Directions
Soft, airy ciabatta buns with a thin crust that have a wonderful aroma and the possibility to combine them as breakfast or lunch in many varieties.Easy to digest, which make you feel good because of the preparation method with pre-fermentation.
This method of bread preparation, as well as the small amount of yeast that is added, are very important to obtain a higher quality bread that will be easier to digest and will not burden the stomach or cause discomfort.
If we draw a parallel between the way bread is baked today and the way my grandmothers prepared it, I can see that today we have lost the habits of preparing healthy bread.
The quality and composition of the flour may not be the same as before, but the preparation of the bread depends on us, so we can influence that part.
Our ancestors prepared bread from starter called “maya” in Macedonia, and sourdough which is much healthier than what we consume as bread today.
While today’s recipes for breads, buns and various pastries are more frequent, with the use of a large amount of yeast, even a whole cube of fresh yeast (25 grams) on only 500 grams of flour, and from my experience I can say that this method of preparation makes me stomach problems and apart from enjoying the taste while consuming, I have no other benefits.
In recent years, I have been trying to prepare a healthier version of bread, which takes more time, but the end result makes a big difference to a healthier life, and I want to share it on this page as an experience.
One of the bread making methods I use is the pre-fermentation method, which differs from making with the starter in that it uses a very small amount of yeast that is added to a mix of flour and water.
It grows slowly (from 12-16 hours) until it is sufficiently activated and can be used for baking bread.
In this way, a better texture and depth of flavor is created in the pastries and breads.
It is enough to prepare bread this way once to feel the difference.
Ingredients
500 grams of bread flour
400 ml of water
1 gram of dry yeast
8 g of salt (1 teaspoon)
Preparation
Pre-fermentation
During the preparation of the pre-fermentation, part of the total amount of flour and part of water is used, while the water should be cold, as well as the yeast.
200 ml of water
200 g of bread flour
1 gram of yeast
The dry yeast is added to the flour, then mixed to incorporate ingredients well. When all combine add the cold water and mixed with a wooden spoon until the ingredients become dough-like. Cover the dough with with plastic wrap and left in the refrigerator for 12 to 16 hours or overnight.
Preparation of buns
After the yeast from the previous (first) day has grown enough, remove the dough from the refrigerator, then in different bowl add 200 ml of cold water and 8 grams of salt, mix to dissolve the salt and added to the prepared fermented dough, mixed with a spoon to even out the ingredients and finally add the flour.
Next step is kneading the dough, so you can knead the dough with a mixer for 5 minutes or by hand several minutes, or until it is smooth.
Keep in mind that this dough has a lot of hydration and is can be sticky more than the usual dough, it resembles a soft dough, so you can use a spoon when kneading by hand, but do not add extra flour.
Once the dough is smooth and has a smooth texture, transfer it to an oiled bowl, spread oil on the surface and cover it with plastic wrap. Leave it at room temperature for 45 minutes.
The prepared dough needs to rise well before baking, and to make it airy, let it rise 3 times for 45 minutes.
At the same time, every 45 minutes, with hands wet with cold water, and make coil foil, or lifted the dough from the bowl and rolled into a ball four times, no more, in circle, then covered with foil, and this procedure repeat for three times.
At the end of a well-floured surface with a thicker layer, (you can use cornmeal or semolina flour), then turn the dough directly from the bowl onto the floured surface.
Then sprinkle the surface with flour. After this don’t knead or touch the dough, just cut it into 4 or 6 parts with a floured spatula, depending on the size of the buns you want and transfer them to a baking pan.
Let them rest for 20 minutes before baking, covered with a cloth.
Baking Method
If you use a standard oven for baking, heat the oven to a maximum of 230 degrees and place a pot of water under the rack on the lower part to warm it up nicely. In this way, you will give the buns moisture and crunch.
If you bake them in pizza oven or stone oven, you will need a shorter time, about 2-3 minutes.
The best temperature for baking that im using is 300-350 degrees.
These buns are great as a cold sandwich, I recommend you try them in combination with Macedonian Ajvar, mortadella, kajmak (milk cream) and some green salad. Other recommendation is slightly toasted with hot beef kebabs with chopped onions a wonderful meal at any time.
You can find both recipes in the links below.
Have a good appetite!
