The Bread Topic (2016–)

[Ann_T]

@Captain, I love the look of your white loaves.  What recipe are you using for those beautiful loaves. 

 

 

Dough made on Monday using a sourdough biga.

Matt made a pizza yesterday using 550g grams and I saved another 350g for our pizza tonight.

The remaining dough was taken out of the fridge last night and left on the counter and

I baked six mini sandwich size baguettes this morning.

Just out of the oven.

 

 

 

[OlyveOyl]

Some more small baguettes, these have black olives, herbs de Provence and a little evoo; a few tablespoons of rye and buckwheat found their way into the dough.  Planning on sandwiches and a salad for supper as we had a large lunch!

[Captain]

8 hours ago, Ann_T said:

What recipe

Thank you Ann.  I use Richard Bertinet's recipe.

[Ann_T]

14 hours ago, Captain said:

I use Richard Bertinet's recipe.

Thank you Captain. 

[Maison Rustique]

Took a huge step. I have had Hemingway, my starter from a dear friend who is longer with us, for a few years and have kept it going even though I haven't baked much the past few years with all the turmoil.

I have a bit in the fridge on the off chance that the temp drops below 75 any time soon (ha ha) but I have dried much of it for longer term storage. I just don't see me baking much until I am through with house crap.

I call it Hemingway because it was the son of my friend's starter that she grew from scratch. She called hers Kevin. Mine is Hemingway because Kevin's son also rises. Sleep well Hemingway!

 

Sorry for huge photo!

[Ann_T]

@Maison Rustique, Deb, can you please tell me how you dried your starter.  And do you store it in the freezer?  

Last night's pizza and

 

this morning's baguette bake.

 

Dough had been in the fridge since July 9th. Started with a sourdough Levain.

Took 400g of dough out yesterday afternoon to make the pizza for dinner. Pizza was baked in the OONI.

The remaining dough came out of the fridge last night at 8:PM and left on the counter until 3:30 this morning.

Baked five baguettes.

[Maison Rustique]

@Ann_T, I followed the directions given here by King Arthur Flour. I've got it in a Mason jar and storing in the pantry.

[Ann_T]

27 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

@Ann_T, I followed the directions given here by King Arthur Flour. I've got it in a Mason jar and storing in the pantry.

Thanks Deb.

 

[Ann_T]

This dough surpassed my expectations.

 

It has been too hot to bake so I was afraid that the 9 day long cold fermentation might have been stretching its limits.

 

This dough  was started with a sourdough biga.

 

I took it out of the fridge last night and left if on the counter until 3:30 this morning.

Baked six various size baguettes.

[paul o' vendange]

On 7/16/2024 at 11:54 AM, Maison Rustique said:

@Ann_T, I followed the directions given here by King Arthur Flour. I've got it in a Mason jar and storing in the pantry.

For what it's worth, a good amount of discussion here and here on "fleur de levain," though it's in German (I'm part of a German baking community on FB).  Though these aren't used as leavening, rather just a flavoring component using up excess sourdough or "Anstellgut."

[Ann_T]

I didn't have any doughs in the fridge and I wanted to bake so,

I made my regular yeast baguette dough and instead of just a gram or two of yeast and a long cold fermentation, I increased the yeast. Reminded me of the Julia Child's baguette recipe I use to make years ago.

Dough was started at 3:00 AM and the last baguette came out of the oven just after 8:00 AM.

 

Four baguettes at 215g each. 500g flour at 70% hydration. 

Even some shine on the crumb. Not bad for a 5 hour dough.

Edited July 28 by Ann_T (log)

[AlaMoi]

I've been working on my baguettes . . .

ran across a on-line video demonstrating the 'stretch&fold' thing - four rotations of stretch&fold, repeated 4 times . . .

as being the 'secret' to the airy big holes texture.

 

what's your opinion on the stretch&fold technique?

your results speak for themselves !

[Ann_T]

17 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

I've been working on my baguettes . . .

ran across a on-line video demonstrating the 'stretch&fold' thing - four rotations of stretch&fold, repeated 4 times . . .

as being the 'secret' to the airy big holes texture.

 

what's your opinion on the stretch&fold technique?

your results speak for themselves !

I've been using the stretch and fold method now for 10 years. 

 

Edited to add:   You can get that same big hole texture by kneading or using a machine to do the kneading.  It is all about developing

the gluten. Also hydration and quality of flour contributes. 

 

This bread was made back in 2007, and the kneading was done in 

my Electrolux Magic Mill machine and given a cold fermentation.  

Edited July 29 by Ann_T (log)

[AlaMoi]

@Ann_T

thanks!  working on '200g / mini-loaves' lent me to the stretch&fold idea - expanding into the cold ferment as an option to 'oven light' or in summer simply on the counter .

[Ann_T]

9 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

@Ann_T

thanks!  working on '200g / mini-loaves' lent me to the stretch&fold idea - expanding into the cold ferment as an option to 'oven light' or in summer simply on the counter .

What do you mean my "oven light".   I've never found the need to add a heat source, not even in the winter when our house is 68 to 70°F.  I prefer a slow rise and a slow proof.

 

[AlaMoi]

the oven light brings the temp up to 80+/-F

mostly for pizza dough...

which is the usual/more common/non-bread affectionado temp for rising. 

definitely not a favorite temp for cold proofing . . .

[Ann_T]

3 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

the oven light brings the temp up to 80+/-F

mostly for pizza dough...

which is the usual/more common/non-bread affectionado temp for rising. 

definitely not a favorite temp for cold proofing . . .

I've never felt the need to place the dough in a warmer place. 

I usually put the dough immediately into the fridge after the last stretch and fold and even in the cold

fridge the dough will rise and double.     I take it out six to 8 hours before I want to use and leave it on the counter

to warm up before shaping and leaving to proof. 

[Ann_T]

Today's bake

 

 

Fed both starters Friday morning.

Started two bigas, each with 60g of discard.

Left on the counter until I got home from work.

Made two doughs, each with a biga and another 1000g of flour, and both went into the fridge Friday night.

Took one of the doughs out last night and left it on the counter until 3:30 this morning.

Baked four baguettes. T

wo were started together in the steam oven and two of the baguettes were longer so they were baked in the regular oven

under a large roasting pan lid for the first 15 minutes and then the lid was removed.

I also transferred the two smaller from the CSO to the regular oven after 15 minutes, to finish baking.

Sliced one this morning for breakfast. 

Edited August 5 by Ann_T (log)

[liuzhou]

It's been a very long time since I posted here, mainly due to my being ovenless since my toaster oven died on me and then being incapacitated for a year. I still haven't replaced the oven due to my new kitchen being on the bijou side. So this isn't my bread; it was purchased online.

 

I've mentioned before that China rarely does anything resembling what most of us call 'bread', instead preferring sweet, steamed, cake-like blotting paper.  So I was searching my online shopping portal for something else when I spotted a bread in Beijing which looked promising. It was described as containing wheat flour, rye flour, edible salt, yeast and drinking water and specifying no sweeteners, so I bit.

 

 

Normally, I would buy one as a tester, but they imposed a ¥23 / $3.21 USD delivery charge regardless of how many I ordered so I took a chance and ordered two. Each 610 gram loaf was ¥41.27 / $5.76 (expensive for here), so in all, I spent $14.73 for two loaves. They arrived two days later - Beijing is around 2000km / 1200 miles away - having been flown from BJ to Nanning near me. They apologised for a half day's delay due to a storm in BJ.

 

 

So. The bread. When I opened the package I was hit by the smell of newly baked bread. It seems light on the rye, which is fine by me. Soft crumbed. Now I'm waiting for my butter to soften enough to spread. I'll probably use some tomorrow morning with breakfast.

 

 

The bread is sold under the South German Bakery - Cafe Konstanz brand but that is no guarantee that there is any German involvement.

 

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

It's been a very long time since I posted here, mainly due to my being ovenless since my toaster oven died on me and then being incapacitated for a year. I still haven't replaced the oven due to my new kitchen being on the bijou side. So this isn't my bread; it was purchased online.

 

 

 

 

I'm curious about the definition of bijou as you have used it to describe your kitchen?

[liuzhou]

2 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I'm curious about the definition of bijou as you have used it to describe your kitchen?

 

"small but attractive"

[Kerry Beal]

10 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

"small but attractive"

Gotcha!

[nochefschoice]

So I'm no professional chef. But foreign cuisines and inventive ways of cooking and "baking" would sometimes be a past time or a "study session".

 

Much like someone who's experiment to see how high a bicycle could fly if ridden on top of mountain pile of gravel. - Study Session. Yes did that.

 

Back to the topic. And the professional chefs can please tell me what went wrong.

 

I wanted to bake bread on top of a stove.

 

So I looked up the recipe I don't remember where (probably thought a simple pizza dough would suffice), and got the dough for the bread all into shape.

 

I then took a stainless steel metal jug, and stuffed the dough right to the bottom with a lot of space on the top.

 

I then took the jug, turned the stove on, and topped the jug upside down over the low flames.

 

The space was there inside the jug, between the dough and and the low flame. And I let it sit for long time.

 

And then I took it off. And it wasn't bread.

 

So why may I ask, did that not become bread? But a sticky uncooked dough with light touch of burnt dough nearest to the fire.

[AlaMoi]

it didn't bake.  the inside of the pot never reached a temperature to bake.

there are a few recipes/techniques to do stove-top bread.  not many - and one cannot just 'use anything'

 

you need a heavy pot that can heat up and hold the heat - with a lid - for a long time.

ceramic / cast iron - most definitely nothing like stainless steel.

you pre-heat the pot&lid on the cooktop, then plunk in the dough, cover, and keep a low heat going.

use a flame tamer/heat diffuser - you want steady even heat over the whole pot bottom - 'hot spots' will ruin your day.

[pastrygirl]

there was no heat going to the top of the dough/bottom of the jug