After publishing five volumes of modernist bread, Nathan Myhrvold adds one for home baking, part one

As if billionaire scientist, technologist, and inventor Dr. Nathan Myhrvold didn’t have enough on his plate even after publishing five volumes on modernist breadmaking, he decided that one more volume was needed for those who want to make perfect loaves at home.

Myhrvold, 64, with a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics and a master’s degree in economic mathematics, from Princeton, co-founded the software company Dynamical Systems Research and worked in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge with Professor Stephen. Hawking went on to lead advanced technology and business development at Microsoft for fourteen years, managing a $2 billion R&D budget and serving as strategist and chief technology officer.

In 2000, he retired from Microsoft to create Intellectual Ventures (IV), with more than 900 U.S. patents, and founded Global Good to invent technologies for global health and development, as well as the Institute for Disease Modeling.

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Even as a child, Myhrvold developed a passion for food and cooking, and while at Microsoft, he worked nights at a Seattle restaurant and earned a culinary degree at Ecole De La Varenne in Burgundy. In 2007, he founded The Cooking Lab, a culinary research laboratory, photo studio and publishing house, which in 2011 produced the 2,500-page book Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cookingfollowed in 2013 by The Photography of Modernist Cuisine, then in 2021 three volumes on Modernist Pizza, and this spring, Modernist Bread.

If it seems both obsessive and time-consuming, e.g. Myhrvold, it’s all in a day’s work, a day that turned into years. I ask him about how and why he clearly went where no one else has gone before on these topics.

When did you develop such an interest in the principles of modernist nutrition?

My culinary journey began nearly 50 years ago with a youthful curiosity, including a foray into competitive barbecue, a long stint as a intern at Thierry Rover’s restaurant in Seattle and graduated from culinary school in France. In addition to cooking, students would dine at many excellent restaurants. At a dinner party I was told about a chef working in Spain, near the French border, at a restaurant called elBulli, but that was too far away at the time. This would have been fascinating to visit, as it was 1995 and I would have seen the modernist revolution at an even earlier stage than I did.

But that would come soon after. Learning to cook requires a lot of food and I have been an enthusiastic eater during my travels around the world. This exposed me to modernist cuisine at the world’s best restaurants, including elBulli, which I eventually had the chance to visit several times.

In 1999, I retired from Microsoft and founded my own company focused on invention. In the 2000s, I dove into modernist cuisine, a field that lacked central texts. There was very little information on this technique in English at the time. Based on discussions I had on the eGullet forum, I knew there needed to be a comprehensive book on sous-vide cooking in English, so I decided to write it, but I quickly realized that I needed to expand the scope to all of modernist cuisine, so I decided to put together a team to create this missing piece to make these new modernist techniques more widely available.

Modernist cuisine was a turning point for me and for the world of cooking. My team and I went on to publish six more books, Modernist kitchen at home, Modernist kitchen photography, Modernist Bread, Modernist Pizza, Food and Drink: Modernist Cuisine Photographyand now Modernist bread at home.

Modernist bread There were five volumes. What else could be found in them and why this new book Modernist Bread at Home?

My team and I have studied bread extensively and spent several years traveling the world of bread with special attention. We have always understood that home baking is important, which is why we created Modernist Bread at Home accessible to all bread enthusiasts.

For this book, We’ve distilled the most important lessons we learned from this research into a single-volume book. We’ve thought a lot about how we can push bread in new directions, but also help make bread less intimidating and more practical for home bakers. Readers will discover innovative ways to simplify the bread-making process and save time, new technical skills to master, and beautiful loaves that have a depth of flavor beyond what you’ll find in stores.

Although the complete edition is found in many homes, you may not have room for 50 pounds of books and may want to store 50 pounds of flour instead. We have always included references to Modernist Bread in case you want to do this as you become a more confident bread maker, and we’ve kept some of our most interesting findings in the new book.

What are some myths you have discovered about bread making?

Conventional wisdom has it that over-risen dough is irreparably damaged and should be thrown out. Our experiments have shown just the opposite: we have been able to resuscitate the same batch of dough up to 10 times before it suffers a significant loss in quality. This discovery has given rise to one of our favorite techniques for rescuing over-risen bread, which we call Dough CPR.

Additionally, many bread books stress the importance of kneading, whether by hand, with a mixer equipped with a dough hook, or by some other mechanical means. They argue that this action of working the dough is what develops the gluten, providing structure and texture to the bread. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the mixing that develops the gluten. We would love to take credit for this revelation, but the truth is that “no-knead bread” recipes have been around for decades. It really made a splash in 2006, when the New York Times posted a recipe for baker Jim Lahey’s version. The dough is mixed until it forms a bristly mass (about the minimum amount you can mix so that it comes together), then left at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours, during which time the flour hydrates and the gluten network forms. No-knead bread relies on the time needed to hydrate the glutenin and gliadin proteins in the flour, rather than the mixing force applied by hand or dough hook.

All this is not to say that mixing is a waste of effort in all cases. It speeds things up and allows you to create breads that would otherwise be very impractical to make, such as enriched doughs with lots of butter or doughs with very high hydration.

You are very demanding about yeast fermentation. How should you proceed?

Final fermentation involves replacing the depleted gas with carbon dioxide during the dividing and shaping process, continuing the fermentation process that began when the dough was first mixed. This new gas expands the existing bubbles in the dough and creates an open crumb structure that, when baked, is soft and pleasant to eat. The baker’s role in this process is to provide the proper environment for the dough, protect it while it develops, and then judge when final fermentation is complete. This final assessment takes experience and patience to perfect, but it is crucial; the success or failure of a loaf’s volume and flavor is partly determined by how precisely it is fermented.

The type of yeast (commercial or starter) and its percentage in the dough will make a difference. In general, the higher the temperature (up to a certain point), the faster the fermentation. The longer the overall fermentation time before the final fermentation step, the more carbon dioxide is produced. The lower the hydration, the slower the fermentation rate.

There is, however, an art to determining when the final proof is complete. The most common method is the fingertip test, which involves gently poking your finger into the dough and seeing how quickly it springs back. The downside to the fingertip test is that it relies heavily on experience and practice, so it is a skill that can take time to develop.

Proofing dough at room temperature is the simplest method and requires the least equipment: all you need is a proofing container and something to cover the dough so it doesn’t form a skin. This method depends on the temperature of the environment, which can vary by location and day, as well as your expertise in proof of appeal.

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