From: Sue B <sb328@columbia.edu>
Subject: German Breads
They would stay out overnight, not face down on a cutting board, and 2 days
later it felt like and tasted like it was fresh from the bakery. This
happened to all breads that I tried. They were from a bakery and the people
swore to me that there were no preservatives. How is this possible? What
are they doing?
Thanks alot for any info on this "miracle bread"
SUE: The secret answer to this "miracle bread" is using the centuries old
technique of sourdough. It is proven that using a sourdough technique will
add "shelf life" to your bread. In Europe they take, on average, 6-7
hours just to get the dough ready to go in the oven ( Mixing, 1st rising,
weighing/preshaping, resting, shaping, retarding, proofing). Some of those
bakers have sourdough starters that they've maintained for hundreds of
years.
Because they use the sourdough to rise the bread, there are no
preservatives in the bread ( just like their beer too- no preservatives
that is!) Please note, that sourdough techniques do not have to make the
bread sour like "San Francisco Sourdough" bread which is acidic and sour
tasting.
The Germans also use a lot of rye flour and spelt flour, unlike us here in
the US who dine on mostly white ( low nutritional ) breads. They use
mostly whole grains for their breads. Sometimes the bread are dense in
texture, but I agree with you, They are some of the best breads I've eaten
throughout my travels.
hope this helps
g