The Bread Topic (2016–)

[Ann_T]

@Tropicalsenior, your photos are not opening for me. 

[Tropicalsenior]

 

I had trouble uploading them to begin with. Let me know if this works.

[Anna N]

12 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

given it contains a year's worth of maple syrup

Holy cow! But I absolutely admire your willingness to give this a shot. I expect with that much sugar it will make wonderful toast, and I have no doubt you will find some amazing ways to use it.

[Ann_T]

@Tropicalsenior, what temperature do you bake at?

I bake all my breads on the stone at 500°F.   And I would call  my  crusts  "crusty" but not tough.

You might leave the baguettes in a little bit longer to get a richer colour. 

 

You nailed the crumb.  You even have shine.

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

1 minute ago, Ann_T said:

@Tropicalsenior, what temperature do you bake at?

I bake all my breads on the stone at 500°F.   And I would call  my  crusts  "crusty" but not tough.

You might leave the baguettes in a little bit longer to get a richer colour. 

 

You nailed the crumb.  You even have shine.

 

 

I guess I'm a bit too timid. I put them in at 450° for 25 minutes. Next time I will put it up to 500° until they get a little bit darker. I don't have a stone so I heated a sheet pan and slid parchment and all onto the sheet pan.

[Ann_T]

Today's bake.

500g Kalamata Sourdough - netted two baguettes and two small boules.

Dough was made on Thursday and bake this morning.

[Matthew.Taylor]

Here’s what I made to go with dinner tonight. Italian bread from the Breadbaker’s Apprentice.

 

should it look like that inside, though?

[heidih]

Thank you all for your detailed input. I finally got my oven back and threw together a simpke no-knead yesterday afternoon, dough on counter (no more than 55F overnight)  and baked today super simply on a parchment ined sheet pan. Great crust crunch. Not much lift because of my method but well developed flavor and chew. Very happy. For any hesitant potential bakers - do not be afraid to try! In the end the taste is what matters. 

[heidih]

PS: the 2nd image is the underside

[PatrickT]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

PS: the 2nd image is the underside

That crumb looks so soft and delicious! 😍

[PatrickT]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

In the end the taste is what matters.

Completely agree! 👍

[Tropicalsenior]

Sundays are supposed to be my day of rest because I am absolutely forbidden to cook dinner. So I have gotten in the habit of cooking some sort of stuffed bread to have to snack on during the day. This Sunday I cooked my favorite, Char Slu bao.

 

With the extra dough I made a loaf to have with dinner this week. The shaping was a complete failure but I'm sure the bread will be a success.

[Ann_T]

On 1/8/2023 at 9:32 AM, Tropicalsenior said:

So I have gotten in the habit of cooking some sort of stuffed bread to have to snack on during the day. This Sunday I cooked my favorite, Char Slu bao.

Nice snack. Just wondering though who is it that forbids you to cook?

 

 

Last night's bake.

Started a sourdough biga on Sunday and divided it between two 500g batches of dough yesterday morning.

One sweetened with a little sugar with chocolate and cranberries and the other a cheddar cheese batch.

Left out on the counter all day and baked six cheddar cheese baguettes and six chocolate cranberry mini boules last night.

Sliced one of the boules for something sweet

with our early cappuccinos.

And then a little later sliced one of the baguettes for toast.

Makes the best toast.

[PatrickT]

27 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

Last night's bake.

 

When I grow up, I want to bake just like you. 🤣

[Ann_T]

13 minutes ago, PatrickT said:

 

When I grow up, I want to bake just like you. 🤣

You already do @PatrickT.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

Okay, I think I'm almost there. 4 days in the refrigerator, 8 hours rise on the counter, baked at 500° for 30 minutes. I'm happy with it.

 

I think it needs just a bit more salt for flavor.

[PatrickT]

7 hours ago, Ann_T said:

You already do @PatrickT.

Far too kind - but thank you @Ann_T. You seem to bake (and cook!) everything to perfection. That’s a high bar! 😃

[PatrickT]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I think it needs just a bit more salt for flavor.

Beautiful! 😃👍 What percentage of salt did you use? I always go with 3% for baguettes (and most of my bread, actually). 

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, PatrickT said:

I always go with 3% for baguettes (

I really don't know. I use a teaspoon and a half to four cups of flour. I thought maybe the salt conversion was off because I use sea salt instead of the kosher salt that it calls for. But according to my salt conversion chart I should be using less sea salt.

[AAQuesada]

Do croissants count as bread? I say yes. These i made for my mom!
 

 

[PatrickT]

7 hours ago, AAQuesada said:

 

Do croissants count as bread? I say yes. These i made for my mom!

 

I say BIG yes! And mercy - those are gorgeous! Looks like they came out of a pastry shop. 😍

[PatrickT]

11 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I use a teaspoon and a half to four cups of flour.

 

Using King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart for the flour (120g per cup) and Convert To's Fine Grind Sea Salt Converter (4.92g per teaspoon), that would calculate out to 1.5%. Accordingly, 2 teaspoons (10g) would get you to 2% and 3 teaspoons (15g) would get you to 3%. Maybe try it at 2% next time you bake them and see how you like it?

[PatrickT]

Maurizio Leo's Dark-Chocolate Cherry Sourdough, just out of the oven. I scaled his recipe to 500g flour weight and baked it in a 9x4x4 Pullman pan. Overnight counter BF at 63F (just shy of doubled in volume), followed by 2hr pan proof at 77F (1/2 inch from top). Baked in a steamed oven at 425F for 20 min, then 375F for another 40 min (internal temp was 205F). Hopefully the crumb will not disappoint. I'm quite confident the taste will not! 😆

EDIT: Crumb shots added. Outrageous texture and flavor! 

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by PatrickT
Crumb shots (log)

[AAQuesada]

English muffins!

 

 

[Kim Shook]

Last week I made @Shelby’s White Bread Loaves.  They turned out very good, but there was an issue with how the dough shaped up.  I thought that the dough was a little floppy at the end of the first rise:

It crowned nicely, but the minute that I removed the plastic wrap it sunk down like that.  And this is what the baked loaves looked like:

 

 

The dough obviously slumped over the sides of the pans and the edges that were inside the pans are very pale.  I was hoping to get the nice crowns on the loaves like Shelby gets and like I got when I made it last year.  I did everything the same way- 1^st proof in the oven, 2^nd proof and bake in the CSO.  I wonder why my dough was so seemingly floppy?  But at least the texture and taste were good: