Bake Nouveau Kit
You probably reach this page from the QR on my book (The Art of Bake Nouveau) or the Web.
Here I am introducing you to the Bake Nouveau Kit.
Initially, the kit was just for pizza. Then I started to prepare other things out of it.
My first idea was to produce and sell the kit, but soon I had some people interested in it from Uk, then from Australia… and I realize that I could not provide this kit so far.
So, the Bake Nouveau Kit’s manual became a book, and I am now sharing how to recreate the kit everywhere.
I am going to give you the initial way in which the kit was thought to be. I then want to breakdown the reasons for each component so that you can be creative and combine to fit your baking needs.
This is a “Bake Theorist” job.
The original elements of the Bake Nouveau Kit
On this page, I am going to show you the main ingredients of the Bake Nouveau Kit.
It is made of 4 little bags.
The bigger bag, called Liberty bag, contains a flour mix.
The second bigger bag, called Little bag, contains a strong flour (Bread Flour) with high protein content.
The 2 small bags contain respectively: salt and instant yeast.
Following, you can see all the components one by one.
Liberty Bag
The Liberty-bag is made of:
– 300 g of AP flour (or Italian “0” flour).
85% of the bag.
– 50 g of double Semolina rimacinata flour.
15% of the bag.
– I add an extra Tbspoon (15g) of wheat germ.
See the Liberty bag components details
Little Bag
Salt
Both Sea salt and table salt are ok. Anyway: the first is the best :).
Yeast
The yeast I used in the book’s recipes is the dry instant yeast.
You can decide to use an active yeast by activating it in water first.
Flour
I want to tell you something, and I am pretty sure that many people will not agree with it.
So many people search so much for the best flour. When they could use the same efforts to learn the best process for the flour they have got.
Please do not take me wrong. The kind of flour you use is important, but sometimes less than what we think.
With this in mind, let us move to see what I used for the Liberty bag and why.
Liberty bag components breakdown
Out of all the bags in the kit, this is the more “creative” one. That is why it has the fancier name. Name directly connected with the “Bake Nouveau” idea and my hometown, San Pellegrino Terme.
This is the only one in need of explanation.
The wheat flour
The main ingredient in this bag is a mid-strength flour. Usually, what an AP flour is. Or, to be more specific, the kind of flour used in the Neapolitan style pizza recipe. The most famous is the “Caputo blu,” W 260/270.
PS: the W is a number used by Italian mills to define how “strong” the flour is.
As I said, this flour is mid-strength, so quite versatile. You can use it for pizza, bread, and some sort of cookies, or grissini, or focaccia. You can use it for low fermented dough, but it can also work for a mid-long fermentation in the fridge.
In the Liberty bag, this flour occupies about 85% of the overall weight. (check out the previous photo)
The Semolina flour
Durum wheat, also known as Semolina (Semola di Grano Duro, for Italians), is a wonderful cereal. Despite its amazing qualities, it is not so much appreciate in baking. That’s because its gluten’s proteins are not well balanced.
A dough made with Semolina flour is not much elastic; it breaks easily when you stretch it. The good side is that it can absorb a higher amount of water compared to the regular wheat.
A few of the recipes in my book are quite tricky, made with very high hydration. I know someone will have a hard time performing them. I apologize. However, they are extremely educational (and that is all the point I added them).
The Semolina (about 15% of the Liberty bag) helps the water absorption without compromising stretchability.
Increase the amount of semolina, and you will increase the fibre content in your dough and reduce the glycemic index. But, at the same time, reducing the ability to trap gas from the proofing process. So, a harder time creating an open crumb structure.
Wheat germ
This ingredient is an “extra.” I did not calculate it in the percentage of the ingredients. The amount is minimal anyway.
The wheat germ is the most nutritional part of the grain. It is also the part that we lose during the milling process.
Yes, this is what it is.
After the milling, the sifting process deprives the flour of the germ.
So, as a Bake Theorist, that supports the artisan idea of baking, I had to include the germ back into the flour. It does not change much in terms of the final product. But it is my manner to support the artisan “way to do things”: respecting the ingredients and the form Nature gave them.
However, if you add wheat germ to your dough, you will see little dots on it.
Conclusion
The Bake Nouveau Kit was born, aiming to give the same starting ingredients to everyone.
If we all start with the same products, we can easily compare our processes and learn from each other.