238 replies to this topic

[Jstern35]

I've never had the patience for baking but I've had some free time of late and figured why not! I mostly used this recipe 4 hour baguette
The shape of the baguettes were a bit off, as were the slashes but I guess that'll come with more practice. They were baked in a 450 degree oven with a cup or so of ice cubes on the over floor. Apoligize for the crappy cell phone pics



It had a great crust with a nice light inside; the flavor could've been a lil deeper but for a short time frame I can't complain. All in all it was definitely enough to get me to delve in to bread baking deeper.

[djyee100]

Congratulations on taking the plunge with breadbaking. That's a nice first effort with a challenging recipe.

For tips on shaping and slashing loaves, I suggest this video of Danielle Forestier on PBS' Baking with Julia:
http://pbs-juliachil...ct=0&viKeyword=

good luck with your breadbaking!

[Stephanie Brim]

Looks better than *my* first attempt. I tried a normal loaf of simple white French bread, didn't know what scoring was so I didn't do it at all, and the thing busted at the seams into a strange shape that I can't even really describe. ;)

I bet it's really tasty. Once you go homemade it's really hard to go back to store bought...so be prepared! :)

[isomer]

Whew, it's been a long time since I posted something here.

Today I had my first tangible success with a whole-grain bread!

The recipe I used is from a Jeff Basom. I found the recipe online here. This is a bit of a departure for me, because I am normally all about the weights and reproducibility. None the less, It seems to have worked out ok.

The dough is made with 2 cups (I know! cups!) of whole grains (I used a mixture of brown rice, barley and moong dal), and I sprinkled the top with Kalonji seeds instead of using the glaze he recommends in the recipe.

This recipe is definitely a keeper. The only think I will change for next time is to use a higher oven temperature than 350. The crust doesn't get that nice foxy brown color before the inside is up to 210F.

Anyway, here are the two loafs I made:

[Kim Shook]

Today I tried out a recipe from the American Diabetes Association Family Cookbook Vol. II. It was a whole wheat baguette:



It tastes fine and has slightly less calories, fat and carbs than regular WW bread, but I’ve never tasted a WW baguette before, so I don’t really know how it matches up. It has a tighter crumb than I really like and the crust isn’t very crisp (I forgot to brush it with ice water before turning on the oven – might that have been the problem?), but it rose beautifully and I don’t think that it’s a bad effort for the first time I’ve done the recipe.

[isomer]

I borrowed Daniel Leader's book "Local Bread" from the library, and I made the multigrain Quintessential French Sourdough (Pain au Levain Multigrain). I'm waiting for them to cool...and very anxious for a taste!

[Aloha Steve]

I made a Ciabatta using a Rose Levy Beranbaum's the bread bible's recipe.

Here are the results:

Beautiful bubbly Dough Started (Biga)




I was worried about the last rise, the bread did not look high enough, but I carried on.

Crusty looking loaf. For the last five minutes I took it off the parchment paper on the sheet pan and put directly on the stone.



Here you can see the nice pockets.



It did rise correctly in relation to how much it spread.
Technically, its the best bread I ever baked. Taste-wise it was good, if I were to be served it in a fine dinning restaurant I would not be surprised. My MIL had three pieces, which is better than a Michelin 3 star rating

I really like the pumpernickel loaves I have been making of late. Next time I will show the results of those.

What bread, rolls or crackers have you've been up to ?

Edited by Aloha Steve, 06 December 2009 - 03:42 PM.

[rooftop1000]

Yesterday I did a loaf that I had planned to make with an Ale Barm but the aformentioned Ale was Way Hoppy... I did use the spent toasted Malted Barley that I put in the freezer back on brew day and that added a nice little crunch.

Tracey

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Edited by rooftop1000, 06 December 2009 - 03:42 PM.

[Aloha Steve]

Made this recipe with a few changes. Its very tasty, which given there is no real fermentation period surprises me. Its less like pumpernickel and more like a rye. I did not use any rye flavoring as called for in the recipe.
The loaf came out lighter than the picture in the recipe which is here.
I topped with caraway seeds. I also used the ice cubes in the cast iron pot to create steam method not mentioned in the recipe.

Edited by Aloha Steve, 06 December 2009 - 10:50 PM.

[Aloha Steve]

Made my favorite bread to date and it came out the tastiest and IMO the best looking bread I have made.
Classic Pumpernickel.....only 2 hours from start to putting into the oven. My kind of recipe

[Doodad]

I can make bread but it is always just ok.

I can't get the color and crust right. And worse it never seems to have that aroma and taste.

Not sure what I am doing wrong. It rises correctly and I knead it well, but it lacks soul.

[Blether]

Great bread, everyone. Aloha Steve, that ciabatta looks superb !

Isomer, likewise your multigrain sourdough. How was it ?

[Aloha Steve]

I can make bread but it is always just ok.

I can't get the color and crust right. And worse it never seems to have that aroma and taste.

Not sure what I am doing wrong. It rises correctly and I knead it well, but it lacks soul.

The big difference for me with regard to bread rising was switching from Active Dry Yeast to Instant Yeast.
I learned that not all that one reads by people "in the know" is necessarily true. I doubt that the false information I worked under was gotten here at EG but rather picked up in someone's notes on a recipe. Which is, Active Dry Yeast and Instant Yeast are interchangeable. While one MAY be substituted for the other, a conversion of quantity and prep must occur.
Then I read in the BBA I think, that Instant Yeast is more preferable the majority of the time and if recipe calls for Fresh or ADY, then convert.

Here is a steve (read idiot) proof recipe for KAF's Classic Pumpernickel. I followed the ingredients and instructions with three exceptions:
A bit of extra Instant Yeast went in, after putting in the loaf pan I let it rise for 15 minutes and I put a cast iron skillet in the bottom of the oven at the start of oven pre-heating and when the loaf went in, I put about a cup of ice cubes in the skillet to make steam.
I've decided to do this last bit on almost every bread recipe I do.

Try it and for this one I don't have to worry about the color as the molasses and the coco powder take care of that

Thanks Blether for your kind comments.

Edited for grammer as usual

Edited by Aloha Steve, 18 December 2009 - 11:04 AM.

[andiesenji]

I agree with Steve about using Instant yeast - I get consistently reliable results with the SAF Red.
I began using it when I got my first Zojirushi bread machine many years ago. At that time it was difficult to find and we did not have the internet, but I finally found it at Smart & Final in a one pound package. And cheap, when compared to the little packets in the supermarket.

I do use regular yeast in a couple of recipes that require making a sponge that includes milk and allowing it to "work" overnight, because when I have tried it with the instant yeast it has not turned out to my satisfaction. These recipes were originally made with fresh or compressed yeast.

In any event, Steve, your breads look beautiful and I am going to try the pumpernickel. Just by chance I had ordered the flour early last week and it is supposed to be delivered later today.

[Aloha Steve]

Raisin-Walnut Bread....Next time I will try to get all the raisins inside the dough and none on top, as the ones on top dried out and were bitter. Also I will add Diastatic Malt Powder and maybe more honey. Its a quick bread though and won't have the depth of a fully developed starter therefore no matter what I add.. Still yummy though

[pastameshugana]

So - my mother in law bought me 'Secrets of a Jewish Baker' for Christmas. The only problem is, I don't bake. Never have. I made a great cheesecake once, but I love the 'rock n roll' of cooking from the hip, and don't get too excited by the 'science' of baking.

Anyhoo - I was reading in my down time, and picked up the book, and Mrs. Meshugana was out of the house for a few hours, so I decided to suprise her with a couple of loaves.

They were delicious, the recipe was spot on, the taste incredible, and now my mini-meshuganas (all 3.5) are begging me to make a sugar-cinnamon loaf for their morning toast...

Of course, being I go by 'pastameshugana', we had this wonderful little Shabbat loaf with a crackin' spaghetti with meat sauce. ;)

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[Kerry Beal]

I love that book. It explains everything so well. I guess it can even make a non baker into a baker - that loaf looks fabulous!!!!

Try the Jewish Rye next.

[K8memphis]

Wow Beautiful.

[Darienne]

Your bread looks wonderful.

Truth told, I have never made a loaf of bread from scratch.

Edited by Darienne, 28 December 2009 - 08:27 AM.

[Isabelle Prescott]

Beautiful pic of your bread.

Keep on experimenting... you'll come to not wanting to buy bread. I've wondered why so many folks think baking bread is difficult. The actual work time involved is minimal for the enjoyment of that fresh baked smell in the house and the taste of your own home made bread.

Here's a pic of my pumpernickel.

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[Aloha Steve]

Beautiful pic of your bread.

Keep on experimenting... you'll come to not wanting to buy bread. I've wondered why so many folks think baking bread is difficult. The actual work time involved is minimal for the enjoyment of that fresh baked smell in the house and the taste of your own home made bread.

Here's a pic of my pumpernickel.

Isabelle care to share the recipe ? I love to eat and bake pumpernickel bread

[pastameshugana]

Just a quick follow up: The second loaf of Challah made for some of the best eggs-on-toast I've ever had this morning... :)

[Shamanjoe]

Beautiful breads! I have some Active Dry Yeast, but I haven't been able to find Instant Yeast in my local megamart. What brands are your favourites, and can you recommend any good websites to source it?

[heidih]

The instants tend to be right next to the actives in the major supermarkets. The packaging can be a bit deceptive. I think you are in a large metropolis. Your local Vons, Ralphs, etc should have it. I am a fan of the less yeast, more rest school as in the 5 minute bread in this topic.

[Isabelle Prescott]

Here's the Pumpernickel recipe I use. I make it in my Cuisinart 14-cup food processor. You can use a regular mixer or do it all by hand. In that case you put the liquid in the bowl and add the flour. If doing by hand, I suggest kneading for at least 8 minutes.

Pumpernickel Bread

1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbs. dried yeast
1 Tbs. cocoa
2/3 cup boiling water
3 Tbsp. molasses
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (approximately)
1 1/2 cups rye flour
2 tsp. Kosher salt (if using table salt, use 1 1/2 tsp.)
2 Tbsp. caraway seeds
2 Tbs. cornmeal for baking pan
1 tsp. instant coffee granuals dissolved in 1 Tbsp. boiling water
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp. water

Dissolve 1/2 tsp. sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. Sprinkle yeast into water, stir to dissolve. Let stand for about 5 minutes until foamy. Dissolve cocoa in 2/3 cup boiling water. Add molasses and oil; stir well. Cool until lukewarm.

Reserve 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour. Process remaining all-purpose flour, rye flour and salt for 5 seconds. Add dissolved yeast mixture and process for about 15 seconds. Add cocoa mixture through feed tube while machine is running. As machine slows down, add reserved all-purpose flour through feed tube and process 10 seconds longer. Dough will be quite sticky.

Turn dough out onto well-floured surface and knead by hand 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth and elastic, adding just enough flour to keep dough from sticking. Knead in caraway seeds.

Put dough in oiled bowl, turning dough over so all surfaces are lightly covered with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled. May take up to 2 hours. Punch down. Let dough rise a second time; punch down.

Shape into 1 large or 2 smaller balls. Place on greased baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover with a cloth and let rise util doubled, about 2 hours. Brush with coffee mixture, then with egg glaze.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes for large loaf or 35 to 40 minutes for smaller loaves, Cook on rack.

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[Aloha Steve]

Here's the Pumpernickel recipe I use.

Many thanks, copy and pasted and am looking forward to making it soon.

Happy New Year.

Edited by Aloha Steve, 29 December 2009 - 07:34 PM.

[Isabelle Prescott]

Here's the Pumpernickel recipe I use.

Many thanks, copy and pasted and am looking forward to making it soon.

Happy New Year.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Happy New Year.

[tino27]

Hey everybody ... some great looking breads on this thread. I just wanted to add a few items that might help some of you new bakers.

First, love love LOVE the idea of creating steam to help with the ovenspring of your breads. Instead of using ice cubes, however, use hot water (as in out of your sink's tap). The problem with ice cubes is that they have to go through two phase changes in order to be useful as steam and thus sap more energy out of the oven than when you just use already hot water.

Second, I cannot recommend using instant yeast enough in almost all of your recipes. SAF Red was mentioned in one of the posts and I either use this or Fleishmann's and have always had success. Given that a 1 pound bag will last you the better part of a year if kept in a sealed container and in your fridge or freezer, it is a bargain compared to buying single packets of active dried or fresh cake yeast. You can get instant yeast locally at Sam's Club or on-line at either King Arthur or on Amazon.

Third, time equals flavor. When doing a classic French bread recipe where the only ingredients are water, flour, yeast, and salt, you need to give your dough as much time as possible to develop flavors through enzymatic action. While retarding the dough overnight in the cooler will give you nice results, I find that a better use of my time is to make a poolish (equal parts by weight flour and water with just a pinch of instant yeast) in the morning before I go to work. By the time I get home it is nice and bubbly. Add that into the remainder of ingredients in your recipe and you will be rewarded with a lovely complex, slightly sour taste to your finished product, whether they be baguettes, batards, fougasse, epi, boules, etc.

If you want to see how a poolish is made and what it is supposed to look like, check out the entry I wrote for the last eGullet Heartland Gathering in Kansas City earlier this year, Focaccia Is Fantastic

Sure, it is focaccia and not French bread, but the technique is the same for both.

Edited by tino27, 29 December 2009 - 10:16 PM.

[Aloha Steve]

Great post tino27.
I have started using SAF red and keep it in the freezer in between baking.

Hot water instead of ice, make all the sense, from no on thats a go.

Developing a poolish is the next thing i will incorporate.

Thanks for the tips!

[dougal]

Just some notes amplifying Tino27's comments.

"Steam". Yes use hot, or better boiling, water. NEVER ice.
Ice produces visible fog - which the gullible think of as the "steam" that you want.
BUT if you can see it, it must be below the boiling point of water (212F/100C at sea level).
You'd like the water vapour to be at oven temperature.
And at that temperature, its invisible. Because, at oven temperature it is in the form of real vapour, rather than a mist of tiny droplets of liquid water (which cannot exist above 212F/100C, sea level, standard air pressure).
So rejoice, don't worry, if you "can't see it" -- that doesn't automatically mean that it has left the building.

"Instant-mix yeast". Its great stuff.
But, if you can, avoid "bread machine" yeasts loaded with 'improvers'. (Check the ingredients listing carefully - ascorbic/ascorbate/VitaminC is benign, and stearate is what makes it mix instantly - anything else is unfortunate.)
And be sure to use LESS of it than you might with "active dried". About 1/4 less. (Regardless of what the US yeast manufacturers say.)
For storage, there's no need whatsoever to keep instant mix yeast in the freezer.
Its storage enemy is dampness. Freezing and defrosting tends to produce condensation. Which is bad.
So store it cool (that's to say not hot), but more importantly, SEALED and DRY.
You can keep your working supply (maybe a month's worth) in a small sealed jar (or snap-lock box) in the fridge, with your stockpile in a different jar (so it only gets opened occasionally). A FoodSaver (or similar VacPac) bag is ideal for the stockpile, but not so practical for your 'using' supply.

"Time".
Fermentation time is an essential ingredient of good bread.
But like any other ingredient, an excess is counter-productive. Bread dough goes flabby and flat with excess fermentation.
Fermentation time and temperature are related (in a very non-linear way).
But yes, longer (and cooler) gives more flavour.
And if you use a bit less yeast, fermentation will take longer at a particular temperature, resulting in even more flavour - and incidentally, bread that goes stale more slowly!
And that takes you towards biga, poolish and sponge methods.
To see where this thinking ultimately leads, read (but don't necessarily live by) Reinhart's Whole Grain book.

Enjoy!

Edited by dougal, 30 December 2009 - 07:11 AM.