Artisan breads are generally prepared with the help of long established traditional processes that originated in the European countries. Although the preparation methods involve regular ingredients like flour, yeast, salt and water, the process of making even a single artisan loaf is lengthy as well as complex. The science behind reactions among the ingredients has to be understood properly, and a proper environment is also required for developing the bread.
Nowadays, many bakeries use artisan bread line equipment for producing these gourmet baked goods in small batches rather than producing them in large numbers for the commercial market. In order to bake more intricate and flavoured artisan breads, the list of ingredients may expand for including such other items such as cheddar cheese, sliced onions, olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes. At the time of preparation, these constituents are combined with the regular ones as per specific recipes and then fermented very slowly prior to shaping the dough by hand. After that, they are baked inside ovens using steam until a golden brown crust forms on them. The ovens maintain a consistent high heat for expanding gas bubbles inside the dough. The overall process for making a loaf can take about 12 hours or even more. Some instances of hand-crafted breads are the semolina, country French loaf, flavoured focaccia and ciabatta.
Since artisan breads are baked without the use of any chemical additive, they have fully developed flavours and therefore, cannot be preserved for more than a day or two after purchase. One must either store them in a refrigerator for an extended period or eat them as soon as possible. However, leftover artisan breads can be used for making panzanella, a delicious Italian bread salad. The process of preparation involves dicing 5 to 6 slices of a day old artisan bread into small cubes and drizzling them with olive oil. The cubes must be tossed and spread over a baking sheet, and then sprinkled with pepper, garlic powder and salt. The concoction must finally be toasted for about 10 minutes or less at 200 degrees Celsius and allowed to cool.
Artisan breads come in a wide range of sizes and shapes. Some of them are ideal for preparing sandwiches, whereas others are served at gourmet restaurants. The most common variants prepared by bakeries include baguette, batard, demi-baguette, boule, cluster, filone, fougasse, loaf, oval, lunga, petit pain, pane bianco and foccacia.
