Pleasant Hill Grain Baking Glossary
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Rapadura – “Rapadura” is a registered name by the German company Rapunzel for their organic whole cane sugar product.
Raw – Liquids that are kept under 118˚ F and dry foods that are kept under 150˚ F are generally considered raw. Many beneficial enzymes are destroyed at temperatures higher than these. Having a diet plentiful in raw food is a healthy choice. Raw food can be prepared in many ways including sprouting, blending, dehydration, steaming, fermenting, juicing, pickling, and soaking.
Raw Sugar – This type of sugar, whether organic or not, is extremely similar to regular white sugar—the caloric count in each type is the same, as is the glycemic rating. This product isn’t actually “raw” since through processing the sugar cane has been cooked. Both raw sugar and white sugar are processed, though raw sugar has gone through only about half as many processing steps. Raw sugar, because it contains some of its original molasses content, has more trace minerals than white sugar.
Red Wheat – A type of whole grain with a more robust flavor than white wheat. To sweeten the slightly bitter taste of red wheat honey may be used in a bread recipe. There are three different kinds of red wheat: hard red winter wheat, hard red spring wheat, and soft red winter wheat.
Hard red winter wheat is the variety mixed with soft wheat to make all-purpose flour, and has been traditionally used for artisan bread and other whole wheat breads. When a recipe calls for “whole wheat flour,” it’s typically referring to flour made from hard red winter wheat. Hard red winter wheat accounts for about 40% of the U.S. wheat crop each year.
Soft red winter wheat, with a medium to low protein content, is commonly used for cakes and pastries.
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Rest – The period of time to let the starch molecules in flour absorb liquid, and for gluten to relax in dough or batter. Relaxing the gluten will make dough more manageable when shaping. The technique of resting a dough or batter is optional, but when used it provides a better texture to the finished product. Resting benefits many recipes from cookies to pie doughs and to artisan breads.
Retard, Retardation – Chilling dough to slow down the fermentation process. This is usually done by placing the covered bowl of dough in a refrigerator for a few hours or up to several days.
Reverse osmosis (RO) – A method for purifying water by passing it through a selective membrane under pressure. In addition to removing unwanted substances, RO also removes minerals often considered beneficial.
Roasting – Roasting nuts, seeds, and grain before baking with them, consuming them raw or cooking them can be an effective way of reducing phytic acid levels by up to 40% and will also reduce tannin levels. The heat from this process, though, will destroy the phytase enzyme so adding phytase (which could be in the form of rye flour or flakes) into the food the roasted ingredients go into, is recommended.
Roller – (See Flaker.)
Rise – Rising is the volume expansion that occurs in dough that contains a leavening agent, as gas bubbles expand. In the case of yeast as the leaven, carbon dioxide is formed as a by-product of the yeast's consumption of carbohydrates. During baking most of the gasses, as well as all of the alcohol also produced in the process, are released. The rise will stop once the yeast within the dough is out of matter to feed on, or once the inner bread temperature has reached 140˚ F, killing the yeast.
Wild yeast takes longer to develop a good rise than commercially cultivated yeast does since the probiotic bacteria lactobacilli is created in the process of developing wild yeast. Lactobacillus raises the bread’s acidity level, slowing yeast development. (See our .)
Rye – Growing well in poor soil and harsh climates, rye can survive in both drought and near-freezing conditions. Rye is similar to hard wheat but contains more fiber, protein, phosphorus, potassium, iron and B vitamins. The gluten in rye is weaker than in hard wheat, which means baked goods made with 100% rye flour are denser and heavier than those made with hard wheat. While rye bread (often called black bread), is dense and heavy, it’s loved by many! In addition to grinding rye into flour, it can easily be flaked for cooking into a hot breakfast cereal. (See our non-GMO organic rye here.)
