The Bread Topic (2015-2016)

[lindag]

I know that somewhere in my recipe files there's one for Bialys; one of these days I will definitely have to try it.

[Ann_T]

Unfortunately, the pictures in Shain's post are not opening for me.

 

Yesterday's bake was sourdough.

 

I began a new starter on Sunday with fresh milled organic rye and bottled water.   

 

Used some of the discard on Tuesday night to make a biga/preferment that went into a 750g batch of dough Wednesday morning.   Dough went into the fridge and was baked yesterday.

 

 

 

[SLB]

Those are gorgeous!!!

 

I'm gonna have to find some of this Canadian flour.  That crumb is, like, biblical.  

Edited January 29, 2016 by SLB (log)

[shain]

4 hours ago, Ann_T said:

Unfortunately, the pictures in Shain's post are not opening for me.

That's my fault for trying to be clever and avoid uploading them to egullet  Tanks you for notifying me.

Your breads have a lovely crumb, you can see the shine of a well devolved high-hydration dough.

[lindag]

KAF makes a high gluten flour (used to be know as Sir Lancelot) which is 14.2% protein.

Is this equivalent to the Canadian strong flour?

[Shelby]

Made a double batch of Cyalexa's wonderful buns.  I am going to wrap them up and freeze them later today.  So handy to have ready.

 

 

[Franci]

Made some brioche dough again, still in the fridge but I took out a small amount and baked 4 tiny brioches to see how they would come out. It's a dough very rich in yolks about 10-11 for a total weight of 1.2 kg of dough. Kids liked a lot 

 

[Franci]

So with the rest of the brioche dough I've made this. Filling apricot jam and raisin for my boy and jam and chocolate chips for the girl

 

 

[Ann_T]

On 29/01/2016 at 7:09 AM, SLB said:

Those are gorgeous!!!

 

I'm gonna have to find some of this Canadian flour.  That crumb is, like, biblical.  

Thanks SLB.

 

Franci, would you please share your brioche recipe?  I bought an extra dozen eggs from the farm yesterday just for this purpose.

 

Started a batch of sourdough rye on Saturday and baked it last night after I got home from work.

 

 My son took the dough out of the fridge for me late afternoon so that it would be ready to go.

 

 

Both were baked in Dutch Ovens. Came out of the oven late last night.

 

Sliced this morning for breakfast.

 

 

[Anna N]

 

My very first "panda me"!   That is how the dictation on my iPad translates pain de mie. I love it!   This was inspired by a recent topic on "help me replace my baking pans".   I used a recipe from King Arthur flour for a sandwich bread for the small pullman pan but then mixed it and let it rise in my Thermomix and baked it in my Breville oven. 

[Franci]

23 hours ago, Ann_T said:

 

 

Franci, would you please share your brioche recipe?  I bought an extra dozen eggs from the farm yesterday just for this purpose.

 

 

Sure, Ann!

 

For the biga
Fresh baker yeast 20gr (me 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast)
Flour W320-340 150gr (so your high protein flour would be fine)
Water 75gr (I use a little more)

mix and let it proof until tripled

For the dough:
Flour W320-340 450gr
Butter  250gr
Water 70gr
Sugar 100gr
Egg yolk 150gr
Salt 6gr
Vanilla bean and/or lemon or orange zest

 

Wet the sugar with the water.

Mix the flour with the yolk and add the sugar syrup. I needed to add a little more liquid. Add the salt and the flavorings.

When smooth and elastic add the biga in pieces. And after that has been incorporated, add the softened butter a bit at a time.

I let the fermentation start and then moved the dough to the fridge overnight (actually for 2 days) and brought back to room temperature and let triple in bulk (it took a good 7-8 hours). Then shape as you want,  proof again and bake.

For the small swirl brioches I put the rolled dough in the fridge again for an hour for easier slicing.

 

 

[Ann_T]

Thank you Franci.

 

 

[Smithy]

 

Dutch Potato Bread, recipe from The Partisan Baker (a.k.a. @bethesdabakers).Mick posted here about this recipe last summer, and I finally got round to trying it. It was a new experience for me, and of course I came away with questions.  This recipe calls for 125% starter, grated onions, grated potatoes, yogurt, grated cheese, and of course flour and salt.  There is no water added.  I kept checking the recipe.  Nope, no water.  I tried it as written, reserving the idea that if it didn't pull together properly then I might add a bit to help it along.  As it turned out, there was no need; the dough came together and had plenty of moisture.

 

What it didn't have, and never developed - despite kneading, stretching and folding, and proofing (all as I've been doing with my reliable loaves) - was a good rise or structure.  If this had been mixed using commercial yeast I'd have concluded the yeast was dead.  Since it was mixed using my well-fed and -refreshed, quite lively sourdough starter, that couldn't be the problem.  Oh, it rose a little but refused to develop the texture I'd have expected.  It lay flaccid in its bowl at room temperature, then overnight in the refrigerator, and the next day coming up to temperature.  I considered kneading it more and perhaps adding some flour to try to make it less shaggy, then letting it proof longer.  Then I decided to take the recipe at its word for proportions and stop waiting.

 

I bunged it into a bread pan to give it some shape for the final rise.  Doesn't look very promising here, does it? 

 

Nonetheless it browned and baked beautifully.  

 

It isn't a high loaf, but it isn't the brick the photos might suggest.  It's dense, very flavorful and delightfully tangy.  Here's the crumb:

 

 

I will definitely make this again.  I wonder about pointers, though.  The recipe calls for wholemeal wheat flour.  I had, and used, King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour.  Would the flour difference account for this loaf's refusal to rise?  Does the type of potato or onion matter?  I used grated russet (starchy) potato rather than waxy potato.  

 

Incidentally, this was delicious with last night's spaghetti dinner, and this morning's breakfast.  I'll be making it again.

[kbjesq]

Have any of you used liquid lecithin in your bread baking? I was just given a large bottle of food grade liquid lecithin without any instructions other than "a little goes a long way" 

[SLB]

6 hours ago, Smithy said:

I will definitely make this again.

 

Once I got to the "baked" photos, I knew I'd be making it.  Hopefully the answers to your "pointers" queries will come in soon. 

[JohnT]

On 04 February 2016 at 3:17 AM, kbjesq said:

Have any of you used liquid lecithin in your bread baking? I was just given a large bottle of food grade liquid lecithin without any instructions other than "a little goes a long way" 

Why would you want to use lecithin in your bread? 

[Franci]

Made "streghe", witches, that how these crackers are known in the bakeries in Bologna. They were used to test the oven temperature 

 

[kbjesq]

6 hours ago, JohnT said:

Why would you want to use lecithin in your bread? 

 

I haven't used it. I'm asking if anyone here has done so. From Google searching, it's supposed to be a dough conditioner, improve texture in whole grain breads and prolong shelf life of all baked goods. I guess I'll give it a try and see if I notice any difference. Will have to wait until later in the week when I have some time to experiment. 

[JohnT]

5 hours ago, kbjesq said:

 

I haven't used it. I'm asking if anyone here has done so. From Google searching, it's supposed to be a dough conditioner, improve texture in whole grain breads and prolong shelf life of all baked goods. I guess I'll give it a try and see if I notice any difference. Will have to wait until later in the week when I have some time to experiment. 

kbjesq, I never said you had used it, I just asked "why would you want to?" To me, making my own bread is making proper, natural bread that is not chemically enhanced with chemicals or "extracts" that we know very little about. If I wanted bread conditioned with lecithin, I would just go and buy a loaf at my local supermarket.

 

I too queried the use of lecithin in bread a few years ago as my wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and I read on the internet that lecithin and certain other oils from the east were supposed to help prevent the progression of the disease. Specialist doctors and researchers I consulted suggested I stay away from them as there was just no positive evidence that they would be beneficial. In fact, I was told that I should also stay away from using margarine containing lecithin as there were now indications that it was more harmful to the human body than using natural butter. Just because industrial bakers use certain additives to enhance shelf life etc. does not mean it is safe to do so.

 

When making my home-made bread I use flour, water, yeast, salt and some melted butter to help give it an extra day or two of life - no chemicals of which I know very little. But, this said, you are always free to experiment or use what you want in your baking.

[lindag]

13 hours ago, kbjesq said:

 

I haven't used it. I'm asking if anyone here has done so. From Google searching, it's supposed to be a dough conditioner, improve texture in whole grain breads and prolong shelf life of all baked goods. I guess I'll give it a try and see if I notice any difference. Will have to wait until later in the week when I have some time to experiment. 

 

Look at King Arthur Flour's website; they sell Lecithin there and you'll find a description and info about how to use it.  I use it sometimes to increase shelf life.  The also have products like 'whole grain improver'  and vital wheat gluten that will help to boost your rise.

Edited February 7, 2016 by lindag (log)

[Smithy]

Yesterday I made a loaf of Golden Grains Bread from last year's Holiday Issue of the King Arthur catalog.  It's dangerous to mess with new recipes, and we've all noted the idiocy of rating a recipe without trying it as written.  Nonetheless I wanted to try it and was missing a couple of ingredients. For 2T of Non-Diastatic Malt Powder I used 1T molasses and 2tsp sugar, per some advice I found elsewhere on the web; and I simply omitted their Whole-Grain Bread Improver.  It came out beautifully.  Would it be better if I had those precise ingredients?  Maybe, but it's so good as is that I may not bother to learn.  This recipe is a keeper!  We're going to be enjoying sandwiches with this.

 

 

 

The recipe can be found online here.

[AlaMoi]

The Joy of Cooking White Bread Plus - qty reduced for two loaves.....
I started baking this recipe in the 70's - it is cited as doable with a hand mixer - also starts in hot or cold oven - two 9x5 loaves.

very reliable recipe - keeps well.

 

Edited February 8, 2016 by AlaMoi (log)

[Patrick S]

Pretzel knots and pretzel snails with a dusting of Parmesan.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Patrick S (log)

[Ann_T]

Patrick,  beautiful.  Love the photos.

 

Baked two sourdough loaves last night.

 

 

 

Sliced this morning.

 

[Anna N]

 

 

Honey-oat pain de mie from the King Arthur Flour site.  I am totally taken with this pan.  It is heavy and I'm sure will last a lifetime.