Week - 2 Bonjour Dr. Maillard and Thank-you

I made fresh baked bread today and then used it for my wife's Mechelle's lunch today. I felt like I accomplished a solo mission on the space shuttle to the moon. Much like space travel, you have a team, formulas, steps and then a finished mission or loaf of bread in my case.

Let me introduce our team: Alisa is to the right of me, and Sunny is behind the camera, and a gentleman, in theory, named Dr. Louis Camille Maillard. We dubbed our team team France.

So Bonjour everybody and let's begin the process of making a French Bread Baguette using the 12 steps in yeast dough production.

The formula:

1 lb 10oz Bread Flour

1/2 oz. Sugar

1 oz. Yeast

1/2 oz. Salt

1 pt. Water Cold

1/2 oz. all purpose shortening

If using this formula at home divide in half.

The term formula is used by professional bakers ( especially bread bakers) instead of recipe. Baking is truly a science based on time and chemical reactions. Hence, we follow a 12 step process:
1. Scaling ingredients

2. Mixing
3. Fermentation

4. Punching

5. Scaling

6. Rounding

7. Benching
8. Make-up and Panning
9.Proofing - at home place wet towel over dough in oven low, in AZ outside

10. Baking

11. Cooling

12. Storing

Following this process and MISSING part of it is how I was introduced to Dr. Louis Camille Maillard and how he will always be part of my team. He was a French Physician and Chemist whose 1912 studies of the reactions between acids and sugars were a major contribution to the scientific community. His studies led to a term called the Maillard Reaction that in baking causes the outer crust of breads and bake goods to brown. This reaction contributes to crust formation and flavor.

So when our French Baggette came out of the oven. Chef Colley (2nd person to the right in top picture) asked us how much sugar we used. He could tell by the color that it needed more sugar. It was light yellowish brown instead of a brown color. Which leads me back to step 1 - scaling; we didn't correctly weigh are sugar correctly for this formula. One thing to keep in mind when you're scaling is trust the scale not what you think. In the formula it calls for 1/2 oz. of sugar meaning pour sugar into the formula until the scale balances for that 1/2 oz. of sugar. Do not just put in a half an ounce. It's a science.

The bread was good and it's great to make some new friends. My wife loves me even more now that I'm baking bread. Life is good and so is the smell of fresh bread.

Houston we have lift off. This is team France signing off.

Week 1 - Setting the Table

Welcome and thank you for reading my commercial baking portfolio/journal/online blog.
My goal for taking this class is personal growth and the pursuit of skills and knowlege development in the wonderful World of Culinary Arts and the Art of Baking, located here beautiful Phoenix, Arizona at Maricopa College, Phoenix campus.

Over the next 16 weeks I would like to share the knowledge that I obtain from this class. I will outline weekly personal achievements and failures. Then provide solutions, recipes or tips to learn and grow from.

Let’s look at a little history of bread to set the table for the next 16 weeks:
“The history of bread is a long one, for bread is one of the oldest prepared foods, dating back to the Neolithic era. The first bread produced was probably cooked versions of a grain-paste, made from roasted and ground cereal grains and water, and may have been developed by accidental cooking or deliberate experimentation with water and grain flour. Descendants of this early bread are still commonly made from various grains in many parts of the world, including lavashs, taboons, sangaks, Mexican tortilla, Indian chapatis, rotis and naans, Scottish oatcake, North American johnnycake, Middle Eastern pita, and Eritrean injera. Flat bread of these types also formed a staple in the diet of many early civilizations with the Sumerians eating a type of barley flat cake, and the 12th century BC Egyptians being able to purchase a flat bread called ta from stalls in the village streets.[1] The ritual bread in ancient Greek offerings to the chthonic gods, known as psadista was made of fine flour, oil and wine.[2] The development of leavened bread can probably also be traced to prehistoric times. “
Source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

I wanted to include this for one reason. Nutritious food is so important to the world today and it’s often over looked. Modern technology has been around for a very small amount of time compared to bread. How many people can and do make their own bread. So the next time someone claims they have an awesome app for their cell phone or computer, I will asked them “can it make homemade bread for me”.
So if you love the smell of fresh bread when you walk into the grocery store, follow me on this journey while I learn something new to share with you.
From my kitchen to yours, I bid you adieu.






Student Baker – Edward Robinson
Student Number 31975827
To view video go to my blog at http://commericalbakingtechniques4home.blogspot.com/