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Genetztes Brot (wetted bread)

 Ruth Dassler

Wetted bread is moist bread which keeps fresh a long time.

Ingredients:
About 3 kg flower (wheat-flower, type 1050) the share of rye flower should be about 15-20%.
50 g yeast
70 g salt
some sour dough of the day before
+ water
Baking time about 1-11/2 time at a temperature of 300 degrees

Procedure:
Mix all ingredients to make a dough. Let it rest for 12 hours so that the dough can develop itself. Knead the dough until it feels soft. Set it aside for an hour and break the dough by hand in pieces of two or three pounds and put them into the wet bread-baskets. Put the basket into the oven at a temperature of 300 Grad. The basket is reversed so that the piece of dough falls on the baking tray. As the dough is soft it diverges to form a loaf. Simultaneously steam is being blown into the oven, in order to keep the dough's skin smooth and to protect it from becoming encrusted. After two minutes the steam is shut off in order to protect the bread from breaking apart.

History:
Since 1900 wetted bread is being baked mainly in southern Germany.

Development:
In the past the oven - built of stone- was heated with brushwood, wood, briquettes and mainly with pieces of beech wood. The bread was made without letting it to rise and so it was hard.
Since 1950 there are modern ovens with circulating air, direct fire, gas and electric heating.

I prefer this kind of bread especially because it is moist and can be preserved for a long time.

Reference: bakery Anton Mang, Herrlingen