The Bread Topic (2016–)

[PatrickT]

7 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Last week I made @Shelby’s White Bread Loaves.

 

Your bread looks delicious - and from the sound of your assessment, it was! For me, that's always the most important thing. 🙂

 

This forum constantly teaches me something new. In following your link to the original KA recipe, I was fascinated by this statement about Walter Sands: "Because of his arthritic hands, he used a bread bucket with a crank, which kneaded hundreds of loaves of this fragrant, soft sandwich bread with all its happy associations." I had never heard of that before, so I went hunting and discovered the wonder and simplicity of using the Landers, Frary & Clark Bread Bucket! Definitely going to keep my eye peeled for one of these as we putz in our antique and resale shops. Amazing!

[ElsieD]

Here's one.

 

https://www.amazon.com/EZ-DOH-Bread-Dough-Maker/dp/B00GGK4UX6

[rotuts]

@ElsieD 

 

interesting 

 

That's a Lot of Dough.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

6 hours ago, PatrickT said:

I went hunting and discovered

I grew up in the house that my father was born in and we had a bucket just like this in our store room. I never knew what it was for. Now I know that it was how my grandmother made bread. She said that she used to make 10 loaves of bread twice a week. I always wondered how she kneaded that much bread because she was barely four foot 10. She also churned her own butter for all that bread.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

14 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

but the minute that I removed the plastic wrap it sunk down like that. 

Lord knows that I am not a bread expert as anyone that has seen my pitiful offerings on this forum can tell you, but this has happened to me several times. First, when I have let it rise too much on the second rise and second when I have not kneaded the bread enough. When I hurt my arm and couldn't use my KA, kneading bread was my physical therapy and sometimes I got a little impatient. I had several rather deficient loaves.

[PatrickT]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

Here's one.

Thank you! So cool that they are still making them. Would be so fun to try sometime. 

[PatrickT]

25 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I grew up in the house that my father was born in and we had a bucket just like this in our store room. I never knew what it was for. Now I know that it was how my grandmother made bread.

What a fabulous story! Thank you very much for sharing that. Absolutely incredible that she made bread AND butter in that quantity on a regular basis… and all by hand. Truly a wonderful family memory. 😃

[PatrickT]

7 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

First, when I have let it rise too much on the second rise

That was going to be my guess, as well. 

[AlaMoi]

I rather suspect you have been bitten by the "not the same flour" as-the-recipe-poster-grinch.

 

flours are different - that does not mean better or badder or worser - it means different.  they absorb water/liquids differently.

so while one baker has super results with 130 grams per cup, other bakers with using other flour will not get the same result.

frankly it's quite unusual for me to get 'ooooooooooh" results first time thru - I use KA exclusively and usually have to adjust the qty.

 

over proofing can give you the collapsed look in the big bowl - but not the over flowing "love handles" the loaves developed.

 

if you want browned sides, use dark pans.  here's a batch of dough divided, one baked in the silver pan, one baked in the dark pan.

care to take a guess?  note that the browned sided one also had a smidge more oven spring . . . the center get baked more faster....

 

[Kim Shook]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Lord knows that I am not a bread expert as anyone that has seen my pitiful offerings on this forum can tell you, but this has happened to me several times. First, when I have let it rise too much on the second rise...

So, you're saying it's @Shelby's fault?  🤣🤣🤣  Seriously, though, thank you - I'll make a note and keep a closer eye on it next time.  

[Tropicalsenior]

16 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

So, you're saying it's @Shelby's fault?

Most definitely it is. As long as we've got her to blame it on, why not.

Bread baking is a very fickle thing. Differences in flour, differences in the humidity in your kitchen or hers and the difference in temperature. Proofing bread cannot be calculated by time. It's different on rainy days than it is on dry days. I find a big difference if I bake in the morning or if I bake in the afternoon. You just have to go by the feel of the dough not by how long it has been proofing. After you have baked a while you get used to how it looks and what it feels like when you poke it.

Even after all that, there is no guarantee. Baking bread for me is always a crapshoot.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

@Kim Shook this is one of my better efforts.

It's my favorite way to shape a loaf. I make three equal size balls, usually about 5 oz a piece. I shape the balls tightly before I place them in the loaf pan so that they have a lot of surface tension. I like it because I never get that slope at the end and my slices are equal size. I can also get better tension on the top of the loaf. Those are small calzones with it.

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, PatrickT said:

Thank you! So cool that they are still making them. Would be so fun to try sometime. 

If you google "hand crank dough bucket" a bunch of them show up, in varying sizes.

[heidih]

57 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Even after all that, there is no guarantee. Baking bread for me is always a crapshoot.

I prefer to think of it as an advnture with a living breathing part of human food culture. 

[Tropicalsenior]

5 minutes ago, heidih said:

living breathing part of human food culture. 

I prefer not to think of that part of it or I would have nightmares Imagining the yeast Massacre every time I shove a loaf of bread in the oven.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

10 hours ago, PatrickT said:

 

Your bread looks delicious - and from the sound of your assessment, it was! For me, that's always the most important thing. 🙂

 

This forum constantly teaches me something new. In following your link to the original KA recipe, I was fascinated by this statement about Walter Sands: "Because of his arthritic hands, he used a bread bucket with a crank, which kneaded hundreds of loaves of this fragrant, soft sandwich bread with all its happy associations." I had never heard of that before, so I went hunting and discovered the wonder and simplicity of using the Landers, Frary & Clark Bread Bucket! Definitely going to keep my eye peeled for one of these as we putz in our antique and resale shops. Amazing!

 

Add a motor to turn the bucket and you'd have a good approximation of an Ankarsrum mixer.

 

[shain]

Wheat bran bread. One with pecans and raisins, the other with coriander.

 

 

 

 

30% whole spelt with a hint of fenugreek and turmeric.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

I've been feeling poorly but I summoned enough energy to bake.

 

 

[lindag]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

 

I've been feeling poorly but I summoned enough energy to bake.

 

Get thee to a physician.

[ElsieD]

3 hours ago, lindag said:

Get thee to a physician.

 

I second that.   I too wish she would go to a doctor.

[Ann_T]

On 1/15/2023 at 11:02 AM, ElsieD said:

 

I second that.   I too wish she would go to a doctor.

I agree.  Please go see a doctor.

Basket of Bagels.

Some poppy seed and some caramelized onions and cheddar.

[PatrickT]

52 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

Basket of Bagels.

Sending you a PM with my mailing address. 😂 

[PatrickT]

Maurizio Leo's My Best Sourdough at 80% hydration, using KA Bread and Whole Wheat flours. Apart from my terrible scoring, this is the most open crumb I've managed yet. 

 

 

[Ann_T]

Yesterday  morning bake. 

Four baguettes. Dough in the fridge since Sunday morning. Taken out last Wednesday night and left on the counter overnight.

Also baked two sourdough ciabatta loaves. 95% hydration. Dough made on Wednesday and baked and baked yesterday. 

Sliced the smaller ciabatta for Moe's breakfast.

[Ann_T]

Today's bake is a little weird.

But I think it proves that it is really difficult to screw up badly enough that you don't end up with

something worth eating, and sometimes really good.

 

I recently saw a Youtube video of some guy making a very high hydration dough (100%).  I can't remember all his steps, but

I think that he mixed it well and left it and then over a  number of hours did some stretch and folds, although the dough really was too

wet to actually call them stretch and folds.   Then he left it for a while on the counter and let it rise.  Then he oiled a round cake pan and a 

rectangular loaf pan and divided the dough between the two pans. Left them covered and then baked.

 

I couldn't find the video again so what I did was make a  500g batch of dough with 500g of water, 2 grams of yeast and 15g of salt.  

Stirred it with a wooden spoon and left it covered and every 20 to 30 minutes came back and stirred it again.  Total of 5 or 6 times. 

Covered and left it on the counter while I was at work.   When I got home it was a very, very active bubbly "batter" that had more than doubled.

 

At this point I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I just buttered  a large loaf pan, poured the dough into the pan and slide the pan into

a large plastic bag and put it into the fridge overnight.

 

Took it out this morning, it had rose a little overnight  and had big bubbles.  When the oven was hot, it went into the oven covered with a large roasting pan and baked 20 minutes covered

and finished for another 20 minutes uncovered. I didn't bother scoring it or breaking the bubbles, because at this point I was thinking that changes were good that

this loaf was going to be a dud.  

I probably wouldn't make this again, but that said, the flavour was good, the texture was soft and chewy in a good way,

 

lots of shine on the crumb. Which surprised me. 

And it made good toast.

 

Anyway, my point is that bread dough is very forgiving and you almost always end up with something that

is worth eating.