[Pizzeria Recommendations in São Paulo and Buenos Aires]

Thanks for the recommendation! We'll add it to our list.

[Pizzeria Recommendations in São Paulo and Buenos Aires]

The Modernist Cuisine team is currently traveling the globe to research pizza and different pizza styles for our next book Modernist Pizza.  Nathan and the team will be in São Paulo and Buenos Aires soon. We'd love hear from the eGullet community—what pizzerias should they visit while they're there? You can read more about our next book Modernist Pizza here. Thanks in advance, everyone! 

[Chemistry in Baking, and "Modernist Bread: The Art and Science"]

On 11/16/2017 at 6:07 PM, scott123 said:

 

Is this the few paragraphs, a synopsis of the few paragraphs or just a snippet?

 

I have certain pizzeria clients in various parts of the world that, for different reasons, can't obtain strong enough flour, so they increase the strength of their dough with ascorbic acid (AA).  I've managed to make 10% protein flours act like 13%.  The one downside that I've seen is that, like the prevention of gray mentioned above, AA's preserving effects seem to prevent the desirable flavor byproducts one strives for in extended fermentation. In other words, extended fermentation is a kind of controlled spoilage and AA seems to work against that.

 

For this reason, and because there are other oxidizers, such as bromate, that are FAR superior dough enhancers, I only recommend AA if you have absolutely no access whatsoever to stronger flour- at least for the home baker. In a commercial setting, the extensibility gained in a lower oxygen mixing environment is something I hadn't heard of and will have to test.

 

How do the Modernists fall on bromate? Are they furthering the paranoia or, like the scientists they paint themselves to be, have they looked at the science to understand it's innate safety?

 

Hi @scott123! Although we don't weigh in on this particular debate in Modernist Bread, bromated flour is included in our overview of types of flour and added ingredients on page 249 of Volume 2. The flours we use happen to be nonbromated because it works best for us, however we believe that bakers should use whatever flour provides them with the best results.

[Baking with Myhrvold's "Modernist Bread: The Art and Science"]

On 11/12/2017 at 6:48 AM, Chris Hennes said:

I ignored the part about sealing the bag. I ran the vacuum cycle five times, then took the dough out of the bag. It was done.

 Thanks for weighing in on this @Chris Hennes. You're correct! You don't have to seal the bag for this technique to work. Most machines will automatically seal the bag just after the vacuum is pulled, but the sealing of the bag in and of itself is not important. What matters most is the vacuum. 

[Baking with Myhrvold's "Modernist Bread: The Art and Science"]

On 11/20/2017 at 8:13 AM, Anna N said:

We had an opportunity to compare notes about our baking and discovered that we were both amused or perplexed by the method of dissolving the salt into some of the water that would be used for hydration. We both came to the same conclusion that the amount of salt and the amount of water was such that that salt would never dissolve.  We had both tried stirring, shaking, heating etc. but there is far too much salt compared to the water to allow a solution to form. The best you can get is a slurry. If anyone can tell me different I’m excited to know. 

 

We also reached the conclusion based on my appearance that a black chef’s coat even one with an eG type logo on it from an eG type workshop long ago (thanks @gfron1) was not the most practical wear if you were going to be baking bread. 

 

@Anna N We love seeing all of your bread! 

 

Try to mix and swirl the salt as best as possible, however the most important thing is that the salt disperses as efficiently and evenly as possible throughout the dough even if it does not dissolve completely in the water. You can also try grinding the salt very finely in a coffee grinder. This will make for a fine particle size that dissolves easily in water.

[Baking with Myhrvold's "Modernist Bread: The Art and Science"]

On 11/19/2017 at 9:46 AM, Anna N said:

Much better.  Far from perfect. I would say it compares favourably with the illustration on page 4-311 of MB even though their’s has a better swirl!   They had lots more time to practice. 

 

 Edited to add: I can skip the electron microscope but I sure would like x-ray eyes to see inside some of these breads without cutting into them!  

 

 @Anna N This bread looks delicious! If you're still looking to create a bigger swirl, we recommend rolling the dough out so that it's thinner and longer as well as spreading the cinnamon mixture more thinly.