The Bread Topic (2015-2016)

[DianaM]

@Anna N If Fortino's ever runs out of semolina rimacinata, there is an Italian bakery called La Rose here in Milton and they have it. 

 

This is just a sourdough boule I made, a whole lot whiter than usual, but the flavour was very good. I feed my starter often, so there is no buildup of acetic acid, and the sour flavour is not too pronounced - that's exactly how I like it. 

The dough was a bit more hydrated than I am used to, so shaping was difficult, just another thing to practice, practice, practice. 

 

[chefmd]

On May 15, 2016 at 8:21 AM, chefmd said:

Just bought this beautiful Emile Henry bread baker.  My baking experience is very limited.  I can make a Saturday loaf from Flou Water Salt Yeast ant that's about it.  But I am determined to change it after drooling over the pictures in this thred. Can someone please recommend a recipe that can be made relatively easily? I like my bread savory, preferably without sugar added.  Olive bread recipe would be great.  

 

Bonus: this baker fits in my Cusinart steam oven.

 

 

And the first attempt at making bread in this beauty

 

[Anna N]

@DianaM

 

 Thank you so much for the information on the Milton store. Your bread looks lovely.  

[DianaB]

@chefmd

 

Saw your earlier post about the beautiful red,pot and was fascinated to see what you would produce from it.

 

I will admit that on sight of your first photo above, showing the unbaked dough in the pot, I was surprised.  I think perhaps I need to look at that first picture on a decent screen to really understand what you have in the pot before baking. 

The second image shows a beautiful loaf, for me it looks to have ideal crust and crumb.  

 

Have you made a similar recipe in a cast iron pot (Dutch oven?).  I note the new device has holes in the lid but that you baked your loaf in a steam oven, do you think that the steam produced by the oven compensated for moisture lost through the lid vents?  I ask because the only way I can get a crust like your's is to bake in a pre-heated cast iron pot with an unvented lid.  I think I first came across the technique in the Forkish book you refer to above and it revolutionised my bread making.  For me it was worth the cover price for that baking technique alone!  

 

Your pictures, also those of @DianaM have really given me inspiration this morning.  Of course there are numerous other wonderful bread images earlier in the thread!  This is a topic I enjoy reading almost daily, thanks to all who contribute. 

Edited May 22, 2016 by DianaB (log)

[paulpegg]

I use a Dutch oven in a 450F oven. I prepare an no-knead bread and let it rise the second time on a long piece of parchment paper. When it is time, I score the top, pick up the ends of the parchment paper and put the whole thing in the pot. Then I trim off any paper that sticks out of the pot, put a half dozen ice cubes around the edge to produce some steam, put the lid on and bake it for about 25 minutes. Take the lid off and bake some more until the crust is nicely browned and the internal temperature is 200-205F. Much easier to handle and the results are always consistent. Cleanup is wipe out the dutch oven and start again. See some of my earlier posts in this and in prior years for some examples.

[chefmd]

@DianaB

 

i have a very limited experience with baking in general. It's the whole precise measuring thing that I am not good at.  But my love of good bread trumps my dislike of measurements ;).  I used a no knead recipe from King Arthur website and let the dough have second rise in the Emile Henry pan after about four days in the fridge.  Baking at 450 degrees without steam fir about 45 minutes. It is magical.  Really.  Can not say that I was fully clear on the process.

 

here is the recipe

http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/01/01/no-knead-crusty-white-bread/

 

still prefer Forkish bread but it is much more involved and better left for when I have a day off.

 

above recipe can be done on weeknight if u mix the dough a few days ahead.

 

 

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, paulpegg said:

I use a Dutch oven in a 450F oven. I prepare an no-knead bread and let it rise the second time on a long piece of parchment paper. When it is time, I score the top, pick up the ends of the parchment paper and put the whole thing in the pot. Then I trim off any paper that sticks out of the pot, put a half dozen ice cubes around the edge to produce some steam, put the lid on and bake it for about 25 minutes. Take the lid off and bake some more until the crust is nicely browned and the internal temperature is 200-205F. Much easier to handle and the results are always consistent. Cleanup is wipe out the dutch oven and start again. See some of my earlier posts in this and in prior years for some examples.

So you are putting ice cubes into the Dutch oven with the dough?

[paulpegg]

Yes. They produce steam over a few minutes which helps in the rise in the oven and helps produce a crisp crust. Same as a steam oven except in in a confined space where the steam cannot escape. I put them around the perimeter of the dough.

[Anna N]

20 minutes ago, paulpegg said:

Yes. They produce steam over a few minutes which helps in the rise in the oven and helps produce a crisp crust. Same as a steam oven except in in a confined space where the steam cannot escape. I put them around the perimeter of the dough.

 Interesting.  I would not have thought with such a high hydration dough in an enclosed space that additional moisture would be needed. But I am a great believer in "don't knock it till you try it" so I will try it the next time I make no knead bread in the Dutch oven. Thanks. 

[Norm Matthews]

My camera battery went dead right after taking this picture so I did't get a shot of the inside. It's sour dough French bread with poppy seeds.  PS I used white whole wheat flour.  I am guessing that's why it turned out a little darker than usual.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Ann_T]

Diana,  beautiful crumb on your bread.

Double bake today.

 

One batch was sour dough, no commercial yeast.  Started with a biga on Sunday and baked today.

 

 

Baked in Dutch Ovens. This was the small round.

 

 

Crumb.

 

The second batch, was a yeast dough that I also added 60g of discarded starter. Handmixed using the stretch and fold method and baked same day.

 

My husband came home just as I was taking the baguettes out of the oven and was looking for lunch.

 So this baguette was sliced while still hot. Less than five minutes out of the oven.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Ann_T (log)

[DianaB]

Yet another pain de mie, so pleased with this recipe, much quicker to do than other breads I make. 

 

 

I realsise it wouldn't suit those that  use only natural levain but this hybrid really has a wonderful taste and gives just the texture we want for everyday sandwiches.

[Franci]

Made durum bread again, cut with 20% sprouted spelt flour and used some compressed yeast plus some old durum dough 

 

 

[Ann_T]

Diana, It would certainly suit me.   I make sourdough , but if truth be told, it is my yeast based breads that I prefer.  I only make sourdough because I can and I have a son that loves it. I'd love your bread.

[DianaB]

19 hours ago, Ann_T said:

Diana, It would certainly suit me.   I make sourdough , but if truth be told, it is my yeast based breads that I prefer.  I only make sourdough because I can and I have a son that loves it. I'd love your bread.

 

Many thanks for your kind comment.  I have adored your pictures on this thread for a very long time.  These days all my bread recipes come from Eric Kayser's book that I know other readers have criticised. This for using yeast in addition to sourdough but for me every recipe I have tried from that book has given wonderful results.  Before Kayser I used the Forkish book and also had some great results but without the predictability of Kayser.  I'm happy I have both and have learnt a great deal from each.

 

Happy Baking! 

[pbear]

Don't normally post in this thread cuz my stuff isn't generally very interesting.  Competent but ordinary.  Thought today's loaf might be an exception.  This is a recipe I worked up last year when I found myself with excess rye starter from experiments with different methods.  On a lark, decided to try 100% rye, just winging it on instinct as I didn't really care how it came out.  To my surprise, it came out quite well, earning a slot in my permanent recipe collection.  When I went to write it up, did another run trying an idea Mick (bethesdabakers) mentioned a while back, doing it as a one-off starter, which eliminates the care-and-feeding issue.  That also worked well, though in subsequent batches I occasionally had a starter never get going on the yeast side, for which I ended up building a back-up plan into the recipe.  By the way, I notice there was discussion of pumpernickel about a week ago.  FWIW, that's included in the recipe as a variation.  I will mention that, based on my research, I think Bob's Red Mill is right (and King Arthur is wrong), so I sub out most of the flour with rye meal.

 

Anyhoo, here are a few show-and-tell pictures with my Flintsones-era digital camera.  For reference, the pan is 2.5 inches deep, so the rise is about half-an-inch.  Not bad for a 100% rye, comparable density to anything I can buy.  And the flavor is fantastic

.

 

If anyone is interested, here is a pdf of the recipe: Rye Bread (100% rye flour).pdf.  This is excerpted from my personal cookbook; not published, just something I share with family and friends.  Because of the intended audience, be aware there's a bit of psychology in the write-up.  One of the questions I usually get is, "Do I have to go through all that?"  For which I've learned it's easier to say, "Of course not, but it won't be as good."  Hence the cheater version, the point of which is to demonstrate why it's worth going to the trouble of building the starter.

[Ann_T]

21 hours ago, DianaB said:

 

Many thanks for your kind comment.  I have adored your pictures on this thread for a very long time.  These days all my bread recipes come from Eric Kayser's book that I know other readers have criticised. This for using yeast in addition to sourdough but for me every recipe I have tried from that book has given wonderful results.  Before Kayser I used the Forkish book and also had some great results but without the predictability of Kayser.  I'm happy I have both and have learnt a great deal from each.

 

Happy Baking! 

 

Thanks Diana.  

I often add 60 to 100g of discarded  starter to a batch of yeast dough.  I reduce the yeast from 4 g to 2g if I am going to put the dough in the fridge overnight. It enhances the flavour and texture but without tasting like sourdough.

Just ignore any of those that criticise.   Bake what makes you happy. 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2016 by Ann_T (log)

[cakewalk]

22 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

Just ignore any of those that criticise.   Bake what makes you happy. 

 

That's it in a nutshell.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Last night I stuck the remainder of my somewhat stale baguette in the oven to warm up -- only to remember it when the baked potato was past done.

 

Oh well, another day, another baguette.

 

Today I had been baking -- it's been hot here -- even my poolish broke and wept.  And even though I used ice water, ICE WATER, the final dough temperature after mixing measured 84 deg F.  I aim for 75.  The dough was sticky and strange.  Probably overproofed.  The scarifications didn't open well at all.  Oddly the taste and texture were quite good.

 

So much I don't understand about bread.

[kayb]

Tried a new one, for me: Rose Levy Berenbaum's Ricotta Loaf. For which I had to make fresh ricotta, as mine had been in the fridge too long and begun to mold, and once I made up my mind that loaf was what I wanted, nothing else would do. Fortunately, fresh ricotta is easy and quick.

 

It cooked up a lovely and tasty loaf, with a tight, even crumb and a very rich texture (as one might expect, from 7 tbsp of butter and a cup of ricotta.

 

 

My only issue was that I had to add about 50 percent more water (for which I subbed whey from making the ricotta). Not the first time I've had this issue with recipes in this book; using the amount of moisture called for seems to yield dough stiffer than pie crust. That can't be right...can it?

[Anna N]

@kayb

 

I suspect that is why breadmaking will always be an art not a science.  I find no matter whose recipes I use I almost always need to increase the liquid content. Perhaps my kitchen is extraordinarily dry. Perhaps my whole house is dry and hence my flour is dry. Almost certainly I am using different brands of flours then those tested by the recipe tester.  I do not think I have ever needed to add more flour, it is always more liquid.  

[pbear]

Just looked this up out of curiosity.  For anyone who doesn't have the book, Rose's ricotta loaf is based on 500 g flour, with 250 g ricotta, 100 g butter, two eggs and 118 g water.  So the hydration would depend on how thoroughly drained the ricotta.  At 50% solids, the dough would come in at about 60% hydration.  A dryer ricotta, of course, would bring that down.

 

ETA: On review, I realize that calculation is wrong.  It's actually 65%, estimating the butter to have 12 g water and the eggs 36 g each (74% of 49 g net).  Sorry, don't know what I did wrong the first time.  Also, at least according to this site, commercial ricotta runs 70 to 74% water, which would explain why the recipe worked fine for Rose.

Edited June 1, 2016 by pbear (log)

[cakewalk]

I'm really enjoying this 1-2-3 method for making a simple sourdough loaf. This loaf is 175 g starter (100% hydration), 350 g water, 525 g flour (which was 375 g bread flour and then 50 g each of semolina, rye, and whole wheat) and salt. Mix all together, let it hang out a few hours, stretch and fold, let sit overnight, shape the next morning. The dough is a bit slack and next time I will make it in a pan rather than free-form. It's very good, has quite a sour kick, nice texture. And it's so simple. (Just my speed.)

[Ann_T]

Cakewalk, great looking crumb.  

Caramelized onion and poppy seed baguettes.

 

Makes great toast.

[kayb]

 

Whole wheat bread from Reinhart's "Breadmaker's Apprentice." Another new loaf for me. Exactly by the recipe but for using whey instead of water; needed about an extra tablespoon or two of whey to get all the flour incorporated. Lovely crumb and texture; softest and lightest whole wheat bread I've ever made. My rising times, both in the bowl and in the pan, were about twice what the book suggested; in all fairness, my kitchen is pretty cool. 

 

The downside? The flavor was...meh. I thought it had little flavor at all. I contemplated using flaxseed meal for the coarse ground wheat or other flour element, and opted for semolina instead. Wish I'd done the wheat. At a minimum, it wants more salt.