Introduction: Lazy Cool Wafer Bread

Due to quarantine, I began to regularly use my old recipe for making very simple bread (flat cakes) in an electric waffle iron for large Belgian waffles. It is not so fluffy how the classical bread, but it has a light elastic feel, good taste and smell, and can lie a long time without stalling and mold. The best use of it is sandwiches base with sliced products or food pastes (grated cheese with eggs and a lot of garlic is the best one). This LazyCool bread also can be good for light backpacking and traveling as it is compact and has good density and long storage time.

Supplies

  • flour (the amount is determined by the density of the dough)
  • water (2 mugs)
  • salt (1 full teaspoon with a slide)
  • sugar (1 teaspoon without a slide or less)
  • yeast (a few drops on the surface)
  • spices (cardamom, caraway seeds)

Step 1: Warm Stage

  • half a teaspoon of sugar (don't put too large amount of sugar: it will block the fermentation)
  • one mug of water (not big, a glass or slightly more)
  • flour
  • powder yeast
  1. dissolve sugar in a glass of water
  2. pour into a container with a lid
  3. add flour in portions by stirring with a fork until liquid sour cream consistency
  4. sprinkle a small amount of powdered yeast onto the surface without stirring
  5. leave for half an hour to dissolve the yeast in the upper layer
  6. mix only the top layer slightly, pause for half an hour or more so that the yeast starts
  7. mix the whole volume and leave in a warm dark place for fermentation for a few hours (mix it periodically)

The goal of the warm stage is making a good starting of yeasts in a volume, but not a fermentation itself. So don't make this stage too long: up to two hours can be good enough or even less. On the other side, with a larger warm stage, we can use one package of dry yeasts on a period like two weeks (or even a month if you are a perfectionist) by using a few drops every time and let yeasts multiply himself with good enough feeding. The yeast price does not matter, but it will let us go shopping fewer times less (also take larger flour packages).

Step 2: Cool Stage

  • a full teaspoon of salt
  • next one mug of water
  • spices
  • flour

Dissolve the salt in water, mix with spices, and pour it into the container with the dough without stirring, so as not to disturb fermentation with salt.

Add flour in small portions, stirring only the upper liquid half of the volume until the density of the upper layer becomes like sour cream. You can leave the dough more liquid since the baking method will allow the excess water to evaporate quickly if you want to make the bread to be airier. Or vice versa, add more flour and salt if you want to take bread with you on a trip and want to get more dense bread in the same volume (which will be stored longer).

Stir the entire volume, and put container to the refrigerator on the top shelve for 8-12 hours or more for cold fermentation. The required duration of cold fermentation greatly depends on the properties of the flour but does not require special control efforts from you (so this is a lazy way). You can leave the dough in the refrigerator only for the night, and start baking when it is convenient for you, or even hold it for a day or more. The only thing you can determine is that you are overexposing the dough when its volume begins to decrease, and the dough can acidize if you do not use it.

Step 3: Baking

Install almost full power on the waffle iron. The exact mode and time of baking should be selected experimentally, heating too weak will not allow excess water to boil away quickly and expand a dough porously enough, too long baking will overdry a piece. I use 15-16 minutes set on a timer.

Form lubrication is not necessary, I do not use it because there is a non-stick coating. After closing the lid, do a few presses at a short interval so that the expanding dough fills the form.

Immediately put each baked pair of flat cakes in a large pan with a lid so that they do not dry out -- they should take the correct light rubber consistency. While the cakes are hot and not wet, you will have one solid delicious bread crust. While it cools, it is important to catch the correct humidity by opening and closing the pan lid so that there is no water at the bottom, but so that the bread does not overdry while it is hot. The classic way with a thick towel instead of a lid covering a basin with hot bread can give ideal humidity.