Thehearth bread (also known asrustic bread,artisan bread, sometimes "French bread"[1]) is a "freestanding" (made without abread pan[2]) loaf baked at high temperature (up to 500 °F, frequently using steam) that is both crusty and chewy. The higher baking temperatures are possible due to the use oflean doughs. If the dough contains significant amounts of natural sugar (produced during the longer fermentation) or sugars or oil are added to the dough, lower temperatures are used.[3]
Hearth breads are frequently made in a traditional way: a piece of fermented dough is baked on the heated floor of ahearth oven. This type of bread is produced in a wide variety of local shapes and styles and is popular at small bakeries.[4] The well-known shapes includebaguette, batard (a shorter version of baguette with three slashes instead of seven),ficelle, Parisian (a large loaf),boule,Vienna bread, and a crustyhard roll.[5]
The typical traits of the hearth breads include crisp crust with cracks and nut-like flavor, and creamycrumb.[3] They can be produced bystraight dough,sourdough, andsponge-dough processes. The hearth breads can be also made from rye flour (actually, a mix of rye and wheat flour). These breads are popular in Northern and Eastern Europe.[6]
The "French" label points to the European (French and Italian) origin of the best known hearth breads, but the current production is spread worldwide (from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand to Ireland, Israel, and Argentina), and the term covers a wider variety of breads than what is popular in France. For example, the bakeries in France use lean dough, so their products go stale very quickly (hours), North American producers addshortening and sweeteners to adapt the bread taste to the American palate and improve the shelf life (these richening ingredients are disallowed in this type of bread in France).[2]
The uniquely American San Franciscosourdough bread dates back to theCalifornia gold rush of the late 1840s-early 1850s.[6]
The renaissance of small- and medium-size bakeries in the United States and Canada in the late 20th century is directly related to the popularity of hearth breads.[2] The demand for hearth bread in the U.S. began with the natural foods movement in the 1960s and gained popularity across the country through the 1970s and 1980s. By the late 1980s, hearth bread was experiencing a major resurgence in bakeries throughout California, Washington, New England, and New York.[7]
American bakers of artisan breads prefer to use unbleached refined flour with the range of protein content from 11.5 to 14%, ash 0.48 to 0.80% (on the 14%moisture basis,falling number of 250-290 seconds,farinograph absorption of 60±2% and stability of 10±2 minutes. Multiple specialized flours are produced for these bakeries.[8]
When viewed from the baking process perspective, the artisan bread attributes are:[9]
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