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Pandesal A and B

I am posting here images of one Pandesal dough made-up and baked in two different ways. Pandesal A is shaped individually, B is cut baston style but not "singkit". The dough has a high hydration rate, an improvised plastic dough cutter was used. If you have read the post on how to roll the baston and cut the "singkit" style in my website, then this is a follow-up on how important it is to create the perfect "singkit" cuts, etc.


This is not the "singkit " cut you want. The cut is open and wide, once the dough bakes, it will flatten and spread out.


This is the "singkit" cut you want, again as i have posted before, my apologies to my Chinese students and friends, this is the term i learned from the bakers at Purefood's, i did not coin it myself. In my ebook, i included 70 images on how to do the baston and singkit cut, plus another version of the Pandesal free style shape or form.







Pandesal A, shaped individually is rounder on top and has a finer grain structure. Pandesal B on your right is flatter and wider, the texture of the grain is coarser and drier. Now Pandesal A is baked 5 minutes less than Pandesal B, which contributes to the darker crust color.

Day 4 and the bread on the left is still soft (i used a sponge) but the Pandesal that was cut and baked needs to be reheated to soften it up. Pandesal A would reach this stage probably on its 7th or 8th day, while Pandesal B should be removed from the shelves (if you are selling them).

This is the reason why baking Pandesal crispy "malutong" on the outside is never a choice for me when i was selling breads back home. The breads are meant to be eaten on the day it was baked only, and not meant to be packaged and sold for distribution, say in smaller "sari-sari" stores or groceries. "Lugi ka" if you think about it, unlike when you shape or mold it individually, or make the singkit cut perfect and bake them light brown, not golden brown. Go to your grocery aisles, do you notice how pale the Pandesal you buy are?

Well, this post answers your question. The more time it spends baking inside the oven, the breads lose moisture. That simple.

I will try to post more on this Pandesal and let you see the comparison between this one and the Pandesal or breads made using bread flour. The French Open will start on May 23 and this is a 2 - week long season of tennis, i may be tied up in between this one and baking so no, i will not hibernate, i will just watch my favorite tennis stars for awhile. Feel free to tweet me though, and thank you to those who write me through email, you can drop your comments and ask me questions direct in this blogspot.

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