The Bread Topic (2016–)

[blue_dolphin]

Jerusalem Sesame Bread (K'ak Al Quds) from Falastin. The recipe calls for half bread flour and half all purpose. I used all whole grain bread flour. 

These are only supposed to have white sesame seeds but I didn't have (or couldn't find) enough so I used half black sesame seeds. 

Crumb:

 

The recipe makes 6 breads.  I baked 4 and froze the other 2 pre-bake as the header notes say they can be baked right from the freezer.  

I'll also be freezing some of these and reheating in the CSO, which I suspect will be a better choice, but we'll see. 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2022 by blue_dolphin
to add crumb photo (log)

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

Jerusalem Sesame Bread

Thanks so much for posting this. I was very curious, but did not want to ask for a recipe which I knew I would never make.  That crumb. looks amazing. A very convenient dough to have in your freezer (baked or not). 

[Ann_T]

I agree with @Anna N.  Great crumb. 

 

@PatrickT Interesting video.  He does the opposite of what I do.  I do a cold fermentation and a room temperature Proof.    He does a short fermentation, but a longer cold proof. 

 

Interesting that both work.  I've always said that it is difficult to screw up bread.  It seems to be very forgiving. 

 

Here is a look at the crumb from today's loaf.  This one came out of the fridge after 108 hours and was left on the 

counter overnight for about 8 hours before shaping and proofing.

 

 

 

 

[PatrickT]

14 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

Interesting that both work.  I've always said that it is difficult to screw up bread.  It seems to be very forgiving.

Well said! 😉

[Ann_T]

Out of the oven early this morning.

Dough in the fridge since Friday morning.  Baked this 2 pounder for my little 4year old  friend Claude.

He gets so excited when he gets a baguette.  Can't wait to see how he reacts to 

a big round loaf. 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Ann_T (log)

[CookBot]

On 10/27/2022 at 10:55 PM, Ann_T said:

Here is a look at the crumb from today's loaf.  This one came out of the fridge after 108 hours and was left on the 

counter overnight for about 8 hours before shaping and proofing.

 

That crumb is pretty much my ideal of what a great country loaf should look like. 

 

21 hours ago, Ann_T said:

He gets so excited when he gets a baguette.  Can't wait to see how he reacts to 

a big round loaf. 

 

A beauty!  I've never been able to achieve such a perfectly round, beachball shape.

 

What size pan are you baking it in?  Cast iron, or....  ??

 

[Ann_T]

1 hour ago, CookBot said:

A beauty!  I've never been able to achieve such a perfectly round, beachball shape.

 

What size pan are you baking it in?  Cast iron, or....  ??

@CookBot, Not baked in a pan.  And I just shape and leave on the board to proof, covered with a tea towel.

I baked on a stone and that loaf was covered with a large deep roasting pan.   

 

Today's bake is a sourdough loaf I mixed up last night using 2/3rds my regular bread flour with 1/3rd stone ground whole Red Fife flour.

I left it out on the counter over night and shaped and baked this morning.

Also left on the board and baked on the stone.  This time though I used a large stainless steel mixing bowl as the cover. Removed after 25 minutes.

and baked another 15 minutes. 

I was running out of the organic rye flour that I use to feed my starter so on the way to work I drove down through Cow Bay to 

True Grain Bakery to pick up more of their stone ground rye. 

I also decided to buy two of their other flours - Whole Red Fife and Whole Spelt flour. 

 

"Red Fife is a heritage wheat variety. This means the grain is pure and predates the complex hybridization methods imposed by humans over the last century.

The result is an organic grain that delivers a more robust nutty flavour than conventional wheat.

Our Red Fife is organic and proudly grown in BC.

We slowly stone grind our Red Fife at low temperature to maximize flavour and preserve nutrients.

“Whole” simply means we grind the entire kernel and nothing is added or removed.

Substitute Red Fife Whole Wheat flour for whole wheat flour in your recipes. Thank you for supporting organic BC Farmers and Millers."

 

[CookBot]

4 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

@CookBot, Not baked in a pan.  And I just shape and leave on the board to proof, covered with a tea towel.

I baked on a stone and that loaf was covered with a large deep roasting pan.  

 

Even more impressive.  You're getting tremendous oven spring, based on the reveal from your baking slash cut.   With a free-standing loaf, I almost always get more spread than I want on a round loaf during proof. 

 

Based on the crumb revealed in your slices, you have a pretty high hydration rate.  What percentage of water would you say is in your usual method?

 

[Ann_T]

5 minutes ago, CookBot said:

 

Even more impressive.  You're getting tremendous oven spring, based on the reveal from your baking slash cut.   With a free-standing loaf, I almost always get more spread than I want on a round loaf during proof. 

 

Based on the crumb revealed in your slices, you have a pretty high hydration rate.  What percentage of water would you say is in your usual method?

 

Sometime this past year I reduced the hydration to 63% for all my loaves. In the past I use to go between 70 to 78%.  I really like the results at 63%.  Especially since I use the same dough for pizza crust.  I use 

to think that I needed the higher hydration for pizza, but that is not the case.  I think it probably helps that most doughs are given long cold fermentations from 24 to  120 hours in the fridge.  But last night's dough was

just an overnight dough left out on the counter. 

[CookBot]

3 hours ago, Ann_T said:

Sometime this past year I reduced the hydration to 63% for all my loaves. In the past I use to go between 70 to 78%.  I really like the results at 63%.  Especially since I use the same dough for pizza crust.  I use 

to think that I needed the higher hydration for pizza, but that is not the case.  I think it probably helps that most doughs are given long cold fermentations from 24 to  120 hours in the fridge.  But last night's dough was

just an overnight dough left out on the counter. 

 

Thank you!  Just one more question and then I'll quit bugging you:  are you baking in a steam oven?

 

 

[Ann_T]

56 minutes ago, CookBot said:

Thank you!  Just one more question and then I'll quit bugging you:  are you baking in a steam oven?

All the baguettes are started in the CSO and after 10 minutes I transfer to the stone in the oven.  This way I can bake 

6 or 8 baguettes in half the time.  And each gets the benefit of the steam.  So I tend to bake baguettes that are between 12 to 14 inches long

so they fit on the stone I had cut for the steam oven.  For the big rounds, I bake them on the stone in the conventional oven, but rather than putting them in

to a Dutch Oven, I cover with deep roasting pan lid or a big stainless mixing bowl that is preheated in the oven. 

[CookBot]

Thanks so much.  You're making me a little sorry I decided against a steam oven because of my reluctance to give up the countertop space.  Maybe I could put it in the laundry room....

 

1 hour ago, Ann_T said:

All the baguettes are started in the CSO and after 10 minutes I transfer to the stone in the oven.  This way I can bake 

6 or 8 baguettes in half the time.  And each gets the benefit of the steam.  So I tend to bake baguettes that are between 12 to 14 inches long

so they fit on the stone I had cut for the steam oven.  For the big rounds, I bake them on the stone in the conventional oven, but rather than putting them in

to a Dutch Oven, I cover with deep roasting pan lid or a big stainless mixing bowl that is preheated in the oven. 

 

[Ann_T]

On 10/31/2022 at 2:55 PM, CookBot said:

Thanks so much.  You're making me a little sorry I decided against a steam oven because of my reluctance to give up the countertop space.  Maybe I could put it in the laundry room....

It isn't too late.  I actually have both mine out, and both are off the kitchen.  My first has an issue with the steam function not always working.  But everything else works fine. So I use that

one for everything but bread.  And it makes the best toast.   I brought out my back up recently and it is only used for baking bread.

Today's bake was from a 700g batch of dough that was made and went into the fridge last Friday.  Taken out last night and baked this morning.

Four baguettes. One of which was coated with poppy seed, as requested by Matt.   I just had barely enough for the one baguette.  

Baked early enough that it had cooled in time to slice for breakfast.

 

Really happy with the crumb I'm getting at 63% hydration.

 

 

[CookBot]

3 hours ago, Ann_T said:

Really happy with the crumb I'm getting at 63% hydration.

 

Just gorgeous.  And if I wind up getting a steam oven, I'm going to blame it on your photos.

 

I could probably find room for it on the steel shelving in the laundry room, but it would be sharing a room with the cat litter box, which seems... a little off-putting.

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by CookBot (log)

[Ann_T]

Thanks @CookBot

 

 

Today's bake was a sourdough batch that I made last Friday morning and took out of the fridge last night around 8:00. So in the fridge

for around 130 hours.  

Shaped and baked early this morning.  Four long skinny baguettes. Matt likes this size for sandwiches. 

Crumb.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Ann_T (log)

[Kim Shook]

Yesterday, I some of Michael Ruhlman’s Buttermilk Cluster Rolls to have on Friday when my MIL comes for dinner.  NOTE:  I’ve always had success with these in the past.  The dough after the first rise:

Bread is NOT my forte, but this seemed a little flabby?  Not sure what that indicates.  I ended up having to put the little boules in two different pans (everyone had this issue when we were all making them at Marlene’s website – just a bit too much dough).  After the second rise:

Not pretty and smooth like they should be, but a decent rise.  I didn’t get a picture of the other pan at this point.  Here’s a picture of the other pan out of the oven:

They LOOK gorgeous and tasted great, but the texture wasn’t wonderful.  They were a little dense and tough and didn’t rise much.  I sliced and toasted them anyway to make sandwiches with.  This is the crumb:

 

Here’s the larger pan of rolls:

These seem better. They certainly rose higher and feel lighter.  I wrapped and froze them.  I guess we’ll see on Friday.  Any advice or observations would be most welcome!!

[PatrickT]

Here are a couple of my recent bakes.

 

First attempt at making parathas. I used atta flour - which has a wonderfully nutty flavor. Picked it up at my local Indian grocery store. Definitely going to try making some bread with this flour at some point. I could have rolled the paratha dough out thinner, but I nonetheless got some decent lamination, which I was pleased to see. Also made my own ghee for the first time. Loved these and will definitely make them again. Pictures of the flour I used and the sequence I followed appear below.

 

 

[PatrickT]

Today, I made FoodGeek's Honey Oat Sourdough. My loaf came out just a tad under-proofed - but the recipe is absolutely delicious. I doubled the honey, as he suggests, and that gave the bread a wonderfully delicate sweetness. The very mild sourdough tang is the perfect compliment to the honey. This might become a fan favorite in our house! The dough at the end of BF, out of the oven, and crumb shots appear below.

 

 

[Ann_T]

@PatrickTLove the flakey layers in your parathas. 

Nice crumb and ear on your oatmeal bread. 

Day off work so I decided to do something a little different.

Fed my starter this morning and decided to toss the discard, along with one gram of yeast into a 600g batch of

Black Pepper and Parmesan Cheese bread.

Just used my regular dough, and added coarse ground pepper and tiny cubes of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Both the cheese and the pepper were added after a series of autolyze, stretch and folds.

Left the dough out on the counter for a room temperature fermentation and baked tonight.

One Boule and two baguettes.

Moe wanted to sample with butter. 

 

[PatrickT]

8 hours ago, Ann_T said:

Love the flakey layers in your parathas. 

Nice crumb and ear on your oatmeal bread. 

 

Thank you @Ann_T. Your loaves look and sound amazing! That's a great combination that I'll have to try sometime. 

[CookBot]

19 hours ago, Ann_T said:

 tiny cubes of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

 

 

Oooo, that single cheese drip down the side.  It's like a still life waiting to be painted by an Old Master.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 11/2/2022 at 12:06 PM, Ann_T said:

It isn't too late.  I actually have both mine out, and both are off the kitchen.  My first has an issue with the steam function not always working.  But everything else works fine. So I use that

one for everything but bread.  And it makes the best toast.   I brought out my back up recently and it is only used for baking bread.

Today's bake was from a 700g batch of dough that was made and went into the fridge last Friday.  Taken out last night and baked this morning.

Four baguettes. One of which was coated with poppy seed, as requested by Matt.   I just had barely enough for the one baguette.  

Baked early enough that it had cooled in time to slice for breakfast.

 

Really happy with the crumb I'm getting at 63% hydration.

 

 

 

Ann, you have tempted me to try 63% hydration.  The Anova is preheating and my loaf is proofing now.

 

I normally use 68.7% hydration for my bread.  My intent was to change only one variable at a time.  However the 63% hydration dough did not play well with the Ankarsrum dough hook, and I switched to the roller attachment.

 

When it came to shaping I noted the dough seams were difficult to seal.  That is, the seams did not seal.  Hopefully a picture later on tonight.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

 

 

[Ann_T]

10 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

When it came to shaping I noted the dough seams were difficult to seal.  That is, the seams did not seal.  Hopefully a picture later on tonight.

@JoNorvelleWalker, well your boule is a beauty. 

 

Not sure why the dough seams were difficult, I haven't had a problem with them sealing.   Was this a same day bake?

 

Most of my doughs are given a long fermentation, usually in the fridge.  And even if I'm doing a same day bake, I do it at

63% hydration, but I use very little yeast, just 1 to 2 grams which means the dough still takes 7 to 8 or so hours to more than double. 

 

I'm baking this morning.  Two batches that had been in the fridge since last Monday morning.  Took them out of the fridge last night

just before  8:00 and I just divided and preshaped.  Letting them rest for 20 minutes and will finish shaping. 

[Ann_T]

@JoNorvelleWalker, I took these pics this morning as i was shaping and sealing. 

The  boule is sourdough and has 100g of organic spelt flour added. Both doughs were 63% and the dough was really easy to work with. 

 

After divided and left to rest for 25 minutes.

 

First fold over and sealed

 

Second fold over and sealed

 

Third fold and sealed

 

Start of final seal.

 

Pinched and sealed.

 

Shaping the Round

 

Rested for 25 minutes and ready for final shaping.

 

Starting to fold into shape.

Starting to pinch to seal

When sealed I turn the Boule  seam down and do a few pulls and turns on the board to create more surface tension. 

 

Ready to cover and leave to proof.

 

 

You probably already do this, but I found this video on line today that demonstrates well the shaping of a boule. 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Ann_T (log)