The Bread Topic (2015-2016)

[Patrick S]

Host's note: this topic is continued from The Bread Topic (2014-2015).

 

 

There are so many truly impressive breads here. Bread has never been my culinary focus, though I've dabbled a bit. Recently, after a years-long hiatus during which I was occupied by other things, I've gotten back into the kitchen and dabbled a bit more. Believe it or not, I am only just now jumping on the no-knead bandwagon. Last weekend, I made the CI almost-no-knead bread, and Jessica Fechtor's no-knead challah. They were wonderful, and we assaulted them both like zombies at a MENSA convention shortly after they emerged from the oven. The challah braids lost most of their shape during the second proofing, and I'm not exactly sure why. I did proof longer than the recipe specified. The dough was very tacky, at the very limit of workability, when braiding. But I assume that is the norm with no-kneads. In the months ahead, I very much would like to make baguette and have it turn out half as nice as some of the loaves I'm seeing in this thread. Also, I'd like to try once again to create good panettone. I tried a few recipes years ago, with uniformly disappointing results. But I'm ready to to give it another go.



http://food52.com/recipes/38241-jessica-fechtor-s-five-fold-challah

Edited September 19, 2016 by Smithy
Added host's note; adjusted topic title (log)

[Anna N]

Well, Patrick S, you have inspired me to give the challah a go! The recipe calls for only 1 pound of flour and yet makes two loaves which tells me that for singletons one loaf should be perfect. The other loaf can be frozen. Will report back when I take it out of the oven.

[cakewalk]

 Also, I'd like to try once again to create good panettone. I tried a few recipes years ago, with uniformly disappointing results. But I'm ready to to give it another go.

 

Care to do it "in public"? I also tried pannettone a few years ago, and while it was okay I know it could have been better. Maybe a pannetone cook-off?

 

The challah is beautiful, as your stuff always is.

[Patrick S]

Care to do it "in public"? I also tried pannettone a few years ago, and while it was okay I know it could have been better. Maybe a pannetone cook-off?

The challah is beautiful, as your stuff always is.

Thank you!

I'd love to share the process, in the form of a cook-off or something along those lines. I want to buy some paper molds first, and find a promising recipe and some fruit. There are some no-knead recipes that look good. I really want it to turn out sweet and moist with a gauzy crumb like the commercial ones, like Maina. I think I'll need a really wet dough to get that. Somewhere on the forums are my pitiful attempts from years ago.

Edited to add: here are my first tries from almost 14 years ago. I had a wave of nostalgia looking at those - so much change in my life since those posts!

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/58229-panettone/?p=798802

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/58229-panettone/?p=800584

Edited November 9, 2015 by Patrick S (log)

[cakewalk]

Thanks for those links Patrick, I never saw that thread before. (Your panettone is certainly not pitiful!) A few years ago joepastry.com made panettone, and I followed along with him. (I like his blog a lot.) He used the Peter Reinhart recipe, but I strayed. I ended up combining Peter Reinhart's recipe and Sherry Yard's recipe. I don't remember what I took from each one, and the result was okay, but it wasn't much more than okay. I often get into trouble by combining elements from various recipes. They don't always work in combination, and I'm not always sure why. Using parts of different recipes really can't be done so haphazardly, especially in baking. 

 

I was reading about panettone the other day, and came across a recipe that hung it upside down on skewers after baking. I had never seen this before, but people did mention it in the thread you linked to. I was a bit horrified at this idea, thinking that the bread would be torn apart and fall right off the skewers. But I guess not.

 

Anyway, I'm more than game to participate in this cook-off, but don't have the knowledge (or the camera!) to lead it. If you can do it, I suspect you might have a lot of interested participants. 

[bethesdabakers]

Quite by chance I, too, was making challah this weekend for the first time in about five years. The inspiration came from a new bread book, "The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook" by Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez. I used my own naturally leavened recipe but I was fascinated by the two strand braid in the book which I had never tried before.





I was at a baking weekend in North Wales and unbeknownst to me someone videoed my attempts at a braid. You want to see me looking stupid? At least I was brave enough to unravel it and start again ...

 

Mick

 

[ElsieD]

Well, Mick, I have often wondered how to braid this. Not as easy as it looks.

[cakewalk]

Beautiful. I never heard of two-stranded before. Very lovely. And lovely color.

[cakewalk]

http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Emperor-of-panettone-Gary-Rulli-ramps-up-for-5937973.php#photo-7232726

 

Great photos and video.

[Anna N]

No knead challah inspired by Patrick S.

[scubadoo97]

Crack em open Anna. Would love to see the crumb Look beautiful

[Patrick S]

image.jpeg

No knead challah inspired by Patrick S.

Looks great! Your braids kept their shape just fine, unlike mine. How did you like it?

[Ann_T]

Anna, beautiful shiny Challah.   

 

I'm sourdough'd out so I went back to "yeast" doughs.  

 

Started two different batches yesterday.  Both at 1000g and 68% hydration.   One was started with a Biga/preferment and the other with just yeast.   Both left overnight in the fridge and then baked today.

 

Eight mini boules

 

 

with the yeast only dough.

 

And 8 mini baguettes

 

 

 with the dough started with the Biga.

[Ann_T]

I've gone back to using a Biga/preferment.  Something I use to always do.

 

This batch of bread was started on Saturday evening.  Just before bed, I mixed up 1g of yeast with 220 g of water and 220g of flour and left it covered on the counter overnight. 

 

In the morning it had more than doubled and was bubbling away.  I added 530 g of flour, 290 g of water, 20g of yeast and 1 more little gram of yeast.   So total yeast was just over 2/3 teaspoon. 

 

Hand-mixed using the stretch and fold method.   After the last s/f the dough went into the fridge until this morning.

 

 

I baked two long baguettes.   One 24", which just fit diagonally on the stone and one was  22".    

 

Crumb.

 

Is anything better than still slightly warm buttered bread?. 

[kayb]

Is anything better than still slightly warm buttered bread?. 

In a word: No.

[Anna N]

I've gone back to using a Biga/preferment.  Something I use to always do.

 

This batch of bread was started on Saturday evening.  Just before bed, I mixed up 1g of yeast with 220 g of water and 220g of flour and left it covered on the counter overnight. 

 

In the morning it had more than doubled and was bubbling away.  I added 530 g of flour, 290 g of water, 20g of yeast and 1 more little gram of yeast.   So total yeast was just over 2/3 teaspoon. 

 

Hand-mixed using the stretch and fold method.   After the last s/f the dough went into the fridge until this morning.

 

 

I baked two long baguettes.   One 24", which just fit diagonally on the stone and one was  22".    

 

Crumb.

 

Is anything better than still slightly warm buttered bread?.

Did you mean 20 g of yeast or 20 g of salt?

[Ann_T]

Did you mean 20 g of yeast or 20 g of salt?

Anna, thank you for catching that.  It should read 20g of salt and 1g of yeast.

[ElainaA]

The breads here are so beautiful! Right now I am just baking some family favorites to take to our daughter's for Thanksgiving:

 

English muffins. This is my mother's recipe - a family heirloom. The one thing that always shows up at any family gathering.

 

Lavash crackers. To go with cheeses and fruit paste. From The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

 

Mini- pumpkin muffin doughnuts. My husband's favorite.

 

Note: The pictures show the bits I have saved for immediate consumption. The rest are in the freezer waiting for Massachusetts and Thanksgiving.

[Anna N]

This recipe was a yeast ad that I tore out of a magazine heaven only knows how long ago. It is a loaf of black pepper and bacon bread.

[Anna N]

 

Very quickly made in the Thermomix before an early am app't.  Six seed white sandwich bread. 

[Anna N]

 

Dan Lepard's sour cream loaf which has been adapted to the Thermomix.  Made rather quickly this morning so that I might have some toast shortly.  

[Thanks for the Crepes]

That's a very nice loaf, Anna, and I crave a slice (or half the loaf) untoasted with just some good butter.

[Anna N]

 

When you put the salt right next to the other ingredients and still fail to add it in, this is what happens.

[rotuts]

I envy all you 'Free Bakers'

 

those are the ones that do not use a Baking Machine

 

that being said. at lest my MachineBread is fresh, but some what less than inflated with those Holes we see

 

that fill up with Butter

 

Yum

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

I envy all you 'Free Bakers'

 

those are the ones that do not use a Baking Machine

 

that being said. at lest my MachineBread is fresh, but some what less than inflated with those Holes we see

 

that fill up with Butter

 

Yum

rotuts,

I am not sure I understand what you are saying. This loaf was mixed and kneaded in the Thermomix. It was merely shaped by hand. It has a fine crumb much like Wonder bread.