WEEK 6 LAB DATA GROUP 1: BREAD

This lab data is for group 1. In this lab we experimented with baking 3 different kinds of bread. Similar to our previous labs, this took place on Mai Fete island in a pot on open fire.

1. Kneaded Bread (Simple Bread Loaf)

Ingredients:

Flour: 253g

Salt: 5g

Water: 175g

We measured all of our ingredients and poured it into our bowl to mix. After mixing for a while our dough was still very moist and after being advised by Jake, we added a pinch of flour (about 3 grams). This then allowed us to knead the dough better as it wasn’t sticking to our hands and bowl as much.

The mixing and kneading process took about 10 minutes and in the meantime, we began preparing the coals and started to preheat our cast iron pot to about 450°F. Once our pot was ready we put our loaf into the pot while containing the temperature between 450°F. During the process we had to reduce the amount of coals at the top and the bottom to make sure the temperature doesn’t go above 500°F.

Simple Bread Loaf (temperature)

Time (minutes)	Temperature (°F)
0	450
10	437
25	529
30	419
35	390
40	403

The total bake time was 40 minutes and the temperature was checked every 5-10 mins. The internal temperate after 20 minutes was around ~167°F and the bottom of our loaf burned after 35 minutes.

Weight before baking	433 g
Weight after baking	390 g

Experiential/thoughts:

Our group was very surprised at the fact the our bread was edible and tasted pretty good despite not have a starter or yeast involved. Our bread had a great crumb and crust to it and we finished the whole loaf with a couple minutes. Luke noted that this one loaf could be a genuine whole meal for a person especially with some honey on it.

2. Flour and Cheese Loaf

This bread was a 2:1 ratio feta to flour. We mixed 325g of feta cheese with 165g of bread flour along with an egg. The process of baking was the same as for the first bread. We preheated the pot/oven, added bay leaves to the base of the loaf and placed it in.

Time (min)	Temperature (°F)	Internal Temp (°F)
0	458
15	506	85
30	462	150
40	417	187

At the time of removal the internal temperature was around 187°F and it looked done with an interesting orangish color to the crust.

We then proceeded to sprinkle honey and poppy seeds on it and let it rest for about 15 minutes before we cut into it.

Experiential/thoughts:

There were mixed feelings with this one as Madeleine and Linnea like the cheese loaf much better whereas Luke and I preferred the first one more. The first one was less dense, less poten and less bitter and tased very good with the added honey. The second one as Linnea described was more nourishing but a bit bitter and dense.

3. Sourdough Loaf

The third and last part of this lab was the sourdough baking process. For the most part we didn’t record a lot of data on this as we were instructed to bake this based on our experience with the previous ones. And once the internal temperature reached around 209°F we should be good to take it out.

One thing that we found very helpful was the addition of bay leaves to the bottom of our pot. This helped not burn the bottom as much as the first loaf of bread.

Time (min)	Temperature (°F)	Internal Temp (°F)
0	489
5	458	70
10	399	97
15	502	130
24	460	209

It took around 24 minutes for us to finish baking our sourdough loaf. When the internal temperature was around 205 we add a huge amount of coals on top to get a nice and golden crust on the top of our loaf.