Tang Zhong Bread

[ElsieD]

I came across an interesting thread recently for making bread using the Tang Zhong method. Basically, you make a roux, cool it, and use this as an ingredient in your bread dough. It is said to keep your bread fresher for longer. Never having heard of it I decided to try it today and rather than baking a loaf out of it, I chose to make sandwich buns. It makes quite a wet dough and it is very elastic due to the (I think) long kneading time. Anyone else ever heard of it? Or maybe everyone has, and I've been living under a rock?

[Anna N]

I came across an interesting thread recently for making bread using the Tang Zhong method. Basically, you make a roux, cool it, and use this as an ingredient in your bread dough. It is said to keep your bread fresher for longer. Never having heard of it I decided to try it today and rather than baking a loaf out of it, I chose to make sandwich buns. It makes quite a wet dough and it is very elastic due to the (I think) long kneading time. Anyone else ever heard of it? Or maybe everyone has, and I've been living under a rock?

Yep.

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/126001-65c-water-roux-bread/?p=1693481

[janeer]

Thanks, Anna, for the link. Somehow I missed that conversation. How would you compare the rolls you link to in the other thread to an American dinner roll, texture- wise?

[carltonb]

There has been great discussion on this method at THE FRESH LOAF website. Just do a search.

It is an interesting technique. I have had good results with it.

 

Chef Carlton Brooks CCE, CEPC

[andiesenji]

It's essentially the ancient "wet sponge" method where hot water and flour were mixed, allowed to cool to "body temperature" and then the "yeast" or sourdough culture was added - fresh yeast or "ale yeast" in much earlier times,  and the liquid allowed to ferment for hours before the rest of the flour was stirred and then worked into it. 

We used this method for German rye bread in my mom's bakery back in the 50s.  It produced a much lighter product even when using 50% rye flour.

 

We also used it for hard rolls to get the hard, thin crust with big open bubbles in the interior. 

[LindaK]

I gave this a try last year and found it very easy, so long as you get the roux right--rather thick and pudding-like--and at the right temperature.  The crumb was super-soft, the crust thin.  It was good, but personally I prefer my bread with more forceful personality so haven't kept up with it.  I'd probably use if for rolls rather than loaves, it seemed awfully soft for sandwiches.

 

It's interesting that Andie says you can use rye (and presumably other non-white flours) with this technique, that might be more to my liking.

 

I found a picture, not of the interior though:

 

 

 

[andiesenji]

I have used this recipe several times - using 2/3 cup of "poolish" or the flour/yeast ferment discussed in this topic that has been "working" for 8 hours -

substituting it for the  1/3 cup of "sourdough starter"  listed in the ingredients.

 

This is a 50:50 white flour to rye flour  ratio, which to my taste is ideal.  Too much rye produces a gummy, heavy bread. 

 

This does require a very long (overnight for me) proofing time and after shaping should be allowed to rise until a finger poked into the dough leaves a small dimple - for me this usually takes an hour in the Excalibur at 85°F.  or 1 1/2 to 2 hours at room temp in the winter - much less in the summer.

At that point the "oven kick" will be at optimum and you will get the nice crumb with about 50% open holes that is the criteria for this type of bread.

[Anna N]

Thanks, Anna, for the link. Somehow I missed that conversation. How would you compare the rolls you link to in the other thread to an American dinner roll, texture- wise?

it was a long time ago. Age does things to memory. And I'm not even sure that I understand the texture of an American Dinner roll. Sorry to be so little help.