Skedvi Bröd

Appearance & taste

Skedvi Bröd are round crispbreads 27 to 30 cm in diameter, about 6 to 8 mm thick, with a small hole in the middle. They are slightly domed; according to the specification, variations in colour, shape and surface show that they are made by hand and baked in a wood-fired oven. The salt content is 2 to 4 %, the water content 3 to 4 %.

The “Original” variety is reminiscent in colour of fresh spruce bark and becomes darker towards the edge. It smells of dry pine forest and toasted flour and has a full taste of toasted flour, with mild notes of liquorice root, balanced saltiness and pleasant bitterness; the aftertaste is long, with slightly burnt notes. The bread is hard and keeps its bite even after some chewing.

“Extragräddat” is baked more strongly, coloured like fresh pine bark and likewise darker towards the edge. It has a strong scent of dry pine forest with hints of bark and faint notes of ash, tastes very fully of toasted flour with a marked bitterness, most intense at the edge, and is very hard. The pack clearly states the degree of baking, “Original” or “Extragräddat”.

Production

Wholemeal rye flour with a low falling number is mixed with water, yeast and salt to make a dough, which is rolled out and pricked. Circles with a hole in the middle are cut out of it; the diameter is limited to about 30 cm so that the breads do not collapse or break while drying. The dough rings prove for half an hour.

They are baked on a cast-iron insert in ovens fired with spruce and pine wood, bark included. The baker preheats by lighting a fire on the insert, then puts the rings in one at a time and keeps the temperature at 350 to 400 °C by adding wood at the side. An oven holds 15 breads; because the heat and distance to the fire differ from place to place, the baker moves the breads according to a fixed pattern, taking finished ones out on one side and putting new ones in on the other. He decides by smell and appearance when a bread is done. According to the specification, the bark, with its high calorific value and its volatile compounds, contributes to the appearance, texture, taste and the scent of pine forest.

The breads, still somewhat soft, are hung in drying rooms on poles passed through the hole. During inspection, normally baked breads are separated from more strongly baked ones: the former are sold as “Original”, the latter as “Extragräddat”. All steps from mixing to inspection take place in the area.

Origin & history

Skedvi Bröd is made in the parish of Stora Skedvi in the province of Dalarna. According to the specification, round crispbreads with a hole have been baked there in the same traditional way since the 1950s. Experienced bakers have passed on hand baking and the technique at the wood-fired oven to younger generations. According to the specification, this sets the bread apart from the industrial crispbreads more common in Sweden, which are baked on production lines in electric ovens.