Do you enjoy baking, but find your dinner rolls or cinnamon buns come out poorly risen with a gummy texture? Here are some tips to fix that, which also help with low-gluten breads like rye.
Enriched doughs often include milk, but milk contains a protease enzyme that weakens gluten. Before the 1960s, recipes commonly called for scalding milk (heating to 180°F/82°C) to deactivate this enzyme, but modern cookbooks skip this step, often leading to disappointing results. You can avoid this issue by using dry powdered milk, which doesn’t require scalding because the enzyme is already inactivated.
The same principle applies to yogurt. Scalding the milk first helps yogurt set better, which is why many multi-pots have a "boil" function for yogurt making. You can use this to scald milk for baking too.
Another technique to improve bread texture is scalding part of the flour. Adding boiling water to the flour gelatinizes the starch, improving texture and trapping air bubbles. This technique is known as yudane in Japan. A similar method, tangzhong, is used in China, but yudane is easier to make.
Scalding flour is great for enriched doughs, giving them a soft, pillowy texture and good volume. It’s generally not used for lean doughs (no milk or eggs), which are meant to have a chewier interior and crisp crust. However, it works wonders in low-gluten breads like rye, improving rise, texture, and shelf life.
For all-wheat breads, scald about 20-25% of the flour, but for rye, go up to 30-35%. Use equal parts flour and water by weight, and adjust the rest of the dough to account for the added water. Let the yudane rest for a few hours or overnight before incorporating it into the dough.