September 13, 2017 - 8:43pm
How important are loaf pans for whole wheat bread?
I'm struck that artisan bakers, for example Richard Bertinet and Paul Reinhart use loaf pans for whole wheat bread. Not so much with sourdough but certainly with yeasted bread.
Is there something about the structural integrity of yeasted wholemeal crust that drives this approach or is it only convention?
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since I've made many 100% whole wheat or whole grain loaves without using a loaf pan.
It may be that the loaves that you have seen them working with are highly enriched dough, which more often will be baked in a pan, since the precise shaping and softer sides / crust are generally wanted with an enriched dough for it to be used as a "sandwich" bread.
Beyond using a pan for a particular shape, they are also used for support. A dough that is either too slack or needs to be given a structure to climb will be panned. WW dough (high percentage) tends to be a dense dough. Are they using the pan to increase loft by giving it climbing support?
Doesn't Mr. Bertinet have a web sit for questions? Might be interesting.
Note: The price of fame. Neither has a personal website any longer that I can find. tThey did a long while ago-time flies. Mr.Bertinet has a cookery school that may answer a question and Mr. Reinhart has a blog that hasn't been updated since 2011.