The Bread Topic (2016–)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

@JoNorvelleWalker, I'm sorry you are still dealing with health issues. Hope you are back to baking soon.

Thank you for letting me know that you use yours for bread.    I'm excited to get my steel.  Just noticed though that the size I need 14" X 22" x 3/8 isn't the norm

so it is custom made and will take three to four weeks.   

 

Thank you for your good wishes.  I neglected to note that Modernist bread recommends baking on a steel only if you are using a combi oven (such as the CSO or APO).

 

[PatrickT]

22 hours ago, Ann_T said:

What an interesting combination of flavours.

I love your perfect rabbit. Ears and tail.

 

Thank you @Ann_T - it was surprisingly good and I will definitely bake that one again.

 

You always bring a smile to my face with your Claude bakes. 😃 What great memories he will have to look back upon.

[Ann_T]

The steel stone I ordered has not arrived yet, but in anticipation, I decided to bake longer baguettes on my

regular stone.  I bought some lava rocks to create steam in the oven and wanted to try them out. 

 

This was a same day dough made earlier yesterday morning and left on the counter from about 11 AM until 6:00 PM before shaping.

Baked six long baguettes.

 

Sliced this morning. Lots of shine.

[Deephaven]

On 11/16/2022 at 11:03 AM, Ann_T said:

That is what is good about bread. Even if you aren't quite satisfied, it still looks and tastes good.

I would be happy with any of your loaves.

 

Today's baguette bake.

Not a long cold fermentation. 

 

 

Dough made last night and left out on the counter from 8:00 PM until 4:30 AM this morning.

600g flour, 1.5g of yeast, 15g of salt, 378g of water (63%).

After seeing your last posts and BEAUTIFUL baguettes I went digging for a recipe.  Found 63% a couple times and this helps, but am curious as to your other steps. (you have 8 pages of posts with the word baguette in them which is GLORIOUS).

This is last weeks sourdough which yours put to shame, but I am not completely inept; however, I have not really made successful baguettes yet.  Would love to know if you just knead and rest, fold, or what you do to get such great looking crumb and rise!

 

[Ann_T]

11 hours ago, Deephaven said:

@Deephaven, this boule is perfection.   

 

I use the same Autolyze Stretch and Fold method for every bake.

But I do vary the hydration from 63 to 68 and occasionally higher.

 

I recently started to make a Levain, as the preferment.  Both a sourdough levain or one made with just a gram of yeast.

I also do same day bakes with just a tiny bit of yeast, like my last post. 

 

I've had my blog since 2009 and there are many bread posts. Since 2014 I've used the Stretch and Fold method.

 

I did a blog post this morning on a recent baguette bake using a sourdough levain.

 

There is also a link on the post on how I shape my baguettes. 

This methods works for me, but there are also a number of videos on You tube with shaping techniques

by professional bakers. 

 

 

 

[Deephaven]

Awesome. Thank you!! 

Sorry to add a follow up question, but with the minimal yeast dough cited above do you just mix to shaggy before the 4 folds in the first few hours or do you knead it a bit more.  I have only really baked with doughs above 80% hydration and wonder with the 63% or so if I should knead it more as I mix?  I promise follow up pics of my attempts!

[Ann_T]

2 hours ago, Deephaven said:

Awesome. Thank you!! 

Sorry to add a follow up question, but with the minimal yeast dough cited above do you just mix to shaggy before the 4 folds in the first few hours or do you knead it a bit more.  I have only really baked with doughs above 80% hydration and wonder with the 63% or so if I should knead it more as I mix?  I promise follow up pics of my attempts!

I mix everything together and then cover and leave it to rest (autolyze) for at least 30 minutes up to an hour.  Depending on what I'm doing.

Then I start the stretch and folds, cover and leave the dough to rest again for 20 to 30 minutes.  I do at least four of these autolyze, stretch and folds, until the dough

feels right.   The autolyze, stretch and folds is in place of kneading.    I use this same method whether the dough is at 63% hydration or over 80%.

It is the rests and the stretch and folds that develop the gluten.  At one time I use to hold off adding the yeast and the salt until after the first mix and autolyze, but I have found that adding the yeast and salt at the beginning of the process does not effect the dough at all. 

 

I have another Pictorial showing the different stages and how the dough develops between the rests and stretch and folds.   There is also a Hydration Chart at the end of the post. 

Artisan Bread – Step By Step Pictorial (thibeaultstable.com)

[PatrickT]

Once again, don't judge my rather lame loaf aesthetics here, because the flavor and texture of this bread are king. 😃 This is a straight sourdough conversion of Leona Schnuelle's famous $25,000 Grand Prize winning Dilly Casserole Bread recipe, from Pillsbury's 12th Grand National Bake-Off in 1960. Her recipe has been praised by countless families over the decades since - and after baking this version, I can easily see why! The flavor is simply incredible, the crumb is moist and soft, and the crust is thin and chewy. Unquestionably one of the most unusual loaves I've ever baked and destined to become a family favorite in our home, as well. The table below shows my conversion (my flour could have handled a bit more water) and subsequent scaling to 500g flour weight, which is my preferred loaf size. Please try this bread - either Leona's original recipe or this one. You won't be disappointed!

 

 

[MaryIsobel]

1 hour ago, PatrickT said:

Once again, don't judge my rather lame loaf aesthetics here, because the flavor and texture of this bread are king. 😃 This is a straight sourdough conversion of Leona Schnuelle's famous $25,000 Grand Prize winning Dilly Casserole Bread recipe, from Pillsbury's 12th Grand National Bake-Off in 1960. Her recipe has been praised by countless families over the decades since - and after baking this version, I can easily see why! The flavor is simply incredible, the crumb is moist and soft, and the crust is thin and chewy. Unquestionably one of the most unusual loaves I've ever baked and destined to become a family favorite in our home, as well. The table below shows my conversion (my flour could have handled a bit more water) and subsequent scaling to 500g flour weight, which is my preferred loaf size. Please try this bread - either Leona's original recipe or this one. You won't be disappointed!

 

 

Lame loaf aesthetics? Sir, I aspire to make a loaf that looks like that. Too hot right now for me to bake bread (I don't get up at 3 am like AnnT does!) Once we get fall temps, I'll get back at it and will definitely put this one on my list. I am invisioning it with smoked salmon and cream cheese.

[PatrickT]

3 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Lame loaf aesthetics? Sir, I aspire to make a loaf that looks like that. Too hot right now for me to bake bread (I don't get up at 3 am like AnnT does!) Once we get fall temps, I'll get back at it and will definitely put this one on my list. I am invisioning it with smoked salmon and cream cheese.

That is very kind of you to say. I do hope you’ll try this one in the fall. Your pairing idea sounds divine! 😃 Next time I make it, I might add some shredded smoked Gouda cheese to the dough… not that it needs anything else. 

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, PatrickT said:

That is very kind of you to say. I do hope you’ll try this one in the fall. Your pairing idea sounds divine! 😃 Next time I make it, I might add some shredded smoked Gouda cheese to the dough… not that it needs anything else. 

Personally I'd leave the cheeses= as a pairing and not integrate it. The only bread I've made nd enjoyed with incorporated cheese was as a teen and I think it used a processed cheese so the entire loaf was cheese flavored. 

[heidih]

S: correction to above re cheese. I do recall some pretty talented bakers here using cheese additions so maybe back then I didnlt have the skills and to date havenever ha the opportunity to taste a well made one... Do let us know if you try it out.

[PatrickT]

20 minutes ago, heidih said:

S: correction to above re cheese. I do recall some pretty talented bakers here using cheese additions so maybe back then I didnlt have the skills and to date havenever ha the opportunity to taste a well made one... Do let us know if you try it out.

Will do - thanks! I’ve made a few different loaves with cheeses of various kinds. I liked them all but will say that chunks of cheese are a bit harder to incorporate well. 

[Maison Rustique]

17 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Lame loaf aesthetics? Sir, I aspire to make a loaf that looks like that. Too hot right now for me to bake bread (I don't get up at 3 am like AnnT does!) Once we get fall temps, I'll get back at it and will definitely put this one on my list. I am invisioning it with smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Yes, smoked salmon/cream cheese and I'm also imagining an open-face BLT. Would also be a great accompaniment to potato soup later this year when the weather cools down. Thank you, @PatrickT!

[Ann_T]

@PatrickT, there is nothing lame about any of your loaves.

 

I like the idea of the smoked salmon and cream cheese with the dill bread. 

 

I started a sourdough Levain Thursday morning and made the dough Thursday night. It remained in the fridge until yesterday morning, when Matt took it out to make a couple of pizzas. He divided the dough in half and put the other half back into the fridge.

I took it out this morning, not sure if the dough still had some life, but decided that I had nothing to lose, so I made some breadsticks.

Rolled out the dough, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled half with fresh rosemary and parmesan and the other half with black pepper and parmesan. After twisting, sprinkled with a little sea salt and let sit covered for 40 minutes.

 

I forgot what a PITA making breadsticks is so I stopped after a bit and then just shaped the remaining dough into three tiny boules.

Edited August 8, 2023 by Ann_T (log)

[PatrickT]

1 hour ago, Ann_T said:

@PatrickT, there is nothing lame about any of your loaves.

 

I like the idea of the smoked salmon and cream cheese with the dill bread. 

Thank you @Ann_T - still aspiring to your gorgeous loaves and baguettes! 
 

PS - love those breadsticks!
 

The smoked salmon and cream cheese was awesome. I can also vouch for Gouda and ham grilled cheese with the dilly bread. Epic. 😂

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by PatrickT (log)

[PatrickT]

Gochujang sourdough with scallions and roasted garlic, based on a YouTube video by Proof Bread. After using it in this recipe, I've become a fan of gochujang! It has the consistency of tomato paste but tastes very salty, sweet and spicy. I got the mild version and am glad I did. It has just enough heat without being at all overwhelming. I imagine the hot version might leave a mark. 😂 This is one of the most aromatic loaves I've ever baked and is absolutely delicious. I used the last dregs of my Hayden Mills Heritage Blend bread flour for this loaf, which turned out to be a great choice. I will definitely bake this again.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by PatrickT (log)

[PatrickT]

This morning's bake - Moscow Mule and Gochujang loaves (this time, I added shredded pepper jack cheese to the Gochujang). No crumb pics because they are gifts to our daughter and her BF. This is Cairnspring Mills Trailblazer flour - my first time using it. I got great oven spring with the Moscow Mule loaf, but the Gochujang loaf profile was a bit flat. Clearly got a bit too carried away with the inclusion percentages. 😂 Hopefully, it will still taste good.

 

 

[Ann_T]

@PatrickT you are really turning out some very beautiful loaves.  Great colour on your crusts. 

[PatrickT]

7 hours ago, Ann_T said:

@PatrickT you are really turning out some very beautiful loaves.  Great colour on your crusts. 

 

Thank you @Ann_T!

[Ann_T]

I had a 1000g batch of dough in the fridge since Friday morning.

Taken out last night and left on the counter until 4:00 AM this morning.

 

Ralph Nieboer from the amazing Facebook bread group Breadworks, recently shared photos of little loaves baked in loaf pans.

So I decided to copy him this morning and used my baguette dough to bake mini loaves.

Aren't they cute?

Matt sliced one horizontally, while still warm.  Even the crumb isn't bad. 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Ann_T (log)

[PatrickT]

1 hour ago, Ann_T said:

Ralph Nieboer from the amazing Facebook bread group Breadworks, recently shared photos of little loaves baked in loaf pans.

Literally just saw some of these pans in an antique shop. Wish I would have bought them now! 😂 Another great bake @Ann_T!

[Deephaven]

Wife had some friends visit and wanted me to make up a couple loaves of sourdough for them.  I wasn't around to taste them, but they were happy.

 

[liuzhou]

This, which I bought today, is 大列巴 (dà liè bā), a bread made in the far north east of China, near the border with Siberia, Russia. It was introduced from Russia to China in the 1950s. It is, as you can maybe see, laced with raisins. 大 (dà) means 'large' and 列巴 (dà liè bā)) is a sad attempt to phonetically render хлеб, the Russian for bread into Chinese. Big bread.

 

 

In Russia, it is normally a rye bread but this one is wheat.

 

The raisins bring sweetneess, but like it with my sharp cheddar.

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[PatrickT]

15 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

In Russia, it is normally a rye bread but this one is wheat.

Looks and sounds delicious! 😋 Can you please post a pic of the crumb when you slice it? Curious to see how dense it is.