The Bread Topic (2016–)

[Ann_T]

 

 

 

I'm inspired to maybe start making more "seeded" loaves.

 

These all look so good.   

 

Patrick, I had planned to stop at True Grain Bakery today to pick up their Stone Ground Organic Rye that I use to feed my Starter, and they also

have Organic, stone ground, BC whole Khorasan flour.  So I'm going get a bag of it too.   

 

Today's bake.

Made a small "biga" yesterday morning using just the sourdough discard remnants in the bottom of a jar, added 55g of water and 55g of flour.

Mixed, covered and left on the counter to rise. Added it to 600g of flour, salt and hydration was 70%.

Made the dough last night before bed.

Was left out on the counter until 3:00 am, for a 7 hour, room temperature fermentation.

[PatrickT]

@Ann_T Your loaves are always spectacular! 😍 I think you'll really love the flavor of that Khorasan flour.

[paul o' vendange]

@Ann_T, wow, spectacular!  I also love Khorasan.  From time to time, I'll venture into both emmer and einkorn, but though I love their flavors and aromas, I really like that Khorasan is both really aromatic and as easy to work with in my experience as wheat.  

[Ann_T]

Thanks @PatrickT and @paul o' vendange, I'm looking forward to trying the Khorasan.

 

Baked three times today.

Matt pulled one of my sourdoughs out of the fridge this morning and used a little over 500g to make a large pizza for lunch,

and I shaped what was left into this little batard.

I had also started another dough early this morning with a small sourdough "biga" that I had left out over night.

 

This dough was left on the counter for a late same day bake, and rather than bake on a stone, I baked it in a loaf pan.

[Ann_T]

I've been playing around with making a small "preferment" using the method from Culinary Exploration.

Philip uses just a small amount of discard, basically the scrapings in the bottom of the jar to make a small "preferment" or starter for his next batch of dough.

Yesterday I added less than a tablespoon of discard to two small jars and fed both with 55g of water and 55g of flour.

 

Left it out on the counter overnight. Had more than doubled by 4:00 AM.

I decided that I would make bagels today and add one of the starters to the batch.

 

I then fed the scrapings that remained in the bottom of the jar, again with 55g of starter and 55g of water.

 

I also weighed out the scrapings, which amounted to 22g.

 

This method works great for me, because I can either feed the scrapings at night and the starter is ready to use in the morning in a dough,

or I can feed in the morning and the starter is ready to use when I get home from work.

Here is a link to his site where you can also find his Youtube video on this method.

 

https://www.culinaryexploration.eu/blog/Sourdough-feeding

[PatrickT]

5 hours ago, Ann_T said:

This method works great for me, because I can either feed the scrapings at night and the starter is ready to use in the morning in a dough,

or I can feed in the morning and the starter is ready to use when I get home from work.

Are you leaving your scrapings on the counter all the time, then?

[Ann_T]

19 minutes ago, PatrickT said:

Are you leaving your scrapings on the counter all the time, then?

Never.   After I feed a starter, it sits on the counter only as long as it takes to more than double and then goes into the fridge until next time I feed it.

 

And I would use some of the discard in a biga or another preferment.   

 

But the last couple of days I've used this new method,  just the remnants left in the bottom of a jar,

mixed with the water and the flour, and after it doubles, I've put into another batch of dough. 

 

This morning , the two I fed last night had doubled overnight so I used one in a bagel dough,

and the second one went into a dough, that is destined for pizza in a day or two.  I didn't bother feeding both jars, just one. 

 

And that one is now  ready to use, but I'm not ready to use it so it is going into the fridge for a day or two. 

 

[Ann_T]

Sourdough bagels. Last batch just out of the oven.

I made two different sizes.

The smallest are "cocktail" size and will be served with cream cheese and smoked salmon tonight.

 

They are topped with poppy seeds.

And the larger size were topped with poppy seeds, sesame seeds and fried onions.

 

Matt fried the onions because this is his favourite bagel.

[Ann_T]

Last night's bake.

Sourdough, that had been in the fridge since Feb. 16th.

 

Taken out yesterday morning and left to warm up and finish rising.

 

Baked a pizza for dinner and four batards and one smaller baguette.

Crumb shot. 

Edited February 24 by Ann_T (log)

[ElsieD]

@Ann_T. You make the most amazing bread!

[Ann_T]

23 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

@Ann_T. You make the most amazing bread!

Thank you Elsie.

 

[PatrickT]

On 2/16/2025 at 4:39 PM, ElsieD said:

Here are a couple of pictures of the  multigrain bread.  I followed the recipe except i used a soaker as mentioned and used 3 tablespoons of honey, not 2.  The bread needs more salt, and that's coming from someone who is not a salt lick.  I did have to add more flour to the mix but next time I will either a) not soak my seeds or b) adjust the amount of water used in the soak.  I can always use more flour/water if needed.  But,  I have to say that this bread is absolutely delicious and I'll be making it again and again.  Thank you @PatrickT!

 

I dare say yours looks a lot better - but check out what was posted in the Sourdough Geeks Facebook Group today. It must be a popular recipe to try to recreate!

 

 

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, PatrickT said:

 

I dare say yours looks a lot better - but check out what was posted in the Sourdough Geeks Facebook Group today. It must be a popular recipe to try to recreate!

 

 

I tried to find that post without success.  Interesting that they did a stretch and fold.  I'll do that with my next loaf.  It won't be sourdough, though.  Just plain ol' yeast.  

[PatrickT]

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I tried to find that post without success.  Interesting that they did a stretch and fold.  I'll do that with my next loaf.  It won't be sourdough, though.  Just plain ol' yeast.  

All good! Here’s the direct link to the post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14RPniZDJf/?mibextid=wwXIfr

[ElsieD]

I made another 'Copy of Dave's Killer Bread' loaf of this last week and sent it down with my husband to a family gathering.  As we felt it needed a bit more oomph in the flavour department i increased the salt.  I asked for honest feedback and all I got was how delicious it was, and believe me, if you ask this crew for an honest opinion, you'll get it!   The loaf was gone in two days.  One of his sisters wrote to me and mentioned that there must have been molasses in the bread.  Well, I thought, that's interesting.  Yesterday i made what I call a wee loaf, essentially 1/3 of a loaf.  I used molasses for the sweetness instead of honey, added a small handful of 12 grain cereal  a tiny bit more salt and a bit of extra water.  It's terrific, and I wouldn't change a thing.  It's especially great toasted, with peanut butter.

Edited March 4 by ElsieD
Clarified a couple of things. (log)

[PatrickT]

@ElsieD Fantastic! Any chance you’d be willing to post your modified recipe in its entirety? Thanks in advance! 🙏

[ElsieD]

3 hours ago, PatrickT said:

@ElsieD Fantastic! Any chance you’d be willing to post your modified recipe in its entirety? Thanks in advance! 🙏

I will, but first I want to make it one more time to make sure that it's totally to my satisfaction.  Also, I need to take an accurate measurement of the 12 grain cereal.  We don't eat it every day so it'll be a couple of weeks before we get through it.

[Wholemeal Crank]

A really simple question....maybe....? 

 

If I overproof my sourdough bread a little bit, at what point am I better off just doing one more fold/knead and reshaping and reproofing vs just putting it in the oven ASAP & crossing my fingers?

 

I'm using a *very* lively emmer/barley starter and the loaf itself is freshly milled Rouge de Bordeaux hard red wheat.  Usually I've been giving this one rise as dough, then shaping, proofing, and baking with good success.

 

Today's loaf was reshaped and put in the proof box in hopes of one more nice rise.....but this is a sadly common question for me.

Edited March 10 by Wholemeal Crank (log)

[Ann_T]

 

Yesterday I made "Ball Park Style" hot dog buns.  At least that is what Moe calls them.  Similar to the buns used for Lobster Rolls. 

 

 

The kind of bun that we would often find at different ball parks, 

where the bun has a slit in the top rather than a side split.   

Moe loves this type of bun. 

 

 

I want my hotdog or hamburger buns always toasted on the grill , so I really like this style of bun

 because not only can I grill the inside of the bun, but also the outside. Because they buns butt up to each other, the sides are not crusty.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ann_T]

I started using a new method recently for making a "starter" for my next batch of sourdough.

Rather than making a sourdough biga using 60 to 80g of discard, with 220g of flour and 220g of water, I am using just the "scrapings in the jar" method from Culinary Exploration.

Very simple method, that you can get started by just adding a teaspoon or two of discard in the bottom of a small jar and stirring in 55g of water and 55g of flour. Cover and leave to rise until more than double.

When ready to use, just spoon out most of the starter into a bowl, leaving enough scrapings in the bottom of the jar to feed again.

The first few batches I've made with this method, I also added a pinch of yeast, less than a gram as insurance just in case.

But yesterday, I wanted to test the strength of this little preferment without adding any yeast.

I fed two little jars, with just the scrapings, and left them to rise during the day.

 

Last night one of the jars went into the fridge and the other into a batch of dough.

I spooned 90g of the biga into a bowl, added 600g of flour and 420g of water, along with 8g of salt,

and after the last stretch and fold, left the dough on the counter overnight for an 8 hour fermentation.

I left enough scrapings in this jar to feed another day and it also went into the fridge.

 

Baked four baguettes this morning from about 1110g of dough.

 

Really happy with this method.

[Tropicalsenior]

I haven't baked any bread for a long time but I came across this recipe for Cheesecake Factory Brown Bread and it caught my interest. I always like the brown bread at The Outback and this seems quite similar. I haven't cut into it yet but it sure smells delicious.

Edited Thursday at 08:19 PM by Tropicalsenior (log)

[PatrickT]

2 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I haven't baked any bread for a long time but I came across this recipe for Cheesecake Factory Brown Bread and it caught my interest. I always like the brown bread at The Outback and this seems quite similar. I haven't cut into it yet but it sure smells delicious.

LOVE that bread!! 😋 

[Ann_T]

17 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I haven't baked any bread for a long time but I came across this recipe for Cheesecake Factory Brown Bread and it caught my interest. I always like the brown bread at The Outback and this seems quite similar. I haven't cut into it yet but it sure smells delicious.

I'm not familiar with that bread but I would love to give it a try.  Thanks for sharing the link to the recipe.

 

Took a sourdough out of the fridge last night and it was left on the counter from 9:00 PM until just before 4:00 AM this morning.

This was dough was in the fridge for five days.

 

Baked two cheddar stuffed loaves.

[Tropicalsenior]

Thank you @Ann_T and @PatrickT. As I hoped, it has a great crumb and a really unique flavor. Almost like pumpernickel.

I will be making this quite often.