The Bread Topic (2016–)

[jimb0]

I cheat by getting my steel hot and close to the top, then turning on the broiler to finish the top. 

[weinoo]

8 hours ago, jimb0 said:

I cheat by getting my steel hot and close to the top, then turning on the broiler to finish the top. 

I don't think that's cheating; a fairly well-documented technique!

[jimb0]

haha, sure, I use the term loosely because i also want a home deck oven  

[weinoo]

 

I made this (in the steam girl) - let's call it a foccaci-za, as it's neither, but it is started in the CSO's pan and then moved to the stone in the CSO to finish - for a snack yesterday, from an at least 5-day refrigerated dough. It takes on such an interesting texture and chew as it ages.

[curls]

Sourdough bread with walnuts, dried cherries, and dried cranberries baked in the CSO using the bread setting. I liked the inclusions but did not know how many to include -- will increase the amount next time I bake this loaf.

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by curls
fixed typo (log)

[Smithy]

OK, I'm going to have to try bread in the CSO as opposed to the cast iron Dutch Oven in my main oven. That's a wonderful rise!

[kayb]

Your CSO sure is clean.

[Kim Shook]

On 6/5/2020 at 5:25 PM, Franci said:

@Kim Shook sorry the bread didn’t come out right! Did I get the recipe right? I am puzzled. It looks like just mix things in a bowl, stir, and than pour into the baking pan? No folds in between? If so doesn’t surprise me. The bread I made above it’s a no knead, same recipe of the focaccia. But I gave to it 3 sets of folds! 

 

I think a lot of no-knead recipe are the same.  I know that the other recipes I've used before (successfully) don't require any folds in between the first rise and the second.  Can anyone else speak about their experiences with other no-knead recipes?  

 

I also felt like this was wrong from the very start - like I said more like a batter than a dough.  It was so soft after the first rise that picking it up, it was seeping between my fingers.  

[chord]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

I think a lot of no-knead recipe are the same.  I know that the other recipes I've used before (successfully) don't require any folds in between the first rise and the second.  Can anyone else speak about their experiences with other no-knead recipes?  

 

I also felt like this was wrong from the very start - like I said more like a batter than a dough.  It was so soft after the first rise that picking it up, it was seeping between my fingers.  

 

I'm a total neophyte, so take these comments for whatever they are worth, but the Spruce Eats dough recipe seems very similar to the Peasant Bread one from alexandracooks. That dough is also batter-like, but her recipe only has a one-hour initial rise and she does do a kind of a fold using forks between the first and second rise.

 

Could the four hour rise be the culprit? Your bread does look a lot like the pic in the King Arthur article on over-proofed dough.

Edited June 7, 2020 by chord (log)

[weinoo]

13 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I also felt like this was wrong from the very start - like I said more like a batter than a dough.  It was so soft after the first rise that picking it up, it was seeping between my fingers.  

Time for ciabatta!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I made bao the other night, that counts as bread.  But meanwhile...

 

 

 

Has anyone experimented with MAP (inert atmosphere) for extending the shelf life of their loaves?  I am still devastated my last boule mouldered in a couple days before I even got to taste it.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

According to @nathanm and Modernist Bread, for rejuvenating the starch of bread the loaf must be reheated to at least 77C.  Of course I use the CSO.  Bake Steam results in a soggy crust and Convection Bake dries out the crumb too much.  Keep Warm at 300F seems to be ideal.

 

[Ann_T]

@curls, that boule is a real beauty.  Love that golden rich colour of the crust. 

 

Started two batches of dough Monday morning. One was a 600g at 80% destined for pizza Monday night and the other a 1000g flour batch at 72%.  Both were

made just from discard.  The pizza batch had the discard from the white starter with 2g of yeast and the 1000g batch had the discard from the

rye starter discard, along with 2g of yeast.    

 

Made three pizzas on Monday night, plus one small baguette, and left the other batch out of the counter for 17 hours and baked yesterday morning before leaving for work.

Started each loaf off in the steam oven (bread setting)  and after 10 minutes moved to the Oster to finish baking. 

 

Baked 8 baguettes in half the time using this method. 

 

[lindag]

KAF has a recipe for Sourdough English Muffins  that I am planning to make this weekend.

A friend has made them and swears by them.  I'm working up my sourdough starter to get ready.

[heidih]

@Ann_T  glorious gloss!

[Ann_T]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

@Ann_T  glorious gloss!

Thanks @heidih.  

[Franci]

when making the pizza bianca with the recipe above I have an excess dough of 120-130g, I keep it in the fridge until lunch the day after. One hour before baking it I take the dough out, create some tension in the ball again and let it proof at room temperature for one hour before shaping. I cook it on the stove in the debuyer blue steel crepier covered, then When the bottom is done,  I transfer under the broiler fora few minutes. This time I used underneath  my  le creuset grill because I can detach the handles. 

Edited June 11, 2020 by Franci (log)

[Smithy]

I split a batch of sourdough whole-grain bread into two batches. I baked one in the oven using a cast iron pot (started at 450F, turned heat down to 375F, finished out of the pot at 250F) on convection. I baked the other in the CSO using the "Bread" function at 450F until it was golden on the outside, about 45 minutes, then finished at something like 250F until the interior was done.

 

I am thrilled at the oven spring on both - and I think I'm finally getting the hang of shaping boules to help get that oven spring. But look at the difference in the crusts! On the left: the loaf that had about 1/2 hour in the cast iron pot; on the right: the loaf that baked in the Steam Oven. The shine is quite different.

 

 

I'll have to provide crumb shots later. One of these is going to a dinner party tonight, along with my very first pumpernickel boule. A crumb shot for that will come later as well. The whole-grain breads began as insurance in case the pumpernickel is a flop, but based on its aromas and feel I don't think it will be, despite the small eruption at the slash.

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by Smithy
Corrected the accidental left-for-right swap in top photo loaf descritions. Good grief. The CSO produced the great shine. (log)

[Smithy]

Following up on my previous post, here are the crumb shots. I ended up taking all 3 loaves to our friends' house so we could all compare and taste them. One friend adored the pumpernickel, the other thought it was "okay..." the first pumpernickel she'd ever liked, but still not a favorite flavor. She preferred the whole grain sourdough. None of the breads was a flop. 

 

Here, in the same order as the photos above, are the crumb shots. I'd have liked them to be a bit more open, but the flavor was good and the texture wasn't bad...it just wasn't as stellar as what we often see here. My learning process continues.

 

 

 

[heidih]

Yeast is on the way but meanwhile David Lebovitz's whole grain soda bread was whispering in my ear. Has anyone made it? No lemons I can reach - picker MIA,  - lots of oranges. Is that acidic enough? Plan on craisins v. raisins (none here). Only "milk" I have is unsweetened almond milk. There is some cottage cheese I could buzz. Thoughts?  https://www.davidlebovitz.com/whole-wheat-wholewheat-irish-wholegrain-soda-bread/

[weinoo]

Reason #874 why bread can be so frustrating (for me).

I wanted to do a Forkish-y overnight-y thing with a little whole wheat; like in between his overnight white and overnight 40% whole wheat. So I mixed up the dough (kinda late) at around 8:30 PM, and instead of waiting 5 or so hours to achieve ideal bulk fermentation, divided and shaped a boule after 2.5 hours, the dough barely doubled though having had its 4 turns. (The other half of the dough was also divided, into small, oiled containers to be focaccia in a day or two). Into the fridge went the boule, instead of into a well-floured banneton, but into a parchment-lined banneton, that into a large plastic bag to proof overnight. 

 

 Instead of waiting the 12- 14 hours of proofing time in the fridge, I took the dough out at 6:30 this morning; i.e. after 7 hours proof time.

 

Instead of baking via the Dutch oven method, I baked the boule in the preheated, stone-lined steam girl, using the bread setting at 450℉, on the stone.

 

 

Instead of the expected (by me) flat, lousy loaf (though my slashing still sucks), I got this.

 

 

Whaddya know? It tastes great, too!

[Smithy]

5 hours ago, heidih said:

Yeast is on the way but meanwhile David Lebovitz's whole grain soda bread was whispering in my ear. Has anyone made it? No lemons I can reach - picker MIA,  - lots of oranges. Is that acidic enough? Plan on craisins v. raisins (none here). Only "milk" I have is unsweetened almond milk. There is some cottage cheese I could buzz. Thoughts?  https://www.davidlebovitz.com/whole-wheat-wholewheat-irish-wholegrain-soda-bread/

 

That's a fine essay. Thank you for the link. I really need to read him more regularly.

 

As far as the recipe goes, I don't think the orange juice will be acidic enough. As I recall, Navel orange juice has a pH of around 4, maybe slightly higher; lemon juice (Eureka or Lisbon, not Meyer) has a pH around 2.5. (This article says 4.35 for orange, and 2.30 for lemon, and notes that the acidity of both decays with age.) I wonder if you could use baking powder instead of, or in addition to, the baking soda to compensate?

 

I also have my doubts about using almond milk instead of milk. I'd go with the cottage cheese instead, which should be closer to the fat content. 

 

Edited to add: got any citric acid sitting around from a canning project?

Edited June 15, 2020 by Smithy
Spelling: "acidic" instead of original "acid" (log)

[heidih]

@Smithy Makes sense. I just started some dough so I may hold off or try the recipe as an alternate bread item with a funky runny cheese I think. Gonna use that free ride from Uber to peruse TJ

[weinoo]

Anyone use one of these to mix doughs?

 

 

I find it works very well for that initial mixing of no-knead, or almost no-knead breads.

 

[dtremit]

13 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Anyone use one of these to mix doughs?

 

I find it works very well for that initial mixing of no-knead, or almost no-knead breads.

 

Yes -- have one and love it. (Well, it's a different brand, with a steel handle.) Was sort of shocked at how effective it is -- does a good job scraping the bowl to incorporate the last bits of flour, but almost never seems to get caked with dough.