The Bread Topic (2016–)

[AlaMoi]

I am regularly left stunned at the beeeeeeeeeautful loaves produced.

 

I do however have a curiosity question.....  what does one do with all those loaves?

as an empty nest household fighting the battle of the bulge . . . it would take us a long time to eat all that . . .

[Ann_T]

On 12/28/2023 at 12:53 PM, AlaMoi said:

I am regularly left stunned at the beeeeeeeeeautful loaves produced.

 

I do however have a curiosity question.....  what does one do with all those loaves?

as an empty nest household fighting the battle of the bulge . . . it would take us a long time to eat all that . . .

@AlaMoi, I'm not sure what everyone else does, but I have a few friends that I keep in bread.   No one ever turns down fresh baked bread.

I get to satisfy my need to bake and everyone is happy.

 

Baked this morning.  Dough was made yesterday starting with a Pate Fermentee and left in the fridge for 12 hours and then

left on the counter overnight.   I start to work it this morning at 3:30.

 

 

Last bake of 2023.

 

 

 

Edited to add:  Bread does freeze very well.  I wrap in paper towels and then into freezer ziplock bags.  Because I tend to make smaller

loaves, they defrost quickly.

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Ann_T (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

First bake of the year. Mexican style pulled pork with refried beans and cheddar cheese filling. Also two small plain ones for ham sandwiches tomorrow.

[Tropicalsenior]

Just took out a loaf of bread. It's kind of lopsided, but it's a taste that counts. Right?

Edited January 1 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[AlaMoi]

(sigh)  I need more friends . . .

 

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

(sigh)  I need more friends . . .

 

No, we just need one like @Ann_T. And one that isn't 5,000 Mi away.

[Ann_T]

8 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

First bake of the year. Mexican style pulled pork with refried beans and cheddar cheese filling. Also two small plain ones for ham sandwiches tomorrow.

Every time you make these I keep saying to myself I need to make these.   

They would be perfect for taking for lunch, but also for Moe when I'm not home.

[OlyveOyl]

Sourdough boule for toast and sandwiches.  We were given a very large piece of hot smoked salmon, so the bread became an efficient delivery system. Some softened cream cheese, lightly pickled red onions and a mustard dressing joined the party. The bread had 5% rye , I wouldn’t have minded some nigella seeds in it….next time !

[Ann_T]

@OlyveOyl, you get such beautiful colour on your breads.

 

First bake of 2024.

 

Dough was started using a Pate Fermentee with just 1.5g of yeast.

Made yesterday before leaving for work and went into the fridge until last night at 8:00 PM.

Left on the counter overnight and I started the preshape of 8 baguettes before 4:00 AM.

Sliced one this morning for breakfast. 

Lots of shine on the crumb.

[OlyveOyl]

Thank you @Ann_T, even though the crust color is a deep brown, the crust itself stays thin…easier on the bread knife!

[Ann_T]

Started a batch of dough Friday morning. It was a batch started with 200g of Pate Fermentee,

added to a new dough made with an additional 1000g of flour.

This way I still end up with a 1000g batch and can save another 200g for the next dough. I also added 1.5g of yeast, 16g of salt and 640g of water.

I've been using a pate fermentee ever since  @PatrickT shared a link to this method.

 

Before refrigerating I cut off a piece that weighed 550g for Matt, and put it into a separate container,

the 200g for the next batch of dough went into its own container,

and the remainder, about 1090g went into another container, and all went into the fridge.

Matt took his dough out of the fridge early yesterday morning around 5:00 AM and made a large pizza around 1:00 PM.

He took the other container with the 1090g of dough out for me at 10:00 AM

so it would be ready for me to use when I got in from work after 5:00.

I made a small Margherita pizza for Moe and I to share from 260g of dough

and baked three baguettes with the remainder.

It was cold here last night so rather than bake in the Ooni,

I baked the pizza in the top part of the oven, under the broiler using Jim Layhey's method.

I've tried many different pizza doughs over the years and I've never found one I like better than my baguette dough.

[PatrickT]

13 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

I've been using a pate fermentee ever since  @PatrickT shared a link to this method.

So glad you’re enjoying this method! Your success with it certainly speaks for itself. Definitely going to try this more myself this year. 

[Deephaven]

Our house is torn out, so we are living with my mother.  Tried out my dad's emille henry cloche.

 

I had a few new variables.  Lower protein bread flour, colder fridge for the fermentation, and a gas oven/cloche versus my normal bake.  Managed a great ear, but I had nearly no rise overnight in the fridge.  My starter was booming and blowing out of the jar with more than double when I started so I think I just needed to go longer.

 

Can I assume from the look of my crumb it was indeed underfermented?  WIth the colder fridge I assume I should ferment it a bit harder before the overnight chill?

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

37 minutes ago, PatrickT said:

So glad you’re enjoying this method!

Patrick, would you mind sharing that link again? I seem to have missed it the first time and the results that I get when I Google it aren't very clear. Thank you.

[PatrickT]

2 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

Can I assume from the look of my crumb it was indeed underfermented?

Looks that way to me. A bit longer BF would open that up. It’s all about the taste though! 

[PatrickT]

9 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Patrick, would you mind sharing that link again? I seem to have missed it the first time and the results that I get when I Google it aren't very clear. Thank you.

Absolutely! Here’s the link to my post. It was 3 or 4 pages back. 
 

 

[OlyveOyl]

Rosemary and very finely minced lemon were the inclusions in the boule.

The batard had some whole wheat and rye added to the white bread flour.

[Deephaven]

4 hours ago, PatrickT said:

Looks that way to me. A bit longer BF would open that up. It’s all about the taste though! 

Thanks.  That is what i figured.  I've never had one do that, but it was so consistent at my house that I used time instead of measuring growth.  Since it never "failed" before...

[PatrickT]

2 hours ago, OlyveOyl said:

Rosemary and very finely minced lemon were the inclusions in the boule.

The batard had some whole wheat and rye added to the white bread flour.

 

Those are beautiful!

[OlyveOyl]

51 minutes ago, PatrickT said:

 

Those are beautiful!

Thank you , @PatrickT , looking forward to the boule this evening.

[Ann_T]

@OlyveOyl, they really are beautiful.   I showed my son and he liked the idea of the lemon and rosemary. Asked

of subtle the flavours were?

 

All the breads I've been baking recently have been started with the addition of a Pate Fermentee.

Yesterday's bake was a dough started last Thursday and  baked yesterday early morning.. 

Today's bake was a sourdough batch.  Six baguettes and I left 500g for Matt to make a pizza with today. 

[OlyveOyl]

@Ann_T

I used about a rounded tablespoon of very finely minced Meyer lemon peel and I had a soft sprig of rosemary about 6/7” long that I removed the rosemary needles from.  Very, very finely chopped, the rosemary was subtle and not overpowering, the lemon also subtle.  I imagine microplaning the lemon would also be a consideration. This was for a 400+ gram boule.  I saved some for a preferment and the following loaf was fragrant but less so than the original.  Maybe just adding a little of both to a preferment might be useful for a test run?

Edited January 14 by OlyveOyl (log)

[Ann_T]

@OlyveOyl Thank you.  Might have to surprise Matt with a loaf.

 

Sourdough Bake.

Dough started on Saturday with a pate fermentee and left in the fridge until last night.

Baked this morning.

Two batards baked under the Spun Iron Cloche and the boule baked in a cast iron dutch oven.

[Ann_T]

Snow storm so I baked early just in case the power goes out later.

Dough had been in the fridge since Sunday.

 

Sourdough. Folded some cheddar into one of the batards and the small round.

 

The cheese loaf makes the best toast.

[PatrickT]

This was an interesting bake. I made a honey lemon whole wheat yesterday, with 25% whole wheat, the zest of an entire lemon, and lots of honey (which doubled the typical BF time). I inadvertently let the dough more than double and thought for sure it was going to be wildly over-proofed. Realizing my mistake, I quickly shaped it, popped it in the fridge for a 12.5 hour CR, and did a cold bake this morning. How the dough had enough left in the tank to provide this much oven spring is a bit of a mystery - I won’t lie. 😂 
 

Edited January 19 by PatrickT
Added crumb shot (log)