Flour, ovens and tools — the bakery's materials and equipment
From grain types and yeast to dough dividers, ovens and the baker's fine tools
A bakery is full of both simple and advanced tools and the quality of your work is closely tied to knowing your raw materials and your equipment. Flour is not just flour and an oven is not just an oven.
§Flour — the most important raw material
Flour comes in many types depending on grain type and milling. Wheat flour has a lot of gluten and gives airy bread, while rye flour has little gluten and requires sourdough to rise. Wholemeal flour contains the whole grain and gives more flavour, fibre and a heavier crumb. As a baker you choose flour type according to what you want to bake, and you learn to read how different flours behave in the dough.
- 01Wheat flour — high gluten content, makes airy bread and rolls.
- 02Rye flour — little gluten, used for rye bread and requires sourdough.
- 03Whole grain flour — the entire grain included, more flavor and fiber.
- 04Durum and specialty flour — for special breads and baked goods.
§Yeast, sourdough and raising agents
The leavening can come from industrial yeast that rises quickly and predictably or from sourdough that rises more slowly and gives more flavor and acidity. For cakes and finer baked goods chemical leavening agents such as baking powder and soda are often used which rise from heat in the oven without fermentation. Knowing the difference is crucial because each method requires its own procedure.
§Machines and ovens
The heavy work in a modern bakery is handled by machines. Dough mixers knead large quantities of dough uniformly and rolling and dividing machines save time. Ovens come in several types — deck ovens with stone slabs for bread and baking carts or convection ovens with hot air for buns and pastries. Many ovens can control both temperature time and steam so you get exactly the result you want.
§The pastry chef's tools
The pastry chef has their own fine set of tools: palette and butter knife for smoothing cream, piping bags and nozzles for piping patterns, cake rings and moulds, thermometers for sugar and chocolate, and a marble slab for tempering chocolate. Precision and cleanliness are alpha and omega because the fine pastries must look professional.
§Beware of your equipment
Machines and tools must be maintained and kept clean — both for hygiene and to last long. Ovens must be calibrated so the temperature is right and knives and moulds must be thoroughly cleaned between jobs. A well-maintained bakery works faster safer and with more consistent quality.
“Know your flour and your oven, then you know your bread.”
— Baking Rule