The Bread Topic (2016–)

[Ann_T]

I put a couple of doughs in the fridge last week, both made with bigas. One of the bigas was a sourdough and the other started with yeast.

 

I have started to label and date the doughs. I still had one that had been in the fridge since April 30.

Matt had taken 500 grams of this dough a few days earlier to make a pizza.

 

The remaining dough was taken out of the fridge yesterday at 10 AM and sat on the counter until I got home from work just after 5:00.

I had planned to make pizza but didn't feel like it so I baked two baguettes and two ciabatta style loaves instead.

 

Sliced this morning. Not bad for an 8 day old dough.

[Steve Irby]

Dawn to Dusk loaves.  Started in the AM with 1000 grams of flour at 78% hydration and 2.4 grams of yeast.  Finished sometime after dark.  

 

 

Edited May 12 by Steve Irby (log)

[Ann_T]

Beautiful bake @Steve Irby.

 

Baked Kaiser buns early this morning.  Dough was finished around 7:00 PM last night and went into

the fridge until midnight.  Taken out and left on the counter until just before 4:00 AM. 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Fluffy (and crisp) flatbreads from Andy Baraghani's book, The Cook You Want to Be. 

Perfect for scooping up hummus or wrapping around almost anything. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

This weekend's Forkish loaf.  Normally I would bake a boule in the Anova on a baking steel with steam.  However I am blessed (or cursed) with the gift of hundreds of Amazon kitchen toys and gadgets in exchange for my evaluation and review.  It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

 

I baked this loaf in an enameled cast iron bread oven that I can recommend:

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

The problem is I am old, and screaming hot cast iron is heavy.  In this case 12 pounds.  No, thankfully I did not burn myself, or this post would have been posted in a different thread.  The results were tasty, but more gymnastics were required than had I simply baked in the Anova.

 

[blue_dolphin]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

No, thankfully I did not burn myself, or this post would have been posted in a different thread.  The results were tasty, but more gymnastics were required than had I simply baked in the Anova.

 

The bread looks lovely and I'm ever so pleased that it ended up here in the bread topic and not that "never again" topic! 

[Ann_T]

12 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I baked this loaf in an enameled cast iron bread oven that I can recommend:

I like the idea of the Cuisiland Bread Baker.  I hate dropping the loaf into a dutch oven. This one

would be easier to do with out getting burned. 

 

Started a sourdough Levain and a sourdough Biga yesterday.  Used the Levain in a batch of dough last night and left it out on the counter until

4AM today.  

 

Removed 500g for Matt to make a pizza for himself and the remainder when into four batards.

Sliced for breakfast.

I really like the flavour of the poppy seeds, especially when the bread is toasted. 

 

 

[OlyveOyl]

A couple of bakes from “ Modernist Bread”.  From the workbook on page 38, The Van Over Method for Lean Bread, intended mostly for baguettes but there are suggestions for a batard and a boule.

The  batard was half of the recipe, the boule was 500 g rather than 605g.

These are made in the food processor, I did a little hand kneading to achieve a window pane.  My Cuisinart struggled with the 500g. amount as I rested it at the 30 second mix with intentions of resting 5 minutes and running for the additional 45seconds. It wouldn’t run properly so I split the dough in half and then proceeded.

Both breads were baked in a Granite Ware, the batard in a hot oven on a stone , the boule in a cold oven on a stone.

This is a simple lean dough that is at its best on day one.  To the boule I added 1T ~ rye flour and  a very well olive oiled container in an effort to increase the shelf life.  I have Van Over’s bread book but haven’t baked from it in a very long time as I have pretty muched switched to sourdough. This bread can be made in about five hours and I found it very enjoyable.

Edited May 23 by OlyveOyl
Typo (log)

[Jim D.]

Does anyone have an idea why this hole appeared in my sandwich loaf?  It is an all-whole-wheat recipe (mostly white whole wheat, some regular WW, based chiefly on one from marysnest.com).  Baked to a temp of 200F. A somewhat wet dough, which I treated like a no-knead type of bread.  I'm searching for a whole wheat loaf that takes a minimal amount of time to prepare so that I will make it regularly.  The hole develops from time to time, but not always. Thanks for any help.

 

[Ann_T]

Dough for this batch was started using a sourdough biga that had been left on the counter Tuesday night (May 21st)

and  then went into a batch of dough Wednesday morning (May 22nd).

 

After the last stretch and fold the dough went into the fridge for a long cold fermentation (about 80 hours).

I asked Matt to take the dough out of the fridge around noon yesterday so that it would be ready for me use when I got home from work.

I used 300g of dough to make a pepperoni pizza for Moe and I and six baguettes.

[PatrickT]

On 5/24/2024 at 9:47 AM, Jim D. said:

Does anyone have an idea why this hole appeared in my sandwich loaf?  It is an all-whole-wheat recipe (mostly white whole wheat, some regular WW, based chiefly on one from marysnest.com).  Baked to a temp of 200F. A somewhat wet dough, which I treated like a no-knead type of bread.  I'm searching for a whole wheat loaf that takes a minimal amount of time to prepare so that I will make it regularly.  The hole develops from time to time, but not always. Thanks for any help.

 

 

I see nobody answered your question. I'm hardly a bread making authority, but I wonder if this could be a shaping issue - especially given the fact that it appears intermittently. Maybe try degassing the dough well before shaping and then ensure that there are no trapped air pockets as you're doing the final shaping.

 

Hope that helps!

Edited May 26 by PatrickT (log)

[PatrickT]

Lemon poppyseed sourdough. While the crumb is definitely tight, the flavor is delicious. Not sure why I didn't try this before!

 

- 400g bread flour

- 100g white whole wheat flour

- 375g water

- 10g salt

- 50g starter

- 50g honey

- 100g poppy seeds

- Zest of one whole lemon, coarsely grated

 

 

Edited May 26 by PatrickT (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

On 5/24/2024 at 8:47 AM, Jim D. said:

Does anyone have an idea why this hole appeared in my sandwich loaf?

I was just about to answer this but Patrick beat  me to it. I agree completely with the idea that it is in the shaping. I have a pebbly glass tablet that I use for shaping the dough and I used to shape it without using any extra flour. I found out that the drag of the board sometimes prevented proper tension. Now I use just a tiny sprinkling of flour and it helps to eliminate pockets and makes for smoother surface.

[Ann_T]

@PatrickT, I was just going to post asking where you were.

 

I've missed seeing your posts. 

[PatrickT]

7 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

@PatrickT, I was just going to post asking where you were.

 

I've missed seeing your posts. 

 

Thank you @Ann_T - busy summer with the usual yard work projects and outdoor diversions, so I haven't been baking as much. Hoping to rectify that now that most of them are finished.

 

Always inspired by your posts here and on Facebook. Thanks for sharing them so freely!

[PatrickT]

100% whole wheat with walnut oil and hot honey - just out of the oven. This is the first time I’ve ever attempted a 100% whole wheat loaf. The dough more than doubled in 6.5 hrs at 65F with only 50g of starter.

 

Recipe:

- 500g whole wheat flour

- 375g water (likely could have used as much as 400g with this flour)

- 10g salt

- 50g starter

- 25g hot honey

- 25g walnut oil

- Rolled oats for topping

 

This loaf is very dense - think rye or even pumpernickel - and significantly more sour than any other loaf I've made. I can barely taste the honey but I believe the oil lends an almost creamy mouthfeel as you chew the bread. The crust is crispy but seems to chew much more easily than a typical loaf I would bake. I really love this one - so different!

 

On a separate note - does anyone know why some images display as completely black when uploaded? I’ve tried several times to upload them but am getting the same thing. Weird? I’ve been doing this from my phone. Will try uploading from my computer later to see if that makes a difference. EDIT: Uploading from my computer worked. I'll follow up on that with the forum admins. 

 

 

Edited June 1 by PatrickT
Crumb shot and tasting notes (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

What is hot honey?

 

[gastropod]

17 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

What is hot honey?

 

It's honey that's made spicy by simmering it with peppers or something like that. It seems to be trendy now.

[PatrickT]

58 minutes ago, gastropod said:

It's honey that's made spicy by simmering it with peppers or something like that. It seems to be trendy now.

That’s right. We bought a jar in the store to make some whipped honey butter for an appetizer we made. Had some left over so I thought I’d give it a try with this loaf. Taste test in the AM! 😃

[OlyveOyl]

Small baguette style rolls for sandwiches.  I’ve been making these frequently with pleasing results.  I made these in the FP with great success.They are a direct dough but I add  tablespoon sized “blob” of starter and the occasional T of rye flour.  Today was all bread flour using 40* cold water to keep the rise on the slow side. Yesterday was some semolina and sesame seeds, my current favorite is fresh rosemary and evoo. These will have some sliced  chicken breast and  arugula sprouts for filling.

[AlaMoi]

@OlyveOyl -

 

gosh those look great!  we're empty nesters, so baking mega stuff generally does not work out well - homebaked no 'preservatives' means eat now, or else . . . (g)

 

could you give your recipe/amounts and any special technique please? 

generally I use a KA lift bowl mixer, but I have . . . somewhere in the dusty corner . . . a FP

 

[OlyveOyl]

@AlaMoi For the four mini baguettes, I used 270 g. KA bread flour, 1T rye optional, a T Sourdough starter..very optional, 5.5 g salt, 1 t yeast, 1t evoo.  Water…200g. was too much, dough was a little too wet and sticky, so I’ve been reducing it a bit. I’d start at maybe 175 g.  This started out as basically a no knead bread with 80% hydration but I’ve not made it that way.  Certainly hand kneading is an option with this small amount of dough, I would not bother with a mixer.  I use the FP because it’s so fast.  All the dry  ingredients get added to FP and pulsed , add starter if using and evoo, pulse again. As my kitchen /flour were warm, I used 40* water poured into the processor in one go…motor on. Process a total of 45 seconds..if the dough looks to wet/ sticky , add in a couple tablespoons flour.  It should clean the processor. I made only two this morning with 150g flour, 100 g. water..this needed a little more flour as well. I knead a minute on the countertop and then place in oiled covered container until doubled.  Remove, gently shape into a rectangle and divide into 4 pieces.  Shape as for a standard baguette. Let double  while preheating oven to  425*.  Reduce to 400*, bake about 15 minutes convection bake…a little steam would be nice. I think I covered it all, lmk if I’ve left anything out! The two I made today got studded with rosemary but I also add rosemary to the dry ingredients and process …this gives a lovely flavor when processed in with the dough.

Edited June 5 by OlyveOyl (log)

[AlaMoi]

thanks for the recipe/tips!

I'll give the small ones a go - we do love fresh bread!

 

will keep you posted on my progress . . .

[OlyveOyl]

@AlaMoi. we also love fresh bread, I froze 6 of the baguettes but never quite as wonderful as fresh, ergo the two baguettes 😋

[AlaMoi]

had a 'cupped' doohickey for shaping-as-it-rises.  got rusty, tossed it.

as I pondered, I do have a Baparoma 'original' pan with inserts/etc.

tried their "recipes" multiple times with 'just not worth it' results - stuck in the dust bin - but now pulled out as a good resting/rising option for the mini's.

 

no-knead, rolled thin after first rise, will be my first stab....