German bread?

Question

We had a student from Werl Germany stay with us. He said our bread in America is different from German bread, but couldn't say what the difference is. Can anyone tell me what German bread is like?

Answer 1

I live in Koln being American I have discovered this first hand German bread even plain white bread ( which they call Toast even though its not toasted) is harder. It is difficult to find the white fluffy soft white bread here. they seem to serve mostly hard dense bread, usually with tougher crust. they appear to use a darker less processed grain, the common Brochen ( the breakfast of most Germans) is a white roll with a crunchy crust.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I can. American bread is different than any European bread. Our breads are baked fresh and eaten, and will start to spoil in about a week or two. Here the soft breads that are pre-sliced and packaged (the kind you use for toasts, and also burger and hot dog buns), have a fake papery taste to them. They are much softer, lighter, and sweeter. They have preservatives as well. Only in the US can you take a slice of bread, moosh it in your hand, and turn it into a much smaller compressed piece of bread.
So far, other than in Eastern European bakeries and grocery stores, the only bread I found to be edible is Panera bread.

Answer 4

GERMAN BREAD 101

There are in excess of 300 types of German bread and many of them can boast being a meal unto themselves. All contain an abundance of vitamins, minerals, protein, and carbohydrates. Bread has to be dark and hearty. It's favoured when it has crunchy whole grains inside and out. The sour strong taste comes from the ingredients and the technique used to bake it. The denseness is due to the fact that the heavy flour does not rise so readily. It can be made by standing rye flour and water until the bacteria that form to create a catalyst.

In fact, bread is so revered that it even has its own day of honour, Butterbrot Tag (= day of the buttered slice of bread). Free slices of bread are given away at 13 train stations around Germany, some of which even have gourmet chefs creating fanciful open faced sandwiches. The event was initiated by the central marketing association from German agricultural products to combat the growing popularity of foreign white breads such as the Italian loafs.

Of the many varieties of bread a few favourites are Vollkornbrot (whole grain rye bread), Sonnenblumkernbrot (sunflower seed bread), Landbrot (farm bread), Schwarzbrot (dark rye bread), Knäckebrot (crisp bread), and Kümmelbrot (caraway seed bread). And of course there's also Pumpernickel. Pumpernickel bread is a rye bread which is cooked in a steam chambers for 20 hours to produce a dark, almost black colour, and a bittersweet flavour.

Perhaps one of the most readily recognized German baked goods is the soft pretzel. In a bakery you will find them among fresh crispy rolls in different shapes which may be garnished with poppy or caraway seeds. Laugengebäck is quite similar. It is made by boiling white bread in salt water before it is baked. It is available in roll form, a small stick, or a complete loaf.

The Baker's Shop - Die Bäckerei

Bakeries are, it seems, located on every street corner. They open at 6 am and generally sell out by the early afternoon. The shops very rarely bake their own bread and often the bread they sell comes from the same baker who supplies the local supermarket. You can have the bread cut for you, but most German families have an electric bread cutting machine at home, since the bread tends to dry out quicker when sliced.

Types of Dough

The most common and inexpensive bread is Roggenmischbrot. It is rye mixed with wheat or other flour. Weizenmischbrot is similar to Roggenmischbrot, it is also light in colour, but is made with different proportions of wheat and rye. For a slightly more expensive bread try Bauernbrot which is also similar to Roggenmischbrot but quite a bit tastier. Volkornbrot is one of the most popular. It comes in several versions all of varying coarseness. And of course, for the die hard white bread eaters there is Weissbrot. It does not cut or toast quite like the white bread North Americans are used to but tastes even better.

Rolls

There are almost as many varieties of rolls as there is bread. When it comes to white rolls there are the Milchbrotchen, and then of course there are the airy types that are pejoratively called Wasserweck (water rolls) by those who prefer traditional style bread. Rolls are mainly called Brotchen, but in Bavaria they can be called Semmel, in Baden they are called Weck and in the south, Weckle. Berlin titles them Schrippen and in Hamburg they are Rundstücke.

Answer 5

I don't think that Germans eat very much white bread and if they do it's an all grain white. Processed white flour isn't all that good for you.

Answer 6

I love German bread. I believe the name is kuchen bread.

Answer 7

It's probably made w/ beer!