Bakery -- Low Protein Bread
Submitted by dvdlee on August 27, 2004 at 9:59 am

DESCRIPTION
Bakery -- Low Protein Bread

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Yeast Bread/Rolls (not sourdough)

INSTRUCTIONS
Here is a recipe for a low-protein bread that has been formulated for those people that have to restrict their protein intake for medical reasons.

It's not a great bread, except for the fact that it only has 1/2 of the protein of "standard" bread. It is mainly derived from the Italian Bread found in the Bread Baker's Apprentice. I have recalculated the amounts to produce 2 standard loaves baked in pans and tweaked it a little due to the problems of creating a good crumb structure with such a low-gluten bread. In doing the recalculation I used the Bakers Percentage, so everything in the recipe has to be weighed (except the small quantities of yeast, salt, sugar & oil).

You must use the KA Italian Flour for this recipe. This special flour has only 6.7% protein compared to the 12% of standard bread flour. You do not use any vital wheat gluten to help in the development, as the wheat gluten is very high in protein.

Please refer to the storage notes at the end of the recipe. This is not a long keeper, and you'll need to follow those instructions also.

This recipe requires a very strong biga that has a very well developed gluten. I usually let the biga develop 48 hours in the fridge, but you can let it only develop 24 hours if you have too.

7.3 oz. of regular Bread Flour
7.3 oz. of KA Italian Flour
1/2 teaspoon SAF Yeast
10 oz. water (around 85F)

Combine all the ingredients together until well mixed. You may need to add a little more water to form a dough that will come together into a ball. It should still be a moist dough. (I find the Italian Flour a little "damper" than regular flour, so it usually requires less water.)

Put on a work surface and knead gently for around 4 minutes, until the dough is soft and pliable.

Put the dough in a clean, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise until it almost doubles in size (3 & 1/2 hours in my 73F house).

After the dough has risen, remove from the bowl and knead it gently to degas the dough. Return to a clean, oiled bowl and also oil the top of the dough (or spray some oil on it). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 24 hours. I like to let it develop 48 hours if I have time.

All of the biga you have made before
20 oz KA Italian Bread Flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt (1 & 3/4 teaspoons table salt)
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar
1 & 1/4 teaspoons SAF yeast
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon oil (I use a good olive oil)
10.4 oz water

You can mix & knead the dough in a bread machine (If your machine can handle this quantity of dough.) Do not let it rise in the machine -- only mix & knead)

Otherwise, combine yeast, salt & sugar with the flour and mix well (so they will be evenly distributed). Add the flour, biga and oil and mix well. Knead on an oiled work surface with oiled hands. (If you use flour, it tends to add too much flour to the dough.) Knead for around 10 minutes (or around 8 minutes + in a stand mixer). The dough will be slightly tacky, but not sticky. The dough should pass the windowpane test, but it will not be as thin as a regular bread dough, but will stretch out.

Oil a large bowl and add the dough. Roll or coat the dough with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise 2 hours or until doubled.

After the dough has doubled in bulk, remove from the bowl and place on an oiled work surface. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Shape the dough as you would for any dough to be baked in a pan. Place the dough in a oiled bread pan, spay lightly with oil, and lightly cover with plastic wrap. (repeat for the other loaf).

Preheat the oven for at least 45 minutes to 450F.

After the dough has almost doubled, place in the oven. Immediately reduce the heat to 375F. Bake for around 25-30 minutes until the internal temp is 200F.

Remove from pans and turn out onto a rack to cool.

This bread really tastes very good as soon as it has cooled -- fresh from the oven. However, it stales very quickly. It will also get very crumbly quickly.

I take the 4 loaves and cut them in 1/2 as soon as they are completly cool. I wrap 3 of the halfs in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag and freeze until needed.

The remaining half loaf is what I eat at that time.

You can slice this just like regular bread, but you will have crumbs everywhere. I usually cut it on the counter where the dishwasher is, then open the dishwasher and sweep all the crumbs into the dishwasher (lazy lazy man!)