Once available only in major cities, artisan breads and their imitators are now made and sold throughout the United States. By artisan bread, I mean bread made as it has been for centuries, by trained hands. The dough must:

•仅包含面粉，水，盐和发酵（补充成分，例如核桃或橄榄，都可以）亚搏手机版官方

•经历冗长的fermenntation，

• be baked directly on a masonry hearth

The result of these methods is usually bread with more flavor, better texture, and a crustier crust.

Many bakeries and large-scale grocery stores sell bread they call “artisan” but really only offer loaves made from mixes and bases that are baked on or in pans in convection ovens. Others advertise “baked fresh daily,” but only thaw and heat partially baked bread. That said, there is a lot of good bread out there. Here’s how to identify a loaf of authentic handmade bread.

冬小麦面粉和开胃菜是关键

Identifying authentic examples of good handmade bread can be confusing because some bakeries, in the name of creativity, play fast and loose with traditional terms. More common than blatant misnamings are breads that are the correct shapes but use the same dough for several supposedly very different breads. Taste is subjective, of course, but there are objective standards that can be applied to bread.

尽管手工面包是用手制成的，但可以使用一些机械，并且某些工匠面包（例如法国疼痛de mie，在平方锅中烘烤的矩形面包）可以在壁炉上烘烤，并在锅中支撑并且仍然被称为工匠。

Artisan bakers generally use flour from hard winter wheat（而不是硬弹性小麦），因为冬小麦粉的蛋白质质量会导致面团，在塑形和上升过程中会很好地伸展。冬小麦面粉的面团将更容易发酵，提供更好的质地和更好的味道。

Most top-quality artisan breads contain a starterin the form of a yeast sponge or a bakery-maintained starter that’s added to or “fed” on a regular schedule. These pre-ferments give a more complex flavor, better texture, and longer-lasting freshness.

Oven conditions make a difference

The essentials for good artisan bread aren’t a wood fire and European bricks. Good artisan bread requires the following.

辐射热rather than convection. While convection is great for evenly browned pastry, radiant heat results in the color gradations and variations that are a part of what give artisan bread its visual appeal and complex flavors.

Baking directly on the hearth因此，热量会迅速转移，帮助面包快速，彻底烘烤。砖不是绝对必要的。此外，“ Stone Hearth”还有一个浪漫的环，但最常见的是，这实际上意味着一个专门用于面包烤箱的耐热水泥。

Adequate thermal massto keep the oven temperature from dropping too much when bread is loaded into the oven. Insufficient oven heat can give a pale crust, gummy insides, and less volume. (Too much heat can yield gummy insides, too, with a burned crust.)

Steam in the baking chamber，这使裸露的面团表面在烘烤的早期几分钟内保持柔软，因此可以伸展以适应快速膨胀的面团 - “烤箱弹簧”。蒸汽也是良好的褐变和风味的关键。

许多面包的名字都有“壁炉”，但从未碰到炉膛。看看面包的底面。如果微小的逆凹痕覆盖了表面，则将面包烘烤在穿孔的锅中，并且可能在对流烤箱中。

视觉提示揭示了良好的做工

在咬进去之前，您可以说很多面包。亚搏手机版官方成分，面包尺寸，形状和颜色都具有内在品质的提示。一瞥面包的面包屑更加揭示了更多。

A loaf of artisan bread should be symmetrical and seamless,这表明熟练的塑形。除了ciabatta外，形状的面包应是横截面中放松的水平椭圆形，而不是紧密的圆或紧张的垂直椭圆形，这表明面团过于干或不足的时间上升。

外壳应该是浓郁的金棕色，它有助于美味，复杂的风味和酥脆，而不是皮革质地。（知道全麦面包在从烤箱中剥离后的最短时间内才会酥脆。）面包越大，面包皮可以而且应该是越暗，因为一块面包越越多，要烘烤的面包就需要更长的时间。

Razor cuts,这使面包在烤箱中均匀地升起，使面包屑打开，应显示出一定的颜色，每种颜色都带有略有不同的口味。如果面团在切口时看起来很凸出，这通常意味着不足的时间，而面包则是由僵硬的干dough制成的。

面包屑结构应相对开放，with holes (alveoles) of varying sizes, although this will vary somewhat depending on the type of bread. The insides of the alveoles should be glossy, not chalky. If you push on the center of the cut loaf, the crumb should bounce back to its original position. If it compresses, the loaf was underbaked and probably wasn’t thoroughly mixed or fermented.

面包屑颜色应该是奶油黄色对于ciabatta，法式长棍面包，酸面团和白疼痛。这表明面粉没有被漂白，面团没有过度混合（将面粉中的颜料过度混杂）。这是不超过颜色的损失：黄色颜料也带有面粉的大部分风味。

仔细处理首先，一流的成分是关闭的第二次，亚搏手机版官方and a combination of the two is ideal. Because skilled, experienced craftsmanship is so crucial to good bread, choice of flour, proper mixing, adequate fermentation, skilled handling and shaping, thorough proofing, and proper baking are actually more critical to making good bread than using organic flour made from heirloom wheat, natural starters, and a wood-fired brick oven. Both are important, though—and when you get them together, you get great bread.