental bread-making process involves mixing, rising, kneading, proofing, and baking, each step contributing to the final product's texture and flavor. Bread continues to hold cultural significance across societies, serving as both a daily food item and a symbol of community and sustenance.
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Bread
Bread is a food made from baked dough that consists of wheat (flour), water, a leavening agent, and other ingredients. Leavening agents help to make unbaked bread dough rise before it is baked in an oven. Yeast is an example of a leavening agent. The process of baking bread has been around since ancient times.
History
Humans have been making bread since ancient times. They used to eat wheat and then discovered the process of grinding the wheat. They made the ground wheat into a paste by adding water. They dried the paste in the sun. This formed a crusty mixture that was similar to bread. Over time, the paste was cooked over a fire. This made the paste into a type of flat bread. This type of bread was first made at least 14,400 years ago, long before agriculture was developed. The oldest known bread was discovered at an archaeological site in Jordan in 2018, and was probably made of ground-up wild grains and tubers.
Early humans learned about leavening when wild yeast from the air combined with the paste mixture they were drying. The wild yeast helped the mixture to rise. Early bread was very different from modern bread.
Over the years, the Egyptians found a way to make bread rise other than by using yeast. They saved a piece of dough from each batch they made. This dough was put into a new batch of dough and helped to leaven the dough. This process is still used today to make sourdough bread.
The bread-making process eventually spread throughout Europe. Different grains were used. Other ingredients such as fat, sugar, and milk were added. Bread became very valuable. Those who were able to make good bread were very popular.
Over the years, the process became streamlined. Wheat was milled, which made bread look whiter. White bread became the best and most valuable. Bread was able to be made commercially during the industrial revolution when many machines were developed.
The most important development in bread making came on July 7, 1928. This is when the first packaged sliced bread was sold. Before this time, sliced bread was not popular because it became stale faster than unsliced bread.
In 1912, a man from Missouri named Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented a machine that could slice and wrap a loaf of bread. He lost the machine in a fire. He then worked on another machine for the next fifteen years, releasing a new and improved machine in 1928.
The machine sliced bread unevenly, and people were not impressed with how the sliced bread looked. Another man named Gustav Papendick bought Rohwedder's machine and improved it.
The Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri was the first company to introduce presliced bread in 1928. It became very popular when the company Wonder Bread introduced it in 1930. Wonder Bread became the gold standard of white bread. Sliced bread is known as one of the greatest inventions. The phrase "the best thing since sliced bread" came from this important invention.
The Bread-Making Process
Several steps are involved in the process of making bread: mixing, rising, kneading, proofing (second rise), and baking. First, the ingredients are mixed together. The basic ingredients in bread are flour, water, and yeast. Yeast is an organism that feeds off the sugars in grain. It gives off carbon dioxide, which causes bubbles that make the bread rise.
Other ingredients such as salt, fat, or sugar are typically added for flavor. Different grains such as cornmeal or rye flour, as well as other ingredients such as honey, dried or fresh fruits or vegetables, or nuts, can be added to alter the flavor of the bread. The ingredients can be mixed by hand or with a mixer until a dough ball is formed.
After this, the dough is left to rise. This step is called fermentation. As the dough rises, it fills with gas bubbles from the yeast as it grows. This helps to form gluten in the dough. Gluten is formed from the proteins found in wheat and other grains. It helps to make the dough elastic and enables it to rise. Once the bread is baked, gluten is what gives it texture.
The dough usually doubles in size during fermentation. After the dough has been fermented, it must be kneaded, or rubbed with the hands. This releases the large gas bubbles in the dough and spreads smaller pockets of gas throughout the dough. Kneading makes the dough warm and elastic. It stretches the gluten in the bread. This gives bread structure.
After the dough is kneaded, it is cut and shaped into loaves (or other dough shapes such as rolls). Then the dough is proofed (or proved). This means it is given a second rise. Once the loaves (or other dough shapes) have doubled in size, they are ready to be baked.
The heat of the oven causes the gases in the dough to expand. This makes the dough puff up. The heat kills the yeast in the dough. The heat cooks the dough and gives it texture. It turns the dough into bread and gives it a brown crust.
Bibliography
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Thompson, Derek. "Happy Birthday, Sliced Bread! The 'Greatest Thing' Turns 85 This Week." Atlantic. Atlantic Monthly Group. 9 July 2013. Web. 17 Jan. 2016. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/07/happy-birthday-sliced-bread-the-greatest-thing-turns-85-this-week/277647/