# Intricacies of Brioche



## aleks7 (Jun 22, 2017)

Hello, I'm a newbie in cooking and I got fascinated with pastry recently 

I wanted to make a homemade Brioche burger buns, so I started reading on the subject. Watch videos, read articles and finally summed up the courage to do it (I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I can't just go for it )

Finally the buns came out of the oven, kind of misshapen, kind of blend, but cooked properly and absolutely edible, so I made very tasty burgers with them.

I have a couple of questions regarding the whole process of dough making and taste, that weren't in any of the articles and videos I came across:
 
1. In one recipe the cook put Amylase in, as well as yeast. What's the difference between Amylase+Yeast and Yeast alone (consistency and taste-wise), and is it essential for making a Brioche bun ?

2. Since Brioche stands for added butter, eggs, milk, cream etc. I was wondering what happens to the dough (consistency and taste-wise) and end product, when you increase the amount of butter/eggs/milk in the mix ?

3. As I said, the buns I made tasted kind of blend with a slight sweet overtone. Could that be, because I added too much flour in the kneading process (I feel like I did) and does the actual process of cooking the buns affect taste (I feel like I might've taken them out a few minutes too early, although the top part was already light brown) ?

4. When I made the buns, I was going for lighter and overall crunchier bun. Does more kneading equal puffier end product ? What else would contribute for that ?

Thank you in advance! I hope I could learn as much as possible about this subject, cause I'm really fascinated by it


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## Chrisopotamus (Jul 12, 2017)

aleks7 said:


> Hello, I'm a newbie in cooking and I got fascinated with pastry recently
> 
> 1. In one recipe the cook put Amylase in, as well as yeast. What's the difference between Amylase+Yeast and Yeast alone (consistency and taste-wise), and is it essential for making a Brioche bun ?
> 
> ...


1. Amylase breaks down starch into sugar. In baking, it's generally used to make more "simple" food available for yeast to increase its effectiveness or reduce rising time. A good rise is really all you need.

2. Too long to post here. 

3. If they were really bland though, it's probably because it didn't get a long enough ferment. In my experience, most doughs develop a lot more flavor if you let them do their ferment overnight in the fridge. (To clarify, the ferment is the first time you let it sit. The proofing is when you let it sit after shaping the dough.) It should be a pretty soft dough. It will come together after the ferment, so don't try to keep adding flour in the mixer. (If you get a cheap $20 scale at Target, you can get a much better product. The variations in product are usually related to not properly measuring flour, not humidity.)

4. If your brioche is crunchy, something is wrong with it.  Seriously though, if you want to add crunch on the outside, just use a clean spray bottle with water and very heavily mist inside the oven door at exactly 1 minute, then again at 2 minutes. We buy the industrial ones at Home Depot (for like $3 in the cleaning aisle) because they're really sturdy and it takes like two sprays to completely fill your oven with the perfect even mist. We just barely crack the door, sploosh sploosh then close it. (This is also the secret to getting a great crunch on your French bread.) (EDIT: If you're just wanting to get the brioche to have that beautiful brown color on the outside but not get crunchy, mix an egg yolk and about a tsp of water and a 1/8 tsp salt, mix and let sit while the dough is rising. Then brush right before baking.)


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

When making Brioche, it's all about the temperature of the dough and the butter.

The dough needs to slap around the bowl for a full 15 minutes to nurture the gluten...(I'm assuming you used bread flour)

The butter needs to be cold but pliable and added in small increments to the dough. After all butter is incorporated, the dough needs to slap for another 5 minutes. The dough should be cool to the touch.

Too much flour and the brioche will be dense. Too little flour and the dough will be too sticky to work with.

Flavor of Brioche that you call "bland" comes from the yeast and how long you allowed it to "blossom."
The flavor is subtle and wonderful. Perhaps you were expecting "wow!!!" That's not Brioche. Tetes de Paris are wonderful with butter and jam.....


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## kylew (Aug 14, 2000)

Be careful with water/mist in a hot oven if your oven door has a window. Cold water on hot glass is a very bad combination. Use either very hot water or drape a towel over the glass when misting. I have sacrificed a 1/2 sheet pan for steam creation. I leave it in the bottom of my oven and preheat it. When I load my bread I pour a cup of very hot water onto the pan. 

Kyle


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## dueh (Mar 4, 2015)

Aleks7- Could you possibly post the recipe you used?

Sometimes there is such a thing as a poor recipe, even if you did everything perfectly.


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## jimyra (Jun 23, 2015)

Dough should be placed in refrigerator overnight then allowed to rise before baking.


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