Читать книгу Buns and Burgers - Gregory Berger - Страница 17

1.Start with great ingredients if you want great buns! I almost always use King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill bread flour for all the recipes. Sure, it is a little more expensive, but shop around. I’ve noticed that some stores charge two or three dollars more a bag than other stores. And if you can, buy locally grown and milled flour. You can also buy in bulk!

2.Get pre-cut parchment paper that matches the size of your baking sheets. I get twelve-by-sixteen-inch pre-cut sheets on Amazon. It saves time and frustration, and because they are flat, they won’t roll up on your rolls.

3.Find someone with a chicken, and trade bread for eggs. It’ll make you feel good, and you’ll be like old-timey barterers.

4.Get good equipment. You don’t need top-of-the-line, but get a few nice rimmed baking sheets, the pre-cut parchment, a good dough scraper, and a few brushes for the egg wash. A KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook doesn’t hurt, either.

5.Seventy degrees is the optimum kitchen temperature for rising and baking. Too hot, and the buns can proof too quickly. Too cold, and they’ll take a lot longer.

6.Midway through the baking, rotate the baking sheets for more even browning.

7.Keep your yeast in the fridge in a big Mason jar. On the shelf, those little packets of yeast can get lost between the Jell-O and the mail. But a big ole Mason jar of yeast says “BAKE US! LET’S DO THIS!” every time you open the fridge.

8.PLAN AHEAD! These buns and breads are relatively easy to make: about 15 minutes to mix and kneed, another hour to bulk up, then a few minutes to roll into balls, 2 hours to rise again, and then 20 minutes or so to bake. Easy! But they require uninterrupted blocks of time. You suddenly remember you need to pick up the kids at school…that you need to swing by the bank…and now, mom just called! So try to plan ahead, and make sure that your other responsibilities don’t conflict.

9.Be patient. See number 8. Those kinds of things will happen at some point. Sometimes your buns will overproof and deflate. Or they’ll underproof, because you had to get them into the oven too soon, and they’ll split open funny. Don’t give up! Making buns is a skill that’s going to take a little practice to master.

10.Bake often! You’ll quickly learn what works and what doesn’t. You’ll soon be able to tell if your dough is too sticky (may need to add a bit more flour), or too firm (thank the yeast for trying and start over). Just don’t give up!

BONUS TIP: Get seed toppings like poppy seeds and sesame seeds at a store with a bulk food section. You’ll get a lot more for your bucks, so you can use more, and feel extra generous.