Hi Andrew, just wondering if you are going to give us some guidance about how to try tangzhong in our own recipes? I have a particular dinner roll recipe in mind that could benefit
I had it in mind to talk about that, but it's complicated enough that it needs to get its own post. (It usually requires a bit of experimentation to get the formula right.) Will put it onto the to-do list!
I have the same request! I'm back here researching this process because I want to bake some breads this week to eat during Christmas week when I'll be away from my own kitchen.
Griesha - Not sure what you mean by "cooked wheat grain", exactly. A wheat porridge? Or whole wheat berries? The former will be similar to oatmeal breads, the latter is something different, though whole berries also add "hidden" moisture that will keep a loaf moist longer. I'll talk about "inclusions" like that another day too.
Griesha - So whole wheat berries are going to interfere with gluten development and strength, so those sorts of inclusions require tricks to keep the structure from falling apart (or you get a dense crumb, which sometimes is nice, as in a German rye).
It is interesting (and mostly ignored) fact that a similar technique was used almost one millenium ago in Al-Andalus (but has unfortunatelly left no trace, at least in Spanish baking). We have written evidence from Ibn-Al-Awamm who in his «Book on agriculture» (Kitāb al-Filāḥa) describes a technique not unlike tangzhong, that he calls "flour water" and which instead using a 1 to 6 ratio uses a 1 to 20 ratio but follow the same principle. He describes the resulting bread as having a certain sweetness and delicate flavour.
Hi Andrew, just wondering if you are going to give us some guidance about how to try tangzhong in our own recipes? I have a particular dinner roll recipe in mind that could benefit
I had it in mind to talk about that, but it's complicated enough that it needs to get its own post. (It usually requires a bit of experimentation to get the formula right.) Will put it onto the to-do list!
Great! I had the same request!
I have the same request! I'm back here researching this process because I want to bake some breads this week to eat during Christmas week when I'll be away from my own kitchen.
You just said about using cooked oatmeal in porridge breads. Did you try to use cooked wheat grain in it?
Griesha - Not sure what you mean by "cooked wheat grain", exactly. A wheat porridge? Or whole wheat berries? The former will be similar to oatmeal breads, the latter is something different, though whole berries also add "hidden" moisture that will keep a loaf moist longer. I'll talk about "inclusions" like that another day too.
I meant a whole wheat berries. BTW, I use cooked rice to add moisture in bread, savory and sweet.
Griesha - So whole wheat berries are going to interfere with gluten development and strength, so those sorts of inclusions require tricks to keep the structure from falling apart (or you get a dense crumb, which sometimes is nice, as in a German rye).
It is interesting (and mostly ignored) fact that a similar technique was used almost one millenium ago in Al-Andalus (but has unfortunatelly left no trace, at least in Spanish baking). We have written evidence from Ibn-Al-Awamm who in his «Book on agriculture» (Kitāb al-Filāḥa) describes a technique not unlike tangzhong, that he calls "flour water" and which instead using a 1 to 6 ratio uses a 1 to 20 ratio but follow the same principle. He describes the resulting bread as having a certain sweetness and delicate flavour.
Ibán - Very cool, I'd not heard that. Will mention it in future discussions of TZ.
Is the picture at the top of this just a variation in shape and size of the Tangzhong Choreg or something else?
yes. That's the roll form. You can see instructions for making it on my Serious Eats recipe
Thanks!