Korban Prayers

The baking of korban is the preparation of the bread which is to be transformed into the body of Christ.

The physical labor of baking the bread is best accompanied by the spiritual labor of prayer. In this, we unite the earthly with the heavenly, the body with the spirit, and the human with the divine. We should, of course, strive to achieve this uniting act in all moments of our life, and the baking of korban just happens to be one way we can practice this focusing and honing in on praying while working.

I find the prayers offered up during the making of korban to be two-fold. On the one hand, the Church has a long-standing tradition of using the psalms as prayers during the baking process. The Psalter was the ancient prayer book of the Church and was used incessantly by the ascetics and monastics. The psalms contain prophetic references to the entire life of Christ, and as we prepare the bread which is to be transformed into His body, we offer and meditate upon the Psalms which act as a kind of prologue to the Gospel.

The other prayers to be offered during this time are ones for yourself, your family and loved ones, your parish priest and bishop and parish, your community, and the whole world! Christ's incarnation was/is the meeting point of all things and in making the korban, we have the opportunity to bring all things into prayer and offer them up to Christ. It's a beautiful time to meditate on the idea that, "we offer up onto You these gifts from what is [already] Yours" from the Divine Liturgy. In making the korban, we are able to offer our entire selves and each component of our lives that God has graced us with back to Him in prayer and in faith.

Personally, when I begin the baking process, I first prepare the area. I do a thorough cleaning of the counter and make sure it is dry and ready. I typically set out an icon of Christ and maybe accompany it with an icon of a feast day or a saint if I'm preparing the bread for a certain special occasion. I typically also light a candle to remind me to actively be engaging in prayer and to remind me of the presence of God with me and within me.

Then I begin with the Thanksgiving Prayer and Psalm 50 followed by some preparatory prayers I've gathered over the years. (I haven't found any that were Coptic in origin that were specific to baking korban, but all stem from different Orthodox traditions and I've found them useful).

As I work the dough, I am praying my personal prayers and during any downtime, like when the dough is rising or baking, I pray the psalms, standing in front of the icon. I was instructed by Fr. Macarious to focus on the psalms of the 6th hour, then the 3rd hour, then the 9th hour if I won't be able to cover the entire psalter. Of course, if multiple people are working together, one could be reading the psalms out loud while others work on the baking. There's no cookie-cutter method (no pun intended), we must simply strive to offer the best we can.

Recipe for a Commercial Kitchen

Before beginning the recipe, I'd suggest visiting the Prayers page to prepare mentally and spiritually for the task of baking the korban. This is a holy work and can be of great spiritual benefit if treated as more than just baking bread. Preheat the oven to 400° (375° if you're using convection) Set proofing machine to 100° In the bowl of a stand mixer add 2260 g of bread flour and 15 g of yeast and mix until well combined Measure out 1500 g of warm water (between 100-110°) and add gradually to the flour mixture while on slow speed After all the water has been added, increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high and allow the mixture to work until all the flour and water have been well incorporated and the walls of the bowl are clean, about 5-7 minutes. The dough should be slightly tacky but not wet or sticky The dough will not pass the windowpane test Dump the dough out onto the work surface and keep covered with the bowl of the stand mixer to prevent from drying out Begin to portion and weigh balls of dough to the desired size: 8 oz, 12 oz, or 16 oz Fold the portioned dough in onto itself to form a taught ball, rolling under a cupped hand on the work surface to ensure roundness and taught skin Flatten each ball slightly and add it to a silicone/parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with an inverted baking sheet or a baking sheet cover. Space each round about 3 inches apart to account for proofing and oven spring As each tray is filled with dough rounds, add it, covered, to the proofer for the initial rise, about 10 minutes After the initial rise, working one by one, gently place a dough round onto a lightly floured pizza peel. Flatten dough round firmly and evenly with a floured wooden square. This should produce a perfectly round korban loaf Dust the smallest amount of flour onto the surface of the loaf and stamp it firmly and evenly with a clean/dry seal. Pull seal straight up to remove cleanly. The size of the seal should be approximately 50-75% of the size of the korban for the correct desired look Puncture five holes into the appropriate places in the seal Gently pop any small bubbles forming on the surface of the loaves to deter any blemishes from forming during the backing process Gently slide the stamped loaf off of the pizza peel back onto the lined baking sheet and keep covered with an inverted sheet tray. Repeat for all dough rounds Return covered trays to proofer and allow loaves to rise for 40 mins Sign of well-proofed dough: when poked, it should spring back but leave a small indent After removing from proofer, make sure each loaf is punctured clearly, taking care to puncture again if needed Add water to an empty sheet tray and slide it onto the lowest rack in the oven to create steam and humidity. Refill with water as necessary for the duration of the baking Place each tray of korban into the preheated oven, uncovered Bake for 6 minutes then remove to puncture holes again to ensure they don't close up while in the oven. Return to the oven to finish baking After about 10 minutes of baking, or once the loaves begin to take on some color, rotate each tray After a total of 23 minutes of baking, remove trays from the oven Each loaf should have an even, light brown color and should sound hollow if tapped from the bottom Place trays on a heat-proof surface and cover with a heavy towel, a layer of plastic sheeting, and another heavy towel This step is crucial. It allows for steam to soften the crust of the korban loaves to keep them from getting too crisp, keeping them pliable Korban is ready to be transferred to the liturgical offering basket after 10 minutes but can be left covered in this manner for up to 1 hour Before transferring to liturgical offering basket, use a pastry brush to remove all excess/visible flour on the loaves
Recipe for a Home Kitchen w/ Stand Mixer

Before beginning the recipe, I'd suggest visiting the Prayers page to prepare mentally and spiritually for the task of baking the korban. This is a holy work and can be of great spiritual benefit if treated as more than just baking bread. Preheat the oven to 400° (375° if you're using convection) In the bowl of a stand mixer add 2260 g of bread flour and 15 g of yeast and mix until well combined Measure out 1500 g of warm water (between 100-110°) and add gradually to the flour mixture while on slow speed After all the water has been added, increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high and allow the mixture to work until all the flour and water have been well incorporated and the walls of the bowl are clean, about 5-7 minutes. The dough should be slightly tacky but not wet or sticky The dough will not pass the windowpane test Dump the dough out onto the work surface and keep covered with the bowl of the stand mixer to prevent from drying out Begin to portion and weigh balls of dough to the desired size: 8 oz, 12 oz, or 16 oz Fold the portioned dough in onto itself to form a taught ball, rolling under a cupped hand on the work surface to ensure roundness and taught skin Flatten each ball slightly and add it to a silicone/parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with an inverted baking sheet or a baking sheet cover. Space each round about 3 inches apart to account for proofing and oven spring Allow dough to rest for an initial rise for 15 minutes while still covered After the initial rise, working one by one, gently place a dough round onto a lightly floured pizza peel. Flatten dough round firmly and evenly with a floured wooden square. This should produce a perfectly round korban loaf Dust the smallest amount of flour onto the surface of the loaf and stamp it firmly and evenly with a clean/dry seal. Pull seal straight up to remove cleanly. The size of the seal should be approximately 50-75% of the size of the korban for the correct desired look Puncture five holes into the appropriate places in the seal Gently pop any small bubbles forming on the surface of the loaves to deter any blemishes from forming during the backing process Gently slide the stamped loaf off of the pizza peel back onto the lined baking sheet and keep covered with an inverted sheet tray. Repeat for all dough rounds Allow covered trays to proof in a warm area for 1 hour and 15 minutes Sign of well-proofed dough: when poked, it should spring back but leave a small indent After rising, make sure each loaf is punctured clearly, taking care to puncture again if needed Add water to an empty sheet tray and slide it onto the lowest rack in the oven to create steam and humidity. Refill with water as necessary for the duration of the baking Place each tray of korban into the preheated oven, uncovered Bake for 6 minutes then remove to puncture holes again to ensure they don't close up while in the oven. Return to the oven to finish baking After about 10 minutes of baking, or once the loaves begin to take on some color, rotate each tray After a total of 23 minutes of baking, remove trays from the oven Each loaf should have an even, light brown color and should sound hollow if tapped from the bottom Place trays on a heat-proof surface and cover with a heavy towel, a layer of plastic sheeting, and another heavy towel This step is crucial. It allows for steam to soften the crust of the korban loaves to keep them from getting too crisp, keeping them pliable Korban is ready to be transferred to the liturgical offering basket after 10 minutes but can be left covered in this manner for up to 1 hour Before transferring to liturgical offering basket, use a pastry brush to remove all excess/visible flour on the loaves
Recipe for a Home Kitchen w/o Stand Mixer

Before beginning the recipe, I'd suggest visiting the Prayers page to prepare mentally and spiritually for the task of baking the Korban. This is a holy work and can be of great spiritual benefit if treated as more than just baking bread. Preheat the oven to 400° (375° if you're using convection) In a large mixing bowl add 2260 g of bread flour and 15 g of yeast and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined Measure out 1500 g of warm water (between 100-110°) and add gradually to the flour mixture while continuing to mix with a wooden spoon After all the water has been added and soaked up by the flour, dump mixture out onto a clean work surface and begin to knead by hand until a smooth dough forms, about 15 minutes. The dough should be slightly tacky but not wet or sticky The dough will not pass the windowpane test Cover the dough with the mixing bowl to prevent from drying out Begin to portion and weigh balls of dough to the desired size: 8 oz, 12 oz, or 16 oz Fold the portioned dough in onto itself to form a taught ball, rolling under a cupped hand on the work surface to ensure roundness and taught skin Flatten each ball slightly and add it to a silicone/parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with an inverted baking sheet or a baking sheet cover. Space each round about 3 inches apart to account for proofing and oven spring Allow dough to rest for an initial rise for 15 minutes while still covered After the initial rise, working one by one, gently place a dough round onto a lightly floured pizza peel. Flatten dough round firmly and evenly with a floured wooden square. This should produce a perfectly round korban loaf Dust the smallest amount of flour onto the surface of the loaf and stamp it firmly and evenly with a clean/dry seal. Pull seal straight up to remove cleanly. The size of the seal should be approximately 50-75% of the size of the korban for the correct desired look Puncture five holes into the appropriate places in the seal Gently pop any small bubbles forming on the surface of the loaves to deter any blemishes from forming during the backing process Gently slide the stamped loaf off of the pizza peel back onto the lined baking sheet and keep covered with an inverted sheet tray. Repeat for all dough rounds Allow covered trays to proof in a warm area for 1 hour and 15 minutes Sign of well-proofed dough: when poked, it should spring back but leave a small indent After rising, make sure each loaf is punctured clearly, taking care to puncture again if needed Add water to an empty sheet tray and slide it onto the lowest rack in the oven to create steam and humidity. Refill with water as necessary for the duration of the baking Place each tray of korban into the preheated oven, uncovered Bake for 6 minutes then remove to puncture holes again to ensure they don't close up while in the oven. Return to the oven to finish baking After about 10 minutes of baking, or once the loaves begin to take on some color, rotate each tray After a total of 23 minutes of baking, remove trays from the oven Each loaf should have an even, light brown color and should sound hollow if tapped from the bottom Place trays on a heat-proof surface and cover with a heavy towel, a layer of plastic sheeting, and another heavy towel This step is crucial. It allows for steam to soften the crust of the korban loaves to keep them from getting too crisp, keeping them pliable Korban is ready to be transferred to the liturgical offering basket after 10 minutes but can be left covered in this manner for up to 1 hour Before transferring to liturgical offering basket, use a pastry brush to remove all excess/visible flour on the loaves