Lithuanian hala. cold fermentation
Ecology of life: Health. Until the end of the 19th century, mankind did not know about the existence of yeast. Nevertheless, people somehow managed without them - brewers brewed beer, and bakers baked various rolls-bagels-bread.
The ancient method of making bread
Until the end of the 19th century, mankind did not know about the existence of yeast. Nevertheless, people somehow managed without them in everyday life. And at that time, brewers brewed beer, and bakers baked various rolls, bagels, bread. All this was possible thanks to the processes of natural fermentation that were actively used at that time, launched without the participation of other organisms.
Obtaining bread sourdough, consisting of natural yeast and lactic acid, is the first and obligatory step in making bread according to the traditional old method. The natural process of flour fermentation produces carbon dioxide, thanks to which the bread dough acquires the ability to rise without the addition of cultivated yeast.
Self-grown in sourdough, yeast produces enzymes that can catalyze the process of hydrolysis in flour gluten, in other words, help break down the complex protein bonds of problematic gluten. Hydrolysis in this case is the breaking of long-chain bonds into shorter ones - peptides and amino acids.
Sourdough bread has other bonuses as well. Like other fermentation processes, the bacteria present in the sourdough (lactobacilli) "eat" the starch (carbohydrates) from the flour. The result is a product with a reduced content of starch (carbohydrates), which favorably affects blood sugar levels. Thus, the lactobacilli of the sourdough, with which the bread is made, not only give it a special taste and desired texture, but also turn it into a kind of “medicine”, which also promotes the healing of damaged intestinal walls. And the presence of lactic acid protects the product baked on bread sourdough from premature spoilage (development of mold).
Growth of bacteria in the amount necessary to raise a loaf of bread is a very long process and can take from 3 to 10 days. Subsequently, the finished sourdough is added to the flour along with other dough ingredients.
For a long time, this method of making bread was the only one capable of making bread dough rise. Unfortunately, with the development of large-scale industrial bakery production, this valuable method was replaced by more profitable high-speed methods of making bread and received the title of "obsolete". However, the “well-forgotten old” has recently become more and more popular, including among people who have a difficult relationship with gluten.
For reference:
Cereals, like legumes, contain phytic acid in the whole grain, but most of all in its shells. This acid combines with certain minerals present in the gut to form insoluble phytates. This prevents the absorption of minerals in our body such as zinc, iron, magnesium, copper and phosphorus (demineralization process). Fortunately, under the action of phytase (an enzyme that is activated in sourdough), phytic acid is destroyed. The higher the percentage of flour purification, the greater the content of phytic acid. The more the dough is fermented, the more time the sourdough phytase has to release minerals from its association with phytic acid. In addition, the process of dough fermentation is, as it were, a digestion process that begins outside the stomach. (Materials of Wikipedia).
The results of the studies conducted suggest that, in this form, the amino acids from gluten do not pose an equally great danger to people with intolerance or sensitivity to it. Bacteria in the process of making bread, as it were, take on the task of breaking down the gluten of wheat (or other cereals) into smaller fragments, partially performing the work usually assigned to the digestive tract.
In 2011, a clinical experiment was conducted to identify the effect of the fermentation process on the breakdown of gluten in wheat flour and its effect on the body of celiac patients. The experiment involved 16 people with a diagnosis of celiac disease. All participants were divided into 3 groups. The experiment continued for 60 days. The control was carried out by markers of autoimmune reaction (blood test in the interval of 30 days and 60 days and biopsy of the small intestine at the end of the experiment). Four participants from the first group were “withdrawn from the race” because during the experiment they had symptoms of a worsening disease.
- First group It was suggested to use ordinary wheat bread.
- Second group received bread from wheat flour, prepared by the method of partial fermentation.
- Third group ate wheat bread baked according to the old method of long fermentation.
The results of the experiment were as follows:
- It was found that the amount of gluten was significantly reduced during fermentation.
- Four participants in the first group showed clinical manifestations of enteropathy during the experiment. All participants in the first group who completed the experiment showed a significant increase in autoimmune response markers. The results of the biopsy revealed significant damage to the villi of the small intestine.
- In the second group of participants, there were no cases of clinical deterioration, but the results of a biopsy and markers of an auto-immune reaction indicated the presence of negative manifestations (inflammatory process).
- Participants in the third group showed no negative changes after 60 days, neither in the results of biopsy, nor in terms of markers of autoimmune response to celiac disease.
Thus it was The positive effect of bread sourdough on the reduction of gluten toxicity was shown.
It is still too early to judge, based on the experimental data, how dangerous (or safe) it is for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity to include wheat bread made according to the old sourdough method in the diet. I propose to leave this problem to experimental scientists and not to experiment on yourself. But for many of us, the facts described above may interest or even inspire us to try out a new, well-forgotten old way of making sourdough bread from gluten-free cereals.
Let me remind you that We call them gluten-free conditionally, because All grains contain gluten protein. Some grains may contain more of it (“gluten” - wheat, rye, barley), while others (“gluten-free” millet, rice, etc., as well as non-cereal buckwheat and quinoa) - less (not such a dangerous amount) . The concept of gluten includes more than 400 types of amino acids, different in structure and degree of aggressive effect on the gastrointestinal tract and the human immune system.
Compared with the conventional method, the ancient method of making bread, based on the process of hydrolysis - the long-term fermentation of cereals, is much more useful. Not only does this bread taste good, but it helps to ease the digestive process and boost the body's immune system, thanks in part to natural pre- and probiotics.published
If you have any questions on this topic, ask them to specialists and readers of our project
The main tasks facing the modern baking and brewing industry are to increase production efficiency, improve product quality, and reduce its cost.
The use of enzymes in baking makes it possible to balance the content of natural catalyzing compounds in the grain of different crops, which ensures the standardization and constancy of flour properties. However, enzymes can also replace various chemical agents used in baking and confectionery production.
It is known that the quality of wheat flour depends on the chemical and biochemical composition of the wheat grain and is determined mainly by its two indicators: the sugar-forming ability and the "strength" of the flour, which determines the gas and shape-retaining ability of the dough. The chemical composition of grain and its biochemical parameters are influenced by a number of factors, such as varietal and species characteristics of wheat, climatic and weather conditions for growing, agrotechnical measures, etc. A variety of wheat varieties and growing conditions leads to grain with different quality indicators, and consequently flour with different gas-forming and gas-retaining capacity. The domestic baking industry annually processes significant amounts of high-quality wheat flour with medium and low baking qualities. When working with such flour, in order to obtain good quality bread, it is necessary to improve both the sugar-forming and shape-holding ability of the flour, which is achieved through the use of enzyme preparations.
The action of enzymes in the dough
Any flour contains three important components: starch, pentosans and gluten protein. The dough not only absorbs water, but also matures during the cooking process. The ratio of these substances in flour affects the maturation process of the dough and the quality of finished products. However, these substances absorb moisture differently. Starch, which accounts for 68% of the mass of wheat flour, absorbs 50% of moisture. Gluten (the content of which in flour is about 12%) adsorbs 27% of water, and pentosans, which are only 3% in flour, absorb 12% of moisture.
Some of the enzymes are already initially contained in the grain itself and are always involved in the process of bread production. The essence of the work of enzymes is the breakdown of starch into sugars, which serve as nutrients for the yeast cell; proteases loosen the dense structure of the gluten protein. However, the level of enzymes originally contained in flour is different in different varieties of cereals, depending on the year of harvest and many other factors, hence the fluctuations in the quality of bread produced. To some extent, it is possible to enrich the dough with enzymes by adding malted flour or vegetable raw materials, however, the spectrum of action and the ratio of enzymes in such additives do not always meet the requirements of modern technologies and consumers.
Enzymes of microbial origin completely eliminate the dependence of the baker on the variability of the composition of the feedstock and in each case allow you to choose the most appropriate proportion. In this case, the stability and rise of the dough can still be improved.
There are several theories explaining the action of hemicellulases. Their essence boils down to the fact that the enzymes of this group break the polymer molecules of insoluble wheat pentosans to soluble high-molecular fragments. The latter are characterized by high water-binding capacity and interact with proteins, forming stable protein foams with developed air-filled pores. As a result, the dough becomes resistant to settling and rises well during baking.
Hemicellulases used in baking are obtained from microbial cultures of the genus Aspergillus. Moreover, such enzyme additives are better adapted to the pH of the dough and provide excellent stability and excellent quality of French white bread. But hemicellulases, synthesized by microscopic fungi of the genus Trichoderma, make the dough very soft due to the fact that they break down hemicellulose into smaller residues. This greatly reduces the viscosity of suspensions of wheat and rice flour, which is highly desirable for the preparation of dough for biscuits and wafers.
A new enzyme for baking - transglutaminase - promotes the formation of cross-links between gluten protein molecules and thus improves the rheological properties of the dough during baking. Perfectly complementing other baking enzymes, transglutaminase enhances the gluten protein and contributes to the formation of optimal dough characteristics.
Dough stabilization
A clear and at the same time simple way to determine the stabilizing effect of enzymes on the dough is the so-called settling test. A test on a baking dish filled with dough is placed on two wooden planks, which are then removed with a sharp movement, and the dough settles under its own weight. During subsequent baking, the stability of the dough can be easily determined visually by the relative rise.
The stabilizing effect of enzymes is also used in the manufacture of products with a high fiber content. For example, with a high content of bran in the recipe, the optimal ratio of starch, gluten and pentosans is violated, which leads to a deterioration in the properties of flour. In the presence of enzyme additives, the main components of the flour are stabilized and the effect of fiber does not affect the baking result.
In recent years, more and more bakers are using delayed fermentation dough and frozen dough pieces for the manufacture of bakery and confectionery products. In such technologies, the dough is frozen while it is in the process of fermentation or after pre-fermentation. Naturally, cooling and storage at negative temperatures greatly affects the properties of yeast dough, and in such extreme conditions, enzyme supplements again come to the rescue.
Keeping bread fresh
Every year, a huge amount of ready-made bread and dough products is thrown away, as the products become stale. The cause of staling is considered to be the so-called retrogradation of starch. As a result, the structure crystallizes, which causes the sensation of stale bread. If this process is prevented, the product will remain soft and fresh longer.
For this, enzyme preparations are proposed that affect the structure of the dough and increase the shelf life. Such enzymes modify starch and other components, inhibiting the retrogradation process.
In the manufacture of pies and crackers, it is very important that the structure of the protein in the dough becomes plastic and strong, and the elasticity is weakened. In a number of other products, on the contrary, it is desirable that the gluten protein soften. In both cases, enzyme supplements will give an ideal effect.
The addition of enzymes is very beneficial in the manufacture of wafers. A fluffy waffle batter (a suspension of flour in an aqueous medium) requires flour with a low level of protein. The introduction of proteases just promotes the breakdown of gluten protein and prevents protein coagulation. The dough is obtained without lumps and does not clog nozzles when poured into baking molds. Enzyme preparations have a beneficial effect on the viscosity of the wafer dough even at a low water content, which reduces energy consumption for pumping the dough and evaporating moisture during drying. Finished wafer sheets are homogeneous and less brittle.
Replacement of chemical agents
When preparing a test to achieve certain characteristics, it is widely practiced to add various chemicals. Many bakers still use them (for example, potassium bromate is used as an oxidizing agent). However, in addition to the oxidizing effect, potassium bromate increases the strength of the dough. As a result, during kneading, energy consumption increases, and when baking in the presence of potassium bromate, the dough rises strongly.
You can loosen the dough somewhat if you add ascorbic acid during kneading. But for the same purpose, it is better to add an enzyme, which helps to relax and stabilize the dough. At the same time, energy consumption for kneading will also decrease, and the dough will rise well naturally.
In the practice of baking, metabisulfate is often used as a reducing agent. If protease enzymes are used instead, the dough is very docile and easy to make pies from.
Replacement of emulsifiers. Emulsifiers, which are part of baking improvers, are compounds that make the dough mass more homogeneous. Most of them are chemical agents, and researchers have actively tried to replace them with natural biological substances. They are enzymes.
It must be said that in recent years the development of technologies used in the baking industry is largely due to the introduction of various improvers and enrichers. Hundreds of new ingredients are developed and introduced annually, among them enzyme preparations and additives have a number of advantages. The main ones are natural origin and high specificity of action, which makes it possible to ensure the absolute environmental friendliness of finished products and the absence of negative effects that appear in the later stages of technology. In addition, in practice, enzymes allow bakers to expand the range of their company and save both raw materials and energy.
The advantages of the technology of long-term fermentation of test semi-finished products are based on the fact that the longer the flour components swell and the enzymes act, the more the taste and aroma of baked bread develop. It is simply impossible to increase the duration of fermentation, since the semi-finished product under normal conditions reaches the required degree of maturation in a certain time. An increase in the duration of each stage can be achieved by reducing the temperature regimes.
Decades ago, refrigeration technology for bakeries assumed that the dough piece containing yeast cells should be cooled as quickly as possible to a temperature below the dew point. To do this, the units used high-performance fans and bulky evaporators. Blowing blanks with frosty air led to a noticeable increase in energy consumption and airing of the semi-finished product. Shock freezing reduced the volumetric yield of products by 10–15% and required appropriate defrosting.
The experience of recent years shows that instead of shock freezing, it is promising to control the temperature of the semi-finished product at all stages, from the preparation of dough to proofing.
Proofing at low temperatures is considered the most convenient, when the molded blanks are placed in a refrigeration or climatic chamber. In this case, it is possible to use various temperature regimes providing, for example:
- slowing down the fermentation of the dough by lowering the ambient temperature to 3-5 ° C for a period of 8-12 hours;
- lowering the temperature to “freezing” the workpieces, followed by a gradual rise in temperature;
- change from normal fermentation temperature to sub-zero temperatures, then heating to 14°C for proofing, followed by an increase to normal values in the final stage before baking.
The effect of new technologies of cold dough preparation depends on the characteristics of the bakery, the range of products produced, logistics conditions, etc. However, practice in all cases has shown that in addition to a significant improvement in product quality, there is also significant energy savings (up to 45%). In particular, in classical shock freezing installations, the speed of air flows is 15–20 m/s, and in new climatic installations it does not exceed 2–3 m/s, which significantly reduces energy consumption and drying of workpieces.
As an example, we can consider the technology of cold dough preparation for the classic recipe for wheat flour buns. For cold dough making, a long kneading at low speeds of the kneading body is recommended. At the same time, water penetrates better into protein structures, and the amount of moisture on the surface of the dough decreases. It also helps keep the product fresh. It is recommended to reduce the amount of yeast to 1.5–2%, and add salt at the final stage of kneading.
The presence of an installation for the production of flake ice allows you to provide the desired temperature of the dough. The temperature of the dough at the end of the batch should be 23-25 °C. Increasing the temperature of the batch above 26 °C leads to an increase in enzyme activity. At temperatures below 22 ° C, the dough remains immature, develops too slowly.
At the end of fermentation in bowls or continuous action apparatus, after punching and resting for 10-15 minutes, the semi-finished product is cut, and the molded blanks are laid out in special plastic trays. A stack of trays is sent to the chamber for removal of warm air for 20 minutes, and the workpieces are cooled to a temperature of 5 °C. Blanks can be stored at low positive temperature range up to 36 hours. Under such a temperature regime, yeast activity is minimized, which increases the time for the manifestation of the action of enzymes that increase the aromatic and taste characteristics of the product.
The degree of fermentation and the temperature of all dough pieces by the beginning of a long cold proofing should be the same. For this, buffer cooling chambers or installations for removing warm air from stacks of pallets with blanks are used. Since air is sucked out of the chamber under pressure, cooling is faster and more efficient. When comparing the principles of traditional cooling and air extraction, the latter turns out to be more gentle on dough pieces, since a much smaller volume of air is set in motion.
When cold air is supplied, the central part of the pallets with dough pieces gets cooled later than the semi-finished product at the edges. When extracting warm air, cooling of all blanks occurs evenly without airing the semi-finished product. This also ensures that all workpieces are at the same temperature. After cooling, the dough pieces can be sent to refrigerated chambers for final proofing, cold storage or delivery to retail outlets. When transporting chilled dough pieces up to 2-3 hours (at a temperature not exceeding 20 ° C), additional cooling or the use of refrigerators is not required.
Technologies cool down from Wachtel-Stamm, Aroma Cooler from WP, Smartproof from Miwe use this method of extracting warm air through specially tuned fans. The temperature inside the blanks is controlled by thermometers, which guarantees uniform cooling of all blanks. Such technologies are equally applicable for both large and small batches of semi-finished products.
Technology Patt Swiss company KolbKalte is based on the principle of ensuring exactly the same temperature on the surface and inside the dough piece. This technology is recommended to stabilize the structure of non-proofed dough pieces, which are sent to cold storage without a proofing phase. The cooling of the semi-finished product is carried out very gently. The temperature of the dough pieces is gradually reduced from 20 to -5 °C, which leads to a slow process of maturation of the semi-finished product. The relative humidity in the chamber is almost 100%.
Before baking, blanks can be stored for 24 hours or more. In the future, they can be delivered to points of sale or baked in batches at the main production. This technology ensures the natural and intensive development of the taste and aroma properties of the product. The energy consumption in this case is much lower than in blast freezers.
Ensuring accurate characterization of the air humidity in the chamber is of great importance. In systems of different manufacturers, humidification of the air in the chamber is carried out in different ways, but the general principle is that the smaller the drops of water vapor, the better the atmosphere in the chamber. Typically, water vapor consists of moisture particles ranging in size from 100 to 150 microns, which fall at a speed of about 100 cm/s. In modern air conditioning systems, devices are used to create water vapor, the droplet size of which is only 1 micron. Such drops fall much more slowly - at a speed of 1 cm / s. In this case, a light fog “hangs” in the climatic chamber, which envelops the cooled semi-finished products in storage or slow ripening mode.
The smallest drops of water vapor spread evenly throughout the entire volume of the chamber and constantly in time, which contributes to the optimal flow of biochemical and microbiological processes, protects the workpiece from winding and shrinkage. A very fine mist of water can be obtained by using special high pressure nozzles. Due to the use of reverse osmosis and ultraviolet irradiation in the water preparation system, a high degree of purity and hygiene of the semi-finished product is achieved, the absence of calcium deposits in the spray system.
Technology cool rising from Wachtel is designed for controlled proofing of workpieces during their cooling. Dough pieces at a temperature of 20 °C are loaded into a climatic chamber and cooled to 3 °C within 6 hours. At this temperature, the blanks can be stored for up to 48 hours. After a long cold storage, in which fermentation processes take place slowly, the blanks can be immediately served for baking. The advantage of the climate control system of this company is that the temperature regimes can be set a week ahead, taking into account the specific production program of the enterprise.
Miwe's automatic climate chambers GVA can also be programmed in advance to ensure that the semi-finished product is loaded into the oven at a pre-planned moment. If necessary, you can automatically increase the temperature in the chamber and carry out the final proofing phase at 20-30 °C.
KOMA (Netherlands) manufactures fully automatic climatic chambers CDS SunRiser for long-term dough preparation technologies. The microprocessor control of these chambers allows precise control and regulation of the temperature and relative humidity of the air, as well as the degree of its circulation in the chamber. The temperature ranges of this unit make it possible to implement various options for conditioning test semi-finished products to slow down and interrupt fermentation, low-temperature storage, and shock freezing of finished products.
The use of cold in the technological processes of baking requires deep knowledge, highly qualified personnel and modern equipment. The combination of low temperature and the duration of the individual stages of the technological cycle must be chosen and implemented very carefully, only possible with high quality technology. European machine builders have developed and implemented refrigeration and climatic chambers with control systems that provide programmable cooling and heating over a wide temperature range.
Experts note that the main advantages of long-term dough preparation through the use of cold are as follows:
- significant improvement in the taste and aroma of baked products;
- improvement of the structure of the crumb and the color of the crust;
- the ability to store the spaced dough pieces for many hours without loss of quality;
- convenient delivery of test pieces to points of sale without special air-conditioned transport at any time of the day;
- reduction (by about 20%) of the required amount of yeast and improvers.
There are many options for making fermented tea online. Which recipe to take is up to you. I will tell you how I make tea, without discussing whether this is the best way or not. I leave this recipe for my friends who ask me how I ferment tea.
Collection.
Grass can be harvested all summer. But the best time, in my opinion, is May-June. At this time, the leaf is juicy, tender. While the grass has not blossomed, there is still a lot of strength in the leaf itself. The leaf is not yet coarsened, not damaged by snails and insects. It is often cool in June, and the first half of the day, when the dew has already disappeared, and there are not very many mosquitoes, it’s the most to collect.
I rip off the sheet. With one hand I hold the upper part of the stem, but not at the very top - otherwise you will break off. With one little finger of the other hand, I grab the stem so that the big thumb of the hand looks down. I run it down like a combine to the lower withered leaves, and all the leaves are in my hand. With this method of collecting a leaf, the plant remains alive.
I collect a lot. A lot because the leaf shrinks significantly during fermentation, and then it also dries out. For fermentation, we significantly deform the internal structure of the leaf so that the maximum amount of juice is released, without which fermentation will not work. Then, Ivan tea is still a herb, not a shrub, like Ceylon tea. The grass leaf is two or three times thinner. Accordingly, three times more tea is required compared to Ceylon tea for the same volume of boiling water. But it is interesting that exposure (exposure) when brewing tea takes much longer than Ceylon and Chinese teas.
Sorting.
After picking, after you get home and open the bag with the leaf at home, you can notice that the bag is warm - the leaf has warmed up in it and “hear” the delicate flower aroma of tea. It's not just the smell of green leaves. This is a complex aroma in which gentle notes of flowers, dried fruits, strawberries are guessed. Wonderful scent! This is the beginning of fermentation!
I spread the sheet on the sheet,
and then, taking several leaves, I slowly begin to sort the sheet and put a good sheet back into the bag. I inspect the leaf, paying attention to the underside of the leaf - there are often snails and insect larvae. Of course, if someone likes tea with meat, you can not bother)
Easy squeeze.
I do not leave the tea sorted and reassembled into a bag to dry, contrary to the advice of many. I consider dry-drying even harmful, because a lot of moisture is lost during drying, and on the contrary, we need this moisture. (Of course, this rule will not work if you harvested wet grass). So, I take a zhmenka leaf from a bag and lightly, trying not to damage it much, roll the leaf into a loose lump.
At the same time, the sheet shrinks a little, by itself it becomes sluggish. It will be easier for such a sheet to reach the condition when it is possible to roll the sheet for the main fermentation.
Primary cold fermentation.
I fold this slightly compressed sheet into a bag. I squeeze the bag tightly, tie it up, turn it upside down, put it in another bag. The whole thing can be squeezed even more by tying it with a rope. I leave the bag in a cool place for a day or two. You can put the bag in the refrigerator. The main thing here is that it should not be hot, otherwise the sheet will spray, “burn out”.
deep grimace
To prepare the sheet for curling, you need to achieve a uniformly wet and limp sheet. To do this, during the primary cold fermentation, at least once, the leaf must be deeply compressed. If there are a lot of raw materials. then the raw material is laid out in a basin and kneaded like ordinary dough. It is important not to damage the sheet. Knead carefully, without fanaticism. If there is not much raw material, then you can repeat the procedure of light antics, but with stronger pressure, twisting a pinch of leaves into a ball.
Twisting.
The next day, or even the next day, when you untie the bag and look at the leaf, you will see that the leaf has become even more lethargic, darkened, became wet, juice came out.
The sheet should look something like this.
Ready for twisting, I take the leaves and twist them, like from plasticine, into cigars / sausages. The main thing here is to handle the leaf gently; don't overdo it. It is important for us to extract the juice, make the leaf wet - to destroy the internal partitions of the leaf, while not destroying the leaf itself. It is important not to ruffle it into a rag. In general, any herb retains its taste better if it is less damaged. Wet and twisted into a sausage sheet does not fall apart. It looks like this.
Ramming
Then I dismantle the resulting cigar and put the sheet into a container. As the container fills, I tamp down the layers of leaves with my fist. I press hard. So the sheet is fermented better and more evenly.
Many recipes do it differently. The leaf, twisted into sausages, is folded in tight rows and left to ferment like this. I prefer to compact the sheet evenly and tightly. But this is a matter of taste.
Basic cold fermentation.
I tightly cover the dishes with a bag / lid so that moisture does not come out, and put them in the refrigerator. My wife and I noticed that the most delicious tea is obtained after slow cold fermentation. You can ferment in the cold for up to a week. The longer the tea is fermented, the deeper fermentation it achieves. The taste, of course, is different for tea with different fermentation depths. You can experiment with the depth of fermentation yourself by selecting some of the raw materials for hot drying. The finished fermented leaf will have a dark green, sometimes almost brown color.
Half fermented tea looks like this. 
Hot fermentation - hot drying.
Hot fermentation and hot drying are two different processes going on at the same time. The oven warms up from 80 to 100 degrees, not higher, otherwise you will burn the sheet and ruin everything. And not lower, otherwise the sheet will not be fermented hot.
Lay the cold fermented leaf on a baking sheet in one layer, not thick. We put in the oven. Do not close the oven door completely. Leave a gap with a wine bottle cork. During hot fermentation, the leaf darkens. We make sure that the sheet dries evenly, from time to time we take out the baking sheet and turn it over, mix the sheet. It is important not to overdry the sheet. The sheet should break, but not crumble. There should be no burnt smell. On the contrary, a lot of flavor is released during stoving. The smell in the apartment is amazing! It is difficult to describe in words this complex aroma, in which there are many tones, halftones and nuances, among which, it seems to me, flowering meadow herbs, apple blossom, strawberries, dried fruits predominate. Where does such a richness of aroma come from in a green leaf?
Ready tea. 
Cold drying. Storage. dry fermentation.
After hot drying, it is very important to dry the tea, to withstand the tea for two or three days. Ready tea is scattered on a sheet, or on paper, and left to dry in this form. It is important to finish drying the finished tea because during hot drying, the pores are sealed, and moisture remains in the leaf. This is good, otherwise the leaf will not ferment in the oven, and will not ferment during storage. From my own experience, I have repeatedly noticed that during storage, tea gains taste, becomes more aromatic. This is dry fermentation. The longer the tea is stored, the tastier it will be. Exactly the same situation as with aged Chinese oolongs and pu-erh.
The same residual moisture can cause mold if this remaining excess moisture is not allowed to come out and equalize the leaf moisture with the air humidity in the apartment. And the moisture will come out slowly. Last year I rushed it. I look, like dry tea, even breaks. An hour later he put the tea in jars. Two weeks passed, the moisture sealed in the sheet came out, the mold divorced. And if there is mold, you can immediately throw away the tea; the taste is then hopelessly spoiled. Reheating will not solve the problem.
How to brew tea.
Before, I mentioned that tea is required three times more than Ceylon and Chinese teas. Therefore, take it generously and pour it with boiling water. The brewing time for tea is also longer than for the exposure of Ceylon and Chinese teas. Therefore, do not rush, let the tea open. Ivan tea has a slight sedative property, so it is better to drink it at night. In my opinion, this tea is self-sufficient. Additives of spicy herbs - oregano, mint, currant, deprive the tea of individuality. Ivan-tea goes well with honey. 
Thickly brewed and well infused teas do not produce as powerful brown tea colors as black teas. It is more like green oolong teas. The taste of tea is enveloping, voluminous, with a slight sourness. Just like oolongs, Ivan tea can be brewed repeatedly with a long exposure. Cooled and even cold tea goes well with mint; this tea is great to drink in the heat.
Ivan-tea is everywhere. He is an optimist. On fires and clearings, he is the first to proclaim the triumph of life with his bright colors. It grows a lot, it is generous. But handling it requires careful attitude, patience and effort. And it doesn't just open up, it takes time. Ivan tea is the embodiment of the Russian soul.
White wine - "skin contact" or lack thereof.
Light, fresh, "fruity" white wine is made by pressing the grapes as soon as possible after harvest. The goal is to prevent the juice from taking over ("extracting") any flavors from the skins.
The grapes are gently crushed - only to burst the skin. The resulting slurry is then sent directly to the press. For producers who strive for maximum freshness of their wine, the juice, and the grapes themselves, can be cooled at the same time.
Many large wineries now use a "juicer" between the crusher and the press. It may consist of a mesh screen, sometimes taking the form of a conveyor belt through which the "free" grape juice flows. The juice collector reduces the number of time-consuming filling and emptying of the press, but increases the chances of juice oxidation. In some cases, such devices protect the wort from oxidation.
A more serious, full-bodied and powerful wine, rich in tannins, which act as a natural preservative during the aging process of the wine, is made by infusing the pulp in tanks so that the skin is in contact with the juice for up to 20 hours after it has been pressed.
Such maceration (at a low temperature, even before fermentation has begun) allows the skin to transfer to the juice some substances that are not present in the juice itself. Then the wort with the pulp falls, as usual, into the juice collector and under the press.
White wine - stemmed or unstemmed White grapes are usually stemmed unless harvested by machines. The reason for this is that the unfermented pulp and juice of grapes are full of pectins and sugar, which make them slippery and sticky. The combs make the work of the press easier, especially when it comes to cracking the "cake" before the second place of the pulp under the press.
However, the pressure of the press should not be so strong that it squeezes bitterness out of the combs or stones. Nowadays, many of the highest quality wines are produced by pressing whole bunches without destemming or crushing. This method preserves flavor and maintains a low pH.
White wine - cold fermentation
The most revolutionary invention of modern winemaking is the controlled temperature fermentation, in particular for white wines, which in warm climates are "flat", with low acidity. Each winemaker has their own ideas about the ideal temperature for fermentation.
Long cold fermentation, by all accounts, contributes to the appearance of a bright and clean fruity aroma in the wine, although in some wines - in particular, from non-aromatic varieties - it, when tightened to the extreme, leaves its imprint on the wine - a "candy" flavor of the aroma.
Many of today's Italian white wines, and sometimes reds, are spoiled by excessive refrigeration. In Germany, by contrast, excessively cold fermentation is falling out of fashion. In California, the normal fermentation temperature for white wine lies between 8 and 15°C. In France, 18°C is considered a low temperature.
If the temperature drops too low, the yeast stops working and fermentation slows down. Starting the process over again can be difficult, and the wine will certainly suffer.
A completely different approach is taken to produce "larger", richer and more serious wines from Chardonnay and sometimes Sauvignon Blanc. They are fermented at temperatures between 15 and 20?C, and in barrels up to 25?C. At the same time, the small volumes of wooden barrels mean that the temperature never rises to excessive levels.
White wine - acidity regulation
Depending on the degree of maturity of the crop, either deacidification or acidification of the must may be required. Excessively acidic juice is deacidified by the addition of calcium carbonate (chalk), which eliminates tartaric acid, or a tartaric acid-removing agent called Acidex, as well as "precipitation of double salts."
In Germany, for the production of QbA and lower wines, sugar and water (up to 15%) are added to the must, which naturally leads to a decrease in acidity. In France, chaptalization with dry sugar (allowed in the center and north) gives the same, but somewhat lesser effect.
In the south of France, however, only concentrated wort is allowed to increase the alcohol content, but not sugar - at the same time, the level of acidity naturally increases.
In Australia and other warm countries where lack of acid is usually a problem, the addition of one of the naturally occurring acids in grapes: malic, citric and tartaric is allowed. Tartar wine is preferred because it lacks an easily perceptible taste, and in addition, it helps to stabilize the tartaric acid crystals. However, it is much more expensive.
Tanks and barrels
Traditional fermentation in oak vats and barrels (sometimes chestnut, acacia or mahogany is also used) undoubtedly produces excellent and noble wines, but it is also associated with many inconveniences. The most significant problem is the disinfection of such barrels and protection from water ingress into them between harvests.
Almost all modern wineries are dominated by stainless steel. It is durable, inert, easy to clean and cool. Moreover, it is also extremely versatile, the same tank can be used for fermentation, and somewhat later for storage, aging or blending of wines. Thus, the high initial cost of such containers quickly pays off.
Wooden fermentation tanks are also making a comeback in wineries, not only in Beaujolais but also in the New World, where Robert Mondavi installed them at great expense in his new winery. They are expensive to maintain, but purists insist that oak remains the ideal material for long, smooth fermentations.
Every vineyard and every winery has a natural yeast that, if left unchecked, will cause fermentation. Some consider them a local feature, a distinctive feature of a particular area and believe that they give individuality to wines.
Indeed, experiments on the exchange of yeast between different Bordeaux chateaus showed how different each of them is from the others: wines from the Graves region acquired similarities with wines from Pauillac.
Yeast activity increases rapidly with increasing temperature. For each additional degree Celsius, yeast converts 10% more sugar into alcohol in the same time. The ceiling of such feverish activity is reached at 30-35°C, when the activity of the yeast is suppressed by heat. At this temperature, fermentation that has run wild can get stuck, in the same way that most yeast ceases to function at temperatures below 10°C.
Using cultured yeast is less risky than relying on natural yeast. However, there is also a flip side to the coin. Using the same yeast for all wines can result in the same bouquets.
What's more, some cultural yeasts are so efficient that their inherent "rate" of converting sugar into alcohol can be very fast, producing alarmingly high alcohol content wines, a problem often encountered in Australia and California.
White wine - malolactic fermentation
Secondary or malolactic fermentation is less common in the case of white wine than in the case of red wine. It is sometimes resorted to to reduce the excess acidity of wines produced in cool climates (for example, in Chablis and other parts of Burgundy, on the Loire, in Switzerland, but to a lesser extent in Germany).
The complex biological nature of malolactic fermentation can add complexity to a wine's bouquet. In warmer regions where acidity tends to decrease, such as California and Australia, malolactic fermentation of white wines is often avoided.
White wine - residual sugar
Completed natural fermentation gives the wine a perfect dry - all of its sugar is converted into alcohol. The only exception is wines that are made from grapes so sweet that either the resulting alcohol or sugar, or both, prevents the yeast from continuing to work. To make light sweet wines, it is necessary either to artificially interrupt fermentation, or to mix sweet juice with dry wine.
The first method has been used for a long time. It requires adding a hefty dose of SO2 to stop the fermentation and then adding it to the bottle to keep the fermentation from starting again. The invention of fine filters, sufficient to eliminate all yeast, and the means of bottling wine under completely sterile conditions, solved the sulfur problem.
White wine - after fermentation
After the wine has been fermented, it should be clarified. The traditional method was to allow the wine to settle and then rid it of the sediment (consisting mostly of dead yeast cells). This is exactly what happens, for example, in the case of the production of Muscadet sur lie.
However, modern wineries are increasingly leaning towards the use of filters for clarification. If necessary, an additional measure is applied - cleaning with "bentonite", powdered clay from Wyoming, which removes excess proteins - a potential cause of subsequent troubles (clouding of the wine). Sometimes the wort is also subjected to cleaning with bentonite - even before fermentation.
Thereafter, non-aged white wines (i.e. most light consumer wines) only need to be stabilized before they can be bottled and marketed.
Those that are intended for aging are usually transferred to barrels for further clarification, which have the same beneficial effect on them as on red wines. They can remain on the fine sediment for several months, which should be stirred regularly - this process is called b?tonnage. The wine benefits from the autolysis effects of the yeast, as the sediment, which contains the dead yeast, adds complexity to the bouquet of the wine.
White wine - cold stabilization
Tartaric acid, which is a vital ingredient in wine, the secret to its balance and flavor, has the unfortunate property of forming crystals when combined with either potassium (rather large, sugar-like grains) or calcium (smaller, white dusty crystals).
In the old days, wine was aged for several years in cold cellars, and these crystals formed deposits on the walls of the barrels, known as "tartar". With accelerated modern methods in most large wineries, it is considered necessary to prevent the formation of crystals after bottling the wine.
Although these crystals have no taste, are completely natural and harmless, there are ignorant consumers who are ready to send a bottle of wine back at the first sign of their appearance.
Red wine - with or without stems
Each producer has his own point of view on whether to separate, in whole or in part, the ridges from the grapes - and it varies from one harvest to another. On the Rhone, combs are sometimes used; in Burgundy, only very rarely; in Bordeaux it is used in small quantities or not at all; at Chinon, on the Loire, they are left on the vine. Outside of Europe, the combs are usually removed.
The argument for separating the stems is that they increase astringency, lower the alcohol content, reduce color, and take up valuable space in the fermentation tank. The argument for keeping some of them is that they help the fermentation process by saturating the whole mass of wine with oxygen, lowering the acidity and facilitating the squeezing of the juice. In any case, the stalks must be fully ripe, otherwise they will add a "green" taste to the wine.
Wort concentration
In the late 1980s, French oenologists developed methods for removing water from grapes harvested in wet weather. The most popular of these is reverse osmosis. Its careful use eliminates the dilution of the juice, which can be created by water that has got on the skin or penetrated under it.
It can also increase the alcohol potential of concentrated wort, which is why European authorities prohibit chaptalization of concentrated wort. This method has been allowed by French law for several years and has been approved in Germany since 2002. Concentrators are now part of the standard equipment of many wineries.
Red wine - pumping
When red wine is fermented in vats, the skins of the grapes float to the surface, pushed out by bubbles of CO2 that stick to any solid particles. The "cap" (chapeau in French, sombrero in Spanish) that it forms contains all the substances that determine the color of the wine, in addition, it can overheat or be attacked by bacteria. Therefore, it is important to periodically immerse the cap in the liquid underneath.
In Bordeaux, the cap is often pushed into the liquid using long poles. In Burgundy, where smaller vats are used, the workmen sometimes drown it with their feet (pigeage), in former times they did this while stripped naked.
Another common method is to install a grate below the filling level of the vat, which keeps the cap immersed (chapeau immerge). Mechanical "pushers" are also used. However, the most common method now is "pumping": the wine is pumped out with a hose from the bottom of the vat and poured onto the hat, sometimes several times a day.
Microoxygenation
This rather controversial method was in the late 1980s. developed in Madiran (Madiran) winemaker Patrick Ducourt. Madirana wine is made from the infamous high tannin Tannat grape, and the method aims to soften the tannins by introducing controlled doses of oxygen into the wine - during fermentation and/or aging in barrels.
There is no doubt that this method gives results. Its use can greatly suppress the sharp taste of tannins and unripe grapes. Micro-oxygenation has become a useful weapon in the arsenal of industrial winemakers.
Red wine - pressed
After the fermentation is completed or almost completed and is already very sluggish, most of the wine (up to 85%) is separated from solids and drained from the fermentation tank. This first fraction, gravity, or vin de goutte, is pumped from the vat into barrels or other containers. What's left - marc - comes under pressure.
For red wine, the same types of presses are used as for white, however, after fermentation, the already partially decomposed pulp and skins offer less resistance to the press.
Relatively mild pressing gives a second fraction, vin de presse, of very good quality, with more desirable extracts and flavors than vin de goutte. It may need to be refined to remove astringency and solids, but in most cases it proves to be a useful addition, resulting in a wine of higher quality and longer shelf life.
The third fraction, the result of the next, stronger pressing, almost always results in a wine that is too tart, which is sold separately or used to make cheap blends. The number of fractions and the proportions in which they are mixed varies from harvest to harvest and is determined by the stylistic preferences of the winemaker.
barrel value
Barrels were invented (probably by the Gauls) out of necessity. As the strongest and most transportable of containers, they replaced - in those regions that could afford them - amphorae and goatskin furs. Their standard sizes and shapes were determined as a result of a century of experience.
The 200-plus liter barrels of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rioja are the largest that can be easily rolled by one person or carried by two, and they also provide the largest wooden surface in contact with wine of any practical size.
The benefits of this contact lie partly in the very slow passage of oxygen through the wood of the barrel and partly in the tannin and other substances that the wine draws from the wood itself. Of these, vanillin, which has the aroma of vanilla, is most easily identified (by taste and smell).
Oak tannin is useful in that it mixes with the preservative tannins naturally present in wine and modifies them slightly. Other aromas and flavors are more difficult to identify, but they are quite accurately defined by the expression "the smell of a carpentry workshop."
What kind of wines benefit from this addition of extraneous flavors? Only those that have their own strong character and constitution. For fragile Moselle or Beaujolais Nouveau, they would be a disaster. The “larger” the wine and the longer it matures, the more contact with oak it can withstand.
New barrels are extremely expensive. In 2002, the typical price was 510 euros. The impact of oak on wine diminishes sharply after the first two or three years of use, yet there is a developed trade in used barrels, in particular those that have aged great wines. Barrels can also be updated by squeezing the inner surface until fresh wood appears.
A cheap but effective way to add oak flavor to wine is to use oak chips. In France, its use is strictly prohibited - in fact, it is treated with horror - but in the New World, chips are widely used in the manufacture of cheap wines. It ranges in size from granular sawdust to the length of matches, and must be properly seasoned to avoid a harsh taste.
A completely different role is played by the huge, constantly used oak barrels (foudres or demi-muids in France, fuders or st?cks in Germany), which can be seen everywhere in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Eastern Europe.
The oaky flavor they impart is minimized or neutralized by the fact that they are constantly soaked in wine and often in a dense layer of tartaric crystals. Their value is determined by the fact that they create an ideal, gradually oxidizing environment for the maturation and slow stabilization of wine.
Red wine - carbonic maceration
The method of fermenting unbroken grapes, known as mac?ration carbonique, was developed in France as early as 1935 by Professor Michel Flanzy and others. It is now widely accepted in France as the best way to produce fruity and delicate red wines with rich color that are drunk young. (However, in other countries it takes root surprisingly slowly.)
Low acidity makes such wines short-lived, and this is unacceptable for the best vineyards. However, they can be valuable when blended with particularly tannic and/or acidic red wine materials.
Transfusion
As soon as sediment appears at the bottom of the barrel or vat, the wine is "decanted" by draining the clear liquid with a tap located above the level of the precipitated solids. For wines that have been aged for quite a long time in barrels, the pouring is repeated every few months as new sediment builds up. If it turns out that the wine needs more oxygen, this operation is carried out using open containers; if not, the wine is simply hosed from one barrel to another.
Red wine - malolactic fermentation
This type of fermentation is not carried out by yeast, but by bacteria that feed on the malic acid contained in the wine, converting it into lactic acid and releasing CO2 bubbles during this process.
There are several results at once: a decrease in the amount of acid and its sharpness (lactic acid has a milder taste than malic acid), an increase in the stability of the wine and a less quantifiable rounding and complication of the bouquet. For almost all red wines, such fermentation is highly desirable, and winemakers are taking steps to ensure it.
In most cases, to start malolactic (or malolactic) fermentation, a slight increase in temperature in the cellar - up to 20 ° C is enough. Sometimes it turns out to be necessary to introduce the necessary bacteria - at present, an artificial initiation of this process is possible. Malolactic fermentation can also be initiated in such a way that it proceeds simultaneously with the first (alcohol) fermentation.
Blending for Complexity
Champagne, red and white wines of Bordeaux, red wines of Southern Rhone, Chianti, Rioja and Port are all examples of wines made from blends of different grape varieties. Burgundy, Barolo, sherry, German and Alsace wines provide examples of wines from the same variety. Americans' focus on varietal wines leads to a simplistic idea: "100% means the best."
However, recent research has shown that even for wines of modest quality, a mixture of two different wines is often better than the one that is worse, and usually simply better than both. This seems to prove that complexity is in itself a desirable quality in wine, that one variety is capable of "tasting" another, just as salt and butter flavor eggs.
pasting
Despite the existence of modern filtration systems, the ancient methods of adding beaten egg whites, gelatin, fish glue (gelatin obtained from fish), blood and other coagulants to must or already finished wine are still widespread. Their purpose is to clear the liquid of the smallest solid particles suspended in it (too light to sink to the bottom) and to reduce the too high content of tannins.
"Clarifiers" are poured onto the surface of the wine, and they slowly sink like an ultra-thin screen, dragging any solid particles with them to the bottom. Some clarifiers, such as bentonite (see "White Wine - After Fermentation"), are only used to remove specific unwanted components. "Blue" clarification (using yellow blood salt) removes excess iron from the wine.
Filtration
The German company Seitz pioneered the development of more and more advanced filters that, if not used with care, can remove almost everything from wine, including flavor and aroma. Most filters are formed by a series of pads interspersed with plates through which the wine is forced under pressure.
The degree of filtration depends on the size of the pores of these pads. At 0.65 microns they remove yeast, at 0.45 they also remove bacteria. To avoid having to change them too often, wine is almost always purified by other methods, such as clarification, before filtration.
Pasteurization
Louis Pasteur, who discovered the effect of oxygen on wine and thus the cause of vinegar, gave his name to the process of sterilizing wine by heating it, which kills all harmful organisms (i.e. yeast and bacteria that can cause re-fermentation).
All it takes is about 30 minutes to keep the wine at 60°C - although there is now a preferred (only in mass-produced wine) alternative as "instant" pasteurization, carried out for 1 minute at 85°C.
As a rule, only cheap wines that are not intended for further maturation are subjected to pasteurization, although there is evidence that it does not completely prevent further development. Modern methods of sterile handling of wine and its filtration are gradually replacing pasteurization from modern wineries.
Aging
There are two separate and distinctly different ways in which wine "ages": oxidative aging due to exposure to oxygen and reductive aging without oxygen.
Barrel aging is oxidative and encourages numerous complex reactions between acids, sugars, tannins, pigments and the various complex components of wine.
Reductive is aging in bottles. After bottling wine, oxygen is available to him only in limited quantities - the one that is dissolved in itself, and the one that remains in the space between the liquid and the cork. (Oxygen does not pass through the cork.)
In wine with a high CO2 content (such as champagne), there is very little even of this oxygen. The existence of living organisms depends on oxygen, so their activity is very limited.
"Reductive" actually means that the oxygen content is reduced - eventually to zero. Under such conditions, various kinds of complex reactions between the same components proceed much more slowly.
The final quality and complexity of most wines arises only from the combination of these two types of aging, although the proportional contribution of each of them can vary widely.
Many white wines are bottled very young and mature to a great extent in the bottle. Vintage champagnes and ports are almost completely bottle-aged.
High-quality red wines can spend up to three years in casks, and then perhaps 2-3 times longer in bottle. The maturation of white port and sherry takes place almost entirely in barrels, and, as a rule, they are not intended for further aging in bottles.
capping
Traditionally, the bottle is sealed with a cork. The capping process itself is brought almost to perfection and allows wine worthy of aging to mature in the bottle for years and even decades. Unfortunately, many corks turn out to be contaminated with what is known as TCA (trichloroanisole), a substance that can either render a wine completely unfit to drink or, at best, muffle its aroma and flavor.
The significant spread of TCA has led to experimentation with other closure methods, such as plastic and crown corks, and screw caps. The latter are enthusiastically accepted, for example, by producers of Riesling in Australia and Sauvignon in New Zealand.
Comparative tastings of the same wine sealed in different ways seem to confirm that screw caps (also known as Stelvin caps) work better than others.
Bottling
The question of where and who should bottle wine has always been controversial, but since the introduction of mobile bottling machines in France in the 1960s, it has become the rule rather than the exception that even small producers bottle their own wine.
A bottling machine is simply a truck equipped with a modern semi-automatic device for bottling wine.
Its appearance means that the words mis en bouteille au ch?teau or au domaine, which once aroused the warmest feelings, which were widely perceived (especially in America) as a guarantee of the authenticity and even quality of wine, can now be used by small producers whose wine is bottled for them. vintners. There is another drawback here: in the old days, the names of some wine merchants served as a guarantee that the wine was well selected and well treated.
Today's automatic wine bottling lines can be like a hybrid operating room with a space shuttle, using air tambours to achieve complete sterility.
To remove all the oxygen from the wine, it is often "flashed", or flushed with CO2 or an inert gas such as nitrogen. The bottle is first filled with nitrogen, and then the wine is poured into it with a long hose (“Mosel cockerel”), starting from the bottom, so that it displaces the gas as it rises.
The once popular "hot filling" is still applied to commercial wines - the moment the bottle is filled, the wine is heated to about 54°C. All this is done to eliminate the possibility of re-fermentation. Naturally stabilized wines that have spent a long time in casks need no such precautions.
CO2 for energy
Many lighter whites, rosés, and sometimes reds benefit from having a small amount of CO2 dissolved in them when bottled (just enough to cause a small number of bubbles to form at the rim or bottom of the glass). For many wines, this property is natural. For others, it's an effective way to impart a slightly spiky, refreshing edge to wines that might otherwise appear dull, bland, and/or neutral.
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