The Bread Topic (2009 – 2014)

[forever_young_ca]

In spite of my resolution to not buy more cookbooks I have purchased "Flour Water Salt Yeast" - and am very glad I did. The first bread I made was the Saturday White Bread. With this recipe I made one loaf of bread, pizza and a small cheese focaccia. All were great.

Last night I started the polish for the Harvest Bread and baked it today. I can say that it is the best whole wheat bread that I have ever made. I did not have what germ or wheat bran, but substituted 70 grams of oat bran. The loaf was tasty and light with a terrific crust.

I would post a picture, but could not figure out how to do it! if someone can tell where I can find instructions it would be appreciated. I am fairly computer savvy and have posted pictures in the past, but can not remember how I did it.

I am determined to work my way through this book. I find the descriptions on the pincer method, folding the dough and shaping the loaves really helpful. There also exists U tube videos with Ken Forkish demonstrating. A picture is worth a thousand words.

I will try Costco next time I need flour as it seems to be much cheaper. Thanks Anne_T for the tip.

Edited January 31, 2014 by forever_young_ca (log)

[Anna N]

""" small Le crueset oven """

which one is this?

I don't know the size exactly. It fits without the lid easily in the BSO. I'll guess and say 4 quart...maybe 3.

If you check the bottom of your pan and compare the number you find there with this

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Le-Creuset-Sizes-/10000000009365815/g.html

chart you can easily determine its size. The one I use for bread is #24 -- 4.5 quarts.

[jayt90]

Kerry and Anna N, what brand of all purpose white are you using for your loaves?

I have been using Five Roses, but their unbleached AP is pretty strong, and I always have to add more water than the formula calls for. I am waiting for my copy of the Forkish book, and was wondering if I will need to tweak his formulas as well.

Also, has anyone had any experience using wholegrain spelt flour in place of whole wheat in breads? I have a strong aversion for the flavour of whole wheat, but I love spelt pasta, and I bought some spelt flour to try. Any pointers will be appreciated.

Diana, I buy AP and whole wheat flour at Costco, London Ont., plus Robin Hood Best For Bread multigrain at Loblaw RCSS. I believe these are all Cargill brands now, and 5 Roses is in the same group.

I'm not fond of the whole wheat flavor, but I really like RH multigrain. My best loaves are half AP and half multigrain.

Many bakers like Arva Flourmills for bread, but it is costlier, and you have to be near London Ont.

I'll be working on the whole wheat flavor problem. Any tips will be helpful.

Costco AP with Robin Hood Best For Bread Muiltigrain

Edited January 31, 2014 by jayt90 (log)

[DianaM]

Diana, I buy AP and whole wheat flour at Costco, London Ont., plus Robin Hood Best For Bread multigrain at Loblaw RCSS. I believe these are all Cargill brands now, and 5 Roses is in the same group.

I'm not fond of the whole wheat flavor, but I really like RH multigrain. My best loaves are half AP and half multigrain.

Many bakers like Arva Flourmills for bread, but it is costlier, and you have to be near London Ont.

I'll be working on the whole wheat flavor problem. Any tips will be helpful.

The RH multigrain sounds interesting. If the spelt wholegrain flour does not work out, I will try it.

I am most grateful for your mentioning Arva Flourmills, I had never heard of them before. Their flour is expensive, it's true, but I am very interested to try it, and they do sell through the website. At least the shipping would be free, since I am in Ontario as well, just 1 1/2 hours away. Thanks again!

[Hassouni]

Yesterday's bread.

And a pizza for dinner.

Wowwwww this pizza looks unreal. As good if not better as the VPN (or whatever) certified, award-winning place I had dinner last night. Can we get some details? (dough, baking method?)

[forever_young_ca]

[forever_young_ca]

Here is the second loaf. For some reason the top did not split on the whole wheat bread like it did on the Saturday White Bread. Perhaps I had it rolled tighter. It has a great crust on the loaf

[Kerry Beal]

The Forkish Pain de Campagne.

Working on a semolina loaf that is a hybrid of a Forkish levain and the Tom Cat Semolina Filone.

[Kerry Beal]

The Forkish Pain de Campagne.

Working on a semolina loaf that is a hybrid of a Forkish levain and the Tom Cat Semolina Filone.

[Ann_T]

Forever_young_ca, I tend to make mostly white breads, but looking at your loaf makes me want to make whole bread bread.

Just look at that crust. Beautiful Kerry.

"Wowwwww this pizza looks unreal. As good if not better as the VPN (or whatever) certified, award-winning place I had dinner last night. Can we get some details? (dough, baking method?)"

Thanks Hassouni. I used Ken Forkish's method for baking pizza . Instead of the stone being near the bottom of the oven, it is placed near the top, about 6 to 8 inches below the broiler. Preheat the oven to 550°F (that is as high as mine goes) and just before sliding the pizza into the oven, turn on the broiler for five minutes to give a extra blast of heat to the stone. Turn the oven back to 550°F and bake the pizza for about 5 or 6 minutes and then finish with two minutes under the broiler.

I decided to get back to making sourdough bread. Monday I started a new "starter" using the instructions from Amy's Bread. Organic rye flour from a local bakery that mills its own flour and spring water. By Wednesday night is was quite active. I fed it again and on Thursday morning, I used some of the excess to make a biga, which went into a 12 cup batch of dough Thursday night. I left it to rise in the fridge overnight and then on Friday, I had Moe take the tub out of the fridge mid afternoon so that the dough could come to room temperature by the time I got home from work. Bake two loaves of Sourdough last night.

[Steve Irby]

Ann-T great photography and bread. I tried making ciabatta today and it turned out pretty good. I did have some weird striations or banding on three of the loaves. The bread made great muffaletta's for supper tonight.

[Kerry Beal]

My semolina loaf yesterday was a bust - so I made Tom Cat's Semolina Filone today. Looks considerably better than yesterday's doorstops.

[Hassouni]

OK, my recent attempt, first time baking in over 3 years:

Bog-standard 2006 Lahey NKB recipe

[Anna N]

OK, my recent attempt, first time baking in over 3 years.

.........

But I predict much more in the future judging by this loaf!

[Hassouni]

Quite possibly. There isn't a single first-class bakery in my neighborhood in DC (which is very odd, given how I live in nouveau riche/yuppie central). I've been getting bread from an excellent German bakery in the suburbs, several loaves at a time, and freezing it. But when I run out and it's inconvenient to hit up Ze Germans, I may well bake some emergency boules

In all actuality I'm strongly considering starting my own...starter for some sourdough fun.

[Anna N]

Despite my new pizza stone -- a surprise delivered by Kerry Beal this morning (made of cordierite to withstand kiln heat!) my bread mojo seems to have taken a hike.

This is Ken Forkish Overnight Blonde, a pure levain bread. I do not know the reason for the deep fissures.

The bread is doughy, tangy in an unpleasant way and must be considered a fail.

Happy to hear opinions as to causes.

[Anna N]

Redeemed myself somewhat with a Peter Rinehart white sandwich bread.

[DianaM]

Oh, those are delicious! For a while, the Reinhart white sandwich was our daily bread, I'd make four at a time, and freeze them. Yum. Only challah or brioche makes a better French toast.

I am still waiting for amazon to ship my Forkish book, but in the meantime I tried the Saturday white. I upped the water when mixing the autolyse because it seemed a bit stiff, and ended up with this, a tall loaf with gorgeous crust.

Today I mixed the same dough but replaced 10% of the white flour with wholegrain spelt. It is bulk fermenting now, really curious how it will turn out.

[Kerry Beal]

So here's the crumb from the Semolina Filone - managed to snap this in the 20 minutes the loaf survived after my arrival at work.

I also did the Overnight Blonde - which is a levain only bread. I let it bulk ferment overnight, this morning I formed the boules and put them in the fridge. When I got home this afternoon I took them out for about an hour before baking the first of two. The second I popped back in the fridge so it wouldn't be over proofed.

The second loaf after baking.

The crumb.

Next time I think I might use the same combination of flours but do the hybrid leavening technique (ie levain and a bit of additional yeast).

[forever_young_ca]

Kerry - what was the flavour like on the 100% levain? I am wanting to try it but have to wait as I am going away for a couple of weeks and it takes time to make the levain.

[Kerry Beal]

I liked it - hubby found it a bit more sour than he prefers. We ate it warm - and I'll bet at room temperature he'll come around.

[Ann_T]

Sourdough Rye Cocktail Bread

Perfect for smoked salmon.

Sourdough Baguettes

[Chris Amirault]

This is Ken Forkish Overnight Blonde, a pure levain bread. I do not know the reason for the deep fissures.

image.jpg

I'd be interested to know as well. If it were one of my loaves, I'd guess that I hadn't shaped it as firmly as needed; I'm trying to find that balance between too loose and too tight. But I have far too little experience to troubleshoot with any confidence....

[keychris]

Baguettes, using a recipe tweaked from Reinhart's BBA

[DianaM]

They look lovely, keychris!