Bread Lab curriculum
This page turns the Bread Lab from a baking journal into a structured course. The journal remains the evidence base: step timings, weights, temperatures and flavour notes. But every next recipe should work as a lesson with theory, hypothesis, one principal change and a clear conclusion.
The reference frame comes from modern baking schools and programmes: SFBI, EIDB, Richemont, INBP, AIB, K-State, King Arthur, Le Cordon Bleu and Weinheim. They teach bread not as a collection of random recipes but as a system: flour, formula, dough, fermentation, shaping, baking, quality and sensory analysis. For a home course this system is translated into small batches, clear checkpoints and the equipment that actually lives in a domestic kitchen.
A shared lesson standard
Every lesson on the site must answer seven questions.
| Block | What the lesson must cover |
|---|---|
| Theory | What we study before baking and why it matters |
| Formula | Baker’s percentages, mass, hydration, salt, yeast or sourdough starter |
| Hypothesis | What should change in flavour, crumb, crust or workflow |
| One variable | The main change of the lesson: preferment, cold, flour, zavarka, hydration, acidity, shaping |
| Working sheet | Schedule, completion checkboxes and one comment field per step |
| Sensory analysis | Crust aroma, crumb aroma, taste, acidity, salt, texture, aftertaste |
| Decision | What to do next: repeat, intensify, simplify or move on to the next skill |
What strong programmes teach
| Topic | How it carries into the course |
|---|---|
| Baker’s percentages | Every recipe is read with flour as 100%, so changes become immediately visible |
| Flour and grain | Protein, strength, extensibility, water absorption, whole grain share, rye flour |
| Temperature | Desired dough temperature, water temperature, fermentation speed, risk of overheating |
| Fermentation | Straight dough, poolish, old dough, cold retard, sourdough starter, acidity |
| Dough structure | Mixing, autolyse, folds, gluten development, working with high hydration |
| Rye bread | Acidity, enzymes, starch, pentosans, zavarka, post-bake crumb rest |
| Baking | Stone, steam, temperature, crust colour, internal temperature, mass loss |
| Sensory and quality | Tasting sheet, defects, reference photo, repeatability |
Home adaptation
A professional programme cannot be transferred home one-to-one. The home filter for the course is this: every lesson must be doable in a regular oven, with a 400 to 700 g flour batch, scales, a probe thermometer, a fermentation jar, a tin or banneton, a baking stone, steel or heavy tray, and manual steam.
| Professional topic | Home translation |
|---|---|
| Lab flour control | Record brand, protein, water behaviour, stickiness and dough strength |
| Industrial dosing and production | Keep the formula in baker’s percentages and never change two variables at once |
| pH and acidity | A pH meter helps but is not required; the minimum is starter maturity, smell, rise, taste and crumb stability |
| Deck oven and steam | Stone or steel, preheat, manual steam, dutch oven or tin; record crust colour and mass loss |
| Professional cupping | A short sensory card: crust, crumb, aroma, acidity, salt, texture, aftertaste |
Control questions
Before publishing or starting the next bake, every lesson should pass five questions:
- What exactly is being studied in this lesson and which single variable is being changed?
- Which doneness signals matter more than the timer?
- Which data must be recorded during baking so the conclusion is evidence-based?
- How is this bread adapted to a home oven rather than a bakery?
- Which next lesson logically follows from the result?
Track map
M1: process fundamentals
This block is not a separate bread but the theory that should appear in every recipe over time.
| Lesson | Topic | Why |
|---|---|---|
| M1-T1 | Baker’s percentages and scaling | To see the formula, not a list of grams |
| M1-T2 | Flour, protein and water absorption | To understand why one dough is tight and another runs |
| M1-T3 | Dough temperature | To make the schedule controllable rather than accidental |
| M1-T4 | Fermentation as flavour | So we stop solving every problem by adding more yeast |
| M1-T5 | Baking and mass loss | To connect colour, crust, moisture and doneness |
| M1-T6 | Home adaptation | To translate professional methods into oven, tin, stone, steam and probe |
S1: lean artisan wheat bread
This is the active track. Its goal is to learn how to make tasty bread without enrichment: flour, water, salt, yeast or a little sourdough starter, controlled fermentation and an expressive crust.
| Lesson | Bread | Main teaching topic |
|---|---|---|
| S1-C1 | Basic white control | Process, measurements, bulk fermentation, proofing, honest tasting |
| S1-C2 | White bread on poolish | Preferment as a source of flavour and aroma |
| S1-C3 | White bread with cold retard | Slow fermentation and an overnight schedule |
| S1-C4 | Rustic wheat bread | Whole grain share, grain flavour, balance of white and whole flour |
| S1-C5 | Baguette-batard on poolish | One larger piece, pre-shape, elongated shape, scoring and steam |
| S1-C6 | Ciabatta | High hydration, folds, gas retention, open crumb |
| S1-C7 | Batard on old dough | Salted old dough, total baker’s percentages, maturity and shaping |
| S1-C8 | Sourdough opara with backup yeast | Sourdough flavour with predictable rise, autolyse and cold proofing |
| S1-C9 | Wheat bread with soaked seeds | Seed soaker, water balance, texture and shelf life |
| S1-C10 | Pure sourdough wheat bread | Clean sourdough fermentation without commercial yeast |
| S1-C11 | Sourdough wheat with 30% whole grain | Water absorption, bran, grain flavour and dough strength |
| S1-C12 | Wheat-rye hearth loaf | 25% rye flour, rye sourdough opara, stickiness, acidity and doneness |
S1-A: lean wheat technique
This module deepens S1 without inflating the main numbering. One professional variable changes per lesson: flour strength, water, hydration pause, steam, shaping, scoring and spelt.
| Lesson | Bread | Main teaching topic |
|---|---|---|
| S1-A1 | Flour strength comparison | Protein, water absorption, volume and chew |
| S1-A2 | Water management | Delayed water (bassinage) and dough behaviour at the same hydration |
| S1-A3 | Hydration pause | Extensibility, mechanical load on the mix and structure development |
| S1-A4 | Steam, stone, dutch oven and crust | Score opening, hot surface and the early bake |
| S1-A5 | Shaping and scoring | Seam, tension, scoring angle and ear opening |
| S1-A6 | Spelt | Flavour, extensibility and gentle gluten handling |
S2: soft wheat and enriched-technology bread
Tangzhong belongs here, not inside the lean track. It is a different teaching question: softness, moisture retention, dairy ingredients, sugar, fat and shelf freshness.
| Lesson | Bread | Main teaching topic |
|---|---|---|
| S2-C1 | Soft white on tangzhong | Scalding part of the flour and retaining moisture |
| S2-C2 | Tin-baked sandwich loaf | Even crumb, shape, thin crust, slicing |
| S2-C3 | Milk bread | Milk, sugar, fat, softness and aroma |
| S2-C4 | Enriched base | How fat and sugar change mixing, fermentation and structure |
| S2-C5 | Freshness and storage | Crumb staling, moisture, reheating |
| S2-C6 | Soft bread without dairy | Softness on water, vegetable oil and technique |
| S2-C7 | Soft pan loaf on sourdough opara | Sourdough flavour without sharp acidity |
| S2-C8 | Potato pan bread | Mashed potato, moisture and a soft slice |
| S2-C9 | 40% whole grain soft bread | Water, bran and keeping the softness |
| S2-C10 | 100% whole grain pan loaf | The softness limit without white flour |
| S2-C11 | Cultured-dairy bread | Kefir or buttermilk, crust colour, gentle acidity |
| S2-C12 | Lidded pan loaf | Proof height, square slice and fine crumb |
| S2-C13 | Boiling-water zavarka | A simple flour scald without cooking a tangzhong |
| S2-C14 | Old dough in soft bread | Flavour without double-counting flour, water and salt |
| S2-C15 | Seeds and grains | Soakers, juiciness and protection against drying |
| S2-C16 | Soft rye-wheat pan loaf | Rye flour share in a sliceable pan bread |
| S2-C17 | Pan brioche | Gradual incorporation of 25% butter after gluten development |
| S2-C18 | Softness control | A summary check of softness, freshness and repeatability |
S2-A: softness and freshness lab
This block comes after the main S2: it does not add yet another favourite recipe but teaches how to compare softness methods, storage, shape, slice and whole grain share on a single scale.
| Lesson | Bread | Main teaching topic |
|---|---|---|
| S2-A1 | Softness control scale | A unified protocol for evaluating softness and freshness |
| S2-A2 | 72-hour freshness test | Assessing bread after cooling, then at 1, 2 and 3 days |
| S2-A3 | Less sugar and fat | Where softness rides on technique and where on enrichment |
| S2-A4 | Slicing, wrapping and freezing | Post-bake technology and the perception of freshness |
| S2-A5 | Scaling to the tin | Dough mass, tin volume and baking time |
| S2-A6 | Crumb texture | Fine, fibrous and more open crumb |
| S2-A7 | High whole grain share | 70 to 100% whole grain and the softness system |
| S2-A8 | Acidity control | Opara maturity, temperature and prefermented flour share |
| S2-A9 | Toast versus sandwich | Different slice criteria for different uses |
| S2-A10 | Final tasting | Control evaluation of one formula on the shared softness and freshness scale |
R1: rye fundamentals
The rye track must be more than a list of formulas. Its core is acidity, enzymes, zavarkas, water binding and post-bake crumb rest.
| Lesson | Bread | Main teaching topic |
|---|---|---|
| R1-C1 | Rye-wheat 60/40 | The shift from wheat logic to rye |
| R1-C2 | Dark rye 80% | Acidity, stickiness, shape, doneness |
| R1-C3 | 100% rye-flour pan loaf (Vollkornbrot) | Why rye dough needs acidity |
| R1-C4 | Zavarka (scalded rye flour mash) | Starch, sweetness, moisture and aroma |
| R1-C5 | Seeds and soakers | Water binding, juiciness and crumb stability |
| R1-C6 | 12 to 24-hour rest | Why rye bread cannot be honestly judged straight from the oven |
R2: regional and scalded rye breads
This track is best started after the rye fundamentals. It includes tasty modern and historical loaves but it assumes an understanding of acidity, zavarka and the balance of sweet, sour and spice.
| Lesson | Bread | Main teaching topic |
|---|---|---|
| R2-C1 | Borodinsky | Zavarka, malt, coriander, sweet-sour balance |
| R2-C2 | German seeded rye | Seeds, long shelf life, dense moist crumb |
| R2-C3 | Baltic or Scandinavian rye | Sweetness, spice, long fermentation |
| R2-C4 | Pumpernickel as a technology | Long low-temperature bake and deep colour |
G1: modern grain and aromatic breads
This track is added after the foundation, not instead of it. It covers the modern layer present in strong schools: natural fermentation, whole grain, ancient wheats, seeds, fibres, vegetable and seasonal additions, but without industrial equipment or improvers.
| Lesson | Bread | Main teaching topic |
|---|---|---|
| G1-C1 | Whole grain rustic bread | Grain flavour, water absorption and softness in whole flour |
| G1-C2 | Seeded sourdough or yeasted bread | Soakers, seed hydration, juiciness and storage |
| G1-C3 | Polenta, oats or potato in wheat bread | Crumb moisture and softness without enrichment |
| G1-C4 | Seasonal bread with vegetables or herbs | Flavour, colour, moisture from additions and fermentation |
| G1-C5 | Spent grain or bran | Fibre, fermentation and the crumb density limit |
Q1: sensory and diagnostics
This block must run through every track. Without it the course slides back into a journal.
| Lesson | Topic | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| Q1-T1 | Sensory card | Crust, crumb, aroma, taste, texture, aftertaste, score |
| Q1-T2 | Crumb defects | Density, stickiness, large holes, gumminess, crumbliness |
| Q1-T3 | Fermentation defects | Underfermented, overfermented, weak flavour, sharp smell |
| Q1-T4 | Baking defects | Pale crust, thick crust, dryness, weak score opening |
| Q1-T5 | Batch comparison | What changed relative to the previous lesson and why |
Checkpoint after the 30 April 2026 revision
- Wheat track: S1-C1 stays as control, S1-C2 builds flavour through poolish, tangzhong moves to S2.
- Rye track: R1 starts with 60/40, then a high rye flour share; Borodinsky stays in R2, after the rye fundamentals.
- Modern layer: G1 added for whole grain, seeds, fibres, seasonal additions and tasty breads built on the basic skills.
- Every working sheet: must include a home adaptation and the control questions, not only a schedule.
- Every tasting: records not just a score but the language of flavour: aroma, acidity, salt, texture, aftertaste.
Sources of the teaching frame
- SFBI: Artisan Bread I — systematic approach to bread, formula, mixing, fermentation, preferments and quality.
- SFBI: Artisan Bread II — sourdough starter, sourdough opara, varied refreshments, rye and whole grain breads.
- EIDB: introduction to sourdough — theory, practice and workflow in traditional sourdough bread.
- Richemont: sourdough excellence — pH, temperature, proofing, flour, efficiency and variety in sourdough bread.
- King Arthur: Artisan Bread II — artisan techniques adapted for home bakers: baker’s percentages, preferments, hydration, rye flour, sourdough starter, baguette and ciabatta.
- King Arthur: whole grain artisan breads — whole grain bread in a home oven and storage of flour and bread.
- Le Cordon Bleu: natural ferments — natural fermentation, flour selection, ancient wheats, flavour, aroma, texture and shelf life.
- INBP: aromatic breads, fibres and ferments — aromatic breads, fibres, whole and semi-whole flours, seeds, vegetables and spent grain.
- AIB Applied Baking Technology — ingredients, formulas, baker’s percentages, mixing, fermentation, dough handling and quality control.
- K-State Bakery Science — grain, flour, processes and industrial bread science.
- Weinheim Certified Bread Sommelier — sensory analysis, bread description, global styles, pairings and bread culture.